The Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society (MVAS) is a privately owned, nonprofit organization established in 1939. Its purpose is to promote the science of astronomy to its members and the general public.

M51 Wide Field 06-23-09

Submitted by GregH on Wed, 06/24/2009 - 4:36pm.
M51 Wide Field 06-23-09

Stellarvue SV80S w/ SBIG ST2000XCM
9 15 minute light frames for a total of 2 hours 15 minutes
9 15 minute dark frames for a total of 2 hours 15 minutes
13 bias frames

Not only did I get the two galaxy's that comprise M51. I also got IC4263, NGC5169, PGC47274, PGC47323, IC4282, IC4278, PGC91291 and IC4277.

M57 - June 16, 2009, 0500 U.T.

Submitted by LX200Bill on Fri, 06/19/2009 - 8:39pm.
M57 - June 16, 2009, 0500 U.T.

M57 Imaged on 06.16.09 0500 UT
Meade 10" LX200 / Meade DSI @ƒ3.3
Twenty 20 Second exposures
Stacked using Nebulosity and fine tuned using Photoshop CS2.
Gain= 63
Offset=117
No Nebular Filter Used / DSI IR filter removed

Please note visible gas cloud and 13th magnitude central star.

M27 Wide Field 2009

Submitted by GregH on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 8:04am.
M27 Wide Field 2009

Palomar's First Light, Collier's Magazine - May 7th, 1949

Submitted by LX200Bill on Thu, 12/04/2008 - 1:03am.



M-27, 8/10/1996

Submitted by LX200Bill on Sun, 11/09/2008 - 2:33pm.
M-27, 8/10/1996

Another from my film days.

This was shot through my 8" Meade 2080 LX2. I used Konica 1600 print film, and exposed at f:6.3 for 60 minutes. I used a Lumicon Deep Sky© filter and guided with a Lumicon Giant 2" Easy Guider and Meade MA9mm illuminated reticle. Also used was a Davionx dual star drive corrector with hand controller. Camera was a standard issue non-electronic Nikon F with standard non-metering prism finder.

I can't imagine doing this today with the advances in electronics and CCD imaging.

Ever had to go to the bathroom in the middle of a long guiding session???