The Duportail House and Federal Barn lie within the Chesterbrook development in Chester County and date back to colonial times. A history of these properties can be found at https://duportailhouse.com/history/. It is a location that I photograph often, if not for the pages of this blog. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places and can be rented for weddings or other events.
Here is a look at the property after a January snowfall.
My attempts at imaging the February objects for the Hubble Anniversary Challenge were more timely. You can read more about this challenge the Pennsylvania Night Sky page. These images are taken for documentation and learning purposes and are not meant to be great examples of astrophotography. The items below are mostly star clusters, which I find easier to photograph. Three also all contain a connection to the Herschel family.
The first object is the star cluster Messier 46. It is also known as NGC 2437, and it is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Puppis. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1771. It is about 5,000 light-years away from Earth. There are an estimated 500 stars in the cluster, and it is thought to have an estimated age of 251.2 million years old.
M46 is in the center and skewed about to the right in this photo.
Caldwell 58 (aka NGC 2360 or Caroline’s Cluster) is an open cluster in the constellation Canis Major. It was discovered on 26 February 1783 by Caroline Herschel, who described it as a “beautiful cluster of pretty compressed stars near 1/2 degree in diameter”. Her notes were overlooked until her brother William included the cluster in his 1786 catalogue of 1000 clusters and nebulae and acknowledged her as the discoverer.
Caldwell 39 is known as the Clown Face Nebula, Lion Nebula or the Eskimo Nebula (aka NGC 2392). It is a bipolar double-shell planetary nebula. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787. The formation resembles a person’s head surrounded by a parka hood and is surrounded by gas that composed the outer layers of a Sun-like star. A planetary nebula is an area of cosmic gas and dust formed from the cast-off outer layers of a dying star. Despite their name, planetary nebulae don’t have anything to do with planets.
C39 lies about 6500 light-years away, and is visible with a small telescope in the constellation of Gemini. The object is the round spot in the center of the image below that is ringed by a faint blue glow.
Caldwell 25 (aka NGC 2419 ) is a globular cluster in the constellation Lynx. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 31, 1788. NGC 2419 is at a distance of about 300,000 light years from the Solar System and about the same distance from the Galactic Center.
C25 bears the nickname “the Intergalactic Wanderer,” which was bestowed when it was once thought not to be in orbit around the Milky Way. Its orbit takes it farther away from the galactic center than the Magellanic Clouds, but it can be considered as part of the Milky Way. It takes three billion years to make one trip around the galaxy.
The globular cluster is the fuzzy spot in the center of the image.
I was able to attend the first star party of the season on March 8 and got to view multiple objects (such as the Orion Nebula, Uranus and a crescent phase of Venus) through a variety of telescopes. It was still quite cold in early March but still worth it to get out before daylight savings time set in.
These are my photographs of objects that are part of the Hubble Night Sky Challenge for January. The challenge is coordinated by The Astronomical League in cooperation with NASA. More information about this project cam be found on the Night Sky page.
First, we have two objects that were not official targets for January but that I think made for better pictures. The Rosette Nebula contains an open cluster known as the Satellite Nebula (NGC 224 or C50), This cluster contains some super bright stars and has been estimated to be less than 5 million years old. The nebula and the star clusters are in the constellation Monoceros.
NGC 2244
NGC 2264 gives you two objects for one – the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula. My photo did not pick up any significant nebulosity. I do see a “Christmas” tree with a star on top. Do you? The Christmas Tree star formation consists of young stars obscured by heavy layers of dust clouds. These dust clouds, along with hydrogen and helium are producing luminous new stars. This object is also in Monoceros.
NGC 2264
Due to short integration times, lost frames and incoming cloudy weather, the photos below are not all they could be. Hopefully this project will be a learning process for me to improve my astrophotography and visual observing. If you would like to see some beautiful photos of the objects taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, please visit the NASA page here. Do you see the objects in these photos below?
A popular target for astrophotographers is Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976. It is a diffuse nebula south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion, and it is known as the middle “star” in the “sword” of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of 4.0. I usually need binoculars to see this faint fuzzy patch in Orion. It is 1,344 ± 20 light-years away and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth.
