2. Astronomy

NIGHT OVER ONTARIO

These photos were taken by Lynn Hilborn of Grafton, Ontario.
Pictures have appeared on the cover and inside editions of SkyNews magazine and in Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazine, and as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day.

“ Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,”
W.B.Yeats



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Arp 240 interacting galaxies....Hubble Space Telescope data from the Hubble Legacy Archive processed by Lynn Hilborn, March 27,2013.<br /> NGC 5257/8 (Arp 240) is an astonishing galaxy pair, composed of spiral galaxies of similar mass and size, NGC 5257 and NGC 5258. The galaxies are visibly interacting with each other via a bridge of dim stars connecting the two galaxies, almost like two dancers holding hands while performing a pirouette. Both galaxies harbor supermassive black holes in their centers and are actively forming new stars in their disks. Arp 240 is located in the constellation Virgo, approximately 300 million light-years away, and is the 240th galaxy in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. With the exception of a few foreground stars from our own Milky Way all the objects in this image are galaxies.<br /> Data from the Hubble Legacy Archive established by the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.
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Arp 240 interacting galaxies....Hubble Space Telescope data from the Hubble Legacy Archive processed by Lynn Hilborn, March 27,2013.
NGC 5257/8 (Arp 240) is an astonishing galaxy pair, composed of spiral galaxies of similar mass and size, NGC 5257 and NGC 5258. The galaxies are visibly interacting with each other via a bridge of dim stars connecting the two galaxies, almost like two dancers holding hands while performing a pirouette. Both galaxies harbor supermassive black holes in their centers and are actively forming new stars in their disks. Arp 240 is located in the constellation Virgo, approximately 300 million light-years away, and is the 240th galaxy in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. With the exception of a few foreground stars from our own Milky Way all the objects in this image are galaxies.
Data from the Hubble Legacy Archive established by the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.

