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NGC-4889 and a few friends gathered in Coma Berenices for this image. Also known as Abell 1656, The Coma Galaxy Cluster. It is joined by NGC-4874 to make quite a site. This cluster has more than 1000 galaxies in it. How many can you count?  Exposure was L=120 min. with a 14.5" RCOS.  

NGC-2403 is a faint Spiral Galaxy in Camelopardalis. It is about 12 million light years away. It has a small dim nucleus and open spiral arms.

This image was taken on 11-24-08 from Fort Davis. Taken with a 14.5" RCOS and the SBIG STL-6303 camera.  Exposure was L=90 min. and RGB=30 min. each.

NGC-4631 (right) is a huge edge on spiral galaxy located in Canes Venatici. It is distorted by its small elliptical companion, NGC-4627. The pair is also listed in the Arp Catalog as ARP 281. It is also known as The Whale and Pup. It lies about 25 million light years away.   NGC-4656 (top left) is also know as the Hockey Stick.  The gravitational tug-of-war has warped the shape of this galaxy. Image taken  with a Takahashi FS-128 and the ST-10XME.

NGC-3521 is a spiral galaxy located in Leo and lies about 35 million light years away. It has a very bright core. It also has an extensive halo above and below the plane of its spiral arms.  Several other small galaxies can be seen in the background.

NGC-4088 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy forms a physical pair with NGC-4085. It is also listed in the ARP Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 18. Exposure was L=65 min. and RGB= 25 min. each. 

M-104, is also known as the Sombrero Galaxy because of its appearance, is located in Virgo. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane, or band of dust in the galactic disc. From Earth, it is seen nearly edge-on. The dark dust lane in the disk and the prominent round bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. It lies about 29 million light years away. Many small faint galaxies can be seen in the background.

M-95 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It  lies about 38 million light years from Earth. The center of the galaxy contains a ring-shaped star forming region.

M-94 is a spiral galaxy located iatici. It has a very bright center. The outer zone has a spiral pattern with two prominent dust lanes and numerous star clouds. It lies about 15 million light years away. Exposure was L=70 min. and RGB=25 min. each.n Canes Ven

NGC-3628 is a Spiral Galaxy located in Leo. It is part of the Trio in Leo group. It  is seen edge-on. A  band of dark dust clouds form a broad equatorial band, which obscures the galaxy's bright central region, and hides most of the bright young stars in its spiral arms. The dust band, or belt, is obviously distorted and deformed in the outer regions of the galaxy. The reason for this deformation is evidently the gravitational interaction with its two bright neighbors, M65 and M66. This image was taken on 4-3-08 Exposure was L=60min. and RGB= 20 min. each.

NGC-3718 (Arp 214) has an unusual shape and is known as a lenticular galaxy. Lower right is NGC-3729. They are located in Ursa Major. They lie about 52 million light years away. NGC-3718 has a dust lane that sweeps through its bright central region and out into its faint spiral arms.  Exposure was L=120 min. and RGB=25 min. each. Taken from Ft. Davis on Feb. 8th 2008. 

  M-81 is also known as Bode's Galaxy. It is located in Ursa Major and is one of the brightest in the night sky. It has a very bright center with faint arms spiraling out from the main body. Exposure was L=120 min. and RGB=30 min. each

 NGC-925 is a  barred spiral galaxy located in Triangulum.  It lies about 30 Million Light Years away. Exposure was L=60 min. and RGB=25 min. each. Sky conductions were only fair. Taken with a 14.5" RCOS and the ST-10XME.

NGC-3079 is a barred spiral galaxy located in Ursa Major and lies 50 million light years away. This image was taken on 1-12-08. Exposure was L=100 min. and RGB=25 min. each.

NGC-1530 was taken on 1-8-08. It is a barred spiral galaxy located in Camelopardalis. Note the prominent bar of gas and dust across the center of the galaxy. Another unique feature is that the spiral arms start at the ends of the bar and not at the center as in normal spiral galaxies. Exposure was L=120 min. and RGB=25 min. each.

This image of Arp-1 or NGC-2857 was taken on 1-6-08. It is located in Ursa Major and has a low surface brightness. Note the two long thin arms. There are several other Galaxies in the same field of view. Exposure was L=120 min.

M-64, also know as the Black Eye galaxy is located in Coma Berenices. It has a dust lane on one side of the nucleus that may be caused by material from a former companion which has been accreted but has yet to settle into the mean orbital plane of the disk. It lies at a distance of about 17 million light years from earth.

This image was taken from Ft. Davis on 6-15-07. Exposure was L=50min. and RGB=20min. each. Combined in Maxim and processed in Photoshop.

NGC-776 is a faint galaxy located in Aries. It has faint spiral arms extending from a bright core. It is surrounded by numerous faint galaxies in the background.  Exposure was L=70 min. and RGB=25 min. each. Taken from Ft. Davis, TX. in Sept. of  2006.

