Messier 48 or M48, also known as NGC 2548, is a bright open cluster of stars. It is located in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. It is located near Hydra’s westernmost limit with Monoceros. The location is about 18° 34′ to the east and slightly south of Hydra’s brightest star, Alphard.
The cluster contains roughly 80 to 165 stars, with about 50 stars brighter than magnitude 13. Its population includes three yellow giant stars. It is estimated to be around 300 to 450 million years old. This makes it an intermediate-age cluster, younger than the Hyades but older than the Pleiades. The number of very bright blue giant stars intrigues me. This forms a contrast with a few yellow giants.
Messier 35 (M35) is the only Messier object in the constellation Gemini. It is also called NGC 2168 or the Shoe Buckle Cluster. M35 is a relatively young open cluster of stars about 150 million years old.
Open clusters are groupings of stars that are loosely gravitationally bound. They tend to form from the same cloud of gas and dust. Their stars share characteristics like age and chemical composition. This can be helpful for studying how stars form and evolve. Over time, tidal forces within a host galaxy may be very strong. They may overwhelm an open clusters’ gravitational pull. As a result, its stars may disperse into the galaxy.
M35 is large. On very dark nights, it can be seen as a fuzzy object with the unaided eye. In binoculars, it appears as a haze with some resolvable stars. Through a telescope, it reveals a grouping of bright stars.
Located near Castor’s right foot in Gemini, it is best seen in the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. A smaller and more compact neighboring open cluster, NGC 2158, may also be visible. It is within nearly the same field of view. It is located at the bottom center of my photograph.
The first thing that struck me was the vast number of stars. I noticed them as I began to see this image unfold in the illuminated sky. Varying temperatures are seen in the gases with hot Hydrogen gases glowing in reddish hues with cooler gases expanding outward.
IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. The name Seagull Nebula is sometimes applied by astronomers to this emission region. It resembles a gull in flight. It also includes the neighboring regions of star clusters, dust clouds, and reflection nebulae.
Astronomers catalog the nebula as IC 2177. This cosmic cloud is one of many sites of star formation within the Milky Way galaxy. It is located 3,800 light-years away from Earth. It resides inside the Orion spur. This is the same partial spiral arm of the Milky Way where our solar system is located. The nebula is nearly 240 light-years across.
NGC 2327 is located in IC 2177. It is also known as the Seagull’s Head, due to its larger presence in the Seagull nebula. The region near the seagull’s eye (or lizard’s hip) is listed as NGC 2327 by astronomers. It contains a cluster of stars born about 1.5 million years ago. The eye is the brightest and hottest of the newborn stars in the entire nebula. It heats up the dust. Consequently, the dust glows in infrared light.
The complex of gas and dust clouds is dominated by the reddish glow of atomic hydrogen. It spans over 100 light-years. Bright young stars are within it at an estimated distance of 3,800 light-years.
vdB 13 is a bluish reflection nebula cataloged in Sydney van den Bergh’s 1966 VdB Catalogue of 159 reflection nebulae.
Situated approximately 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Aries (at the northeast corner). It is part of the western edge of the Perseus Molecular Cloud.
The nebula is illuminated by the star HIP 15984, a blue star of spectral type B8. It has an apparent magnitude of approximately 8.25.
VDB 13 is surrounded by dust and a dark nebula structure. The dusty blue reflection nebula shines prominently through the darkness. It is these dark lanes that provide the contrast and thus the eerie beauty within the image.
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.
A faint diffused Nebula in Cassiopeia. I chose it because of the dark nebula amid the apparent reflection nebula. There are 7 cataloged LDN targets in this image. These clouds of dust are so dense. They block all light behind them. This creates the subtle illusion of rivers running through the clouds. It is indeed a faint cloud of Hii gas.
Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image.
Sh2-165 is a small bright Hii emission nebula approximately 5,200 light years away in Cassiopeia. Not often imaged I find many of the Sharpless catalog items appealing. As with most Sharpless targets it is rich in Ha with little Oiii, if any.
I used APT for image acquisition and control. This photo was produced using a GSO f8 RC8 steel tube telescope at 1625mm fl. I used a ZWO ASI071MC Pro camera cooled to 15f. A Skywatcher Eq6r Pro mount supported the payload and tracked the stars.
General PixInsight processing to achieve a natural color palette included several steps. These steps included calibration, debayer, star alignment, and integration. Other processes used were gradient correction, background neutralization, and noise reduction. Finally, GHS stretch and curves were applied. 220 subframes at 300s exposures were integrated for this photo.
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.
LBN 646 is a part of the Fish Head Nebula (IC 1795). It is a star-forming region about 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is adjacent to the larger Heart Nebula (IC 1805).
This region is known for the bright NGC 896. It contains young, hot stars that excite the surrounding gas and cause it to glow. The bright region NGC 896 is rich with young, massive stars. These stars emit strong ultraviolet light. This ultraviolet light causes the surrounding gas to become luminous.
The entire complex of star-forming regions, including LBN 646, is about 70 light-years across.
Image acquisition was controlled by APT using an RC8 telescope with an ASI071MC camera atop an Eq6r Pro mount. The radian Ultra Quad-band filter was used in acquiring the 541 300s subs. Subs processed manually in PixInsight. In processing, I stayed true to the natural Hii color. I made a very slight enhancement in the SHO palette. This approach avoided the false blue/yellow colors. Astrobin link for acquisition details.
WR 134 is a variable Wolf-Rayet star located about 6,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. This star is bright and massive. It has a radius that is five times greater than our own Sun’s radius. Its temperature is 63,000K, making it 400,000 times more luminous! It is surrounded by a faint bubble nebula formed by this star’s intense radiation and solar wind.
I imaged his target in mid-Oct 2025. 170 5 minute subs or approx. 14 hrs. Cloudy nights prevented an earlier start on this target. These few nights I was imaging post-meridian flip. I was impressed by the intensity and density of the starfield. Limited time per session. Target acquisition control using APT. Imaged with an Esprit 120ED and ASI2600MC atop an Eq6r Pro mount. Processed manually in PixInsight using a natural color palette.
