In astrophotography, we combine multiple images to increase the field of view and allow us to look at very large objects or show multiple objects that appear close to each other in the night sky. This mosaic is a composition of eight frames. It shows three famous emission nebulae, the Orion Nebula, M42, (on the […]
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How Many Stars Can You See? This is M45, the Pleiades. With a visual magnitude of +1.5, it’s an easy star cluster to spot. M45 will be visible just above the eastern horizon just after sundown throughout December. Most people can spot five or six stars in the cluster. If the night is clear and […]
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Come to California This is the NGC1499, the California Nebula! It’s a very large emission nebula that has a visual magnitude of +5.0. NGC1499 starts in November just above the NE horizon and can be seen with the naked eye. But don’t expect to have an easy time finding it. Finding the California Nebula can […]
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This is comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura). It was discovered on August 12, by Japanese astronomer Hideo Nishimura. He discovered it as an unexpected deep space object in a series of images he had taken. C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) is believed to orbit the Sun every 430 years and had a visual magnitude of +5.9 when I […]
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There are four deep-space objects worth looking for in September! This is the Western Veil Nebula, NGC 6960. With a visual magnitude of +5.00, you might think it would be easy to see with the naked eye. But in reality, it’s difficult to see unless you’re using an OIII filter on a telescope. The […]
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Two Planetary Nebula A planetary nebula (PN) is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. This is M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. It is the first “Planetary Nebula” ever discovered. But Messier […]
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Below there are two images I took of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy. One was taken several years ago and shows M101 in its normal stage. The other one was taken on June 5, 2023, a little more than two weeks after a supernova explosion was discovered by astronomers in Utah. Supernovas occur at the end […]
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This is the Hercules Cluster, M13. Many star watchers consider it to be the most interesting globular cluster in our skies. It was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714 and cataloged by Charles Messier in 1764 – (remember Messier’s catalog was a list of deep space objects you shouldn’t mistake for comets!) It contains several […]
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Sky Charts can be Misleading! If you look at the Big Dipper constellation (Ursa Major) using a computerized star chart, it appears to be at the center of a large collection of galaxies! But looks can be deceiving–consider these three galaxies: The is M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. It can be found just above the first […]
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Markarian’s Chain This is Markarian’s Chain. It’s a cluster of eight galaxies located in the constellation Virgo. (The other faint galaxies in this image are much further away and just happen to be in the line of sight of the telescope.) The two bright galaxies to the right are M86 and M84. They were both […]
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