Cosmos – Page 7 – Semper Iuvenis Photography

M 74 – Phantom Galaxy

Messier 74, The Phantom Galaxy, is a large spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation Pisces. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy contains two clearly defined spiral arms. Therefore, it is used as an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy. It is estimated that there are 100 billion stars in M 74.

The galaxy’s low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe. This difficulty gives rise to its nickname, Phantom. M74 has two spiral arms that wind counterclockwise from the galaxy’s center. The spiral arms widen as they get farther from M74’s center, but one of the arms narrows at the end.

This image was taken over two nights, on November 29th and December 3rd, 2024. I used a GSO RC8 telescope at 1625mm. An ASI071MC Pro camera was aboard a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro Mount. Acquisition session management by APT, image processing using Pixinsight.

M 78

NGC 2064 (also designated as LBN 1627) is a reflection nebula. It is located 1600 light years away from Earth in the constellation Orion. It was discovered on January 11, 1864 by Heinrich d’Arrest. It is part of a group of nebulae that includes Messier 78, NGC 2071 and NGC 2067. Objects that appear close to NGC 2064 from our perspective include the Spirograph nebula and Horsehead nebula. Other nearby objects are the Flame nebula, Rosette nebula, and the Orion nebula.

M78 is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in its group. This group of nebulae includes NGC 2064, NGC 2067, and NGC 2071. This group belongs to the Orion B molecular cloud complex and is about 1,350 light-years distant from Earth. The M78 cloud contains a cluster of stars that is visible in the infrared.[2] Due to gravity, the molecular gas in the nebula has fragmented into a hierarchy of clumps.

Sh2-135 Hii in Cepheus

Sh2-135 is an H II emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus without a common name.

It is located about 10,000 light-years away in the southern part of the constellation. The most suitable period for its observation in the evening sky falls between July and December. Observatories in Earth’s northern hemisphere find it especially easy. There, it is circumpolar up to warm temperate regions.

I captured this image using APT for session management. It controlled a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro mount. I used a Skywatcher Esprit 120ed telescope at 860mm FL. The camera was an ASI2600MC Pro astro camera. I had an assortment of goodies as well.

Sh2-135 is the bright circular shaped object on the left side of the image. A ball of Hydrogen gas ionized by newly formed stars. The bottom center gas clouds are cataloged as LBN 486 in Lynd’s Bright Nebula catalog (LBN). The bright irregular nebula on the right is a combination of several entries, LBN 489, LBN 490, and LBN 491.

Sh2-112

Sharpless 112 - another Hii region in Cygnus

SH2-112 is also known as LBN 337. It is a diffuse emission nebula located about 5,600 light-years away. It resides in the constellation of Cygnus. Specifically it’s the bright, circular region near the center. But, it’s clear that this is just one small part of a much larger cloud of gas. It just happens to be heavily radiated and so glows much more brightly.

The circular region of HII with dark dust rifts can be seen on the western side. I find that it loosely resembles a cross between the Pacman and Rosette nebulae.

I imaged this using an Antlia broad-band light pollution filter. I connected an ASI071MC OSC camera to a RC8 telescope. The telescope was riding an EQ6r Pro mount. This image consists of 314 180s subframes, or 16.5 hours of exposure.

It is located in a portion of the Orion Spiral Arm that is noted for areas of rich star formation. It does not seem to have an NGC entry, nor does it have a common name that I could find. I have found quite a few sample images of this target on Astrobin. However, it is clearly not well-known in the astro-imaging circles.

Sh2-115 Cottonball in Cygnus

SH2-115 is a large emission nebula in the northern regions of the constellation Cygnus. It is about 2° northwest of the bright star Deneb. Located about 7,500 light-years away, this extensive HII region is broken into two basic parts. Sh2-115 encompasses LBN 357 and LBN 358 (the white fluffy ball on the right side). Sh2-116 includes planetary nebula PK085+04.1 and LBN 352 to the left.

I knew very little about this large target but recent images I have seen suggested a dynamic and interesting structure. That’s one of its attractions for me. I have slowly been targeting objects from the Sharpless Catalog of HII regions. There are 456 objects in this catalog. I have found that many of them are relatively unknown by the broader amateur astronomy community. Most are rich with complex regions that are photographically interesting to explore.

I imaged this target on four moonlit nights in October 2024. The sessions ran from dark until 01:20. At that time, the target dips low in the sky as Cygnus fades from my view. I captured 297 subframes at 240 sec each = 19.8 hours of exposure. Session management for my rig is performed by Astro Photography Tool (APT – 4.57). This image was captured with my Skywatcher Esprit 120ED telescope at 860mm FL, and the ASI2600MC Pro camera.

Image processing followed my standard PixInsight HOO workflow for osc captures using my radian ultra quad-band narrowband filter.

I do hope you enjoy it too!!

Sh2-114 Flying Dragon Nebula

SH2-114, better known as the “Flying Dragon Nebula,” is a VERY faint Hii emission nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. Also cataloged as LBN 347, it is part of a larger complex that includes SH2-113.

This large curving filamentary structure seems to be part of a supernova. However, no supernova remnant has been identified as the source. The shape of the nebula is most often seen as a winged dragon or bat. A combination of intense stellar winds emitted by massive, hot, O and B stars forms this structure. These winds interact with magnetic fields within the interstellar medium.

Other than this – not much more is known about this object. It is certainly not a common target for Astrophotography and is too faint for visual observation.

Directly above the right wing, halfway between the wing and the edge of the frame, is a planetary nebula. This is cataloged as Kronberger (Kn) 26, and it is a bipolar emission nebula.

I chose to image this with my RC8 and 071MC OSC camera. As it is a very dim target, I spent multiple nights gathering data, in a bright moon no less. More data to be acquired in coming years.

Sh2-261 – Lower’s Nebula

Lower’s nebula (Sh2-261) is found on the outermost edge of our Milky Way between the Orion and Perseus arm. Sh2-261 is a large faint region of predominantly ionized hydrogen. The nebula is named after Harold and Charles Lower who discovered this nebula in 1939.

I took 300 4 minute exposures over the course of 5 nights in October 2024. I used APT, Astro Photography Tool, from my driveway here in the hills of western North Carolina.

As a predominantly ionized hydrogen (Hii) gas cloud, Lower’s Nebula takes on a distinct reddish hue in long exposure astrophotography. I applied an HOO color map to the final image to help highlight structures and dark nebula within.

IC 434 – The Horsehead Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula (B33) is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion. It is perhaps the most recognizable nebula because of its resemblance to a horse’s head. The Nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt.

IC 434 is an active star forming H II region located at a distance of approx. 1,260 ly from the Sun. This is an H II region that is being ionized by ultraviolet radiation from the nearby Sigma Orionis multi-star system. The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula that is silhouetted against the diffuse background of IC 434.

The photograph consists of 300 180s subs. They were acquired from my driveway using the APT session control software. I used a RC8 telescope and an ASI071MC Pro camera. The camera was riding an Eq6r pro german equatorial mount.

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.