The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) is a research telescope designed to take very precise measurements of the amount of light emitted from the object of interest that reaches onto its CCD camera. However, the camera we use does have a reasonable field of view (twelve arc minute square) and it has very sharp optics; so on occasion, when there are a few minutes to spare, observers at the telescope will sometimes direct the telescope to some favorite astronomical delight.
Color images are made by combining images taken through red, green, and blue filters. On occasion you can see an asteroid moving through the field of view as a series of dots of first one, then another, color.
Astronomers who to make it their business to create excellent images of astronomical objects will spend an evening taking hundreds of images and then “stack” them to get extra-fine resolution. By contrast, the images we show here are usually no more than one snapshot through each color filter, no stacking except to create the full color range. The beauty of the images that you see here even with such a casual approach speaks to the very high quality of the imaging that is possible at the VATT.
Click on any individual image to get a full resolution view.
- The Trapezium, a multiple star system within the Orion Nebula. VATT image.
- Emission nebula NGC 2359, “Thor’s Helmet”. VATT image.
- Globular Cluster NGC 5053. VATT image.
- Dark nebula Barnard 33, the Horsehead Nebula. VATT image by Brucker, Consolmagno, Romanishin, and Tegler, 2004.
- Galaxy M95 (NGC 3351). VATT image.
- Open cluster NGC 609. VATT image.
- Galaxy Cluster A397, VATT image by Matt Nelson, 2001.
- Galaxy NGC 5964 with centaur 5145 Pholus. The image is made from several images taken in red, green, and blue filters; the centaur’s motion can be seen from filter to filter. VATT image.
- Open Cluster NGC 2158. VATT image.
- Multiple star system Omicron-2 Eridani, “Keid”. The star at the lower left is a white dwarf. In Star Trek lore, this is the home system of planet Vulcan. VATT image by Brucker, Consolmagno, Romanishin, and Tegler, 2004.
- Globular Cluster M2. VATT image by Brucker, Consolmagno, Romanishin, and Tegler, 2004.
- Galaxy NGC 3628, “Sarah’s Galaxy”, one of the Leo Trio. VATT image.
- Open cluster NGC 1624. VATT image.
- Galaxy UGC12343 in ultraviolet. VATT image.
- Planetary Nebula NGC 6826, The Blinking Nebula. NGC 1535. VATT image by Brucker, Consolmagno, Romanishin, and Tegler, 2004.
- Saturn, imaged at the VATT.
- Planetary Nebula NGC 7293, the Helix. VATT image by Brucker, Consolmagno, Romanishin, and Tegler, 2004.
- Globular Cluster M56. VATT image.
- Black Eye Galaxy, M64, in red and blue fliters. VATT Image, May 2010.
- Galaxy M66, one of the Leo Trio. VATT image.
- Galaxy NGC 2903. VATT image by Brucker, Consolmagno, Romanishin, and Tegler, 2004.
- Galaxy Cluster Abell 1656 , the Coma Cluster. VATT image.
- Planetary Nebula M57, the Ring Nebula. Imaged at the VATT by Matt Nelson, c. 2001.
- Detail of the Orion Nebula, an emission nebula, M42. VATT image.
- Stephan’s Quintet, a galaxy cluster. VATT image.
- Planetary Nebula NGC 1535, Cleopatra’s Eye. VATT Image.
- Galaxy M33, the Triangulum Galaxy. VATT image.
- Open cluster M67. VATT image.
- M1 Crab Nebula in enhanced color. VATT image.
- Globular Cluster M3. VATT image.
- Planetary Nebula M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. VATT image by Matt Nelson, c 2001.
- Planetary Nebula NGC 2392, “The Clown Face”. VATT image.
- Galaxy NGC 2683. ATT image.
- Jupiter, as imaged at the VATT
- Planetary Nebula NGC 6781. VATT image.
- Open Cluster M103. VATT image.
- Supernova Remnant M1, the Crab Nebula. VATT image.
- Detail of the Pelican Nebula; VATT image.
- Emission Nebula NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula. VATT image.
- Planetary Nebula NGC 6781; enhanced colors. The bright star at the center of the nebula is the source of the gas and dust that make up the nebula. The reds and purples are ionized hydrogen; the blues and greens are primarily ionized oxygen.
- Galaxy M65, one of the Leo Trio. VATT image.
- Galaxy M 104, the Sombrero Galaxy. VATT image.
- M1 Crab Nebula monochrome. VATT image by Richard Boyle, c 1995.
- Globular cluster (or suspected captured galaxy core) M79. VATT image.
- Planetary Nebula NGC 7009, the Saturn Nebula. VATT image by Brucker, Consolmagno, Romanishin, and Tegler, 2004.
I am writing to Your Newsletter, I thank You for the work You do to create a bridge between Reason and Faith.
Beautiful photos, beautiful the idea of creating this Blog.
Many Greetings
Marco Avanzi
Italy
Wonderful photos, looking forward to this blog. Many greetings everyone!
Tim Williams
UK
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Beautiful photos! Where can I find out what they are?