space – Page 3 – Semper Iuvenis Photography

LBN 878 in Orion

The main object in this image is LBN 878. It is the red and brown nebula dominating the field. The full nebula complex is a combination of emission and dark nebulae. The complex blends emission nebulae. They glow with ionized gas. Dark nebulae obscure background starlight. Together, they create a striking celestial portrait.

Included in this overall object structure is LBN 879 which is in association with the variable star FU Ori. LBN 879 is the small bright nebula in the center and is also known as CED 59. The dark nebula Barnard 35 encompasses the LBN 879 structure. The very dark portion of the red part of LBN 878 is the dark nebula LDN 1594. Here’s the annotated astrobin image. It has all the acquisition detail and identifies every object in the photograph.

Barnard 35 and its illuminated rim (LBN 878) are part of the larger Sharpless 264 (Sh2-264) region. This area is commonly called the Lambda Orionis Ring.

This colossal star-forming complex combines a giant molecular cloud. It also features an expansive H II region. These elements are centered around the massive star Lambda Orionis. The yellow-tinged Cederblad 59 nebula (LBN 879) envelops FU Orionis. It serves as a visual anchor within Barnard 35’s dark clouds. This nebula illustrates the dynamic processes of stellar birth and evolution in this active Orion neighborhood.

I took this photograph during a full moon from my driveway in the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I used a skywatcher Esprit 120ED scope. I paired it with an ASI 2600MC camera cooled to 15f and an Antlia Quad Broadband light pollution filter. The kit sits atop a skywatcher Eq6r Pro mount. APT controls the image acquisition and automation. Pixinsight used for image calibration, alignment, integration, and processing.

Exploring The Great Lacerta Nebula – Sh2-126

Sh2-126, also known as the Great Lacerta Nebula, is a large red emission nebula located in the constellation Lacerta. It is part of the massive star-forming region Lacerta OB1, approximately 1,200 light-years from Earth. The nebula’s glowing hydrogen gas is ionized by the intense ultraviolet radiation from the bright, blue star 10 Lacertae.

A unique feature is a “stellar funnel” in the center. It appears greyish in this image as it reflects light from nearby stars. It is part of the LBN 437 molecular cloud. Another striking feature is a bright reflection nebula associated with the young star V375 Lacertae, which also produces Herbig-Haro objects.

APT managed and controlled my imaging sessions. It helped acquire 148 300s subframes. This amounts to a touch over 12 hours of exposure during our few clear nights in October. PixInsight was used to calibrate, debayer, integrate, and process to its natural color.

Astrobin link for the details.

Sh2-263 – The Strawberry Nebula

The SH2-263 region, aka the Strawberry Nebula, is located approximately 1,300 light years away in the Orion constellation. This region contains multiple classified objects. The most prominent are the red emission nebula SH2-263 and the blue reflection nebula vdB 38.

The central star, HD34989, is relatively young and energetic. It ionizes the hydrogen that makes up SH2-263. It illuminates the local molecular cloud to create the blue reflection nebula.

Astrobin link for acquisition details and an annotated image.

Sh2-154 a Molecular Hydrogen Cloud in Cepheus

Sh2-154 is a large emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus, located approximately 3,260 light-years away, within a star-forming region. It is cataloged in the Sharpless catalog. This nebula is noted for being a faint, but sizable, region of double-ionized hydrogen. It is surrounded by dust. The giant B-type star (LS III +60 28) is responsible for ionizing the nebula.

Sh2-154 is situated in the same larger star-forming complex as the more famous Cave Nebula, also known as Sh2-155. It is often pictured alongside Sh2-155 in wide-field astrophotography. The ionizing radiation from (LS III +60 28) may be compressing nearby molecular clouds. This action could potentially trigger the birth of new stars. The open cluster NGC 7419 is located close to Sh2-154. Because Sh2-154 is an emission nebula, it appears mostly red in images and is effectively captured using a hydrogen-alpha filter.

I use APT for image acquisition control and automation. The Skywatcher Esprit 120ED f7 840mm fl telescope was paired with the ZWO ASI2600MC camera. It was atop an Eq6r Pro mount. Together, they collected the 151 5 minute light frames over three nights in Sept 2025. I used PixInsight to create and process the image. Astrobin link for acquisition details.

Sh2-86 Cloud Sculpting Star Cluster

Sh2-86 is a faint emission nebula in the constellation Vulpecula, located approximately 6,000 light-years from Earth. It contains the young, hot open star cluster NGC 6823. This cluster illuminates the surrounding nebula. It gives the nebula its distinctive shape.

The nebula has “pillar-like” structures. These structures are similar to “elephant trunks.” It also has Bok globules. These globules are denser regions of gas shielded from the intense radiation of the young stars.

