Ron’s Astrophotography

Nebulae Page - 2

Click on a picture or link to view that gallery

Except as noted, all of the images in this gallery were
processed by Ron Yelton, original data from Telescope Live

NGC 2359 - Thor's Helmet Thor's Helmet is an emission nebula located in Canis Major. It lies 12,000 light-years away from us and its central star is a Wolf-Rayet star which is thought to be in a pre-supernova stage of evolution. This image is my first experience with using a remote rental telescope. https://app.telescope.live has a number of telescopes located around the world that you can sign up to use for imaging sessions (for a fee of course). The rates are pretty reasonable for the quality of the images. This object was imaged from an observatory in Chile. For an image that is only a total of 30 min long, I think it turned out great. It was a lot of fun to process an image that came to me as high quality raw data

NGC 2070 - The Tarantula Nebula In our local group of galaxies, the Tarantula Nebula is the largest star-forming region as well as the largest Hydrogen II region. It is so bright that if it were as close to us as the Orion Nebula (1600 Ly), it would produce visible shadows in daylight. It is 160,000 light-years away and is 931 light-years in size. Processing this image was a bit difficult. The core region is extremely bright while the outer regions are much dimmer. To partially solve the exposure problem I used 10-minute exposures for the outer region and 5-minute exposures for the core

NGC 2170 - The Angel Nebula There is a lot going on in this nebula. It was discovered by William Herschel. Parts of the nebula include emission, reflection and dark nebulae

Sharpless 2-136 - The Ghost of Cepheus The Ghost of Cepheus is a reflection nebula located in Cepheus on the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex. There are several new stars embedded in the nebula itself which give it a brownish color. It is usually referred to as a globule. This nebula spans about 2 light-years across and lies about 1470 light-years away. The star right in the middle of the nebula is a protostar

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: December 16, 2019
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 3x10 min LRGBHa 30min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: March 22, 2020
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 9x10 min LRGB 90min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: March 6, 2021
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha and OIII 1hr

Location: IC Astronomy Obs, Spain
Date: July 17, 2020
Mount: OS EQ
Telescope: Officina Stellare ProRC 700
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25C SPA-2 CCD
Exposure: 6x10 min LRGB 1 hr

SpaceX Starlink Satellite Effects on Astrophotography This was my first encounter with the Starlink satellites. The night that these were taken, there had been three Starlink trains of satellites released. This was the result of a series of six ten-minute images, and the rejected pixels which were then stacked together into one image. So, here you can see all of the satellite traffic that I encountered in one hour. Software developers are going to have to come up with some very powerful programs that can handle these issues. Using CCDStack, it took almost three hours to get this streak processed out enough to be able to use the image. If the streak is so bright that it saturates the pixels in the camera, then all of the data underneath the streak is lost. That's the problem for both amateur and professional imagers and astronomers

NGC 2239 - The Rosette Nebula The Rosette Nebula is an HII region in Monoceros and lies about 5200 light-years away. It is 65 light-years in diameter which is about half the diameter of our own Milky Way galaxy. The stars in the center are an open cluster (NGC 2237) which is made up of 36 new stars. If you zoom deep into this image and scroll through it you'll find at least an additional 45 galaxies. This image is different in that the colors are not what we usually see in an image. This object, the Rosette Nebula is very difficult to see in our normal visible light, but taken through different filters, in this case - Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulfur, we can bring out details of an object that might not normally be visible

IC 443 - The Jellyfish Nebula IC 443 also known as the Jellyfish Nebula and Sh2-248 is a galactic supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Gemini. It is located near the star Eta Geminorum. Its distance is roughly 5,000 light-years from Earth. IC 443 may be the remains of a supernova that occurred 3,000 - 30,000 years ago. The same supernova event likely created its neutron star, the collapsed remnant of the stellar core. IC 443 is one of the best-studied cases of supernova remnants interacting with its surrounding molecular clouds. Another fun image taken with the wonderful Telescope Live remotely operated telescopes in Chile. This particular telescope - the Planewave 24" and the Finger Lakes Instruments FLI PL 9000. This first image is the basic LRGB