NGC 253 is a spiral galaxy in the southern hemisphere constellation of Sculptor. It is a starburst galaxy, meaning that an unusually large amount of star formation activity is taking place.  It lies at a distance of about10 million light years away. This image was taken 9-18-06 from Ft. Davis, Tx. with a ST=10XME and a 16" RCOS. Exposure was L=90 min. and RGB=20 min. each.

NGC-7640 is located in Andromeda and lies 4 deg. to the southwest of the "Blue Snowball. This galaxy is small and faint and often overlooked. This edge on galaxy lies about 28 million light years away. Exposure was L=60 min. and RGB=20 min. each.

NGC-5907 is a spiral galaxy located about 50 million light years away in Draco. It is edge-on as seen from Earth.. The bright central core can be seen from behind the extensive dust lanes of the spiral arms. 
Taken on 7-18-06 from Ft. Davis, Tx. Exposure was L-90min. and RGB= 20min. each.

M-106 is a bright spiral galaxy in the constellation of Canes Venatici. It lies at a distance of 35 million light years away. This image was taken on 7-20-06 from Ft. Davis, TX. Exposure was L-90min. and RGB=25min. each.

NGC 6946 is a spectacular but dim galaxy located at a distance of 10 million light years. This spiral galaxy is in the constellation Cepheus.  Taken from Ft. Davis, Texas with a 16" RCOS and the ST-10XME. Exposure was L=80 min. & RGB=15 min.each

M-51 is located  31 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, near the Big Dipper. It is actually a pair of interacting galaxies viewed nearly face on from Earth.  The companion galaxy NGC-5195 is actually passing behind M-51. Even through a small telescope it is a beautiful view.  This image was taken from Ft. Davis, TX. on July 17, 2006 with a 16" RCOS at f5 and the ST-10XME. Exposure was    L=65min. and RGB=20min each. Processed in Maxim and Photo Shop.

NGC-4490 (larger) and NGC-4485 (smaller) are a pair of spiral galaxies that have been distorted by each other. These galaxies have already passed close  to each other and are now separating . A trail of stars stretch between the two. The two galaxies are about 24,000 light years apart. They are located in Canes Venatic between 40 & 50 million light years away.   This image was taken on 7-23-06 from Ft. Davis, Tx. Exposure was L=60min. and RGB=20min each

M-108 is nearly edge-on as viewed from Earth. It is about 45 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It shows little or no bulge and no noticeably strong center, being a motley collection of features often referred to as very dusty. This image was taken from Ft. Davis, Tx. on 7-19-06 with the  ST-10XME and a 16" RCOS at f5. Exposure was L=50min and RGB=20min each.

M109 is about 55 million light years away  This galaxy shows an intriguing wealth of structure, including a central bar, almost complete surrounding ring, and outer arms which extend outward from dust lanes spiraling through the ring. It is located in Ursa Major at the bottom of the "bowl" of the Big Dipper. This image was taken on 6-23-06 from Ft. Davis, Texas with a 16" RCOS and the St-10XME. Exposure was L=90min. and RGB=20min. each. Combined in MaxIm and processed in Photo Shop.

M-101 also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy is located in Ursa Major. It is a very large face on galaxy and its distance is about 24 million light years away. It has several extremely luminous star-forming (H II) regions in the outer spiral arms, some having  their own NGC numbers. M101 itself is further noteworthy for its extensive and lopsided distribution of neutral hydrogen gas, and for showing evidence of gas falling into its disk at high speeds. This image was taken  on 6-19-06 from Ft. Davis, Tx. with a 16"RCOS at f6.3 and the ST10XME. Exposure was L=90min and RGB=20min each.

NGC 4631, also known as the Whale, is a huge edge-on spiral galaxy, which is apparently distorted by its small elliptical companion, NGC 4627. The disk is not perfectly flat but shows "warps" on both sides. The different colors in the image represent different states of stellar evolution. The blue knots are caused by young massive stars. The yellow-green component is caused by "mid-age" stars and the red color of the bulge in the center of the galaxy is due to an old population of red giants. This image was taken from Ft. Davis, Tx. Exposure time was L=90 min and RGB=25 min each

M-104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy because of its appearance, is located in Virgo. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane, or band of dust in the galactic disc. From Earth, it is seen nearly edge-on. The dark dust lane in the disk and the prominent round bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. Taken from Ft. Davis on 4-25-06 with a 16" RCOS and the ST-10XME. Exposure was L=95 min. and RGB=25 Min. each.