M42
Messier 43 or M43, also known as De Mairan’s Nebula and NGC 1982, is a star-forming nebula also in Orion. It was discovered by the French scientist Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan some time before 1731, then catalogued by Charles Messier in 1769. It is physically part of the Orion Nebula , separate from the main nebula by a dense lane of dust known as the northeast dark lane. I found this difficult to pick out in my telescope and tried to zoom in on the area designated as M43, but I the small pink blob at the top of this photo is what I’m looking for,
M43
NGC 2261 (aka Hubble’s Variable Nebula or Caldwell 46) is a variable nebula located in the constellation Monoceros. The nebula is illuminated by the star R Monocerotis (R Mon), which is not directly visible itself. The first recorded observation of the nebula was by William Herschel on December 26, 1783, being described as considerably bright and ‘fan-shaped’. It has also been described as looking like a small comet and can be variable in appearance due to changes in its apparent brightness. I definitely see the comet-like appearance in this phots. It also looks like a shuttlecock to me.
C46
Below is a very faint reddish blob which is a photo of the Crab Nebula (M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A), a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The common name comes from a drawing that somewhat resembled a crab with arms produced by William Parsons in 1842 or 1843. The nebula was discovered by English astronomer John Bevis in 1731. It corresponds with a bright supernova observed in 1054 AD by Native American, Japanese, and Arabic stargazers. The supernova was also recorded by Chinese astronomers as a guest star. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified that corresponds with a historically-observed supernova explosion. This is one I will definitely image again with longer exposure integration times.
M1
Messier 78 or M78, also known as NGC 2068, is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of comet-like objects that same year.
M78 is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula of a group of nebulae which belong to the Orion B molecular cloud complex and is about 1,350 light-years distant from Earth. M78 is easily found in small telescopes as a hazy patch and involves two stars of 10th and 11th magnitude. These two B-type stars are responsible for making the cloud of dust in M78 visible by reflecting their light. The nebula came out quite faint and small in my photo and only the main area of nebulosity is visible.
M78
A nice summer day called for a trip through some of the more rural areas of my hometown, as well as its center.
The Diamond Rock Schoolhouse has been featured on this blog before. It is an historic octagonal one-room school which is located at the foot of Diamond Rock Hill in Tredyffrin Township, near Valley Forge National Historic Park. The Diamond Rock Schoolhouse was used as a school between 1818 and 1864. As the population of the area grew during the mid-1800s, the school eventually became too small, and it closed in 1864 when students were reallocated to other nearby schools. After 1864, the old schoolhouse fell into disrepair but was eventually restored in 1909 by the Diamond Rock School Old Pupils Association, a group of former students who saw great value in preserving their former school for future generations.
Valley Forge National Historical Park is home to a model airplane field, a well-groomed grass runway (475 x 125) with a flight line that provides a beautiful view of the park. The field is used by the Valley Forge Signal Seekers (VFSS) Radio Controlled Model Airplane Club. VFSS is one of the largest and oldest clubs of its kind in the United States. Founded in 1959, with over 120 members. The club flies electric, gas, and glow-fuel powered planes and rotorcraft, as well as gliders and turbine powered jets.
I stopped by a recent event to get some practice shooting fast moving, flying objects, something I don’t get a chance to do very often. We’ll start with a close look at some of the planes on the ground. I am always surprised by how some of these large planes look so much smaller when in flight.
Now up in the air.
The mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is the state flower of Pennsylvania. It is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretches from southern Maine south to northern Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana. Mountain laurel is also the state flower of Connecticut. It inspired the name of the Laurel Highlands in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Mountain laurel is an evergreen shrub growing 3–9 m (9.8–29.5 ft) tall. The leaves are 3–12 cm long and 1–4 cm wide. The flowers are hexagonal, sometimes appearing to be pentagonal, ranging from light pink to white, and occur in clusters. It blooms in May and June. All parts of the plant are poisonous, and the roots are fibrous and matted.