This image consists of 81 exposures. Each exposure was 5 minutes long. They were taken from my driveway with an Esprit 120ED telescope and ZWO ASI2600MC camera. Image acquisition using APT. Image processed manually in PixInsight. Acquisition details in this astrobin link.

Discovering the clouds of LBN 552 in Cepheus

LBN 552 is an object listed in the Lynds’ Catalogue of Bright Nebulae. This catalogue, compiled by Beverly T. Lynds, lists various bright nebulae observed throughout the night sky.

LBN 552 is an extensive molecular cloud complex. It is very faint and located in the constellation Cepheus, about 600 light-years from earth. It is known for being one of the dimmest objects in the Lynds Bright Nebula catalog. It is often imaged together with the dark nebula LDN 1228. The pair are sometimes informally called the “Fighting Dragons“. It’s essentially a cloud of dust reflecting the light of nearby stars.

LBN 552 is classified as a “bright” nebula in the Lynds catalog. However, in practice, it is very faint. It is challenging to observe or image due to its diffuse nature. It contains a mixture of diffuse dark and light nebulosity. Most images of this cloud complex I’ve seen were bought from a service. Others were imaged from a remote hosting site. Very few taken from a backyard with a personal telescope.

This image is a touch over 11 hrs of exposure acquired from my driveway using APT running on a NUC. Esprit 120ED telescope f/7 at 640mm paired with the ASI 2600MC camera atop a Skywatcher Eq6r Pro mount. Processed manually using PixInsight. All of the acquisition detail here in the astrobin version.

Sh2-82 – The Little Cocoon in Sagitta

Also known as the little cocoon nebula. This is due to its resemblance to IC 5146 – The Cocoon Nebula. It is also called The Little Trifid Nebula. This is because it looks a bit like Messier 20 – The Trifid Nebula. Sh2-82 has a lot to offer. The reflection nebula surrounds the bright red emission nebula with a flare off the one side.

A long dust lane runs diagonally through the image, blocking the light of most of the stars behind it. This provides the contrast for the entire image.

Imaged with an RC8 telescope and ASI071MC camera, this image contains 100 5 minute subs. Image acquisition via APT and processed manually in PixInsight. Image acquisition details.

Discover the Leo Quartet – NGC 3190 galaxy group

This galaxy season I wanted to touch on a few galaxy clusters. I’ve photographed the Leo Triplet before but never the Leo Quartet. The NGC 3190 group is also known as Hickson 44 or Arp 316. It is a compact group of galaxies located in the constellation Leo. The galaxies are about 100 million light-years from earth.

3190 group – Astrobin

Here’s a breakdown of its members:

NGC 3190: A spiral galaxy with a prominent dust lane, viewed nearly edge-on.
NGC 3193: An elliptical galaxy, appearing as a relatively featureless glow.
NGC 3187: A barred spiral galaxy with distorted, S-shaped arms, giving it a peculiar appearance.
NGC 3185: A barred spiral galaxy with a ring-like outer structure.

Image capture using APT 4.6, Image processing with PixInsight.

Messier 10 Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus

The Milky Way galaxy is home to roughly 150 known globular clusters. These clusters are tightly packed, spherical groups of stars, typically containing tens of thousands to millions of stars. Globular clusters are generally very old. Their ages are 12-13 billion years. This age makes them among the oldest stellar objects in the Milky Way.

Messier 10 or M 10 is a bright and rich globular cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus.

At approximately 15,000 light-years from Earth it is one of the closest globular clusters. It’s estimated to be about 11.4 billion years old., making it one of the younger globular clusters in our galaxy.

Image acquisition via APT 4.63 and consists of 208 60 second exposures, or a little over 3 hours of integrated light.

RC8 scope at 1625mm fl; ASI 071MC camera cooled to 15f; EQ6r Pro mount.

Image calibrated, integrated, and processed manually in PixInsight.

LBN 406 – Laughing Skull molecular cloud

The Laughing Skull Nebula in Draco

Beverly Lynds Bright Nebula (LBN) 406 is a very faint molecular cloud of dust. It reflects nearby star shine in the constellation Draco. On her brightness scale of 1 to 6, Lynds classified this nebula as a barely visible, 1. The stellar winds have created some interesting shapes. This area is often called The Laughing Skull Nebula, focus on the center of the image.

At the very bottom center is the small galaxy, UGC 10548, that looks like the planet Saturn. A Higher resolution telescope reveals two distinct arms and not a ring.

This image is 125 8 minute exposures, or 16.5 hours, over several early mornings in March 2025. Imaged with a Skywatcher Esprit 120ED and Antlia Quad LP filter. Imaging camera is an ASI2600MC. Both riding n EQ6r Pro mount. Imaging session control and acquisition by APT 4.62. Image calibration, alignment, integration and processing done manually in PixInsight.

Cheers!