Click on photos to enlarge.
We
followed SuperNova, SN2007af, detected on 03/01/07, till
July 14. A star in NGC5584, Vir, mag 22, exploded as a SN Ia
type, reached mag 12 (that’s 10,000 times brighter!) three weeks
later and then fizzled out in 4 months. Image #2 was made on
7/14 and is likely the last one.
Pinwheel Galaxy, M33,
in Tri, is one of the brightest and largest galaxies in our
Local Group; distance is 1.6 million l-y. M31 and M33 are only
600,000 l-y apart. We see M33 as large and dim, mag 7.
M74
or NGC628 in Psc, is a faint but nice Messier object. It shows
the spiral galaxy almost face-on. Distance 40 million l-y.
M95
in Leo and
M96 (only ¾ degree apart and about halfway between Regulus and
Denebola) form a nice pair of spiral galaxies in the center of
constellation Leo. M95, the western one, is 30 million l-y away.
M96
belongs
with M95 to the Leo Galaxy Group, same distance therefore. Other
members of this group are M105, or NGC3379 and NGC3384 and –9.
M65-66,
another
interesting pair of galaxies in Leo, and only 21’ apart. With
NGC3628, an edge-on spiral about 35’ farther north; the three
form the M66 Group, which is nearly 40 million l-y away.
NGC253
in Scl is a popular galaxy that we see almost edge-on (12
degrees off), ‘close by’ at 8 million l-y.
M104,
Sombrero
Neb or NGC4594 in Vir, is mag 8.7 and 30 million l-y away. Its
diam is 75,000 l-y. M104 features a large black hole in the
center, est. at 750,000 solar masses; it is also a very strong
radio source. The two pictures are from the same FITS source,
but differently processed in PS; in this Gallery format however,
the difference is negligible.
a. A
wide image of Andromeda Galaxy, made from six smaller frames
(“mosaic-ed”). It is in the Andromeda constellation and measures
2 1/2 by 1 degree of arc. Our Milky Way and Andromeda are in the
same Local Group. Its distance from us is “only” 2.6 million
l-y.
b. A
map is needed for our “exploration”. You can find these charts
on the web in a variety of detail. I marked the center and
numbered the spots where I took images. The set-up of our Huser
Scope and Camera gives us a field-of-view of 40 arcmin by 26
arcmin, indicated by the size of the pink rectangle at the right
top. 
c. The FOV covers only the immediate center. It is bright in
the center! Only 0.2 seconds exposures can be taken. Our
exposures varied from .2 to 200 seconds depending where we
aimed. The brightness varies that much.
d. M110
can be found too, right where it should be. This is a small
galaxy being merged into Andromeda.
e. Some
open star clusters can be found, similar as those we see in our
galaxy.
f. Some
more of those are at the NE edge. Interesting are the ones that
have several stars patterned as little “chains”.
g. At
the NE “end” two more clusters can be seen and notice too the
large amount of “doubles”. Over 50% of all stars are
“multiples”; our Sun goes solo as you perhaps know.
h. Slewing
back to Center and then going S and W 15 arcmin bring the scope
to between M31 and M32 and avoid overexposure that way. The
bright centers are almost outside FOV and more details is
preserved.
i. Slewing
15’ S and 30’ W brings only the dim part on the image and we
could go to 200 sec exposures. The “arms” of Andromeda show up
well now, in spite of looking at a sharp angle to the disc of
the galaxy.
j.
Here I
took a detail of the image in ‘i’ and enlarged it to
match a photo I located on the web, shown in the next photo (k). 
k.
This is the photo I located on the web to match the previous photo (j). RegulusAstro published this
photo and marked it up with objects drawn on atlases of
Andromeda. It is fun to find and compare these objects on both
images.
l.
Exploring
farther south, 30’ S and 30’W of Center, I encountered NGC 206.
For the first time I saw details in this cluster, so far I
had only seen the “smudge” of it. This is a cloud of dense gas
and young stars akin to the central area of the Big Nebula of
Orion, a birthplace of stars thus.
m. I
dropped another 15’ S as you can see by looking at the bright
star at top-left. This star is nearby, 160 l-y, and thus not
part of the Andromeda Galaxy.
n.
To get the
design of this part better centered, I moved W 15’. Several open
star clusters could easily be distinguished. 
0. Finally I went to the southern edge, 55’S and 45’ W of
Center of Andromeda. Galaxy. The star showing only half next to
the 7 of my date, marks ‘the end’. This star is only 56 l-y from
us and thus very much in the foreground.
The Milky Way and Andromeda are approaching each other at the breakneck speed of 100 miles per second. In two billion years we’ll be roommates!
The Milky Way and Andromeda are approaching each other at the breakneck speed of 100 miles per second. In two billion years we’ll be roommates!
p. While
in Andromeda Constellation anyway I had to drop by an old
friend, NGC 891. This is an edge-on galaxy, really ‘edge-on’;
its dark lane shows perfectly. ‘891’ is ten times farther away
than Andromeda. Its magnitude is therefore only 12-13, but no
problem for our Huser Scope. It shows up as a gem.