  • Irregular Galaxy IC10 taken by Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obs, Grafton,Ontario on August 28,29 and September 3,2013.<br /> TEC140 @f5.3 and FLI ML8300 camera.Lum 1x1 29x10m , RGB 2x2 9x10m each, Ha 2x2 6x30m.<br /> Lurking behind dust and stars near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, IC 10 is a mere 2.3 million light-years distant. Even though its light is dimmed by intervening dust, the irregular dwarf galaxy still shows off vigorous star-forming regions that shine with a telltale reddish glow in this colorful skyscape. In fact, also a member of the Local Group of galaxies, IC 10 is the closest known starburst galaxy. Compared to other Local Group galaxies, IC 10 has a large population of newly formed stars that are massive and intrinsically very bright, including a luminous X-ray binary star system thought to contain a black hole. Located within the boundaries of the northern constellation Cassiopeia, IC 10 is about 5,000 light-years across. Text from APOD Astronomy Photo of the Day.
  • Colourful galaxy and colourful stars- NGC5033 and starry companions. Taken by Lynn Hilborn, April 18 and May 19,2012 and processed June 2013. TEC 140 @f7 and FLI ML8300 camera. LRGB image ( L1x1 14x10m, RGB 2x2 8x5m each)<br /> <br /> Magnificent island universe NGC 5033 lies some 40 million light-years away in the well-trained northern constellation Canes Venatici. This telescopic portrait reveals striking details of dust lanes winding near the galaxy's bright core and majestic but relatively faint spiral arms. Speckled with pink star forming regions and massive blue star clusters, the arms span over 100,000 light-years, similar in size to our own spiral Milky Way. A well-studied example of the class of Seyfert active galaxies, NGC 5033 has a core that is very bright and variable. The emission is likely powered by a supermassive black hole. The bright nucleus and rotational center of the galaxy also seem to be slightly offset, suggesting NGC 5033 is the result of an ancient galaxy merger. Text from APOD, Astronomy Photo of the Day.
  • M63 Sunflower Galaxy<br /> Taken by Lynn Hilborn, March 30 and April 29, 2013. TEC 140 @f7 and FLI ML8300 camera with Baader filters. Tak NJP Temma2 mount. WhistleStop Obs,Grafton, Ontario.<br /> LRGB with Ha.
  • C\2011 Panstarrs 7 x 3 minute exposures June 3, 2013 at 11:30pm. Canon 60D modified with Canon f2.8 200mm lens, ISO 1600, 180 seconds each. Guided on NJP mount. Taken by Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obs, Grafton,Ontario.<br /> Combined in Registar (Median\Mean) to remove major plane trails in 4 of the 7 exposures ... this is the eastern flight path out of Toronto with the trans atlantic night departures.
  • Meteor over house ( and 3 planes). Canon 6d (modified), single 30 second exposure, Samyang 14mm lens @f2.8, 3200 ISO.<br /> Image taken by Lynn Hilborn, Grafton, Ontario, May 24,2014 at 2:27am.
  • Star Streams detected in NGC 4216....on a whim I decided to attempted this 50 minute (5x10m) image to see if I could detect faint star streams caused by NGC 4126 ( the main galaxy) cannibalizing smaller satellite galaxies. Note the VERY dim stream at 6 o'clock below the galaxy...see the APOD image for comparison.<br /> This faint stream has been captured with very deep images of the galaxy..see APOD <br /> <a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101127.html">http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101127.html</a><br /> It is somewhat amazing with a 140mm scope and less than an hour we can see the beginnings of this star stream.<br /> Image taken by Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obs, Grafton,Ontario on March 06, 2013. TEC 140 and ML 8300 camera.<br /> Perhaps if I spend 20 hours or so we can build enough signal to see the full stream.....
  • See blog of this picture by the Editor of ASTRONOMY MAGAZINE <a href="http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/daves-universe/archive/2013/05/28/amateur-astronomer-captures-gravitational-streamers-from-galaxy.aspx">http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/daves-universe/archive/2013/05/28/amateur-astronomer-captures-gravitational-streamers-from-galaxy.aspx</a><br /> <br /> Splinter Galaxy NGC5907 with extended stellar tidal stream - 21.5 hours of exposure. TEC 140 @f7 and FLI ML8300 camera with Baader filters. Taken by Lynn Hilborn,WhistleStop Obs, Grafton, Ontario on May 1,3,4,5, 2013. <br /> <br /> An extended stellar tidal stream around spiral galaxy NGC5097, the resukt of a galactic merger with a smaller satellite galaxy. Extremely faint !<br /> Lum 1x1 24x10min.<br /> Lum 2x2 28x30min <br /> RGB 2x2 7x10min each.
  • 14mm Samyang f2.8 lens on ML8300 camera 10 minutes in Ha. Taken by Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obs, Grafton<br /> March 5, 2014
  • Arp 240 interacting galaxies....Hubble Space Telescope data from the Hubble Legacy Archive processed by Lynn Hilborn, March 27,2013.<br /> NGC 5257/8 (Arp 240) is an astonishing galaxy pair, composed of spiral galaxies of similar mass and size, NGC 5257 and NGC 5258. The galaxies are visibly interacting with each other via a bridge of dim stars connecting the two galaxies, almost like two dancers holding hands while performing a pirouette. Both galaxies harbor supermassive black holes in their centers and are actively forming new stars in their disks. Arp 240 is located in the constellation Virgo, approximately 300 million light-years away, and is the 240th galaxy in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. With the exception of a few foreground stars from our own Milky Way all the objects in this image are galaxies.<br /> Data from the Hubble Legacy Archive established by the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.
  • NGC 602 taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. Data processed by Lynn Hilborn on March 05, 2013.<br /> <br /> Data from the Hubble Legacy Archive established by the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.<br /> <br /> Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region. Fantastic ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the picture spans about 200 light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are also visible in the sharp Hubble view. The background galaxies are hundreds of millions of light-years or more beyond NGC 602. Description credited to APOD (Astronomy Photo of the Day)
