On this page is my collection of pretty astronomical images taken with Case's Burrell Schmidt telescope at Kitt Peak. I have been involved with a project using the Schmidt to do ultra-deep imaging of the Virgo cluster of galaxies in order to detect intra-cluster light (ICL). You can look here for more info on the science aspects of the project . Many of these pictures come directly from that project and our rough at-the-telescope image reductions. Others I have taken during down time while I was observing (twilight, moonlight, thin cloud, etc.). Anyway, I kind of like them.
In most cases, the images are oriented approximately such that North is up and East is to the left, unless I made a stupid mistake (quite possible in one or two).
BVR ImagesTo get these images, I took images in three different filters (rVB, or red, green, blue) and stacked them to get pseudo-color images. I wouldn't exactly call these "real" colors, in that this is what they would look like if you actuall saw them with your eye, but it is an approximation to that and the standard way in which color images of astronomical objects are made. I forgot to rotate these properly, so North is right and East is up.
M31,M32,M110
The enormous galaxy which takes up the whole image, or over 2
sq. degrees on the sky, is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It's sort of
the Milky Way's big brother, and our nearest neighbor of any
significance. The dwarf galaxy to the left is M32, and to the lower
right is M110. Both are companions to M31.
M33
This is M33, also a member of the Local Group, sort of the Milky Way's
little brother. It's a brilliant little spiral, and this image is
over half a degree on a side.
These are huge extended emission nebulae, which are glowing clouds of gas nearby in our galaxy. The three images I currently have were each taken in March 2007 in the Washington M (basically V) filter. They each have a pixel scale of 3 arcsec/pixel,
The Great Orion Nebula, M42 and M43
The Lagoon Nebula, M8
The Pleiades, M45
These are all images of galaxies I have taken with the Schmidt. I find galaxies the most interesting astronomical objects, that's why I study them and that's why I take lots of pictures of them. These images come from several different observing runs spanning 2005-2007; most are in the Washington M (basically V) filter, but a few are in r. All images have a pixel scale of 1.5 arcsec/pixel.
M101, The Pinwheel Galaxy
M81, Bode's Galaxy
IC342
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M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy
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M106
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M58
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NGC3109
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M59
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M60
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M61
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M64, Blackeye Galaxy
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M65
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M66
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M74
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M77
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M82, Cigar Galaxy
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M83, Southern Pinwheel Galaxy
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M85
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M87, Virgo A
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M89
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M91
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M94
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M95
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M96
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M100
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M102
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M104, The Sombrero Galaxy
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M105, with companions
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M108
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M109, One of my favorites!
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NGC1232
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NGC1253
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NGC1275, and the Perseus Cluster
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NGC2403
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NGC2613
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NGC2683
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NGC2835
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NGC2841
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NGC2903
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NGC2976
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NGC3079
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NGC4038 and NGC 4039, The Antennae
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NGC3115
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NGC3169 (left)
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NGC3184
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NGC3628
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NGC3718
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NGC4565, another favorite
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NGC4754 and NGC4762
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NGC936
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Leo I
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IC2531
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IC2574
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I have taken a few images of objects that aren't galaxies just for a little variety. Again, these are mostly in the Washington M fitler, with a couple in r; pixel scale of 1.5 arcsec/pixel.
M1, The Crab Nebula, supernova remnant
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M4, Globular Cluster
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M5, Globular Cluster
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M15, Globular Cluster
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Created by Craig Rudick, 2006.
Last modified 04/09/07.