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…

Deep-sky astrophotography is the ultimate hobby for nerds; it combines endless tinkering with highly specialized technology, exploration of the cosmos, and constant challenges, achievements, and learning. But, could this hobby be automated to the point where anyone can do it? Products such as Stellina and Unistellar promise to deliver an experience where you can plop…

It’s a good thing galaxies don’t have feelings; they’re just collections of billions of stars. Because NGC 2903 would need therapy. It has no cute nickname like other galaxies; it’s just NGC 2903. And it has no galactic neighbors; most galaxies are gravitationally bound to other galaxies in their local group or cluster, but NGC…

Domey McDomeFace’s days are numbered, I’m afraid! Our property is up for sale, and hopefully its new owner will continue to use it to produce amazing images of their own. Meanwhile, I’m taking advantage of every clear night I can, while we’re still here. Here’s one of my favorite objects: “Thor’s Helmet” or NGC2359. Like…

This comet will reach its brightest point a couple of weeks from now, but the skies were clear this morning so I figured I should go for it while I can! The tail’s not as pronounced as I hoped, and processing is a bit sloppy in a couple of spots. But hey, it’s a comet….

Last night I revisited M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. More formally M63, the Sunflower Galaxy is about 25 million light-years away. It’s about the same size as our Milky Way, but is classified as a “flocculent spiral” galaxy due to its poorly defined spiral arms. The more distant edge-on spiral galaxy on the right doesn’t show…