  • Hubble Space Telescope data processed by Lynn Hilborn<br /> No, this is not a Salvador Dali painting, it is galaxy cluster Abell 68 showing gravitational lens effect.<br /> Want to use a cluster of galaxies as a telescope? It's easier than you might think as distant galaxy clusters naturally act as strong gravitional lenses. In accordance with Einstein's theory of general relativity, the cluster gravitational mass, dominated by dark matter, bends light and creates magnified, distorted images of even more distant background galaxies. This sharp infrared Hubble image illustrates the case for galaxy cluster Abell 68 as a gravitational telescope. Description from APOD see <a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130308.html">http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130308.html</a><br /> <br /> Data from the Hubble Legacy Archive established by the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.
  • M16 (Eagle Nebula-lower right) to IC1287(blue reflection nebula-upper left) Sharpless 54 (mid-right)<br /> 200mm Canon f2.8 and FLI ML8300 camera -30<br /> Baader filters, NJP mount<br /> WhistleStop Obs by Lynn Hilborn<br /> July 17, 21, 2014<br /> Lum 10x10m 1x1, RGB 8x5m 1x1, Ha 3x 15m 1x1<br /> SAO161430 centre star
  • Galaxies M81 and M82 reprocessed February 2013.<br /> Taken by Lynn Hilborn on Feb 22, 2011..RGB 5mx12,L 10mx16,Ha 20mx6 all 2x2 TEC140 @f7, ML8300 camera. WhistleStop Obs, Grafton,Ontario<br /> In this stunning cosmic vista, galaxy M81 is on the left surrounded by blue spiral arms. On the right marked by massive gas and dust clouds, is M82. These two mammoth galaxies have been locked in gravitational combat for the past billion years. The gravity from each galaxy dramatically affects the other during each hundred million-year pass. Last go-round, M82's gravity likely raised density waves rippling around M81, resulting in the richness of M81's spiral arms. But M81 left M82 with violent star forming regions and colliding gas clouds so energetic the galaxy glows in X-rays. In a few billion years only one galaxy will remain. Description from APOD (Astronomy Photo of the Day).
  • M95 and M96 galaxies, RGB 8x5min 2x2 -30 each, Lum 8x10min 1x1.<br /> TEC 140@f7, ML 8300 camera, Baader filters, NJP Temma2 mount<br /> Feb 09, 2013 by Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obs, Grafton
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  • NGC 1055 galaxy (left) and M77 galaxy (right). LRGB Lum 12x10m 1x1, RGB each 6x10m 1x1. RGB taken Dec 5, Lum taken Dec 19, 2012 (half moon). Taken with TEC 140 @ f7 and ML 8300 camera with Baader filters and Tak NJP mount Temma2. Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obhs, Grafton Ontario.
  • IC 342 Face on spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis. Image taken by Lynn Hilborn WhistleStop Obs, Grafton, Ontario on October 12 and 26,2012. LHaRGB ( Lum 23x15m, bin 1x1, RGB 18x5m, bin 2x2, Ha 5x15m, bin 2x2). Taken with TEC 140 @f7 and FLI ML8300 camera with Baader filters on a Tak NJP Temma2 mount. Published in SkyNews, Jan 2013 edition.<br /> <br /> At a relatively close distance of 6.5 million light years IC342 would be one of the brightest galaxies in the sky if it weren't for its untoward location, only 10.5 degrees from the galactic equator (Milky Way disc plane). Obscured by the interstellar matter of the Milky Way, its light is heavily attenuated (by 2.4 magnitudes) before it reaches us and its field is cluttered with foreground Milky Way stars. IC342 is a member of the nearby IC 342/Maffei group. This loosely arranged group contains about 16 members including the two dominant members, IC 342 and Maffei 1. It represents the nearest grouping of galaxies to our local group and evidence tells of an interaction with the local group some eight billion years ago. The most luminous galaxies in the group are the giant spiral IC 342, the elliptical Maffei 1, and the intermediate spiral Maffei 2. Maffei 1 is the nearest normal giant elliptical galaxy to the local group but is also optically dim having its light extinguished 5.3 magnitudes by the Milky Way.<br /> <br /> IC 342 is an open two armed spiral and the closest galaxy to the Milky Way with a circumnuclear starburst ring. The cluster of stars near the nucleus formed in a short lived burst some 60 million years ago. Most likely the starburst was triggered by gas inflows into the central 1000 light years of the galaxy driven by the presence of a small scale bar. The newly arrived dense gas formed a central ring which triggered the starburst and now surrounds the nuclear starburst region. At least 5 prominent giant molecular clouds have been found associated with the molecular ring along with several large star forming regions. A prominent feature of IC342 is the numerous and very visible HII regions. IC 342 rivals M81 and M33 among local galaxies in the number of visible HII regions. Probably they are made more apparent by the relative extinction of the shorter wavelength light by the intervening interstellar dust of the Milky Way. Text by Robert Gendler.
  • M78 Reflection nebula. 16 hours of exposure taken by Lynn Hilborn, WhistleStop Obs, Grafton, Ontario. TEC 140 @f7 and FLI ML8300 camera on Takahashi NJP mount. LRGB each 160m and Ha 300m all binned 1x1. Imaged Nov 2011 thru Jan 2012. Image appears in Sky and Telescope magazine May 2012 and back cover Royal Astronomical Society of Canada magazine Journal, April 2012. <br /> <br /> An eerie blue glow and ominous columns of dark dust highlight M78 and other bright reflection nebula in the constellation of Orion. The dark filamentary dust not only absorbs light, but also reflects the light of several bright blue stars that formed recently in the nebula. Of the two reflection nebulas pictured above, the more famous nebula is M78, the upper , while NGC 2071 can be seen below. The same type of scattering that colors the daytime sky further enhances the blue color. M78 is about five light-years across and visible through a small telescope. M78 appears above only as it was 1600 years ago, however, because that is how long it takes light to go from there to here. M78 belongs to the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that contains the Great Nebula in Orion and the Horsehead Nebula. Text, with thanks, from APOD see<br /> <a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080318.html">http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080318.html</a><br /> Thanks for looking
  • Antares and Rho Ophucius region with M4 globular cluster<br /> 32x5m Canon 60D modded at 800 ISO and Canon 200mm f2.8 lens @ f4.0<br /> Mount EQ6 with SSAG guider in 50mm finder.<br /> Taken by Lynn Hilborn at WhistleStop Obs, Grafton,Ontario on June 13,14, 2012. Picture appeared in November 2012 SkyNews magazine.
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