Astrophotography Gallery

The Dumbbell Nebula was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 and was the first planetary nebula to be observed. It’s located in the constellation Vulpecula about 1200 light years from Earth. Planetary nebulae are formed when red giant stars eject some of their material into the surrounding space. This ejected material consists of dust and gases such as hydrogen and oxygen. As the red giant star collapses, it emits ultraviolet light, which ionizes the surrounding cloud of gases. The red color we see in the Dumbbell Nebula is due to ionized hydrogen gas. The brilliant green color is due to ionized oxygen gas.

Pisces - Feb 19 - Mar 20. The spiral Pinwheel Galaxy is between 20 and 27 million light years from us in the constellation Pisces. That means that the light we see was emitted over 20 million years ago and took that long (at the speed of light!) to travel to Earth. The Pinwheel Galaxy is a cluster of around a trillion stars held together by gravity. It’s a spiral galaxy with a central bulge of stars and arms of stars, dust and gases. The entire galaxy is rotating together. Hotter stars appear white or blue, while cooler stars appear red or brown.