IC 443 - The Jellyfish Nebula This second image in the Sh2-248 series was taken through just a Hydrogen Alpha filter, commonly referred as narrowband imaging. Sometimes with the color images it's really easy to lose the details in the color. This image in Ha looks nice because black and white gives a much better feel for the details in the many filaments of hydrogen gas

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: February 20, 2021
Mount: ASA DDM85
Telescope: ASA 500N CHI-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-30c
Exposure: 6x10 min Red 1hr

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: February 20, 2021
Mount: ASA DDM85
Telescope: ASA 500N CHI-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-30c
Exposure: 6x10 min SHO 1hr

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: October 25, 2020
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 8x10 LRGBHa 1hr 20min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: October 25, 2020
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 8x10 LRGBHa 1hr 20min

IC 443 - The Jellyfish Nebula This third version of IC 443 is a combination of the LRGB and Hydrogen Alpha (LRGB+Ha). In versions that other folks have done this version might be much more red. I admit that I'm still really new to Narrow Band (NB) processing, so I'm not quite as aggressive as others with more experience will be. However, by keeping the red slightly muted I feel that I can keep more of the details

Gum 16 There are two schools of thought as to what this area actually is. One is that it is a still expanding supernova remnant from about 1 million years ago. The other is that it is an evolved HII region. Either way, the consensus is that it is an emission nebula. It lies about 1470 light-years away. These three images are my first attempt at narrowband processing. Instead of taking the images in the visual light band, these are taken through Hydrogen Alpha and Oxygen III filters. The Ha or OIII filters were assigned to the RGB channels in various combinations to get the different outcomes. This first one was combined in OHH

Gum 16 This second image in this Gum 16 series was combined as HOO. I think that this one is my favorite of the three. Somewhere in this huge complex is the Vela Supernova Remnant. This region is named after its discoverer, the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum (1924–1960)

Gum 16 This third image was combined in OOH. This area of Hydrogen and Oxygen gas contains about 32 cometary globules. These are areas of gas of varying densities. The radiation pressures from nearby stars erode the gas leaving globules that resemble comets. Along with ordinary Bok globules they are associated with star formation

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: October 25, 2020
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 8x10 LRGB+Ha 1hr 20min

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: January 11, 2021
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 8x10 min Ha+OIII 1hr 20min

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: January 11, 2021
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 8x10 min Ha+OIII 1hr 20min

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: January 11, 2021
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 8x10 min Ha/OIII 1hr 20min

Sh2-308 - The Dolphin Nebula This nebula is a Hydrogen II region. It was first formed about 70,000 years ago from the Wolf-Rayet star EZ Canis Majoris in the center. These gases are traveling outward at around 3.8 million mph as a result of the star throwing off its outer hydrogen layers in pre-supernova fits. Eventually this star will explode as a supernova and wipe out the nebula. Distance from earth is estimated at between 1800 to 6000 light-years from Earth. Its diameter is around 60 light-years. This image was taken through an Oxygen III filter

Sh2-308 - The Dolphin Nebula This version of the Dolphin Nebula is a combination of Oxygen III and Hydrogen Alpha filters

Sh2-308 - The Dolphin Nebula Here is another version of the Dolphin Nebula. The interesting thing about processing an astro image is that it's very difficult to replicate how you did it the first time. This one has a bit more blue than cyan, and the red Ha regions have been accentuated a bit more

Messier 1 - The Crab Nebula (WB) The Crab Nebula (Messier 1) is a supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus. At its heart is a neutron star that is also a pulsar that is almost 20 miles in diameter and spins at a rate of 30.2 rotations per second. It corresponds with a bright supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054. This nebula was the first object identified that corresponds with a historical supernova explosion. Scientists are still trying to figure out why this SN remnant has such an unusually irregular shape. Usually, SN remnants have a much more symmetrical, spherical shape. This version of the image is in the visible RGB spectrum

