The Running Chicken Nebula.

Island Point Milky Way

Nikon d5100 - 6 x 25s - ISO 4000 - f2.8 - 16mm

Very colorful clouds of Rho Ophiuchi.

Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Masterson, ESO’s DSS

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let them live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”   ~ Carl Sagan, Cosmos

First Post!

Launching in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1.... L I F T O F F!!

PLUTO 2015

NASA

M8 - Lagoon Nebula Up Close

June is “Lagoon Month” from my latitude.  The June and July New Moons will be dedicated to photographing this photogenic nebula.  I have booked a camping trip in early June, so I should be able to start capturing some more photons then! :)  Here’s my version with limited exposure time from 2013.

Emission Nebula Sh2-72

js

Nebula NGC 3603

js

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 2016 August 31 

Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico 

What is this person doing? In 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun was visible over a narrow path that crossed the northern Pacific Ocean and several western US states. In an annular solar eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block out the entire Sun, leaving the Sun peeking out over the Moon’s disk in a ring of fire. To capture this unusual solar event, an industrious photographer drove from Arizona to New Mexico to find just the right vista. After setting up and just as the eclipsed Sun was setting over a ridge about 0.5 kilometers away, a person unknowingly walked right into the shot. Although grateful for the unexpected human element, the photographer never learned the identity of the silhouetted interloper. It appears likely, though, that the person is holding a circular device that would enable them to get their own view of the eclipse. The shot was taken at sunset on 2012 May 20 at 7:36 pm local time from a park near Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Tomorrow another annular solar eclipse will become visible, this time along a path crossing Africa and Madagascar.

The Porpoise Galaxy