Leo Triplet of Galaxies

A week ago on March 17, the clear skies continued to be available and I decided to have a go at observing the Leo Triplet of galaxies consisting M 65, M 66 and NGC 3628. I have observed this trio before (see below) but I wanted to try this time with the Dwarf 3. It was two days to new moon at this time and the skies were nice and dark. Here is what I obtained after 459x15s (nearly 2 hours) of observation:-

 

M65 is in the centre of the frame. M66 is to the lower left of it and NCG 3628 (the Hamburger Galaxy) to the upper right. The other prominent galaxy at the far right of the image is NGC 3593. Here the gain was set to 60 and the astro filter was employed in the Dwarf 3. The image was subsequently processed in Stellar Studio using auto settings. Binned x2 and sharpened slightly in Photoshop. The first frame was taken at 20:07 UT and the last at 22:57 UT. Midpoint 21:32 UT. This group of galaxies also appears in Halton Arp's catalogue of peculiar galaxies (Arp 317).

Almost exactly ten years ago I obtained this image using my Celestron NexStar 102 SLT:-

 

This was 11 minutes of exposure (22x30s) using a D90 at prime focus (ISO 3200) and was taken on the 5th April 2016. There is obviously a problem with pink halos around the stars. For comparison I have rotated, scaled and cropped my Dwarf 3 image above to match this and this is the result:-

 

To get the same exposure on the Dwarf as 11 minutes on a 102mm aperture telescope I would need (102/35)²x11 = 93 minutes (around an hour and a half). I have gone a bit deeper than this but currently I think I know which telescope I would rather be using!

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster

In the constellation of Monoceros (The Unicorn) and not far from the border with Taurus and Orion is a large area of nebulosity that contains the open cluster NGC 2264 which has been dubbed the Christmas Tree Cluster. Just below this is a darker area of gas and dust which is called the Cone Nebula. I have tried a few times to image this with the Dwarf 3 but my most successful attempt came a week ago on the 14th March (one day after looking at M101). Here is what I obtained after 506x15s (just over two hours) of observation (you can 'click' on this image to see it in more detail):-

 

All auto settings were used on the Dwarf (which includes using the duo band filter) and in Stellar Studio. The image has been binned x2 and the gain and saturation increased slightly in Photoshop. The first frame was taken at 20:00 UT and the last at 22:46 UT. Midpoint 21:23 UT. 

The Cone Nebula is quite obvious from its shape at the bottom centre of this picture. The Christmas Tree Cluster is the group of bright blue stars that can be seen above this and are responsible for creating the red emission that covers a lot of this frame. There is also a smaller patch of blue reflection nebula. The shape of the Christmas Tree is not so easy to see in this orientation where north is roughly up. The base of the tree is the near brightest star in the centre of the field and its 'topper' is the blue star just above the tip of the Cone Nebula. I have rotated (through 180 degrees) and cropped the original image so that the shape is more obvious:-

Certainly, it looks to me like the nebula provides the shape of the fir tree and the cluster stars are the shining lights and ornaments. However, the stars do seem to make a tree shape in themselves with the brightest star being the bole of tree.

I like the fact that the full frame image contains patches of dark nebulae against a glowing background of red emission light and this is particularly noticeable in the top right (see the image at the top of this blog).

I said that I had tried to image this cluster before and I just want to refer to this. The first time was on the 11th March where I decided to attempt using the Dwarf in EQ (or equatorial) mode. This was supposed to enable you to take longer exposures than 15s and I attempted frames of 60s. However, out of 120 frames that I took 84 failed for one reason or another and I haven't yet got to the bottom of it. I suspect the longer exposure meant that either more satellites were captured crossing the field of view or the tracking wasn't up to scratch.

Anyway, here is the resulting 36x60s image:-

 

Here I used the duo-band filter and the gain was set to 70. Auto settings were used in Stellar Studio. The first frame was taken at 21:03 UT and the last at 22:54 UT. Again I have increased the gain and saturation somewhat in Photoshop. The image is binned x2. You can see that the red emission has not come out so strongly in this shorter overall exposure. However, what EQ mode does give you is a larger image in the vertical direction. This is because the frames are not suffering from the field rotation you get in Alt-Az mode. Also the star in the centre of the fame has come out a lot bluer in this image. EQ mode is a better way to go provided that the frame rejection rate comes down. Perhaps a 30s exposure would be better.

I also had a go at this cluster on the 13th March but I made the mistake of using the Visual filter (which wouldn't get me any of the red emission light). Here is the resulting 53x15s image:-

 

Here the gain was 60. The first frame was taken at 21:41 UT and the last at 21:58 UT. Again I have increased the gain and saturation somewhat in Photoshop. The image is binned x2.  Notice that the blue reflection nebula does come out quite well.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy

The good weather has continued recently and last Friday, the 13th March, we again had a good clear dark night (the moon was two days past last quarter). I thought I would try another object I haven't imaged before and this was Messier 101 - a face on spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. The galaxy makes an equilateral triangle with the two end stars of the bear's tail, Alioth and Mizar. After 472x15s this is what I obtained:-

You can see a larger version of this image if you 'click' on it. You can see the well-displayed spiral arms of this galaxy with its blue patches of newly formed stars. The galaxy is relatively nearby at 21 million light years from us (compare this to the 2.5 million light years distance of the Andromeda galaxy). All auto settings were used on the Dwarf (this includes the astro filter) and in Stellar Studio. The image has been binned x2 and the gain and saturation increased slightly in Photoshop. The first frame was taken at 22:08 UT and the last at 00:28 UT on the 14th. Midpoint 23:18.

