My Seestar S50 Caldwell challenge

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I am posting in Gordon's EAA Messier contest/challenge and decided to also start my own with the Seestar S50 but doing the Caldwell Catalog.

With many objects in the southern hemisphere I will not be able to get them all without traveling, which won't happen LOL.

All the images in the spreadsheet will be done using the internal processing on the Seestar S50 only. Most of the time I will be also adding to the thread as I post each Caldwell object and in the post I will often add the same image but post processed as well as the originals. The Seestar images are good for beginners or casual astro imagers but by using post processing you can really draw more info from the images.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 13 Open Cluster -
NGC 457 (also designated Caldwell 13, and known as the Dragonfly Cluster, E.T. Cluster, Owl Cluster, Kachina Doll Cluster or Phi Cassiopeiae Cluster)[2] is an open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia.

It lies over 7,900 light years away from the Sun. It has an estimated age of 21 million years.[1] The cluster is sometimes referred by amateur astronomers as the Owl Cluster[4] or the E.T. Cluster (due to its resemblance to the movie character). Two bright stars Phi Cassiopeiae (magnitude 5 and spectral type F0) and HD 7902 (magnitude 7) can be imagined as eyes. It is not yet clear if Phi Cassiopeiae is a member of the cluster, and if it is, then it would be one of the brightest stars known, surpassing Rigel in luminosity. For comparison, the Sun at the same distance as Phi Cassiopeiae would shine at just 17.3 magnitude. The next brightest star is the red supergiant variable star V466 Cassiopeiae. The cluster features a rich field of about 150 stars of magnitude 9-13. About 60 stars have been identified as true members of the cluster.

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 14 -
The Double Cluster (also known as Caldwell 14) consists of the open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884 (often designated h Persei and χ (chi) Persei, respectively), which are close together in the constellation Perseus. Both visible with the naked eye, NGC 869 and NGC 884 lie at a distance of about 7,500 light years in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

Greek astronomer Hipparchus cataloged the object (a patch of light in Perseus) as early as 130 BCE. To Bedouin Arabs the cluster marked the tail of the smaller of two fish they visualized in this area, and it was shown on illustrations in Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars.[4] However, the true nature of the Double Cluster was not discovered until the invention of the telescope, many centuries later. In the early 19th century William Herschel was the first to recognize the object as two separate clusters. The Double Cluster is not included in Messier's catalog, but is included in the Caldwell catalogue of popular deep-sky objects.[5][6]

The clusters were designated h Persei and χ Persei by Johann Bayer in his Uranometria (1603).[7] It is sometimes claimed that Bayer did not resolve the pair into two patches of nebulosity, and that χ refers to the Double Cluster and h to a nearby star.[8] Bayer's Uranometria chart for Perseus does not show them as nebulous objects, but his chart for Cassiopeia does, and they are described as Nebulosa Duplex in Schiller's Coelum Stellatum Christianum, which was assembled with Bayer's help

The Double Cluster is circumpolar (continuously above the horizon) from most northern temperate latitudes. It is in proximity to the constellation Cassiopeia. This northern location renders this object invisible from locations south of about 30º south latitude, such as New Zealand, most of Australia and South Africa. The Double Cluster is approximately the radiant of the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks annually around August 12 or 13. Although easy to locate in the northern sky, observing the Double Cluster in its two parts requires optical aid. They are described as being an "awe-inspiring" and "breathtaking" sight, and are often cited as a target in astronomy observer's guides

C14 stacked by Seestar and C14 post processed

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 23 -

NGC 891 (also known as Caldwell 23, the Silver Sliver Galaxy, and the Outer Limits Galaxy) is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 6, 1784.[3] The galaxy is a member of the NGC 1023 group of galaxies in the Local Supercluster. It has an H II nucleus.[4]

The object is visible in small to moderate size telescopes as a faint elongated smear of light with a dust lane visible in larger apertures.

In 1999, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged NGC 891 in infrared.

In 2005, due to its attractiveness and scientific interest, NGC 891 was selected to be the first light image of the Large Binocular Telescope.[5][6] In 2012, it was again used as a first light image of the Lowell Discovery Telescope with the Large Monolithic Imager.[7]

Supernova SN 1986J was discovered on August 21, 1986 at apparent magnitude 14

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 31 -

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula[1] in the constellation Auriga north of the celestial equator, surrounding the bluish, irregular variable star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05h 16.2m dec +34° 28′.[2] It is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae.

The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth.[2] It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area.[2] The nebula is about 5 light-years across

[Bigzmey]

Sounds like a fun project Ben. I believe I have observed quite few targets on the Caldwell list. Just never tried to keep the count.

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 43
NGC 7814 (also known as UGC 8 or Caldwell 43) is a spiral galaxy about 40 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. The galaxy is seen edge-on from Earth. It is sometimes referred to as "the little sombrero", a miniature version of Messier 104. The star field behind NGC 7814 is known for its density of faint, remote galaxies as can be seen in the image here, in the same vein as the Hubble Deep Field.

It's among the few bright galaxies that exhibit modest distortion and twisting of the galaxy's plane in optical wavelengths. The light from the distant background galaxies becomes more red as it passes through NGC 7814's halo. This has been used to determine the amount of gas and dust in the halo

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

C49 the Rosette left side

The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.

The nebula has been noted to be having a shape reminiscent of a human skull, and is sometimes referred to as the "Skull Nebula." It is not to be confused with NGC 246, which is also nicknamed the "Skull Nebula

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

C50 the center and right side of the Rosette

The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.

