One of the beauties of the RASC is that there are so many different pathways we can take as members. Individual pursuits like observing and astrophotography, group observing, public outreach. Each of these can be its own journey, and will likely be a focus on future columns.
This time I’m going to reflect not on astrophotography itself, but on how the ‘chase’ of a target can create its own story. We are about to start ‘galaxy season’, meaning our placement in our orbit around the Sun has the nighttime sky looking outward away from the galactic plane. Once you get all the gas and dust of the Milky Way out of the way that leaves a lot of galaxies to look at.
Now, if you read my column last issue you can guess that galaxies have always had a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, they’re faint, small, and impervious to most of the tricks that let amateur astronomers reduce light pollution. This typically means that the best tool to hunt a galaxy is a big telescope with dark skies. Other than my first years spent using an 8″ SCT, my access to a galaxy-chasing tool kit has been through RASC Victoria. With company to be enjoyed along the way, some of my favorite outings have involved chasing galaxies.
We all start with different approaches. In my case astronomy and astrophotography opened up new world(s) to explore. I also grew up looking at Hubble images and remember being captivated by a picture of Stephan’s Quintet; a group of interacting galaxies about 300 million light years away. It isn’t a spring target, but it’s what I always think of when my mind drifts to galaxies. I was only a few months into the hobby (and not even a RASC member yet) when I decided to make my first stab at the target. Of course, I ignored that they were small and distant by the standards of many Hubble pictures when I was making my grand plans. Using said 8″ SCT, I managed to capture what was then an absolutely staggering 3 hours of data – I think it amounted to more effort than all of my previous image attempts combined. The result was noisy, faint, soft and required me to crop away 90% of the image, but they were there. I couldn’t have been happier!
By 2010 I had joined the RASC and had what I could only describe as my dream opportunity – a RASC Plaskett night with clear skies in the right season for Stephan’s. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue with the shutter scrubbed the data, and all I was left with was the tantalizing glimpse into ‘what could have been’. Heartbreak in the back of my mind, I revisited the Quintet again with the 14″ at the Victoria Centre Observatory (VCO). This time I forgot to flip a camera setting to turn off 4×4 binning and was left with low resolution monochrome data. At that point I threw in the towel and didn’t come back for a few years. In 2013 I was back with the 5” Televue 127is we had at the VCO. For the first time I could ‘see’ the target in colour, but the low magnification pushed the data to its limit and left me wanting more.
It wasn’t until 2022 that I finally captured ‘the shot’ on a RASC Plaskett night. We sat on Stephan’s Quintet for a total of just 40.5 minutes, but when you have a 1.8 metre telescope that’s enough. A decade in the making (and still not Hubble) it might have been natural to feel a letdown at finally arriving. Instead, it had me energized for whatever my next visit to the target looks like. Perhaps it will be with our new 12.5″ Ritchey-Chretien at the VCO. At least for me that’s one of the joys of this hobby. Regardless of whether the focus is on observing or public outreach, we all have the chance to find ourselves out on a path with like-minded individuals that share enthusiasm for the night sky.
Dan Posey’s Online Astrophotography Gallery
I hope everyone has a wonderful ‘galaxy season’!
Dan Posey, President RASC Victoria Centre pres@victoria.rasc.ca
Stephan’s Quintet – 2009
Stephan’s Quintet – 2010