There are a number of other smaller galaxies in the same field of view and below I include an annotated version of this image.

 All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026

Galaxies NGC 4460 and NGC 4449

The BAA Deep Sky Section's object of interest for this month is the lenticular galaxy NGC 4460 and it was suggested that if we wanted to try it we could include the irregular galaxy NGC 4449 in the same field of view. I enjoy these challenges as I like to see what I can achieve with my Dwarf 3 smartscope. On the 10th March we had some more clearish weather and the moon was then one day from last quarter. There was some intermittent cloud which caused a few of the images to be rejected. After 466x15s I obtained this image (centred on the point midway between the two galaxies):-

 

NGC 4460 is the lens-shaped object that lies near the bright star in the upper centre of this frame (the star is actually a double). The irregular starburst galaxy NGC4449 (also called the Box Galaxy) is right of centre and the brightest galaxy in this image (you can 'click' on this image to see a larger version of it). The first 15s frame was taken at 20:55 UT and the last at 23:33 UT. Midpoint 22:14 UT. Auto parameters were used in the Dwarf 3 and in processing the final image in Stellar Studio. There are a number of other galaxies that appear in this image and so below I have produced a version where I have labelled them all:-

 All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026

Messier 78 - a reflection nebula in Orion

Since the beginning of March we have had an improving weather prospect with the cloudy wet weather being left behind in January and February. Exactly two weeks ago, on the 3rd March, we had some clear skies to play with, all be it with a full moon that rose at 18:38 UT. Astronomical twilight on this date ended about 19:20 UT. The BAA Journal for February (Vol. 136, No. 1) had a nice picture of M78 and as I haven't imaged this object before I thought I would give it a go. I started observing with my Dwarf 3 at 19:39 UT and finished at 21:46 and this is what I obtained in 364x15s:-

 

This object is in Orion and lies to the north of Orion's belt. It is part of the Orion B Molecular Cloud Complex and it is illuminated by two hot B-type stars (see image below). You can see in this image how there is a dearth of stars running down the middle of the frame. This is because the cloud of dust and gas is blotting out the stars that are behind it. To produce the image auto parameters were used in the Dwarf and in the processing in Stellar Studio. The image has been binned x2 and the gain and the saturation increased slightly in Photoshop.

 

The areas of diffuse nebula around M78 are quite complex and the above image is a crop of the original unbinned image from the Dwarf 3. As well as M78 and its two illuminating B-type stars there are also NGC2071, NGC2067 and NGC 2064. Interestingly there is also a variable patch of illumination called McNeil's Nebula (marked) which at the moment cannot be seen. It was discovered in 2004 by Jay McNeil using a 3 inch telescope.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

California Nebula (NGC1499)

A week ago on the 16th February we had a brief period of clear weather in the evening and I thought I would have a go at observing the California Nebula (NGC1499). This is a large emission nebula in the constellation of Perseus that lies just north of Xi Persei (Menkib). It gets its name because the shape of the nebula looks like the outline of the state of California in the USA. The gas in the nebula is probably being excited by the light from Xi Persei which is a blue giant emitting copious amounts of UV. I went out with the Dwarf 3 about 9pm and this was the image I obtained after 183x15s (nearly 46 minutes) of observation:-

 

I used auto settings on the Dwarf and in Stellar Studio. The Duo Band filter was used to bring out the nebulosity. Binned x2 and modified in Photoshop to increase the gain and saturation. As the integration proceeded a lot of cloud kept coming and going, but the internal processing rejected those frames where cloud was present (very useful). The first image was at 21:06 UT and the last at 22.25 UT (midpoint 21:46). It was one day before new moon.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

Leo II Galaxy (UGC6253)

The BAA Deep Sky Section has monthly objects of interest for us to have a go at imaging and this month's is the Local Group galaxy Leo II. Leo II is one of 24 known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and was discovered in 1950 from an examination of the Palomar Sky Survey plates. It is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy that lies at about 210 kpc from our own. Four days ago on the 15th February after some dreadful weeks of cloudy wet weather we had a break in the clouds and I was able to have a go at imaging this galaxy. Fortunately, it was two days before new moon and the skies were nice and dark. I used my Dwarf 3 smartscope to observe this object and this is what I obtained after 253x15s (63.25 minutes) of integration:-

 

Leo II is the faint smudge of light in the centre of the field (you can enlarge this image by 'clicking on it'). With the Dwarf none of the stars in the galaxy are resolvable. This is not really surprising given the small aperture (35mm) of the Dwarf. Still, I was pleased that I could actually detect it. The first frame was taken st 22:45 UT and the last at 00:06 UT on the 16th. Midpoint was 23:26 UT. All auto parameters were used on the Dwarf and in the Stellar Studio for post processing. The image has been binned x2 and the gain increased in Photoshop slightly. Notice the galaxy to the right of the image. This is NGC3551 - an elliptical galaxy in Leo that is 150 Mpc from us (a tad further than Leo II). The bright star at the top left of the frame is 72 Leo which is an evolved bright giant star of spectral class M3II (you can see its organgey colour).

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026