The “Leo Trio” of galaxies

This is the Tulip Nebula in Cygnus, but see that shell-like structure just above it, to the right a little? That’s the bow shock wave of Cygnus X-1, a stellar-mass black hole! It’s one of the most powerful X-ray sources in the sky – but don’t worry, our atmosphere protects you from it. 20 hours…

Perhaps the most famous Hubble image is the “Pillars of Creation,” towers of gas where new stars are being born within the Eagle Nebula (formally M16.) My backyard telescope under the thick Florida atmosphere can’t match the resolution of Hubble, but it can still capture this object. I’ve imaged this before, but this is the…

Technically this nebula is called IC63, but its common name “The Ghost of Cassiopeia” seems much more timely, given Halloween is just around the corner! Imaged all night last night, mostly in true colors with some Hydrogen emissions added in to enhance it.

This is the Helix Nebula, sometimes also called the “Eye of God” or the “Eye of Sauron”. It’s a planetary nebula, formed by a star blowing off its outer layers of gas before collapsing into the white dwarf you can see at its center. This is thought to be the ultimate fate of our own…

This is a somewhat obscure target; at 46 million light-years distant, it’s hard to capture much detail on it from Earth. But that’s what makes it interesting and challenging! Located within the constellation Ursa Major, this is a flocculent spiral galaxy notable for its massive central core. Look around in the background, and you’ll find…

The “Jellyfish Nebula” is a supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini, about 5,000 light-years away. It’s the gas blown off from a star that exploded, sometime between 3,000 and 30,000 years ago – we’re really not sure when it happened. But it makes for quite a spectacle! I was plagued with technical issues while capturing…