Kids, I present my latest (and so far greatest) images of the Orion Nebula, Messier 42. This is what astronomers call a star nursery because it’s literally where baby stars come from. See, when a mommy star and a daddy star love each other very much… In other words, it’s a region of deep space […]
The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula in the mildly northern constellation of Lyra. Such a nebula is formed when a star, during the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf, expels a vast luminous envelope of ionized gas into the surrounding interstellar space.
M32, a.k.a. NGC 221, is a dwarf elliptical galaxy, which is a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224). It’s smaller, fainter but just as cool! Perhaps even a more rewarding find because it’s a bit more difficult to spot. In the first image above, M32 is the smaller smudge circled in yellow on […]
The night is still young (10:30 pm CDT) and I’m happy to report a couple of new Messier object sightings. This one is a globular cluster known simply as Messier 2, or M2. It is located at the northern end of the constellation Aquarius, just below the Great Pegasus Cluster (M15). It lies approximately 55,000 […]
Here’s another look at the Orion Nebula, Messier 42. Now that we’re getting deeper into Fall, we’ll start seeing the Orion constellation traverse our night sky earlier and at a higher declination, meaning it’ll become more and more conducive to optimal viewing and imaging conditions.
This is by no means a “showcase” of talents as I do not profess to be an astrophotographer. I do, however, claim to be an amateur astronomer who happens to enjoy creating visual documentation of my night sky finds. I’m also slowly working my way through the Messier Catalog of Deep Space Objects. Therefore, I […]
Also known as, Messier 15, this cluster can be found at the top of Pegasus’ head. At magnitude 6.6 it’s not as easy to find as the Andromeda Galaxy, but perhaps more rewarding. At an estimated 12.5±1.3 billion years old, it is one of the oldest known globular clusters!
Here’s a slightly better image I recently took of the Andromeda Galaxy. My “smudge” pics are improving! I believe it’s position overhead along with atmospheric conditions are to thank.
Yep, that smudge….that’s the Andromeda Galaxy as seen through a 6″ Newtonian reflector telescope. I must say it does look rather unimpressive in this image. But to actually locate and observe this distant world through the lens of your very own scope, in real life, is absolutely breathtaking. One day I’ll own a proper astrophotography […]
Single image of the Trapezium Cluster within the Orion Nebula. Photo taken on 10/12/2022.
