Messier 96 is also known as M96 or NGC 3368. It is an intermediate spiral galaxy. It is located approximately 31 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It is the brightest member of the M96 Group (or Leo I Group). This group includes other prominent galaxies, such as M95 and M105.
M96 has an asymmetrical structure with unevenly distributed dust and gas and ill-defined spiral arms, likely due to gravitational interactions. Its core is not perfectly centered. It has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years. It contains an estimated 100 billion stars. This makes it comparable in size and mass to the Milky Way.
NGC 2281 is popularly known as the Broken Heart Cluster. It is a bright open star cluster. It is located in the northern constellation of Auriga. Located in the eastern part of Auriga. It is southeast of the star Menkalinan and about halfway between Castor, Pollux, and Capella.
Estimated to be between 435 and 660 million years old. Recent 2023 studies suggest an age of 435 ± 50 million years. This makes it similar in age to clusters like M37 and M48.
NGC 2281 is often described as having a sparse but pleasing arrangement of stars. Notable visual features include:
Central Rhombus: A prominent group of four stars forming a parallelogram or diamond shape at its center.
Member Stars: Contains more than 400 cataloged members. The brightest stars are mostly white A-type stars, with a few evolved red and yellow giants.
Besides the “Broken Heart,” some observers describe the arrangement as resembling a “floppy fish” or the Greek letter lambda (λ).
This image contains 114 60s subs captured using APT for acquisition and session automation. Telescope – Skywatcher Esprit 120ED; Camera – ZWO ASI2600MC Pro; Filter – Antlia Quad light pollution filter; Mount Skywatcher Eq6r Pro
Caldwell 14 is popularly known as the Double Cluster in Perseus. It is a pair of bright open star clusters, NGC 869 and NGC 884. They are located approximately 7,500 light-years from Earth.
Double clusters are not all that common. Thus, this pair has special recognition as being relatively young, separated by only .5 degrees and are visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch in dark skies.
For me it’s the vibrant star colors that catch my eye. There are a few very bright red giants and several yellow stars similar to our sun. The bright blue stars are the youngest within the clusters.
There are more than 300 blue-white supergiant stars in each of the clusters. The clusters are also blue-shifted. NGC 869 approaches Earth at a speed of 39 km/s. NGC 884 approaches at a similar speed of 38 km/s. Their hottest main sequence stars are of spectral type B0. NGC 884 includes five prominent red supergiant stars. All are variable and all around 8th magnitude: RS Persei, AD Persei, FZ Persei, V403 Persei, and V439 Persei.
Astrobin link for the acquisition details and an annotated version of the image.
Sh2-224 is a faint supernova remnant (SNR) located in the constellation Auriga. It is most commonly known as the Rice Hat Nebula. This is because its unique asymmetrical shape resembles a traditional Asian conical hat.
It is the expanding shell of debris. It was left over from a massive star’s explosion. This explosion occurred between 13,000 and 24,000 years ago. There are also 7 galaxies in the photograph.
The nebula spans roughly 163 light-years in diameter. The “hat” shape results from the supernova’s shockwave interacting with a lower-density cavity in the interstellar medium. This interaction allowed part of the shell to expand more rapidly into a “wing” or arc.
Sh2-224 is considered an extremely difficult target for amateur astronomers and astrophotographers because it is exceptionally dim. Capturing its detailed filamentary structure typically requires Long Integration Times: Often 20 to 60+ hours of total exposure.
This image is right at 8 hours of exposure. Image acquisition and session automation using APT. Subframe calibration, alignment, integration, and processing with PixInsight. Astrobin link for all the details.
Sh2-205 is a large, reddish H II region. It is a cloud of interstellar gas and dust where stars are forming. It is located on the border of the constellations Camelopardalis and Perseus. Within Sh2-205 is LBN 696, the big round ball of gas in the center of the image.
Also known as the “Peanut Nebula,” it is approximately 3,200 light-years from Earth and spans about 100 light-years across. It’s not often that the entire frame is filled with various gases. In this case, there’s really no background “sky”. It’s entirely nebulae.
Additionally, it is a faint nebula. Long exposure times are needed to image it. Its brightest part is a peanut-shaped area. I’m guessing the round bit in the middle is the “peanut”. The bright round ball in the center of the photograph is LBN 696. The image encompasses about half of the much larger Sh2-205 nebula.
This image contains 163 5 minute subframes acquired over three nights using APT for session control and automation. Subframe calibration, alignment, integration, and processing with PixInsight. Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image.
