astrophotography

The Eta Carinae Nebula

May 24, 2024 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video, Deep Sky

The Eta Carinae Nebula, the jewel of the southern-hemisphere constellation Carina, the Keel, is the most spectacular example of an active star factory in all the heavens. The nebula is about 260 light years across, some seven times larger than the Orion Nebula. And while 7,500 light years away, five times farther away than Orion, it’s still easily visible to the even the most casual stargazer as a large frosty patch three times as wide as the full Moon in the Milky Way west of the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross [Read more…] about The Eta Carinae Nebula

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The Crescent Nebula

September 17, 2021 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Of the many deep-sky sights in the constellation Cygnus along the rich band of the northern Milky Way, the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) isn’t the biggest or brightest, but it still finds its place on the target list of many astrophotographers and visual observers. This shimmering and intricate arc of glowing gas presents a rare example of a massive star in its end stages as it ejects mass at a furious rate on its way to a violent demise as a supernova.

[Read more…] about The Crescent Nebula

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The ‘Seven (Dusty) Sisters’

January 18, 2019 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

An image of the Pleiades Star Cluster (Messier 45) and surrounding region. Image courtesy of Terry Hancock and Grand Mesa Observatory.

Like many observers both casual and serious, I do not tire of gazing upon the little star cluster known as the Pleiades. I’ve seen the cluster a thousand times, but I’ll still stop and take a long look at it without optics while out for a walk on a winter’s night. Some night I’ll grab a pair of binoculars and make a closer inspection of the cluster, which fits perfectly in the field of view of such an instrument. And if it’s not too cold, I’ll pull out a telescope and a wide-field eyepiece and spend 20 minutes taking in the astonishing view of this group of blue-white stars that formed while dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Which, in celestial terms, was not all that long ago.

Why keep looking at the Pleiades after so many years? The cluster doesn’t appear to change, of course, in the restricted timescale of a human life. But the Pleiades is a profoundly beautiful sight, as pleasing as a field of alpine wildflowers, and I never fail to see new patterns of stars both bright and dim that I hadn’t noticed before [Read more…] about The ‘Seven (Dusty) Sisters’

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Cosmic Shipwreck

July 15, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

The summer Milky Way and an abandoned sailboat in rural northern Virginia. Click to open in a new window. Image credit: Brian Ventrudo.

An abandoned sailboat in a grassy field in northern Virginia makes for a good, if unexpected, foreground for this image of the summer Milky Way. Mars is at lower left, while Saturn is below center, and just below the airplane trail. The silvery rectangle of stars above the plane trail is the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud (Messier 24). Many pink nebulae and silver-gray star clusters fleck the trail of the Milky Way. Look to the upper left of the image to see the little upside-down ‘Coat Hanger’ asterism known as Collinder 399.

Image taken on July 8, 2018 near Warrenton, VA, with a Nikon D750 and Tamron 15-30mm lens at f/2.8, a NiSi natural night filter, ISO 3200, 20 seconds.

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Mini-Documentary Shows Incredible View of the Night Sky

September 17, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

Infinity ² from Uncage the Soul Productions on Vimeo.

Here’s an incredible video that’s as close as it comes to the actual feeling of being under a clear dark sky. Created by Ben Canales and John Waller of Uncage the Soul Productions, this short work features 20 high-school students at a summer astronomy camp in Oregon. The producers simply ask, “What do you feel?” The film also visits the Oregon Star Party where 600 astronomers camp out with their scopes.

This isn’t a timelapse. It’s a video of the night sky in real time. It shows what’s possible with current camera technology, in this case a Canon MH20f-SH set at ISO400,000, along with a fast 20 mm Sigma Art lens.

In this video, along with wide-field views of the late-summer sky, you can see stars reflected in the primary mirror of a big Dob as it turns, a live view of the star Capella through an eyepiece, and a view of the Perseid meteor shower. Just amazing.

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