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: December 17, 2020
Mount: ASA DDM85
Telescope: ASA 500N CHI-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-30c
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha 1hr

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: December 17, 2020
Mount: ASA DDM85
Telescope: ASA 500N CHI-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-30c
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha and OIII 1hr

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: December 17, 2020
Mount: ASA DDM85
Telescope: ASA 500N CHI-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-30c
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha and OIII 1hr

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: January 9, 2021
Mount: ASA Alt-Az Direct Drive
Telescope: 1000 (39" RC) CHI-3
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 8x10 min LRGB 1hr 20min

Messier 1 - The Crab Nebula (HSO) This version of the Crab Nebula is a narrowband image taken through Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen III and Sulphur II filters. I tried different combinations of assigning the filters to the RGB channels and this one seemed to turn out the best. Red = Ha, Green = Sulphur II, Blue = Oxygen III

NGC 3372 - The Carina Nebula (SHO) The Carina Nebula was discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1752 from the Cape of Good Hope. It is four times the size and even brighter than the Great Orion Nebula. It lies about 8,500 light-years from Earth and includes both bright and dark areas of nebulosity as well as numerous other objects. This image was taken with a wide-field camera.
Sulphur II = Red, Hydrogen Alpha = Green, Oxygen III = Blue

NGC 7000 - The North America Nebula This nebula was discovered by William Herschel in 1786. It was cataloged again and photographed by Max Wolf, a pioneer in astrophotography, in 1860. He noticed that the nebula resembled the shape of North America. Covering a huge amount of sky, it is about 140 light-years across, 90 light-years north to south and about 2500 light-years distant. I processed this image in two different ways. This version was combined in the SHO mode. Sulphur assigned to the Red Channel, Ha to the Green Channel and OIII to the Blue Channel. The yellow areas are regions of intense star formation

NGC 7000 - The North America Nebula This version was processed in a different way from the previous image. In this one OIII is assigned to the Red Channel, Ha to the Green Channel and SII to the Blue Channel

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: January 9, 2021
Mount: ASA Alt-Az Direct Drive
Telescope: 1000 (39" RC) CHI-3
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 8x10 min LRGB 1hr 20min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: May 11, 2021
Mount: Astro-Physics 1600
Telescope: Officina Stellare RH 200 CHI-6
Camera: FLI ML16200 @-20c
Exposure: 5x10 min SII, Ha and OIII 50 min

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: October 29, 2020
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106EDX4 SPA-3
Camera: FLI PL16083
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha, OIII and SII 1hr

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: October 29, 2020
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106EDX4 SPA-3
Camera: FLI PL16083
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha, OIII and SII 1hr

ngc7000-North-America-Nebula-SHO-10-21-20

ngc7000-North-America-Nebula-OHS-10-21-20

NGC 7000 - The North America Nebula This version is what the North America Nebula looks like when taken through just the Hydrogen Alpha filter

NGC 6188 - The Dragons of Ara Nebula (SHO) The Dragons of Ara is just a small part of a much larger molecular cloud. This part of the nebula is an emission nebula that includes some dark nebulae as well. It lies about 4000 light-years away from us and is about 300 light-years in diameter

IC 2944 - The Running Chicken Nebula (SHO) The Running Chicken Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Centaurus. It features a number of Bok globules, although there is no evidence of star formation in any of them. This image is a wider field view of the nebula than the one to the right which is a more zoomed-in look at the same region

IC 2944 - The Running Chicken Nebula (SHO) This image is a more zoomed-in look at the same nebula. Both images used Sulfur, Hydrogen and Oxygen filters instead of the traditional Red, Green and Blue

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: October 29, 2020
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106EDX4 SPA-3
Camera: FLI PL16083
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha, OIII and SII 1hr

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: July 7, 2021
Mount: OS EQ
Telescope: Officina Stellare ProRC 700
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25C (SPA-2) (CCD)
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha, OIII, SII, Lum 1hr

