Astronomical Imaging

Image Credit: Kelly Gorham

Ryan speaks nationally to groups about science and his work in the field of astronomy. He is pictured above on the film set at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont.

Ryan is a teacher at the Monforton School, and he also serves on the Education & Public Outreach Team for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope — the successor to Hubble.

Those interested in having Ryan speak to their group, should contact him via email (rmhannahoe {at} gmail.com).

Upcoming events:

• SPIE’s Optics & Photonics Conference – San Diego, CA, August 25th – 26th
• Montana Learning Center – Canyon Ferry, MT, August 4th – 8th
• Montana State University – Bozeman, MT, June 16th – 21st
• Astronomy Day at the Museum of the Rockies – Bozeman, MT,  April 20
• Montana Space Grant Consortium’s Student Research Symposium  – Bozeman, MT, April 19

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The Space Shuttle Discovery carried 252 astronauts and 31 satellites into space. One of its more famous payloads, the Hubble Space Telescope, was deployed in 1990. Discovery was in service from 1984 to until 2011. It traveled over 238,000,000 km before its retirement. Since its decommission, Discovery has been place on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virgina.

Image credit: Ryan M. Hannahoe

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Located 1,800 light-years away, the planetary nebula NGC 5189 resides in the constellation Musca. This image depicts the remains of a star in its final life stage.

Background Data Courtesy Gemini Observatory/AURA

Luminance Data Hubble Legacy Archive

R.G.B. Data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Equipment used: 14.5″ RC Optical Systems Telescope, Bisque Paramount ME, STL11000 CCD
Location: Fair Dinkum Skies Observatory, Moorook – Australia

Image assembly: Robert Gendler

 Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and obtained from the Hubble Legacy Archive, which is a collaboration between the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI/NASA), the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF/ESA) and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC/NRC/CSA).

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Located in the constellation Scorpius, NGC 6334 and NGC 6357 resides 5,500 light-years away from Earth.  NGC 6334, the Cats Paw Nebula, resembles a faint paw-print on the sky. In NGC 6357, the Lobster Nebula, some of the most massive stars are found. One star alone is 100 times the mass of our own star, the Sun.

Hybrid Image/Six-panel Mosaic

Selected image data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Data processed by: Robert Gendler
Equipment Used: 16″ RC Optical Systems Telescope, Takahashi FSQ 106, Bisque Paramount ME, STX16803 CCD, and STL 11000 CCD
Location: Fair Dinkum Skies Observatory, Australia, and New Mexico Skies Observatories, USA

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Located in the constellation Cassiopeia, the Heart Nebula resides 7,500 light-years away from Earth.  This emission nebula is a combination of glowing-gas and dark-dust clouds. The nebula glows bright red representing the element hydrogen.

Data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Data processed by: Robert Gendler
Exposure time: 30 hours
Equipment Used: 16″ RC Optical Systems Telescope, Bisque Paramount ME, STX16803 CCD
Location: Perez Observatory at New Mexico Skies, Mayhill – New Mexico

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The Running Chicken Nebula is a star forming region that is located in the constellation of Centaurus. This nebula resides some 5,900 light-years away and is almost 70 light-years wide. Hailed a cocoon of stellar birth, it is illuminated by both the star named Lambda Centauri and a cluster of really hot blue stars.  The illumination causes various types of dust and gas to reflect light, and this cloud in the sky is known as an emission nebula due to the traits that it emits.

Not only does the Running Chicken Nebula contain many common types of astronomical objects, but it contains very dense clouds of opaque dust. These clouds are so dense that not even light from visible wavelengths can escape them. We refer to these objects as Thackeray Globules. Thackeray Globules can range anywhere between 10 to 50 times more massive than our Sun, and can also span 1 light-year across. A protostar located within these globules is getting ready to produce nuclear fusion.

Data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Data processed by: Robert Gendler
Exposure Time: 40 hours
Equipment used: Takahashi FSQ106, Bisque Paramount ME, STX 16803 CCD
Location: Fair Dinkum Skies Observatory, Moorook – Australia

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The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), located 163,000 light-years from Earth, is a dwarf galaxy that can be observed mainly from our Southern Hemisphere.  This galaxy spans 10,000 light-years across and contains some 30 billion stars.  Located in the constellation of Tucana, the SMC is known for its HII regions, supernova remnants, and young star clusters.

Data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Data processed by: Robert Gendler
Exposure Time: 35 hours
Equipment used: Takahashi FSQ106, Bisque Paramount ME, STX 16803 CCD
Location: Fair Dinkum Skies Observatory, Moorook – Australia

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Located in the constellation Scorpius, the Cat’s Paw Nebula is 5,500 light-years from Earth. This nebula spans 100 light-years across and resembles a cat’s paw.

Two-frame Mosaic, Hydrogen Alpha Color Composite

Data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Data processed by: Robert Gendler
Exposure Time: 60 hours
Equipment used: 14.5″ RC Optical Systems Telescope, Bisque Paramount ME, STL11000 CCD
Location: Fair Dinkum Skies Observatory, Moorook – Australia

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Data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Data processed by: Jim & Gail Keenan
Exposure Time: 1/2000
Equipment used: Nikon D200, AF-S NIKKOR 90mm, F/5.6
Location: KSC Banana Creek Viewing Site, FL

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NGC 4945 is an edge-on spiral galaxy that resides 13 million light-years from Earth. This starburst galaxy appears in the constellation Centaurus and is comparable in size to our own Milky Way.

Data acquired by: Ryan M. Hannahoe
Data processed by: Robert Gendler
Exposure Time: 25 hours
Equipment used: 14.5″ RC Optical Systems Telescope, Bisque Paramount ME, STL11000 CCD
Location: Fair Dinkum Skies Observatory, Moorook – Australia

** Portion of central luminance data from the ESO/Danish 1.5m telescope at La Silla, Chile **
(Robert Gendler and Christina Thöne)