Pocatello Astronomical Society
Its full of stars!!
This photo of the Leo Triplet is brought to us by club member Jeff Reitzel. The Leo triplet is a small group of Galaxies seen in the Constellation Leo. It consists of three spiral galaxies identified as Messier 65, Messier 66, and NGC 3628 located about 35 million light years from Earth. This group is very unique in that you see each galaxy from a very different angle ranging from face-on to edge-on. This was imaged using a Stellarvue SVX127D scope and QHY410C ca.
This outstanding photo is brought to us by club member Jeff Reitzel. NGC 281 aslo known as the Pac-man Nebula, it is a popular target for amateur astronomers due to its resemblance to the popular arcade character when seen in larger images. It is found in the Constellation Cassiopeia and actually located about 10,000 light years away in the Perseus Arm of our galaxy. Jeff’s goal for this photo was to capture detail of the intricate structure within the core area. It is full of dark dust lanes and Bok Globules all in the process of condensing to eventually ignite into new stars. A lot of this was done at our clubs observing site near Massacre Rocks. Imaged with a Stellarvue SVX127D scope, QHY268M camera, and narrow band filters (Ha, Oiii, Sii).
This photo is brought to us by club member Jeff Reitzel taken of comet Leonard 3 December 2021, during its closest approach to Earth. As it looped around the Sun in early January this comet fractured and developed an amazing tail, far longer and brighter than anyone expected. Unfortunately this display was only visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere as the Comet was traveling back towards deep space. This comet originated from the extreme edge of our solar system and will not return for at least 80,000 years, if it ever does. This was using a Stellarvue SVX102T scope and QHY268M camera with LRGB filters.
Meeting tonight was mainly focused on the new website. Club member Kasey Davis showed off the past few weeks of work on this site as well as some of the challenges faced during web design. Club members wanted to see a roster of club members added in the futures so stand by for that.
After discussing the website, club member Mike Beer shared some photos from last star party. Mikes photos of the southern milky way with his cell phone camera, with a very cool app for his apple phone called Night Cap produced some impressive results. Mike even added constellation and deep sky locations in a GIF.
After Showing off pictures the Club discussed this months star party, if the weather cooperates we are going to try for Massacre Rocks about 30 minutes west of Pocatello. This site is very dark and offers excellent views of deep sky objects and it being so close to town is major plus. More details to follow as the date gets closer we are very much looking forward to getting in some quality observing.
The last 30 minutes of the meeting were spent watching another excellent Smithsonian Institute lecture. This lecture was about how nebula are formed and illustrated the stunning work of the Spitzer Space Telescope infrared instruments. Infrared helped scientists see past non visible light so they could unravel the mystery of star formation in the Swan Nebula
Clear skies and keep looking up!
This Photo taken by club president John Reed of M31 or the Andromeda Galaxy is our nearest galactic neighbor this galaxy is geared to collide and merge with our galaxy the Milky Way in about 4 billion short years. This Galaxy is one of the few that are actually naked eye objects. This barred spiral galaxy is about 2.5 million light years away from Earth. You can clearly see M110 the small oval shape underneath the main galaxy is actually a satellite dwarf galaxy of M31, two for the price of one! Taken with Meade 70mm f5 Quad and ASI2600MM camera.
This stunning photo of the Rosette Nebula is brought to you by club president John Reed. This beautiful HII region located in the constellation of Monoceros is a gem of the winter sky. Located about 5200 lightyears from earth contains many O-type stars as well as young new stars. Taken with Meade 70mm f5 Quad and ASI2600MM camera.
Veil Nebula a supernova remnant in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. This structure is about 2400 light years away from Earth. This gorgeous photo taken by club president John Reed shows clearly the delicate structure of the nebula. Taken with Meade 70mm f5 Quad and ASI2600MM camera.
Weather is looking like rain and cold this weekend but that doesn’t stop the Pocatello Astronomical Society from doing some observations. A few members decided to head to Crystal Summit tonight for some sky photos and binocular observations. Some very impressive shots of the core of the Milky Way were taken with astronomy applications from a cell phone. Binocular viewing was mainly focused on dark nebula and open clusters.
Brocchi’s Cluster also known as Collinder 399 was first on the list, a very interesting star cluster in Velpecula that takes on the appearance of a coat hanger. The sky at Crystal Summit had very good contrast and the North American Nebula, Pelican Nebula and Barnard’s “E” where particularly striking tonight.
Though the outing was only about 2 hours it was excellent and anytime we can get out of the city and see the majesty of the night sky is in my opinion an outstanding time.
Clear skies and keep looking up!
Taken by club President John Reed