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: July 12, 2021
Mount: Astro-Physics 1600
Telescope: Officina Stellare RH 200 CHI-6
Camera: FLI FL16200 @-20c
Exposure: 3x10 min OIII, SII, and Lum 30min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: July 12, 2021
Mount: Astro-Physics 1600
Telescope: Officina Stellare RH 200 CHI-6
Camera: FLI FL16200 @-20c
Exposure: 7x10 min Ha, OIII, SII 1hr 10min

ngc7000-North-America-Nebula-Ha-10-21-20

ic2944-Running-Chicken-Nebula-1-SHO-7-12-21

ic2944-Running-Chicken-Nebula-2-SHO-7-12-21

NGC 2736 - Pencil Nebula / Herschel's Ray Part of the Vela Supernova remnant, it is thought to have been formed by the shockwave of the greater Vela Supernova. It lies about 815 light-years away from us and is moving along at 400,000 MPH

Astronomy Now Magazine Ad Back in 2019, shortly after I signed up as a customer, I submitted my first image to their gallery - NGC 5128 (Centaurus A). Shortly after that, their director of marketing sent me an email asking if they could use that image in an advertisement in an English astronomy magazine. Of course I said yes. Here is a link to the article. I have been officially published - YAY!

The Doodad Nebula This dark nebula is commonly known as the Doodad Nebula. It's a long, cold molecular cloud in the constellation Musca (The Fly). Right near the right end of the nebula is NGC 4372, a globular cluster. Processed with PixInsight

Sh2-311 - Skull and Crossbones Nebula This nebula is located in the constellation Puppis. Puppis being the poop deck of the ship Argo, sailed by Jason and the Argonauts of Greek mythology. If you tilt your head 45 degrees to the left, it looks like the face of a mandrill. It is a region of gases that form a large star factory. Recent studies have detected at least 45 proto-stars (stars in the process of being formed). The region is dominated by a massive young star (the large blue one on the left side)

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: December 16, 2020
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16083 @ -25c
Exposure: 6x10 min Ha + LRGB 1hr

Location: Remote / Telescope Live
Date: 2022 Feature
Mount: N/A
Telescope: N/A
Camera: N/A
Type: Video Interview

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: April - May 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED (AUS-2)
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CMOS
Exposure: 15x10 min RGB 2hrs 30min

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: April - May 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED (AUS-2)
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CMOS
Exposure: 16x10 min RGB 2hrs 40min

Astronomy Now Magazine Ad

Sh2-185 (Sharpless 2-185) This region of faint nebulosity is dominated by the star Gamma Cas, commonly referred to as Navi, in the constellation Cassiopeia, and is part of the greater Gamma Cas Nebula Complex. Just below the star is IC 63, a denser cloud of gas that looks like an arrowhead that is pointed at Navi. It is commonly referred to as The Ghost of Cassiopeia. I tried to image IC 63 a few years ago down in Borrego Springs, but its close proximity to Navi overwhelmed the sensitivity of the chip in my camera. This image was processed with both PixInsight and Photoshop

Barnard 252 (B252) The Dolphin Nebula Barnard 252 is a region of cloud and gas and dust. Its density, and the fact that there are no nearby stars to make it a reflection or emission nebula make it what is called a dark nebula. This one is located in our southern constellation, Scorpius. My processing software, PixInsight, tells me that there are over 4000 stars in this field

IC 4812 - The Anteater Nebula Down in our southern constellation of Crux lies The Coalsack, another dark nebula. It is about 600 light-years away and is about 50 light-years across. It was first reported to Europeans in 1499 by the Spanish Explorer Vicente Yañez Pinzón, although its existence was known to peoples of the southern hemisphere since our ancient ancestors first looked up to the night sky. Scientists forecast that this entire region is eventually going to be a star-making factory as the dust particles come together through the force of gravity, eventually igniting into brand-new stars

NGC 3199 This image is my second full-blown attempt at processing with PixInsight. The data was provided by Mike Selby to Adam Block who in turn made it available for download on his website (AdamBlockStudios.com) in conjunction with his Cosmic Canvas tutorial series. The Cosmic Canvas series is definitely more advanced than what I was prepared for, although I'm glad I made the attempt. Processing consisted of merging the color data from one telescope with the narrow band data from a different size telescope. It took me a month of following along with Adam on his tutorial. This is a nebula that was imaged with narrowband filters (HSO), the stars removed, processed and then merged with the stars from a different image of a different scale. Sounds complicated—and it was!