NGC-7479 is an extreme example of a "barred spiral" galaxy. Notice how far its arms extend from the center of the core until they start to bend. It is located in Pegasus at a distance of about 140 million light years away. It is 160,000 light years across making it about the same size as our Milky Way Galaxy.  Taken on 7-25-06 from Ft. Davis. Exposure was L=95min and RGB=20min each

These two colliding galaxies, NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 are collectively known as "The Antennae". They are located about 60 million light years from Earth located in the constellation Corvus. The gravitational forces upon the two has initiated a huge area of H alpha emission where star formation is now occurring; (the red area in the middle of the two). Faintly visible in the image are two long-trailing galaxy arms which have been slung out far away from the galaxy centers.  Taken from Ft. Davis, Texas with a 16" RCOS and the ST-10XME. Exposure was L=80 min. & RGB=15 min.each

Leo I.  It is a Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy in Leo.   Because of  its apparent proximity to bright first-magnitude Regulus of only about 12 arc minutes, this galaxy is extremely difficult to view visually despite its considerably high total visual brightness of 9.8 magnitudes; therefore, it was not detected visually before about 1990. I was only able to find 2 other images of this Dwarf Galaxy. This image was taken on 1-5-06 from Ft. Davis. Exposure was L=120 min. and RGB=20 min. each.

NGC-3628 is a Spiral Galaxy located in Leo. It is part of the Trio in Leo group.It  is seen edge-on. A conspicuous band of dark dust clouds form a broad equatorial band, which obscures the galaxy's bright central region, and hides most of the bright young stars in its spiral arms. The dust band,   or belt, is obviously distorted and deformed in the outer regions of the galaxy. The reason for this deformation is evidently the gravitational interaction with its two bright neighbors, M65 and M66. This image was taken on 1-2-06. Exposure was L=60 min. and RGB= 20 min. each.

M-65 is a spiral galaxy  located in Leo. It is part of a group known as the Trio in Leo (M-65, M-66 & NGC 3628). Exposure was L=100 min and RGB=20 min. each.

M-66 is another spiral galaxy located very close to M-65 in Leo. Exposure was L=60 min. and RGB=20 min each. Taken from Ft. Davis on April 6th, 2005.

NGC-4725 is located in Coma Berenices and is a very pretty barred spiral galaxy. Taken with the 16" RCOS and the ST-10XME. Exposure was L=60 min. & RGB=20 min. each.

NGC-3718 was taken from Ft. Davis on 4-8-05. Equipment was the ST-10XME and a 16" RCOS  telescope. L=60 min. RGB=20 min. each.

NGC-891 taken  on 12-10-04 from Ft. Davis with a 16" RCOS and the ST-10XME. Exposure time was L=60min RGB=20min. It is a fine edge on spiral Galaxy with a wide dust lane in the center. It is located in Andromeda.

M-65, M-66, and NGC-3628 also known as the Trio in Leo. Taken from Ft. Davis  with the Takahashi FS-128 and the SBIG ST-8XE.  Exposure time was L=90 min. and RGB=20min. 

NGC-2403 is a Spiral Galaxy located in Camelopardalis. I processed this image to show the faint arms of the galaxy. It has very little color in it.

M-33 taken with the Takahashi-FS-128 and the ST-8XE from Ft. Davis. This spiral galaxy is very large but has low surface brightness. Exposure was L=60 min. and RGB=20 min.

NGC-7814 is located in Pegasus. It is a edge on galaxy with a very bright central core with a dark dust lane going all the way through the galaxy. It lies about 46 million light years away and is 80,000 light years across. Taken with a 16" RCOS and the ST-10XME.

NGC-6951 is a barred spiral galaxy located in Cepheus. Exposure time was L=40 min. RGB=15 min.each.

NGC-5908 is a spiral galaxy located in Draco. Exposure time was L=50 min. & RGB=15 min.

NGC 7331 is part of the Deerlick Group of galaxies located in Pegasus. It has a spiral structure with several other galaxies around it.

NGC 6946 is located in Cepheus and lies about 18 million light years away. It is a large face on spiral galaxy with several large arms.

NGC-5905 is located in Draco and has a mag. of 12.6.  Exposure time was 60 minutes. The arms are very faint, and there is another small galaxy at the 5:00 position.

NGC-4567/68 are know as the Siamese Galaxies located in Virgo. It is thought that the galaxies are just starting to collide with each other. They are 41 million light years away. Exposure time was L=50 min. and RGB = 20 min. each.

NGC-4274 exposure time was L=50 min. and RGB=15 min. each. It is located in Coma Berenices

M-82 is a irregular galaxy located in Ursa Major about 12 million light years away. It has a lot of activity near the center with explosive gas flows.

NGC 1300 is a good example of a barred spiral galaxy.  It is located in the constellation Eridanus. It lies at about 46 million light years away and  is about 85,000 light years across. It faces us almost face on which give us a great view.

NGC 2903 is a typical  spiral galaxy. It is elongated with multiple spiral arms. It is almost face on to the Earth. It lies about 20 million light years away.  The constellation of Leo is its home.

M 74 with a super nova. It is a very large spiral  face on galaxy with a lot of structure. Its spiral arms stretch out about 1000 light years. Located in Pisces it is about the same size as our Milky Way Galaxy. It has produced two supernova.

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