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RDM Astrophotography

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RDM Astrophotography

Randy’s astrophotography page! Managed and image editing assistance by his daughter, Michelle.

11/02/2025

Here is my latest depiction of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the closest major spiral galaxy to our Milky Way. Still nearly 2.5 million light-years away - that is 15,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles away, it can be seen by the unaided eye from Earth. The image reveals its barred spiral appearance, which can be seen as rings of young blue-white stars and lanes of dark, cool dust where new stars are being formed.

M31 is orbited by as many as 35 dwarf galaxies. The largest is M110 to the lower right. The next most prominent is M32 which lies just to the left of M31's core. Others appear as no more than fuzzy stars.

08/12/2025

M53 is a globular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices. M53 is about 60,000 light-years from Earth and is also about 60,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. It is comprised of around 100,000 stars, and it has been around for about 12.7 billion years.

05/27/2025

M13, known as the Great Hercules Cluster, is a globular cluster in the constellation Hercules. It's a bright, visible cluster in the Northern Hemisphere, containing over 100,000 stars. M13 is located about 25,000 light-years away and measures about 170 light-years in diameter. At about 11 o'clock, near the top of the image is IC 4617, an apparent tiny spiral galaxy. In reality, this galaxy is about the same size as our Milky Way, but it is over a half billion light-years further in the distance!

05/26/2025

Messier 5, or M5, is a globular cluster in the constellation Serpens. M5 is one of the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy with an estimated age of nearly 11 billion years. On a clear night it is visible to the naked eye as a very dim star. The center of the cluster is about 25,000 light-years away, and its radius is about 80 light-years. Its mass is equivalent to 857,000 of our Suns.

05/25/2025

M51, known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, is an interacting spiral galaxy located 31 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. It features prominent, well-defined spiral arms dominated by streaks of star-forming regions composed of highly energized dust and gas. M51 has a smaller interacting companion galaxy known as NGC 5195 seen near the bottom of the image. Eventually, over millions or billions of years, NGC 5195 will either break away or become absorbed as part of M51. Can't wait to see what happens.

05/24/2025

NGC 3521, also known as the Bubble Galaxy, is a fascinating spiral galaxy located about 40 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. NGC 3521 is classified as a Flocculent Spiral because the spiral arms are more irregular and have patches of star-forming regions throughout giving it a "wooly" appearance. Surrounding the galaxy is a faint, bubble-like structure thought to be formed by debris and stars ripped from smaller galaxies by gravitational forces.

NGC 3521 is estimated to be over 13 billion years old, putting its origin around the time of the big bang. Its diameter of nearly 145,000 light-years is comparable to the Andromeda Galaxy.

05/23/2025

NGC 2841 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. Its distance from Earth is estimated at 46 million light-years. Its size is similar to the Andromeda Galaxy and slightly larger than our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Also in the frame, are two more distant galaxies. PGC 26549 is the elongated streak near the upper left edge of the image. PGC 26572 is the splotch near the upper left corner along the top of the image. Both galaxies are well over 100 million light-years away!

05/22/2025

This is an image of an area within the Orion Constellation, specifically Orion's belt. The three brightest stars in the image are Mintaka, in the upper right; Alhilam in the center right; and Alnitak just below center. Alnitak lies just to the right of the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) and is peered upon by the Horsehead Nebula just below. Of the stars comprising Orion's Belt, only Alnilam is a single star. Alnitak is actually a triple star system, while Mintaka is comprised of 6 closely orbiting stars! In fact, many of the "stars" that you see at night are actually multi-star systems which the naked eye sees as one.

05/21/2025

Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies which are part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. As seen near the center of the image, Markarian's Chain is a smoothly curved line of about 10 galaxies. Outside of the chain, there are around 40 other galaxies which are visible in the image. Each has its own Messier or NGC designation. Each is tens and even hundreds of million light-years away, and each contains billions of individual stars.

05/20/2025

This is an area of space within the constellation Auriga that is about 5 degrees by 4 degrees (an area that could accommodate about 40 full moons). Contained within the image are IC 405, known as the Flaming Star Nebula, on the left; the Tadpoles Nebula (IC 410), top center; and the Spider Nebula (IC 417), lower right. Also, on the bottom right is the Starfish Cluster (M38). I have, at one time, taken closeups of these objects in the past. This image gives an idea of how this all fits together.

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