![Needle Galaxy](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/NeedleProc.png)
Similar Posts
![The “Witch’s Broom”, revisited](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WitchBroom-768x512.jpg)
The “Witch’s Broom”, revisited
This portion of the Veil Nebula, commonly called the “Witch’s Broom,” is part of a larger shell of gas known as the Cygnus Loop. It’s gases blown off from a supernova that exploded 10,000 to 20,000 years ago! The rich red and blue colors are real; this is not a false color image. Shot over…
![Abell 33](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Abell33-768x629.png)
The Diamond Ring Nebula
Formally Abell 33 or the even more catchy name PK238+34.1, the “diamond ring nebula” is a planetary nebula – that means it’s the gas blown off by a dying star, not too different from our own sun. This one’s interesting due to its almost perfectly spherical shape, its cyan color from ionized Oxygen gas, and…
![The Moon](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/FullMoon-768x664.jpg)
The Moon
A full moon captured with a Canon T6i DSLR.
!["Witch's Broom" / Western Veil Nebula](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/WitchBroomRGBStretch-768x507.jpg)
The “Witch’s Broom”
As Halloween draws closer, this seems like an appropriate object to image: the “Witch’s Broom” nebula! Although to be honest, that bright star (Cygnus 56) looks more like an eye on some sort of fantastical, cosmic creature to me. In reality, it’s part of the larger Veil Nebula, which is a huge supernova remnant 1,400…
![M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy – Another year, another try](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/M51-proc-768x631.png)
M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy – Another year, another try
Every year I image the “Whirlpool Galaxy” (really a pair of galaxies interacting with each other,) and every year it gets a little bit better. This year it was shot from our new observatory, on a newly-tuned mount and with some more image processing experience under my belt. It’s also under slightly darker skies, which…
![Orion Nebula](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Orion-768x1157.png)
Orion’s Sword
If you look at the constellation Orion in the winter night’s sky, the center of Orion’s “sword” is not a star at all – it is the brightest nebula in our sky, M42 or the Great Nebula of Orion. Sitting right on top of it is technically another nebula designated M43, and above that is…