On October the 13th 1773, while observing a comet, the French astronomer Charles Messier discovered what he described as a “very faint nebula without stars”. Catalogued as Messier 51, this nebulous object is actually a large spiral galaxy over 37 million light years away. Under dark skies this island universe is said to be a spectacular sight, but if like me you are trying to view this galactic gem under light polluted conditions; then you’re in for a struggle.
I have endeavored to observe M51 at least four times since I returned to amateur astronomy. Each attempt has left me empty handed, but despite my lack of success I have never abandoned my hope of one day catching a glimpse of this distant galaxy.
Whether it was kismet, experience, or blind luck; the tenuous outline of Messier 51 finally gave itself up to my 25×100 binoculars on the morning of July the 30th. Unfortunately it was to be a fleeting encounter as a colourless brume crept over the sky and obscured the view.
While I waited for the clouds to dissipate I spent my time watching, and photographing Mars as it rose above the eastern horizon along with Venus. Sadly the deteriorating conditions finally overwhelmed the sky; forcing me to pack up and call it quits for another time.
Mars and Venus Rising: Mouseover the image for more information.
Two for the Price of One
As luck would have it the following morning offered some clear skies with another opportunity to tackle M51. This time the elements proved far more agreeable, and allowed me the chance to build on my previous observation. As my eyes adapted to the dark, the subtle contour of M51 began to materialise as an opaque asymmetrical ellipse; which over time began to take on the shape of two uneven lobes.
This completely blew me away because I knew that the smaller of the two lobes was in fact the interacting dwarf galaxy NGC 5195. It was this small companion — after a close encounter between the two galaxies — that helped enhance the pronounced spiral structure of Messier 51.
Adding to this already impressive scene, averted vision revealed the minute cores of both galaxies flickering in and out of view like far flung sky lanterns. A display that was made all the more interesting with the knowledge that at the centre of M51 lies a monstrous black hole which is devouring and tearing matter apart at an incredible rate.
All good things must come to an end, as is so often the case, and 42 minutes after beginning my session a veil of cloud rolled in from the west bringing my observation of this long sought, and rewarding deep sky object, to a close.
Tags: Aldebaran, Canes Venatici, DSLR, Galaxy, Mars, Messier 51, NGC 5195, Strathspey 25x100, Venus
Posted in Astrophotography, Observing | No Comments »
Clouds, clouds and More clouds! The weather up here in Scotland really has not been the best and I have been unable to undertake any observations since last Thursday’s (28.08.08) exceptionally clear night. So, since the weather hasn’t been all that great I decided that I would share some of my 3d Mars renders that I have been working on over the last several weeks.
I’m sure you’ll agree, Mars is a pretty popular planet at the moment and it is fast become a hotbed of new discoveries and breakthroughs. The subject of intense scrutiny - we send probe after probe to this dusty red planet in a desperate attempt to peel away the closely guarded secrets that Mars has held on to over the decades.
The search for water has become a priority not just for Martian exploration but for future space missions that will be sent to the far flung corners of the solar system, for the simple reason that where you find water, you usually find life. Mars certainly has water, in the form of dry ice, but did this ancient world support liquid water at some point in it’s distant past and does Mars still support liquid water that is possibly locked away deep under the Martian surface? The fundamental question though that is at the forefront of the scientific communitys’ mind is undoubtedly: is there life on Mars? The answer to that question: only time will tell.
The image above was rendered in Blender 2.46 and shows Mars around the end of the Noachian epoch - a phase in the geological formation of Mars between 4 billion to 3.5 billion years ago. It was during this epoch that the oldest existing surface features of the planet were formed. Extensive water flooding may also have occurred late on in the period which helped shape the surface of Mars that we see today. Whether this water flooding happened or not is still a point of contention and there are various theories concerning the early and present hydrology of the planet, but it certainly is tantalizing to imagine how this kind of Mars might have looked all those billions of years ago.
Whether Mars does or did harbor some sort of primitive life is another matter. If the promise of life on another world in our solar system can be fulfilled then it would put our place in the universe in a whole new context. It would mean that the possibility of life elsewhere in our galaxy is not just a plausible idea, it is a very real one. With the large number of exo-planets that have been discovered in recent years, surely there has to be life out there somewhere.
Tags: Blender, Mars, Noachian Epoch
Posted in Astro Art | No Comments »
