This is Messier 20 (M20) or the Trifid Nebula. I took this a while ago after realizing a few things. This was taken with my Meade 8" LX90 and my Canon EOS T3. This is a total of 30 images taken at ISO 3200 each sub at 30 seconds each. What I realized was the more "good" images I had, the better the final stack would be. Knowing this now will allow me to pull even more detail out of this Nebula. But you can clearly see the dust lanes in there very well.
   The Trifid Nebula is located in the constellation of Sagitarius. This Nebula consist of four groups within, an Open Star Cluster, an Emission Nebula, a Reflection Nebula and "dark nebula". The Dark being the dust lanes. It's distance is about 5,200 light years from Earth. There is actually a Blue region at the upper part of this Nebula, but i was not able to pull it out with this image, next time I hope.

Check this out. Keep an eye open see if you can spot me.

   So I know I posted a photograph of Saturn already, but I was able to learn more about processing techniques and pick up more and better software. This Photo was taken on June 27, 2012 with my 8" Meade LX90 using a Logitech C250 webcam with a 2x Barlow. I explained how I did this before, but I'll touch on it again. I take videos with the webcam using a piece of freeware called SharpCap. Then with more freeware, either Registax 6 or AutoStakkert 2 I place the video files in those programs. Those Programs then set alignment points, afterward taking the video and breaking it down into individual frames. It then Stacks each frame on top of another to make a single photograph. The more frames you have the better the photo will look. After it stacks the frames I use some sharpening in Registax or move the photo over to Photoshop where I can fine tune it. It took me a while to figure all this out to get a better photo, but it was worth the wait and time. My good friend helped me out with the processing techniques and boy did it help. Keep looking I will be able to do Jupiter soon I can't wait now that I've figured it out. Hope you enjoy, oh there is an earlier post about Saturn in my Blog you can read.

   I am sorry to all of my followers for not being more active on my blog. It has been two months since my last post. I can assure you I will be back at it full force soon. That being said on to the photograph.
   On June 5, 2012 was an event that no one alive today will see again. The transit of Venus. In this photo at the top right is a small black dot, that is Venus. I got extremely lucky that day, all day there were clouds covering up the sky. I was devastated, I purchased a Solar Filter to view this specific event. Later that evening before the Transit began Fraser Cain, the publisher of Universe Today and of Astronomy Cast started a Google + hangout to stream live views of the Transit. I jumped in with them with cloudy skies, a few minutes later the clouds cleared. I rushed to get my Telescope setup and begin my Stream. I was able to show a few minutes, then clouds yet again. Finally after an hour or so I got a good break and began my live stream again. I was able to keep the Transit in view and photograph it the rest of the evening.
   In this photo I used my Meade LX90 8" Telescope with a homemade Solar Filter with film from Seymour Solar. This event will not happen until the year 2117, I feel privileged to be able to view it and to photograph it to share with all of you.

   This is Messier 16 (M16 or NGC6611) most commonly known as the Eagle Nebula. This photograph is 10 photos at 25" each stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed with GIMP. This was taken with my Meade 8" LX90 with my Canon EOS Rebel T3.
   The Eagle Nebula is a young open cluster of Stars located in the constellation of Serpens. It was discovered in 1745 by Jean Phillippe de Cheseaux. This nebula is famous for the Long spikes sticking up, they are called the Pillars of Creation. This nebula is about 7,000 Light years away. Scientists discovered that a Supernova destroyed the Pillars but, we will not notice them gone for about another 1,000 years.

   This is Messier 51a, M51a, NGC5194 or more commonly known as The Whirlpool Galaxy. This Photograph was taken the same as the rest of them with my 8" Meade Telescope and Canon T3 DSLR Camera. This is 26 photos stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and Processed with GIMP.
   This Galaxy is estimated to be around 23 Million Light years from the Milky Way Galaxy located in the Constellation Canes Venatici. You can see off to the left is it's companion Galaxy NGC5195. It was first discovered by Charles Messier in 1773, it's companion wasn't discovered until 1781. This Galaxy is said to have a radius of  43,000 Light Years. This Galaxies location which is located just below the last star in the Handle of Ursa Major ( The Big Dipper ). Means it is circumpolar, in the Norther hemisphere it can almost always be seen just like the Big Dipper. This Galaxy has what we call a Spiral Structure which is what the Milky Way was thought to be until they discovered the Milky Way may in fact be a barred Spiral.

 This is my first photograph of the Sun. This image was taken through my Meade LX90 8" SCT ACF. I used my Canon T3 DSLR at ISO400 @ 1/320". This is a single image no stacking involved. I received my Solar Filter and had to home make a mount for it. If you look you will see Dark spots, these are called Sunspots. Sunspots are in essence Solar Storms. I explained alot of this in my last post about the Sun. I cannot view Solar Flares with this equipment but it can be done ( look below for an example ).

 

   The pictures above are of my Solar Filter. I purchased the filter which is called Solar Filter Film. Then made the mount with Poster Board, Duct Tape, Clear Box Tape, and Scotch Tape. I think it took me about an hour or so to make. I then made another for my Finder Scope, so when I try to locate the sun I can do so safely. The total cost for my Solar Filter is about $20, that is including Filter, Materials to make adapter and shipping for filter. This is the cheapest way to view the sun, Safely. I believe this material is Mylar with 99.9% light blocking. It also gives the image an Orange tint. There are other films out there that give the Sun a white appearance. All of these filters including mine are called White Light Filters. The others however look kind of like aluminum foil. Of course, they are not these are specialty made products. I will state it again and cannot stress it enough. Never, Never look directly at the Sun with the unaided eye and an Experienced Astronomer at your side assisting you. It can cause damage to your eyes called Solar Retinopathy. Even during a Solar Eclipse it is still not safe. This is a common misconception, people think since half of the Sun's light is being blocked it is only half as bright and half as dangerous. Again, this is not true. Now at a Solar eclipse Totality there is no harm but full Solar Eclipses happen very rarely, and only in certain places at certain times can you view the total Eclipse.

 
   Now this only one of a few ways to safely view the Sun. Another way which you can make yourself ( at least something similar ) is called a Sunspotter. This way simply reflects the image onto a piece of paper. This is how it was done before the advent of Filters and specialty telescopes. I have made something similar with a box and just punched a hole in one end and put a piece of paper inside and projected the light onto the paper.

   Another way is with a specialty Telescope like this one. These are quite expensive but, unlike the image you see from my filter this shows far more detail. With this scope it will show more graininess on the surface with Sunspots as well as Flares or as we call them Prominences. To view the Sun like this it will cost you far more. These scopes usually start at around $600 and go up well over $2,500.

   The image above is what the specialty scopes produce. These images and the scopes are called H-Alpha. Which is Hydrogen-Alpha. This is a specific band of light the Sun and other stars produce as well as many other bands of light throughout the spectrum. I did not take this image by the way. If you look at it though you should see the graininess as well as the Sunspots and Prominences.

   This is another Reason why I purchased my filter. On June 5, 2012 there will be a transit of Venus across the Sun. There was a Transit of Venus in 2008 but, there will not be another after this until the year 2117. So none of us will ever see this again. So I wanted to witness a part of history and document it. I hope you enjoyed the post let me know if there are any questions that you have. Like always all comments are welcomed.
Keep Looking Up,
Chris