Jenkins Arboretum in Chester County has several nice examples of the plant. Locally I have also seen some on Mt. Misery in Valley Forge National Historic Park. I spent some time at Jenkins recently taking film photos using shallow depth of field.
The Kuerner Farm, also known as Ring Farm, is located in Chadds Ford. It is notable for its association with artist Andrew Wyeth, who created about one-third of his work, more than 1,000 paintings and drawings, on subjects he found there during a span of seventy-seven years.
In 1926, Karl Kuerner and his wife Anna rented the farm, which they bought in 1940. Karl had been a sheepherder near the Black Forest in his native Germany, and had been a machine gunner in the German Army during World War I. Andrew Wyeth’s first painting of the farm was completed in 1932, when Wyeth was just fifteen years old. The farm was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2011.The property abuts the Brandywine Battlefield, another National Historic Landmark. The farm is open to public tours, operated by the Brandywine River Museum.
I had a previous opportunity to photograph a wide shot of the farm , but I was recently able to get on one of the public tours. The first stop on the tour was the farmhouse,
I recently started watching the “Franklin” TV series on Apple TV+ which mentions the injury to the Marquis de Lafayette during the Battle of Brandywine. Coincidentally, I had visited part of the battlefield site a few weeks before.
The Brandywine Battlefield Historic Site is a National Historical Landmark which is owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, on 52 acres (210,000 m2), near Chadds Ford, Delaware County. This area is a partial site of the Battle of Brandywine, which was fought on September 11, 1777. The battle was a decisive victory for the British and cleared a path directly to the capital in Philadelphia.
Brandywine Battlefield Park became a Pennsylvania State Park in 1949 and a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Although the battle area covered more than ten square miles, or 35,000 acres, the modern park only covers the fifty acres that served primarily as the Continental encampment during the two days prior to the battle. To the north, another part of the battlefield is maintained by Birmingham Township, Chester County as “Battlefield of the Brandywine Park,” or “Sandy Hollow Heritage Park.” Much of the afternoon’s fighting took place between Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse and the William Brinton 1704 House near Dilworthtown. A subsequent engagement occurred during the Battle of Paoli. The Paoli Battlefield Historical Park and Paoli Memorial Grounds are located in Malvern.
The site is operated under an agreement between the PHMC and Chadds Ford Township with the Brandywine Battlefield Associates, or “Friends of Brandywine Battlefield” who now operate the site with staff and volunteers. If you wish to visit this site, please check hours before going. I have frequently passed by the gates here, and they have been closed. This was a brief visit, as I was stopping by after a visit to the Brandywine River Museum, and I plan to return in the future.
The Gosheville Blacksmith Shop lies on Route 352 just south of Paoli Pike in Chester County. It is owned by East Goshen Township and is open Wednesday and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm for viewing of the interior and and a working blacksmith. It is part of the Goshenville Historic District. While I was there, a young woman was working the forge and making small iron objects. She was also available to provide information about the site. Two rooms on the lower floor are available for viewing.
The Blacksmith Shop is described on the East Goshen Township website thusly:
The Goshenville Blacksmith Shop was built in 1740 by Arron Ashbridge (1712 – 1776) for rental as a wheelwright shop. The hearth room section was built first. Around 1750 Aaron’s son Joshua completed his apprenticeship at the Willistown Forge and opened his own blacksmithing business in this shop. At that time a one and half story addition was erected on the south side of the original building to house the wheelwright shop. Around 1800 the addition was reconstructed with a full second floor to be used as a room for painting wagons and carriages. Sometime in the 1800s the field stone building was covered with stucco (patches of the original stucco remain). It is interesting to point out that iron ore is mixed in with the field stones in the walls of the building…. In addition to horse shoeing, the blacksmith along with the wheelwright, repaired single and double trees for wagons, tightened and re-rimmed wagon wheels, built new hay wagon bodies on farmers running gear. The smith would also repair and sharpen farm tools, replaced wooden handles on shovels and forks and make fireplace andirons and household and farm tools. Often broken tools required welding by heating the parts in the forge then hammering the pieces together at the anvil.
