M97 - Owl Nebula & M108 Galaxy

The Owl Nebula (also known as Messier Object 97 or NGC 3587) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781.
M97 is regarded as one of the more complex of the planetaries. The 16th magnitude central star has about 0.7 solar mass and the nebula itself about 0.15 solar mass. The nebula formed roughly 6,000 years ago.

Messier 108 (also known as NGC 3556) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 or 1782.[5] From the perspective of the Earth, this galaxy is seen almost edge-on.This galaxy has an estimated mass of 125 billion times the mass of the Sun and includes about 290 ± 80 globular clusters.

Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 & William Optics FF/FR 0.8 II
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 2 hours(6*20 min subframes), bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: 50 flat, 50 bias, 10 darks
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 5 April 2010
Location: Ancient Epidauros, GR

M97 - Owl Nebula Wiki
M108 Galaxy Wiki

Markarian Chain (Group of Galaxies in Virgo)

Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. It's called a "chain" because, when viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. It was named after the Armenian astrophysicist, B. E. Markarian, who discovered it in the mid 1970s. Member galaxies include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. It's located at RA 12h 27m and Dec +13° 10′.

Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 & William Optics FF/FR 0.8 II
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 3 hours (9*20 min subframes), bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: 50 flat, 50 bias, 10 darks
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 9 April 2010
Location: Salamina, GR

Markarian Chain Wiki

M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy and friends (M101 Group)

The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy about 27 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, and he subsequently communicated his discovery to Charles Messier who verified its position and added it to the Messier Catalogue as one of the final entries.

M101 is a relatively large galaxy compared to the Milky Way. With a diameter of 170,000 light-years it is nearly twice the size of the Milky Way. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small bulge of about 3 billion solar masses.

Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 & William Optics FF/FR 0.8 II
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 3 hours & 40 min (11*20 min subframes), bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: 50 flat, 50 bias, 10 darks
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Deep Sky Stacker
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 4 April 2010
Location: Ancient Epidauros, GR

M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy Wiki

M51 - Whirpool Galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194) is an interacting[5] grand-design[6] spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 23 million light-years in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is one of the most famous galaxies in the sky.

What was later known as the Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered[9] in 1774 by Charles Messier, and is designated as M51. Its companion galaxy, NGC 5195, was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain. It was however not until 1845 that the Whirlpool became the first to be recognized as a spiral. Sometimes M51 is used to refer to the pair of galaxies, in which case the individual galaxies may be referred to as M51A (NGC 5194) and M51B (NGC 5195).

Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 & William Optics FF/FR 0.8 II
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 3 hours (9*20 min subframes)
Calibration Frames: 50 flat, 50 bias, 10 darks
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Deep Sky Stacker
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 2 April 2010
Location: Ancient Epidauros, GR

M51 - Whirpool Galaxy Wiki

M42 - Great Orion Nebula in Ha

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated south[b] of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. Older texts frequently referred to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula.

The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky, and is among the most intensely studied celestial features. The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks, brown dwarfs, intense and turbulent motions of the gas, and the photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula. There are also supersonic "bullets" of gas piercing the dense hydrogen clouds of the Orion Nebula.

Telescope: Skywatcher ED80
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 115 minutes (bin 2x2) in Ha
- 5*20sec, 5*1min, 3*3min, 4*15min, 2*20min
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Deep Sky Stacker
Processing: Photoshop CS3

M42 - Orion Nebula Wiki

M65 & M66 & NGC 3628 - Leo Triplet

The Leo Triplet (also known as the M66 Group) is a small group of galaxies about 35 million light-years away[citation needed] in the constellation Leo. This galaxy group consists of the spiral galaxies M65, the M66, and the NGC 3628.

Telescope: Skywatcher ED80
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 5* 20 minutes (bin 1x1)
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Deep Sky Stacker
Processing: Photoshop CS3

M65 & M66 & NGC 3628 - Leo Triplet Wiki

NGC 2237 Rosette Nebula in Ha

The Rosette Nebula is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.

The complex has the following NGC designations:

NGC 2237 - Part of the nebulous region (Usually used to denote whole nebula)
NGC 2238 - Part of the nebulous region
NGC 2239 - Part of the nebulous region (Discovered by John Herschel)
NGC 2244 - The open cluster within the nebula (Discovered by John Flamsteed in 1690)
NGC 2246 - Part of the nebulous region
The cluster and nebula lie at a distance of some 5,200 light years from Earth (although estimates of the distance vary considerably) and measure roughly 130 light years in diameter. The radiation from the young stars excite the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit radiation themselves producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be around 10,000 solar masses.

Telescope: Skywatcher ED80
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 5* 20 minutes (bin 2x2) in Ha
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Deep Sky Stacker
Processing: Photoshop CS3

NGC 2237 Rosette Nebula Wiki