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: Multiple nights in August 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106EDX4 SPA-3
Camera: FLI PL16083
Exposure: 11x10 min LRGB 1hr 50min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: March - September 2021
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 13x10 min LRGB 2hrs 10min

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: July - August 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16083 @-25c
Exposure: 10x10 min LRGB 1hr 50min

Location: Dataset provided via Adam Block Studios
Date: August 2022
Mount: Remote Dataset
Telescope: Various (Processed in PixInsight)
Camera: Various CMOS/CCD
Exposure: Narrowband + LRGB Combined

Sh2-126 - The Great Lacerta Nebula This is an emission nebula located in the constellation Lacerta (The Lizard). It has the same angular size as the Andromeda Galaxy. Because it is so large and diffuse, it can only be seen with long exposure imaging. The nearby hot and bright main sequence blue star 10 Lacertae, gives off enough energy to heat the red hydrogen gas enough that it begins to glow. It is located about 1200 light-years away from us

NGC 6559 - The Loreta Nebula This nebula is in Sagittarius and lies along the edge of a large molecular cloud that also contains Messier 8, The Lagoon Nebula. It is also an active star-forming region. There are two types of nebulae working here - the reddish areas are emission nebulae and the bluish areas are reflection nebulae. The dark lanes are dark nebulae - cold dust and gas that blocks the light coming from behind. It lies about 5000 light-years from Earth

NGC 2359 - Thor's Helmet Here is a series of five images of Thor's Helmet. They were processed in HSO and SHO. The Hydrogen and Sulphur channels were swapped and then some green removed. It's just a cool study in how the exact same image can turn out so completely different based on the processor's sense of artistry. Thor's Helmet is an emission nebula located in Canis Major. It lies 12,000 light-years away from us and its central star is a Wolf-Rayet star which is thought to be in a pre-supernova stage of evolution

NGC 2359 - Thor's Helmet

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: July 1, 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED SPA-1
Camera: FLI PL16083 @-25c
Exposure: 20x3min HLRGB 33x10min 5.5 hrs

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: Apr-Jul 2022
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c (CHI-1)
Exposure: 24x10 min LRGB 4hrs

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: Nov 2020 - Mar 2023
Mount: ASA Alt-Az Direct Drive
Telescope: 1000 (39" RC) CHI-3
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 14x3min HSO 42min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: Nov 2020 - Mar 2023
Mount: ASA Alt-Az Direct Drive
Telescope: 1000 (39" RC) CHI-3
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 14x3min HSO 42min

NGC 2359 - Thor's Helmet

Henize 70 - Super-Bubble Description quoted from Ann's Astronomy News: "Henize 70 is a bright superbubble about 300 light-years across within the Large Magellanic Cloud (a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy), located some 160,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Dorado. Superbubbles are large bubbles of interstellar gas, blown by winds from hot, massive stars and supernova explosions, and their interiors are filled with tenuous, hot expanding gas. At the center of Henize 70 is a small group of extremely hot and massive stars."

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: Nov 2020 - Mar 2023
Mount: ASA Alt-Az Direct Drive
Telescope: 1000 (39" RC) CHI-3
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 14x3min HSO 42min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: Nov 2020 - Mar 2023
Mount: ASA Alt-Az Direct Drive
Telescope: 1000 (39" RC) CHI-3
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 14x3min HSO 42min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: Nov 2020 - Mar 2023
Mount: ASA Alt-Az Direct Drive
Telescope: 1000 (39" RC) CHI-3
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 14x3min HSO 42min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: February - March 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c (CHI-1)
Exposure: 15x10min SHO 2hrs 30min