The Sh2-129 nebula, also known as the “Flying Bat Nebula,” is a large and faint emission nebula. It consists of ionized hydrogen gas. This nebula is located in the constellation Cepheus, approximately 2,300 light-years from Earth. It is notable for containing the much fainter, blue-green “Squid Nebula” (Ou4) within its boundaries.
The attraction of this image is of course the Squid (Ou4) within the Flying Bat. The bat nebula spans 50 light-years across. Imaging it requires a very wide field telescope. I do not keep such a telescope set up on my rigs. I went with the widest I have mounted and that’s the Esprit 120ED at 860mm fl. Not an easy target with a OSC camera. Certainly a lot more time will help bring out the squid. Perhaps next year as Cepheus is on the back end of its time over us. Meridian is at 17:30 now.
Capturing an image of Sh2-129, especially the faint Ou4 within it, is considered a challenging target for Astro photographers. It typically requires long exposure times. Many hours, often 30+ hours, are needed using narrowband filters. These filters isolate the specific hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III emissions that reveal its detailed structure. This image is 11 hours using a broadband filter. More in 2026.
141 subframes at 300s acquired using APT for session management and automation. Esprit 120ED & ASI2600MC cooled to 15f atop an Eq6r Pro mount. Subframes calibrated, aligned, integrated, and processed manually in PixInsight. Astrobin link for the details.
I look forward to spending more time on this one. Stay tuned!
Sh2-125 is an astronomical catalog designation for the Cocoon Nebula, also known as IC 5146 or Caldwell 19. It is a stellar nursery. It is also a combination emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The nebula is about 4,000 ly away, and the central star that lights it formed about 100,000 years ago.
The nebula gets its “cocoon” shape because the star birth within it has expelled gas and dust. It sits at the eastern end of a long, dark lane of dust. This is the dark nebula Barnard 168 (B168), which appears as a trail behind the glowing cocoon. Based upon the scarcity and dimness of the stars I’d say there’s a lot of dust all around the cocoon.
It is situated in a star-rich region of the Milky Way, which can make it challenging to spot. When viewing Sh2-125, dark nebula Barnard 168 (B168) is an inseparable part of the experience. It forms a dark lane that surrounds the cluster. This lane projects westward, creating the appearance of a trail behind the Cocoon. In short it’s a beautiful celestial object.
Sh2-301, or Gum 5, is an emission nebula in the constellation of Canis Major. At a declination of -18 this little gem sits at the edge of my southerly reach. It’s unusual to find an Hii target this far south, although there are a few.
This nebula is rich in Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Sulfur emissions. It is often overlooked because it’s close to Thor’s Helmet and the Vela super nova remnant. It has a lot of structure as well. There are many small columns of dust and gas. You can also see wispy blue areas of oxygen and a nice Bok globule in the center.
I happened upon this target after watching Gary Imm on the Astro Imaging Channel SAIC you tube channel. He went through a very interesting presentation on the Sharpless catalog and his approach to imaging it. Following that, I was looking through his images and this target caught my eye.
Session automation and image acquisition by APT. 132 subframes taken with an RC8 telescope at 1625mm fl and an ASI071MC Pro camera cooled to 15f. These ride atop a Skywatcher Eq6r Pro Equatorial mount. Subframe calibration, alignment, integration, and processing in PixInsight.
Sh2-206 is also known as NGC 1491 or the Fossil Footprint Nebula. It is an emission nebula located approximately 10,700 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The nebula gets its deep red coloration from the ionized hydrogen gas. The “Fossil Footprint” nickname comes from its distinctive shape in images.
This image contains 187 3 minute subframes captured from my driveway using APT. This natural color image was calibrated, integrated, and processed using PixInsight.
LBN 746 is a reflection nebula located approximately 947 light-years away in the constellation Aries. It is part of the Lynds’ Catalogue of Bright Nebulae. It is often identified as a portion of the larger vdB 16 (van den Bergh 16) nebulosity.
LBN 746 is embedded within a dense region of cosmic dust. It is surrounded by dark nebulae. These include LDN 1452 and several Barnard objects such as Barnard 202, 203, 204, and 206.
LBN 746 is situated near the border of Aries and Taurus. It lies about 7 degrees northwest of the Pleiades star cluster. For Astro photographers, this region is known for its complex mix of “light and dust.” Capturing the subtle interactions between the blue reflection light of vdB 16 is a detailed process. Observing the surrounding dark molecular clouds requires time. Long exposure photography is necessary.
Image acquisition and session automation using APT. This image consists of approximately 12 hours of exposure. The equipment used included an RC8 telescope and an ASI071MC Pro camera. They were mounted on a skywatcher Eq6r Pro Mount. Subframe calibration, alignment, integration, and processing performed manually in PixInsight. Astrobin link for all the details.
