Astro Inspirations

06/10/2024

Our latest astro image was captured from the Pixel Skies Astro remote observatory at Castilléjar here in Southern Spain over several nights last month.

This is the Giant Squid Nebula in Cepheus, cataloged as OU4 which lies within the Flying Bat Nebula, SH2-129, both in Cepheus. The blue squid is very faint, hence the long imaging time.

30/09/2024

Our latest astro image features a pair of two small and similarly sized interacting spiral galaxies, NGC 5426 and NGC 5427, in the constellation of Virgo.

There is no certainty whether the galaxies will collide one day. They are expected to continue interacting for millions of years, creating new stars. There is already a bridge of connecting stars, which is about 130 million light-years away and 130,000 light-years across.

Data courtesy of Martin Pugh Astrophotography
Better resolution and technical info on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/liruxg/0/

17/09/2024

Our latest astro image from the southern hemisphere is a beautiful globular star cluster catalogue reference NGC 6752.

This is almost 14,000 light years away. It is a typical gobbler cluster, containing many hundreds of thousands of stars, and this one of the oldest known objects in the universe.

If you have the good fortune to live 'down under' this is visible by eye in the night sky.

This image was compiled from 20 mono frames each in red, blue and green, captured by our friend Martin Pugh at the weekend.

Full resolution image with technical information on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/moazss/0/

07/09/2024

Our latest astro image from the southern hemisphere is the Corona Australis region. The Latin name means "Southern Crown".

In the centre we have the blue reflection nebulae catalogued as NGC 6726 and 6727. The dust of the clouds is illuminated by starlight.

The surrounding dark, dusty nebulae are much fainter, but are visible from the dark skies of the Heaven’s Mirror observatory in Australia.

Top right you can see the globular cluster known as NGC 6723, far away in the neighbouring constellation of Sagittarius.

Thank you Martin Pugh Astrophotography for this beautiful dataset.

30/03/2024

Another astro image from the southern hemisphere processed from the confines of rehabilitation which is progressing well.

This spectacular spiral galaxy is NGC 1232 and is known as the Eye of God Galaxy. The "eye" is the small distorted galaxy on the left side, shaped like the Greek letter "theta".

Located in the constellation Eridanus (The River). The distance is about 60 million light years from Earth.

You can view the full resolution image, along with technical information on Astrobin here: https://astrob.in/rwrm1e/0/

Thanks to Martin Pugh Astrophotography for providing this excellent dataset.

27/03/2024

Our latest astro image from the southern hemisphere.

The blue reflection nebula is VdB 55 located in Orion surrounded by dark nebula.

You can view the full resolution image, along with technical information on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/goalf9/0/

Data from Martin Pugh Astrophotography from the dark skies of Chile.

20/03/2024

Our latest astro image from the southern hemisphere.

The Antennae Galaxies (also known as NGC 4038 & NGC 4039) are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus.

Currently undergoing a galactic collision, the nuclei of the two galaxies are joining to become one giant galaxy. The collision of clouds of gas and dust, with entangled magnetic fields, causes rapid star formation. These stars, along with gas and dust ejected from the galaxies resemble an insect's antennae.

Data imaged by Martin Pugh Astrophotography from the dark skies of Chile.

You can view the full resolution image, along with technical information on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/b7livo/0/

15/01/2024

Over the weekend I processed this image of M78 and the smaller NGC 2071 to its right. These are two bright reflection nebulae in Orion. Located on the edge of a huge cloud of molecular hydrogen which provides the red background.

Full resolution image with technical details on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/lrniaz/0/

Imaged by Martin Pugh Astrophotography in Chile.

08/01/2024

My New Years resolution is to get back to astro-photography after an enforced 6-month medical break!

Here we have NGC6164 also known as the Dragon's Egg from the nearby Fighting Dragons of Ara. Imaged with Ha and OIII narrowband filters by Martin Pugh Astrophotography with RGB.

This emission nebula was created by a rare, hot, luminous O-type star, 40 times the size of our sun at the centre of the "egg". This beautiful structure is located approximately 4,000 light-years away from us on earth.

The full resolution image, and technical information can be viewed here on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/vig424/0/

09/12/2023

Here is our photo of the Lion Nebula (SH2-132) captured at Pixel Skies Astro in Spain last month and processed in the Hubble SHO palette.

The Lion Nebula is illuminated by the intense ultraviolet radiation emitted by its star-forming region. This radiation ionizes the gas in the nebula, causing it to glow brightly. The nebula's ionized gas creates intricate patterns and structures, resembling a lion's mane.

Uncompressed version with technical specs on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/0uxhgh/0/

07/12/2023

Back to astrophotography at Pixel Skies Astro after a long 'medical break' this summer.

The Lion Nebula (SH2-132) in Ha. Narrowband SHO image coming soon!

22/03/2023

Our recent image of the Omega Centauri star cluster in the southern hemisphere was Nasa Astronomy Picture of the Day a few days ago.

APOD: Millions of Stars in Omega Centauri (2023 Mar 16)
Image Credit & Copyright: Neil Corke, Heaven's Mirror Observatory
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230316.html

Explanation: Globular star cluster Omega Centauri, also known as NGC 5139, is 15,000 light-years away. The cluster is packed with about 10 million stars much older than the Sun within a volume about 150 light-years in diameter. It's the largest and brightest of 200 or so known globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and composition, the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different stellar populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In fact, Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with the Milky Way. Omega Centauri's red giant stars (with a yellowish hue) are easy to pick out in this sharp, color telescopic view.

https://www.astrobin.com/users/NeilCorke/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230316