January 2026 – Page 6 – Semper Iuvenis Photography

Sh 2-185 Ghost of Cassiopeia

Sh2-185 is a H II region. It is centered on the massive star system Gamma Cassiopeiae (y Cas). This star system is in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. Sh2-185 is located at a distance of approx. 10,500 Ly from the sun. The region is encapsulated in a giant hydrogen dust shell.

This H II region includes the reflection and emission nebulae IC 59 and IC 63. Both nebulae have a cometary shape, with IC 63 being the brighter of the two. The difference in appearance between the two nebulae is a consequence of their physical distance from γ Cas. IC 63 displays a well-defined ionization front, while this is lacking in IC 59. IC 63 is sometimes dubbed the Ghost Nebula, or the Ghost of Cassiopeia.

I framed this image so y Cas would not be in the frame as it is massively bright. It is located just outside the top of the frame. The direction of the massive energy is apparent in the distribution of the dust. I wanted to focus on the nebulae and the dust surrounding them.

M 15 – Great Star Cluster in Pegasus

Messier 15 or M15 (also designated NGC 7078 and sometimes known as the Great Pegasus Cluster) is a globular cluster. It is located in the constellation Pegasus.

M 15 is about 35,700 light-years from Earth, and 175 light-years in diameter. It has an absolute magnitude of −9.2, which translates to a total luminosity of 360,000 times that of the Sun. Messier 15 is one of the most densely packed globulars known in the Milky Way galaxy. Its core has undergone a contraction known as “core collapse.” It has a central density cusp. An enormous number of stars surround what may be a central black hole.

The cluster is home to over 100,000 stars. It is notable for containing a large number of variable stars (112) and pulsars (8). One of these pulsars includes a double neutron star system, M15-C. It also contains Pease 1, the first planetary nebula discovered within a globular cluster in 1928. Just three others have been found in globular clusters since then.

Sh2-54

NGC 6604 is a young open cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Serpens, positioned about 1.5° north of the Eagle Nebula (M 16) low in our southern sky. It is located at a distance of 4,580 light years from the Sun. This cluster is embedded in an HII nebula which bears the designation Sharpless 54. The older stellar population in this region has an average age of 4-5 million years. They are grouped in the open cluster NGC 6604.

Astro photographers often overlook the cluster. They favor its more prominent neighbor, the Eagle Nebula (also known as Messier 16). The nebula lies a mere wingspan away. The framing of this picture shows a beautiful object, NGC 6604. It places the star cluster in a landscape of surrounding gas and dust clouds.

Sh2-54 belongs to an extended region of nebulae that includes the Eagle Nebula and the Omega Nebula.

Elephant’s Trunk Nebula – IC 1396

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula in the constellation Cepheus is a popular object for Astro photographers. It is ideal for imaging during late summer and early fall. The trunk itself is a dark, dense, and elongated globule cloud. It consists of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396.

This globule is commonly called the Elephant’s Trunk nebula. The name comes from its appearance at visible light wavelengths. It is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A. This globule features a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud. A very bright, massive star (HD 206267) just to the east of IC 1396A illuminates and ionizes it.

The massive blue star is in the center of the image. This star ionizes the entire IC 1396 region. Dense globules can protect themselves from the star’s harsh ultraviolet rays.

I chose to photograph this with the Skywatcher Esprit 120 telescope. I used an ASI2600MC Pro Astro camera. Additionally, I used a Radian Ultra Quad-band Narrow band filter. My session management software is APT 4.56. Running on a mini-pc mounted on the telescope it controls everything, coordinating the activities of several pieces of technology. This photograph contains 248 subs for a total exposure of 13.88 hours. Two entire nights, Sept 8 & 9, 2024.

I’m presenting the image in two color palettes. The first is its natural color, with no color mapping applied. IC 1396 is a large cloud of faintly glowing gas, composed mainly of hydrogen which appears very red in long exposure photography. The second palette is known as the Hubble palette, HOO. In this the Ha and Oiii channels are blended to achieve a more pleasing optical presentation of the image. Very common approach.

I hope you enjoy!

M 27 – Dumbbell Nebula

M27 – The Dumbbell Planetary Nebula

A little over 4 years into this hobby I have finally imaged M 27. The RC8, at 1625mm of focal length, allows me to capture the details without cropping the image.

The Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula. It is a nebulosity surrounding a white dwarf in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1360 light-years. Messier 27 is bright and, at first, appears a little small. However, large expansions of gas are visible around the nebula in long exposure photos.