ngc2359-Thors-Helmet-SHO-Nov20-Mar23-CHI-3-3

ngc2359-Thors-Helmet-SHO-Nov20-Mar23-CHI-3-4

ngc2359-Thors-Helmet-SHO-Nov20-Mar23-CHI-3-5

Messier 42 (M42) The Great Orion Nebula The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula located about 1600 light-years away and is about 24 light-years across. The bright central region known as the Trapezium is an active star-making area. The Trapezium consists of four hot, young stars. If you're observing from a good dark-sky site there are two additional stars that can be resolved with a good telescope which make the Trapezium an open star cluster. This nebula is just part of a larger cloud of gas and dust that encompasses most of the constellation Orion

NGC 3372 - The Carina Nebula (SHO) This is another version of the Carina Nebula. The first version is a couple of rows above this one. The first version was done back in 2021 and was processed with Photoshop. This version used a different telescope and was processed with PixInsight. Certain areas of processing in PS always seemed to be just beyond me. With PixInsight I've put in a ton of time with tutorials. At first look, PixInsight looks like it's beyond comprehension, but with time and effort it turns out to be one heck of a powerful software suite. Glad I made the leap. This version was processed in the Hubble Palette (SHO). The Carina Nebula was discovered by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1752 from the Cape of Good Hope. It is four times the size and even brighter than the Great Orion Nebula. It lies about 8,500 light-years from Earth and includes both bright and dark areas of nebulosity as well as numerous other objects

Image Slide Show with Music - May 2023 This was a fun project to do. I selected some of my favorite images (both from my own rig as well as from Telescope Live) and added a soundtrack of original music. I hope you enjoy it

The Great Lacerta Nebula - Sh2-126 This is a slightly different version of the Lacerta Nebula than the one a couple of rows above this one. The first image was shot with a 24-inch telescope and this one was taken with a wider-field scope. This is an emission nebula located in the constellation Lacerta (The Lizard). It has the same angular size as the Andromeda Galaxy. Because it is so large and diffuse, it can only be seen with long exposure imaging. The nearby hot and bright main sequence blue star 10 Lacertae, gives off enough energy to heat the red hydrogen gas enough that it begins to glow. It is located about 1200 light-years away from us

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: Dec 20 - Feb 21
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: FLI PL9000 @-25c CHI-1 CCD
Exposure: 30x30 RGB 15min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: February - March 2023
Mount: ASA DDM85
Telescope: ASA 500N CHI-2
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-30c
Exposure: 43x5 min SHO 3hrs 35min

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: July - September 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 SPA-3
Camera: QHY600m @-25c
Exposure: 16x10 min HLRGB 2hrs 40min

placeholder

Cygnus North Cygnus, The Swan, was known and listed by the second-century astronomer, Ptolemy. Cygnus is one of the easiest constellations in northern skies to spot since it is right in the middle of the Summer Triangle made up of Deneb, Vega and Altair. It is also the home of many of the nebulae that we love to observe and image. This image is of the northern section of the greater nebula which also includes supernova remnants and numerous open clusters

IC 4592 - The Blue Horsehead Nebula This beautiful nebula is a reflection nebula lit by Nu Scorpii in the constellation Scorpius. It is about 400 light-years away from us

IC 4592 - The Blue Horsehead Nebula This second image of the Blue Horsehead is the same one as the one just to the left except that all of the stars have been removed. This is a normal part of the process when processing images with PixInsight. By separating the stars from the main object it is much easier to make changes to one or the other. If, for example, you're just about finished with the image but it has a bit too much green in the sky, you can make that adjustment without affecting the rest of the image. Pretty cool!

