Time for some astronomy. I have to say the more I see the amateur images taken with webcams and similar the more I wish I'd spent my money on that hobby and not on my computing one! :-) I think my next to get list will have to be astronomical based.
Ok, onto the Astronomy!
Dumbbell Nebula M27
This image was taken by Jim Thommes who is a very prominent member of QCUIAG (QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group). He has taken some wonderful images, especially with the equipment he is using. This one is a great example, but probably not his best work.
M27 (NGC6853), "Dumbbell Nebula" is a noted planetary nebula in the constellation of Vulpecula just south of Cygnus. Its odd shape has given this nickname. The nebula is bright and large and so can easily be seen with binoculars. The nebula is about 970 light years away, and luminous owing to a white dwarf star at the center with magnitude of 13.
The original image and info on how the picture was taken can be found [here]
Trifid Nebula M20
Again this image was taken by Jim Thommes. I have to say this guy has become somewhat of a legend to me. He takes some absolutely stunning pictures with, at times the most basic of equipment. Well anything is basic in comparison to the Hubble which takes probably the best images.
Charles Messier discovered this object on June 5, 1764, and described it as a cluster of stars of 8th to 9th magnitude, enveloped in nebulosity. The name `Trifid' was first used by John Herschel to describe this nebula.
I actually posted similar to this on another site and a friend mentioned to me how close the lagoon nebula is.
M8, M20 and M21
Taken from the Digital Sky Survey Messier collection of Bill Arnett [more info here]
The Lagoon Nebula (M8) is almost dead centre, the Trifid Nebula (M20) is at the top to the right of centre, and bottom left corner is the open cluster (M21). The field is 3 degrees which if I remember right is good for binoculars. If anyone wants more detailed instructions on how to find this with binoculars just say but this is quite low in the UK.
For more images taken by Jim Thommes see his great website [here]
