Star Shots

Alderamin (Alpha Cephei)

Here is a quick shot of the star called Alderamin (Alpha Cephei), the brightest star in the constellation Cepheus in the Northern Hemisphere. Due to the precession of the Earth, this star will eventually replace Polaris as the North Star in the year 7500 AD.
Tech Specs: Sky Watcher Esprit 120ED, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF. 5 x 30 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats. Image Date: 19 Sep 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Arcturus (Alpha Boötis)

Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Boötes. With an apparent visual magnitude of −0.05, it is the fourth-brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere. The name Arcturus originated from ancient Greece; it was then cataloged as α Boötis by Johann Bayer in 1603, which is Latinized to Alpha Boötis. Arcturus forms one corner of the Spring Triangle asterism.
Located relatively close at 36.7 light-years from the Sun, Arcturus is a single red giant of spectral type K1.5III—an aging star around 7.1 billion years old that has used up its core hydrogen and evolved off the main sequence. It is about the same mass as the Sun, but has expanded to 25 times its size and is around 170 times as luminous. Its diameter is 35 million kilometers. Thus far no companion has been detected. (REF: Wikipedia)
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at -10F, 22 x 60 second exposures, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in PixInsight. Image Date: December 14, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Betelgeuse – Alpha Orionis

This is the star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion. In the last few weeks there has been some discussion about the dimming of this star and the possibility of it going supernova. While it will explode someday, the recent dimming is probably due to its variability and not that it is getting ready to explode (maybe). You can read more about this at EarthSky.org .
Here are some interesting facts about this 9th brightest star in the sky. The name Betelgeuse is derived from the Arabic Yad al-Jauzā’ meaning “the hand of Orion”. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant, 20 times the mass of the sun, is a variable star and lies at a distance around 640 (I’ve found various ranges, this number seems like the largest I have come across) light-years away from Earth.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI071MC-Pro running at -25C, 5 x 60 second exposures, GAIN 200, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using SharpCap v3.2. Image date: December 21, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Deneb – Alpha Cygni

Here is a quick view of the star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus
From Wikipedia - Deneb is a first-magnitude star in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan. Deneb is one of the vertices of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle and the "head" of the Northern Cross. It is the brightest star in Cygnus and the 19th brightest star in the night sky, with an average apparent magnitude of +1.25. A blue-white supergiant, Deneb rivals Rigel as the most luminous first-magnitude star. However, its distance, and hence luminosity, is poorly known; its luminosity is somewhere between 55,000 and 196,000 times that of the Sun. Its Bayer designation is α Cygni, which is abbreviated to Alpha Cyg or α Cyg.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro running at 5C, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, Optolong L-eNhance filter (2”), 6 x 300 second exposures, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini, focus with a ZWO EAF, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Processed using PixInsight and DSS. Image Date: June 24, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Rigel - Beta Orionis

This is something I started 10 years ago called Star Shots, doing an occasional look at a bright star instead of clusters, nebulae, etc. This is the star Rigel and it is a blue supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. It has the Bayer designation β Orionis, which is Latinized to Beta Orionis and abbreviated Beta Ori or β Ori. Rigel is located at a distance of approximately 860 light-years from the Sun (Wikipedia). Rigel is also the 7th brightest star in our skies.
Hidden in the view is a pair of galaxies designated LEDA 1015512 and LEDA 16941, I’ve included a heavily processed image of these galaxies along with an image taken by Pan-STARRS (a 1.8-meter diameter telescope located near the summit of Haleakala on the Island of Maui). Not sure if these are interacting galaxies or not, if you know the answer, please drop a comment!
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at -10F, 54 x 60 second exposures, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in PixInisght. Image Date: December 14, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
GALAXY IMAGE HERE

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