NGC 3576 - The Statue of Liberty Nebula This wonderful nebula is situated in the constellation of Carina, in the southern hemisphere, and lies about 9000 light-years away from Earth. Inside this nebula there are numerous hot, young stars. These stars give off powerful solar winds that, over time, erode the gases into interesting shapes. This image has the stars included. The next image is a version without stars that gives it a completely different look

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: November - December, 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 (SPA-3)
Camera: QHY600m @-25c
Exposure: 12 x SHO (CCD) Total: 2 hrs

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: July 10, 2021
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16083 @-25c
Exposure: 8x10 min LRGB 1hr 20min

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: July 10, 2021
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16083 @-25c
Exposure: 8x10 min LRGB 1hr 20min

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: January 5, 2022 - January 5, 2023
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16083 @-25c
Exposure: 68x5 min SHO 4hrs 20min

Cygnus-North-HSO-Nov-Dec22-SPA-3-CCD-stars

ic4592-Blue-Horsehead-LRGB-AUS-2-starless-CCD

ngc3576-SHO-5Jan22-Jan23-CHI-1-CCD-stars

NGC 3576 - The Statue of Liberty Nebula This is the same as the preceding image, but this one has had the stars removed. The object is separated from the original image into stars-only and starless images. This is done to make it easier to process different components of the overall image separately. Sometimes the image without the stars ends up being just as interesting as the one with the stars. This image was taken using Hubble Palette narrowband filters. The combination was HSO

GUM 37 - The Southern Tadpole Nebula 9500 light-years away in the constellation Carina is the Southern Tadpole Nebula. This image was taken with the 24-inch Planewave telescope in Chile. It's a fairly large telescope, so we're only able to see the very end of the tadpole in this image. This image was taken with Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulphur filters, also known as the Hubble Palette. This particular combination was HSO

GUM 37 - The Southern Tadpole Nebula Again, this image is the same as the one to the left, except that the stars have been removed

RCW-2 (Rodgers, Campbell and Whiteoak) RCW 2 is the head of the Seagull Nebula in the constellation Monoceros. The Seagull Nebula is an emission nebula, near Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky. This makes it pretty easy to find in a telescope. This image of the head of the seagull is just a small part of the rest of the nebula which is 3,800 light-years away and about 100 light-years across. Taken in the Hubble Palette HSO

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: January 5, 2022 - January 5, 2023
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: FLI PL16083 @-25c
Exposure: 68x5 min SHO 4hrs 20min

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: July - September 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 SPA-3
Camera: QHY600m @-25c
Exposure: 16x10 min HLRGB 2hrs 40 min

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: July - September 2022
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 SPA-3
Camera: QHY600m @-25c
Exposure: 16x10 min HLRGB 2hrs 40 min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: April 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 20x5 min HSO 1hr 40min

ngc3576-SHO-5Jan22-5Feb23-CHI-2-CCD-Starless

Messier 20 - The Trifid Nebula Charles Messier discovered the Trifid Nebula back in 1764. He thought that it had three lobes—thus the Trifid name. This nebula is an interesting one. It has something for everyone. It contains an open star cluster, emission and reflection nebulae, as well as dark material. It lies about 4100 light-years away from us

NGC 246 - The Cetus Bubble The Cetus Bubble is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Cetus. It lies about 1600 light-years away

NGC 7293 - The Helix Nebula (The Eye of Sauron) When a star sheds off its outer atmosphere it comes out looking like just a disc of gas. Actually it is a sphere of gas that is expanding in all directions at the same time. These are called planetary nebulae. And what is left at the center is a white dwarf star. This one is about 650 light-years away in Aquarius

NGC 7293 - The Helix Nebula (The Eye of Sauron) Here is a different version of the Helix Nebula. Using the same data set as the image to the left, I was able to bring out a bit more detail as well as more pleasing colors. Remember that when processing in The Hubble Palette, you can assign the colors to the red, blue and green channels to make a completely unique image

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: May 2023
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CMOS
Exposure: 17x5min SHO 1hr 25min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: June 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 17x5 min HSO 1hr 35min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: April 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 20x5 min HSO 1hr 40min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: April 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 20x5 min HSO 1hr 40min

ngc246-Cetus-Bubble-HSO-Jun23-CHI-1-CMOS

ngc7293-HSO-Helix-Nebula-Nov20-Dec21-CHI-1

ngc7293-HSO-Helix-Nebula-Nov20-Dec21-CHI-1-CCD-1-2

RCW-108 The Dragons of Ara and the Dragon's Egg Also known as the Dragons of Ara, the Rim Nebula is just a small part of a much larger molecular cloud. This part of the planetary nebula contains an emission nebula that includes some dark nebula as well. It lies about 4000 light-years away from us and is about 300 light-years in diameter. The small blue nebula in the upper right has two sections—an outer bubble and an inner bubble— probably from an earlier mass ejection from its central star, a kind that lives very hot and very short. Since the larger nebula is often referred to as the Fighting Dragons of Ara, this smaller nebula is called The Dragon's Egg

