Robin’s Egg
This pretty cosmic cloud lies some 1,500 light-years away, it shape and color reminiscent of a blue robin’s egg (a North American bird). It spans about 3 light-years, nested securely […]
NGC3344
From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy, we see NGC 3344 face-on. Nearly 40,000 light-years across, the big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located just 20 million light-years away […]
NGC4656
More commonly known as Hockey Stick Galaxy, NGC 4656 is a distorted edge-on spiral galaxy. Its distinctive shape is due to a recent gravitational interaction with the galaxy NGC 4631. […]
NGC3718
You can see multiple galaxies in this section of the constellation Ursa Major. The most striking is NGC 3718, the warped spiral galaxy near picture center. NGC 3718’s spiral arms […]
NGC4725
While most spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have two or more spiral arms, NGC 4725 has only one. In this image, the solo spiral arm seems to wind […]
M53
If our Sun were part of this star cluster, the night sky would glow like a jewel box of bright stars. This cluster, known as M53 and cataloged as NGC […]
‘Head’ of Seagull Nebula – NGC2327
Seagull nebula (known as IC 2177) is a rather large nebula and has a shape resembling Seagull, but, my telescope’s magnification is too high for the entire nebula. See here […]
Medusa Nebula
Filaments of glowing gas that one can imagine to be shaped like a jellyfish, suggests this nebula’s popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is […]
NGC 4395
NGC 4395 is a spiral galaxy with a very low surface brightness. Unlike most galaxies the center of the galaxy is small and faint. Nearly all galaxies are known to […]
M94
A two part galaxy! This galaxy is different as there are two parts to it. The outer part, which is really really faint as compared to the bright inner part, […]
M61
M61 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. Visible in M61 are a host of features common to spiral galaxies: bright spiral arms, a […]
M35 & NGC2158
Clusters of stars can be near or far, young or old, diffuse or compact. This image shows two quite contrasting open star clusters in the same field. M35, upper-center, is […]
Siamese Twins Galaxies
Spiral galaxy pair NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 (in center) share this area with lonely elliptical galaxy NGC 4564 (on left). All are members of the large Virgo Galaxy Cluster. […]
Fireworks Galaxy
From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy, we see NGC 6946 face-on. The big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located 22 million light-years away, behind a veil of foreground […]
Angel Nebula
Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 consists of bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. The clouds […]
Monkey Head Nebula in Narrowband
The Monkey Head nebula – ngc2174 is an emission nebula (click here for an explanation on emission nebulae) located in the Orion Constellation. It was given this name because of […]
Soul Nebula – aka India Nebula
This nebula is a very large nebula as seen from Earth and my telescope, which images at 75 times magnification (or about the size of Moon) covers only a part […]
M90 – An Anemic Galaxy
Messier 90 (also known as M90 and NGC 4569) is an intermediate spiral galaxy exhibiting a weak inner ring structure about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Messier […]
M4
M4 is a globular cluster visible in dark skies about one degree west of the bright star Antares in the constellation Scorpius. M4 is perhaps the closest globular cluster at […]
Eastern Veil Nebula
The Veil Nebula lies around 2,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan), making it a relatively close neighbor in astronomical terms. The Veil Nebula is the […]
IC1275
IC 1275 is an emission as well as reflection nebula in Sagittarius. In the center, the greenish area is a dust cloud, rich in dark dust that hide background stars […]
IC4601 – Reflection Nebula
IC 4601 is a reflection nebula which is located about 420 light-years away in Scorpius. It is part of a larger interstellar cloud of dust and gas (IC 4592), where […]
M83
Spiral galaxy M83 is located in the constellation Hydra. A “starburst” galaxy, M83 is considerably smaller than our own galaxy but is producing stars at a much faster rate. The […]
M22 Globular Cluster
Messier 22 (M22) is a globular cluster located near the Milky Way bulge, the tightly packed group of stars near the galactic center. That is the reason why you see […]
NGC 2903
NGC 2903 is a field barred spiral galaxy about 20 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Just a little smaller than our own Milky Way, NGC 2903 is about […]
The Great Nebula in Orion – M42
Few astro-images excite the imagination like the Orion Nebula. Also known as M42, this is the brightest nebula seen from the northern skies. The nebula is a star factory as […]
Bubble Nebula (NGC7635)
Bubble Nebula, a rare type of nebula, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. Although it looks delicate, the 7 light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent processes at […]
M14 Globular Cluster – A Cold Place
Messier 14 (M14) is a globular cluster (a large compact spherical star cluster, typically of old stars in the outer regions of a galaxy) located in the southern constellation Ophiuchus. […]
NGC7789 – Open Cluster
NGC 7789 is an open cluster in Cassiopeia. An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same nebula and have roughly the […]
The Owl Nebula – M97
After a few months of issues with my observatory, everything is working fine now and I am back into imaging. You will see a flurry of images during next week. […]
Thor’s Helmet – NGC 2359
This helmet-shaped nebula with apparent wings is popularly called Thor’s Helmet. Thor’s Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the helmet is more like an interstellar bubble, lit up […]
Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380)
Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears […]
Silver Coin Galaxy (NGC 253)
NGC 253 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. Also known as the Sculptor Galaxy, it is a starburst galaxy, which means that it is currently undergoing a […]
Reflection Nebula in Orion – M78
Interstellar dust clouds and bright nebulae abound in the fertile constellation of Orion. One of the brightest, M78, is in the center of this image, covering an area north of […]
Lagoon Nebula (M8)
Lagoon Nebula is a rather large nebula (especially for my set up) about 4,100 light-years distant, in the direction of the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Hot stars in […]
Orion & Running Man Nebula
Here is the best nebula ever – The Orion Nebula (M42) – the object in the middle. It is the brightest nebula (a cloud of gas) as seen from earth […]
Splinter Galaxy (ngc5907)
Also known as the Knife Edge or Splinter galaxy, NGC 5907 is an edge-on spiral galaxy. We see it like a knife edge, as we see it from the side, […]