and archer? it IS appreciated. it never gets many comments and very few reads – but i do it anyway because i love to go out and observe. try focusing in on the southern edge of the M31… it has a whole NGC number of its own. if you get a pic? do share!

and it's friiiiiiiii day!!!

The Ring Nebula is one of my favorites. This being my first year doing any type of astronomy, I saw it for the first time through my telescope (8" LX200) a couple months ago and it stunned me. Just a puff of smoke, and better with averted vision. I was so excited I could actually see it in my light polluted environment I set out to photograph it. One of the goals I set for astrophotography was to "nail" the center of it. I haven't done it yet, but I will.

M31 is another goal. It still confuses me as to it's orientation. It is SO BIG that I cannot get it all my current setup (just a dSLR, focal reducer, and various other hardware). I'll try it again with a piggyback and see how it does.

Thanks for the "heads-up" on the other NGC's! I'll seek them out.