The first exposure I took was 120 seconds. It was far too bright and I could see that the core would be overexposed after stacking a lot of images. I’m only using a broadband light pollution filter so I went with 60 second exposures for this project. In all I used 344 exposures captured using APT 4.56.

Like many nearby planetary nebulae, the Dumbbell contains knots. Its central region is marked by a pattern of dark and bright cusped knots and their associated dark tails. The knots vary in appearance from symmetric objects with tails to rather irregular tail-less objects. Similarly to the Helix Nebula, the heads of the knots have bright cusps which are local photoionization fronts.

The stars in the image stand out for me. There are many yellow and red stars, along with a few blues that jump out. Such an interesting part of our sky.

M 17 – The Omega Nebula

M 17

The Omega Nebula is also known as Messier 17 (M17). It is one of several brilliant deep-sky astrophotography targets located in the constellation Sagittarius. It is also known as the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula.

The Omega Nebula is one of the largest star-forming regions in our galaxy. It is located between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth. It contains more gas than the Orion Nebula. This makes it one of the best places to study how stars form.

The Omega Nebula is located just to the south of the Eagle Nebula (M 16). It is also north of the Trifid Nebula (M 20) and the Lagoon Nebula (M 8). These southern targets are visible during May – Aug.

The name is derived from the resemblance to the Greek letter, omega.

This image is 8 hours of exposure gathered in 2023 and 2024. All image acquisition was performed using APT. Processed manually with PixInsight.

M 8 – Lagoon Nebula

NGC 6530 / Messier 8 – Lagoon Nebula

I used the star cluster as the central focus for this image. 112 3 minute exposures with an 840mm Skywatcher Esprit 120ED refractor telescope paired with a ZWO ASI2600MC astro camera.

NGC6530 is a young, open cluster of stars. It is in the southern constellation of Sagittarius. It is located some 4,300 light years from the Sun. The cluster exists within the H II region known as the Lagoon Nebula, or Messier 8. More than two dozen stars are visible.

Like many nebulae, M8 appears reddish in time-exposure color photos. However, it looks gray to the eye peering through binoculars or a telescope. This is because human vision has poor color sensitivity at low light levels.

The nebula contains a number of Bok globules. These are dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material. The most prominent globules have been catalogued. The platesolved and annotated version in this astrobin link shows everything within the frame. https://astrob.in/y6m8f5/0/

The Lagoon Nebula also contains at its centre a structure known as the Hourglass Nebula.

M 2 – Globular Cluster in Aquarius

Messier 2 - Globular Cluster in Aquarius

Messier 2 or M2 (also designated NGC 7089) is a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius. It is located five degrees north of the star Beta Aquarii. M2 contains about 150,000 stars, including 21 known variable stars. Its brightest stars are red and yellow giant stars. Messier 2 is located within our Milky Way galaxy. It is one of the oldest clusters of stars designated to the Milky Way. Like most globular clusters, M2 is found within the galactic halo, specifically in the southern galactic cap. This places it right below the southern pole of the Milky Way.

M2 was the first globular cluster added to the Messier catalog. It is located roughly 55,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. A globular cluster is a spherical group of stars that are bound together by their mutual gravitational attraction. M2 has a diameter of over 175 light-years and is one of the largest clusters of its kind. The cluster is rich, compact, and significantly elliptical. It is 12.5 billion years old and one of the older globular clusters associated with the Milky Way galaxy. It was discovered in 1746 by the French astronomer Jean-Dominique Maraldi while he was observing a comet.

This image consists of 66 120 second subs for a total exposure of 2.2 hours. Imaged with an RC8 and ASI071MC camera riding an EQ6r Pro mount from my driveway in the hills of western North Carolina, USA. All controlled using APT 4.50 with guiding by PHD2. Processed manually with PixInsight.

M 63 – Sunflower Galaxy

M 63

Messier 63 or M 63 is also known as NGC 5055. It is sometimes called the Sunflower Galaxy. This spiral galaxy is in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. It contains approximately 400 billion stars. The galaxy is located roughly 27 million light-years from Earth.

This colorful image is composed of 157 2 minute exposures, or 5.2 hours of exposure. It was taken using a GSO RC8 at 1627mm fl and ASI071MC Pro camera riding an EQ6r Pro mount.

M 83 – Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

Southern Pinwheel as seen from the North

Messier 83 or M 83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy. It is approximately 15 million light-years away. It is located in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. At a declination of -29:52, it is the most southerly target I can image. There are many nebulae in the arms of this face-on galaxy. This makes it an appealing target for photography.

This image is 49 3 minute exposures from a SW Esprit 120ED & ZWO ASI2600MC Pro riding an EQ6r Pro. Captured using APT and processed in PixInsight.