I encountered a surprise on my screen while using my DS10c camera on my 8” telescope with Hyperstar installed while at Crossing Creeks in Georgia. Early in the evening around 8:30pm (DST) when I tried to view the Sculptor Galaxy, I realized my mount had slewed to very low on the horizon. So low, that I was astonished to see a portion of the nearby tree line in the lower part of the image. Michael Carnes was also at Crossing Creeks trying out his DS16c on his 8” and we were set up next to each other. As I commented on the trees in my image, Michael said … and there is the Sculptor Galaxy! Sure enough, there it was just above the tree line.
My unusual Sculptor Galaxy + Trees image was captured when the telescope was in fact aimed at about 7 degrees above the horizon. No wonder there were trees in the image. But I never thought I would see nearby terrestrial objects and a galaxy that is 12 Million Light Years away in the same telescope image!
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