Category: Astronomy

This is the Helix Nebula in the constellation of Aquarius. It never gets too high in our sky but now in late December it is especially low and sets early in the evening. I shot this over two nights under an 80+% illuminated Moon (Friday & Saturday) because by the time the Moon is gone, it will be that much lower in the sky. Anyway, 11″ SCT with Hyperstar shooting at f/1.9 and L-eNhance dual narrowband filter. 31 three minute subs.
From Wikipedia: The Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293 or Caldwell 63) is a planetary nebula (PN) located in the constellation Aquarius. Discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae. The distance, measured by the Gaia mission, is 655±13 light-years. It is similar in appearance to the Cat’s Eye Nebula and the Ring Nebula, whose size, age, and physical characteristics are similar to the Dumbbell Nebula, varying only in its relative proximity and the appearance from the equatorial viewing angle. The Helix Nebula has sometimes been referred to as the “Eye of God” in pop culture, as well as the “Eye of Sauron”.
From the Far Side: This is the awning of the cage of Asparagus.

This is the Rosette Nebula in the constellation of Monoceros. It is a so-called HII region, the stars inside the nebula are exciting the hydrogen causing it to glow on its own (as opposed to a reflection nebula that, well, reflects the light that hits it). It is about 5000 light years away, about 130 light years across, and about a degree of arc across from where we live. The Moon is about a half a degree across. I shot this Christmas night at the River Ridge Observatory with my 11″ SCT and Hyperstar shooting at f/1.9 and ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera. Since the Moon was 81% illuminated, I used an L-eNhance dual narrowband filter which lets just two narrow bands of light through to somewhat negate the Moon’s impact. This was made from 14 separate five minute subs for a total of 70 minutes. You might be able to a gradient horizontally. That may be from the Moon and I had to work to remove it.

This is the so-called Pacman Nebula in Cassiopeia. Also known as NGC 281. I collected 22 five minute subs over two nights with my 11″ SCT at f/1.9 using a dual narrowband filter. I’m trying a borrowed ASIAIR Pro device for image capture instead of my trusty laptop.

From Wikipedia:
NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way’s Perseus Spiral Arm. This 20×30 arcmin sized nebulosity is also associated with open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star, B 1. It collectively forms Sh2-184, spanning over a larger area of 40 arcmin. A recent distance from radio parallaxes of water masers at 22 GHz made during 2014 is estimated it lies 2.82±0.20 kpc. (9200 ly.) from us. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.