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Lynds Dark Nebula 6732089 viewsLynds Dark Nebula 673 is found in the constellation Aquila. Unlike bright emission or reflection nebula, dark nebulae are essentially a dense cloud of gas and dust particles that block the light of stars behind it from our view. In this case, the light of stars in our Milky Way galaxy is blocked from view. Stars that do shine through often appear red due to the scattering of light by the dust particles. Total exposure of the image is 3.5 hrs (42 x 5 min).
Dust lanes around Messier 781922 viewsMessier 78 is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. As the name “reflection nebula” implies, M78 shines by the reflection of light from surrounding stars. Long photographic exposures show the dust lanes that are near the nebula. The red area in the lower right hand corner of the photograph is part of Barnard’s loop.... a large loop of excited hydrogen gas. Total combined exposure of 11.5 hours (138 x 5 min lights, 35 darks, 64 flats, 64 flat darks); Takahashi E-180ED astrograph; Canon 40D modified.
Sagittarius Triple Whammy1695 viewsMessier 20, the Trifid Nebula is seen in the upper left. M20 is a combination emission nebula (pink), reflection nebula (blue) and dark nebula (the spider legs in the pink). Towards the center is Messier 8, or the Lagoon Nebula. M8 is an emission nebula and active star forming region. A star cluster is superimposed on it. The lower right has the star cluster NGC 6544. Image was taken using an 80mm Onyx refractor and a modified Canon XS DSLR. Too bad it was only 12 min - I ran out of night,
Messier 4 and the Antares region1620 viewsThis image is of the Antares region in Scopius. The large globular cluster is Messier 4 and the smaller globular forming a triangle with Antares and M4 is NGC 6144. M4 is about 70 light years in diameter and around 10 billion years old. Image was taken with a Canon 20Da DSLR and a Takahashi E-180 astrograph on a Paramount.
The Great Nebula in Orion1603 viewsMessier 42 in the constellation Orion is a star forming region in our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is a difficult object to photograph because of it's large variation in brightness. The attached is an image of M42 that is a combination of multiple stacked 10 second, 30 second, 60 second, 150 second, and 300 second exposures using Photoshop's High Dynamic Range tool ( Canon 20Da DSLR and an Astro-Physics 130mm f/8 refractor).
Galaxies in Leo1598 viewsMany bright and faint galaxies can be found in the Constellation Leo. The bright galaxy on the upper left is Messier 95; on the upper right is Messier 96; and in the lower right is Messier 105; next to M 105 is NGC 3389 and NGC 3371 (from top to bottom). Equipment: Takahashi E-180 f/2.8 astrograph, modified Canon 40D, Exposure 28 x 5 minute light frames, Images Plus and Adobe Photoshop CS5.
Open Cluster NGC 2264, the Cone and Fox Fur Nebula1537 viewsNGC 2264 in the Constellation Monoceros is an open cluster known as the Christmas Tree Cluster (middle and upside down). The Cone Nebula (bottom) and Fox Fur Nebula (just above and to the right of the blue reflection nebulosity) are included in the image. Total of 3 hoursrs 45 minutes exposure (modified Canon 40D, Takahashi Epsilon 180 astrograph, Images Plus 4.0, and Photoshop CS5).
Narrowband Horsehead region1524 viewsThis is a narrowband image of the Horsehead nebula (B33) region in Orion taken with the Tzec Maun telescope in Mayhill. The "Horsehead" is actually a cold, thick, dark gas that is blocking the light from the bright (emission) nebula behind it. Hydrogen is indicated with red, sulfur is in green (yellow is a combination of hydrogen and sulfur) and Blue is Oxygen. The dats was collected back in January 2011 (3.5 hours worth) and processed by Steve. Thanks Steve !
The Eagle Nebula1455 viewsThe open cluster Messier 16 and the associated nebulosity IC 4703 are found in the constellation Serpens Cauda. The popular name of this object is the Eagle Nebula, and contains the "Pillars of Creation" that was made famous in the image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This image was a total of 3.5 hours exposure (21 x 10 min subframes) taken with a modified Canon 40D and a Takahashi Epsilon-180ED.
IC 2177 emission and the van den Bergh 93 reflection nebulosity1453 viewsIC 2177, in the constellation Monoceros, is the large red emission nebula. IC 2177 is often called the Seagull Nebula, embedded in the head of the seagull is van den Bergh 93 (slightly left of center in the image) that actually refers only to the blue reflection nebulosity. Image is a total exposure of 2 hrs 30 mins (30 darks; 60 flats; modified Canon 40D; Takahashi E-180; image aquisition Images Plus 4.0; Calibration, alignment, and stacking in Images Plus 3.82b; Adobe Photoshop CS5)
Eclipse of the Moon1406 viewsA series of photos of the lunar eclipse of Dec 21th showing the shadow of the earth traveling across the Moon's surface. Images taken with a 130 mm f/8 Astro-Physics refractor and a modified Canon 40D DSLR at ISO 200. Exposures varied from 1/2000 th of a second at the begining of the eclipse to 6 seconds at totality.
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