Astrophotography in the White Mountains

I took a trip with friends into the White Mountains in early August. Well properly, I joined them for astronomy at night, but spent the day either hiking or hanging out in a motel room in Bishop.

We've done this most years the past eight or so years, except when fires closed the entire forest system in California. But this is the first time I tried to do some astrophotography from here (the Cedar Flat Group Campground, in Inyo National Forest).

I hadn't had many chances to work with my 80mm refractor and focal reducer. Might be only about the fourth or fifth time I got the setup under dark skies. And, although objectively just okay, for me, they're prety good, and I was happy with the result.

The first shot was of Comet P13 Olbers. The number means this was the 13th periodic comet discovered, meaning it comes back, in this case, every about 69 years. Not as bright as Halley's. It was a bit under magnitude 7 when I photographed it, and a little below its maximum brightness for this visit. 60 second exposure, iso 1600.

The second and third shots are in the vicinity of Sagittarius. The second shows M16 (Eagle Nebula) and M17 (Swan Nebula), two major star forming regions. The third is of M8 (Lagoon Nebula) and M20 (Trifid Nebula). All are in the catalog created by Charles Messier, of fuzzy but non-cometary objects.

I'll try to get my recent hikes blogged soon, as well. Until then, clear skies!