The nebula has been noted to be having a shape reminiscent of a human skull, and is sometimes referred to as the "Skull Nebula." It is not to be confused with NGC 246, which is also nicknamed the "Skull Nebula

C50 live stack . . . . . . . .. .. . C50 Pixinsight and LR

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 53 - galaxy

NGC 3115 (also called the Spindle Galaxy or Caldwell 53) is a field lenticular (S0) galaxy in the constellation Sextans. The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on February 22, 1787.[4][5] At about 32 million light-years away from Earth, it is several times bigger than the Milky Way. It is a lenticular (S0) galaxy because it contains a disk and a central bulge of stars, but without a detectable spiral pattern. NGC 3115 is seen almost exactly edge-on, but was nevertheless mis-classified as elliptical. There is some speculation that NGC 3115, in its youth, was a quasar.

One supernova has been observed in NGC 3115: SN 1935B (type and mag. unknown)

In 1992 John Kormendy of the University of Hawaii and Douglas Richstone of the University of Michigan announced what was observed to be a supermassive black hole in the galaxy.[8] Based on orbital velocities of the stars in its core, the central black hole has mass measured to be approximately one billion solar masses (M☉). The galaxy appears to have mostly old stars and little or no activity. The growth of its black hole has also stopped.

In 2011, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory examined the black hole at the center of the large galaxy. A flow of hot gas toward the supermassive black hole has been imaged, making this the first time clear evidence for such a flow has been observed in any black hole. As gas flows toward the black hole, it becomes hotter and brighter. The researchers found the rise in gas temperature begins at about 700 light years from the black hole, giving the location of the Bondi radius. This suggests that the black hole in the center of NGC 3115 has a mass of about two billion M☉, supporting previous results from optical observations. This would make NGC 3115 the nearest billion-solar-mass black hole to Earth


C53 stacked in Seestar ...................................................C53 Pixinsight

[Graeme1858]

That's a great start to your Caldwell collection.

The catalogue has many impressive looking members. I look forward to seeing this progress.

Graeme

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 18 -

NGC 185 (also known as Caldwell 18) is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy located 2.08 million light-years from Earth, appearing in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is a member of the Local Group, and is a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).[6] NGC 185 was discovered by William Herschel on November 30, 1787, and he cataloged it "H II.707".[6] John Herschel observed the object again in 1833 when he cataloged it as "h 35", and then in 1864 when he cataloged it as "GC 90" within his General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters.[6] NGC 185 was first photographed between 1898 and 1900 by James Edward Keeler with the Crossley Reflector of Lick Observatory.[6] Unlike most dwarf elliptical galaxies, NGC 185 contains young stellar clusters, and star formation proceeded at a low rate until the recent past. NGC 185 has an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is usually classified as a type 2 Seyfert galaxy,[7] though its status as a Seyfert is questioned.[8] It is possibly the closest Seyfert galaxy to Earth, and is the only known Seyfert in the Local Group.

C18 stacked by Seestar S50 C18 tweaked in Lightroom

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 28 -

NGC 752 (also known as Caldwell 28) is an open cluster in the constellation Andromeda. The cluster was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783 and cataloged by her brother William Herschel in 1786, although an object that may have been NGC 752 was described by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654.[4]

The large cluster lies 1,400 light-years away from the Earth and is easily seen through binoculars, although it may approach naked eye visibility under good observing conditions. A telescope reveals about 60 stars no brighter than 9th magnitude within NGC 752.

C28 stacked by Seestar S50 .......................... C28 tweaked by Lightroom

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Caldwell 41 -

The Hyades (/ˈhaɪ.ədiːz/; Greek Ὑάδες, also known as Caldwell 41, Collinder 50, or Melotte 25) is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters. Located about 153 light-years (47 parsecs)[1][2][3][4] away from the Sun, it consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds of stars sharing the same age, place of origin, chemical characteristics, and motion through space.[1][5] From the perspective of observers on Earth, the Hyades Cluster appears in the constellation Taurus, where its brightest stars form a "V" shape along with the still-brighter Aldebaran. However, Aldebaran is unrelated to the Hyades, as it is located much closer to Earth and merely happens to lie along the same line of sight.

The five brightest member stars of the Hyades have consumed the hydrogen fuel at their cores and are now evolving into giant stars.[6] Four of these stars, with Bayer designations Gamma, Delta 1, Epsilon, and Theta Tauri, form an asterism that is traditionally identified as the head of Taurus the Bull.[6] The fifth of these stars is Theta1 Tauri, a tight naked-eye companion to the brighter Theta2 Tauri. Epsilon Tauri, known as Ain (the "Bull's Eye"), has a gas giant exoplanet candidate,[7] the first planet to be found in any open cluster.

The age of the Hyades is estimated to be about 625 million years.[1] The core of the cluster, where stars are the most densely packed, has a radius of 8.8 light-years (2.7 parsecs), and the cluster's tidal radius – where the stars become more strongly influenced by the gravity of the surrounding Milky Way galaxy – is 33 light-years (10 parsecs).[1] However, about one-third of confirmed member stars have been observed well outside the latter boundary, in the cluster's extended halo; these stars are probably in the process of escaping from its gravitational influence

Caldwell 41 stacked by Seestar ............................. C41 tweaked in Lightroom

[jrkirkham]

Impressive!

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Still waiting on the clouds to clear, there was one clear night and I tried to image but the wind was bad in fact a 20 mph gust blew my scope right off the platform and down 7 feet to land on some bricks, knocked the side right off it.

[Graeme1858]

Scary stuff!

Does the Seestar still see?

Graeme

[jrkirkham]

Thank you for the update. How much damage did your Seestar take?

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Thank you for the update. How much damage did your Seestar take?

Scary stuff!

Does the Seestar still see?

Graeme

I put the side back on, ignored the gouges in the bottom below the lens, seems to work in all directions and found the sun and imaged it, still waiting for a clear night to make sure DSO finding and tracking and imaging works.
Seems to be ok "takes a licking and keeps on ticking"