Crescent Nebula to the Tulip Nebula This widefield image in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, features three objects all at once inside a vastly larger cloud of gas and dust. At the top is the Crescent Nebula. About midway down on the left is the Cygnus Bubble. Lastly, in the lower right corner is the Tulip Nebula. This image was done in the Hubble Palette—SHO. Blue and cyan are oxygen, while green and yellow are hydrogen gas

RCW 58 This planetary nebula lies in the constellation Carina. The central star is called a Wolf-Rayet star. These types of stars are huge, very hot and very luminous. This particular star is about 100 times the size of our Earth, a million times more luminous and 30 times the temperature. As stars use up their primary fuel—hydrogen, they expand while ejecting their outer layers by way of stellar winds, which gives us the red, oval nebula. These stellar winds are traveling at about 100 km/sec

Messier 20 - The Trifid Nebula (Widefield) The Trifid Nebula (M20) is actually the nebula at lower center. The larger one above it is the Lagoon Nebula (M8). Both are in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier way back in 1764. Trifid means "three-lobed," which is how it appeared in small telescopes when it was discovered. It's kind of an unusual nebula in that it is a combination of open cluster, emission nebula (red-pink), reflection nebula (blue-cyan) and dark nebula (dark lines running through the nebula). It's a perennial favorite viewing object at star parties in the summer

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Australia
Date: May 2023
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: FSQ-106ED AUS-2
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CMOS
Exposure: 20x5 min HSO 1hr 40min

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: July 2023
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED SPA-1 CCD
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 19x5 min SHO 1hr 30min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: April 29, 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 11x5 min LRGB+HO 55min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: April 29, 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 20x5 min HSO 1hr 40min

The Veil Nebula The Veil Nebula is just a small part of the much larger Cygnus Loop. It consists of many sub-objects with their own names and designation numbers. It was formed when a massive star went supernova between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. This rendering was done in SHO, in which the red-brown regions represent hydrogen gas and the bluish regions represent oxygen gas

NGC 6164 - The Dragon's Egg The Dragon's Egg is an emission nebula in the constellation Norma (the Carpenter's Square). The central star that formed the nebula and the surrounding blue halo is very, very hot and weighs in at 40 times the mass of the Sun. In about 4 million years it will probably end its life as a supernova. This nebula spans about 4 light-years and lies about 4200 light-years from Earth. The Dragon's Egg is just a very small spot in a great complex of gas

placeholder

Location: IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain
Date: July 2023
Mount: Paramount MX+
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED SPA-1 CCD
Camera: FLI PL16803 @-25c
Exposure: 19x5 min SHO 1hr 35min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: July 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 17x5 min HSO 4hrs 25min

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Date: July 2023
Mount: Mathis MI-1000
Telescope: Planewave CDK24 f/6.6
Camera: QHY600m @-25c CHI-1
Exposure: 24x5 min HSO 2hrs

ngc6164-Dragons-Egg-HSO-July23-CHI-1-CMOS

placeholder

Nebulae Page - 2

Click on a picture or link to view that gallery

Except as noted, all of the images in this gallery were processed by Ron Yelton, original data from Telescope Live

Except as noted, all images Copyright © by Ron Yelton and may not be used without permission Contact Ron at Aileron355@aol.com

Except as noted, all of the images in this gallery were
processed by Ron Yelton, original data from Telescope Live

Except as noted, all images Copyright © by Ron Yelton and may not be used without permission
Contact Ron at Aileron355@aol.com