Category: deep sky
These are images of nebulae, galaxies, clusters and other things that live outside our solar system.
Messier 11
This is Messier 11, aka The Wild Duck Cluster and some surrounding dark nebulae. The popular name comes not from the cluster being duck shaped but because the brighter stars form a “V” shape that looks like ducks flying in formation. However, that sure isn’t obvious in this image and I’ve never noticed it visually….
Collinder 350
Collinder 350 is a fairly unimpressive looking open cluster in Ophiuchus. There isn’t a lot to say about it. It’s part of a catalog of open clusters published by Swedish astronomer Per Collinder in 1931. I chose it because it made a good filter target during the early part of the night when the moon…
Abell 2151
Abell 2151 is also known as the Hercules Galaxy Cluster because of its location in Hercules. This cluster of galaxies is fairly distant at an average distance of 500 million light years. It’s staggering to think that we can see detail in galaxies so distant with amateur equipment! There are over 200 galaxies in the…
Messier 8
Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula, is one of the showpiece nebulae of the summer sky. It’s in Sagittarius so it is low in the south for those of us at mid-northern latitudes. But, it is worth pointing the telescope that low! I’ve read that the Lagoon is actually bright and large enough to be seen…
Messier 13
Messier 13 is one of the jewels of the northern sky. It’s a globular cluster in Hercules and if you are an amateur astronomer who has access to that part of the sky, it’s one of the first deep sky objects you saw through a telescope if that happened in the late spring through summer….
Sh2-112
As the northern hemisphere moves into late spring, the Milky Way comes into view before midnight. And that means all those wonderful nebulae are now ready for their closeups! This one is Sharpless 112 (Sh2-112), an emission nebula in Cygnus. Specifically it’s the bright, circular region near the center. But, it’s clear that this is…
Messier 10
There are a lot of globular clusters out there and this one looks a lot like the typical globular. But, they make good “filler” targets because they don’t need much total time and they are still interesting. In this case, I was spending most of the night on Sharpless 112 but it didn’t get high…
Barnard 145
After months of galaxies with a few star clusters thrown in, it is nice to get some nebulae! Thesis Barnard 145, a dark nebula in Cygnus. A dark nebulae is region of space where dust blocks the light behind it making a dark spot in the sky. Normally we would do these as a purely…
Abell 1367
This is Abell 1367, another galaxy cluster. This is also informally known as the Leo Cluster since it’s in the constellation Leo. This cluster averages about 321 million light years away and along with the nearby Coma Cluster, is part of the Coma Supercluster (along with other clusters). This cluster is smaller than the Coma…
Linda's Astronomy Adventures 