Nebulae are massive clouds of dust and gas. There are many different types of nebulae including; emission nebula, planetary nebula, reflection nebula, dark nebula, and supernova remnant.
Bright deep-sky objects, like nebulae, make great beginner deep-sky astrophotography targets because they are easier to focus, frame, and process compared to dimmer, smaller objects like most galaxies.
They also vary in color combinations, and compositions making them a popular deep-sky object to photograph. Some of my absolute favorite nebulae in the night sky include the Orion Nebula and the stunning Eagle Nebula.
Below, is an assortment of nebulas I have captured using my camera and telescope from the backyard.
At first glance, this looks like an empty patch of sky. There is no bright red nebula jumping off the screen and no familiar galaxy waiting in the middle of the frame. But hidden among the stars is the Wolf’s Cave Nebula, an extremely faint complex of blue reflection nebulosity and dark interstellar dust in…
I recently took on a fun backyard challenge: photographing the Fox Face Nebula (NGC 1788) using the William Optics UltraCat 76. It’s not a target you hear about very often, and that’s exactly what drew me to it. While Orion is packed with famous, high-contrast objects, this one tends to fly under the radar, especially…
I recently ran an impromptu astrophotography image processing challenge, and the results were out of this world (sorry, I had to do it). The craziest thing about it is that the data wasn’t overly great (in terms of overall exposure time) or interesting. Just a seemingly random portion of the constellation Cygnus that includes the…
This guide covers some of the best deep-sky astrophotography targets by season in the northern hemisphere. From bright nebulae and galaxies to beautiful star clusters, you’ll find targets that are perfect for beginners and seasoned imagers alike. Knowing what targets are available to you throughout the year makes planning your nights under the stars way…
This article was last updated on December 4th, 2024. In this post, I’ll break down how to photograph the Orion Nebula, one of the most spectacular deep-sky objects in the night sky. While it may just look like a smudge to the naked eye, Orion is the nearest, large star-forming region to Earth at just…
If you are like me, you spend most of your time photographing deep-sky objects from your backyard. While I love a good dark sky trip, the backyard is where the majority of my astrophotography projects take place. The backyard is a convenient option for an impulsive night of astrophotography, but what are we missing out…
Every amateur astrophotographer knows that the key to a sensational image is to capture as much exposure time on your target as possible. Reddit user ColorsOfCosmos took that idea to the extreme by collecting a staggering 68 hours of total exposure time on Wolf-Rayet 134. The resulting portrait of this cosmic bubble in Cygnus is…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has just released a new image of the Crab Nebula using its NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). This supernova remnant lies about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. The Crab Nebula has fascinated astronomers for many years since a ‘guest star’ was first documented by…
November is a great month to see the Orion Nebula from your backyard, and you do not need a telescope to see it. To see the nebula, look just below Orion’s Belt, the 3 bright stars in a line rising on the eastern horizon around midnight. The Orion Nebula is located in ‘Orion’s Sword’, a…
Have you ever wondered what the same deep-space object would look like using two very different telescopes? I thought this was a great concept for a video (see below) and a real eye-opener for those looking into upgrading their telescope for astrophotography. For this experiment, we used two high-quality refractor telescopes that were very different…
In this beginner-friendly image processing tutorial, we will use Adobe Photoshop to take an astrophotography image from its raw state to a finished master file for sharing. The post-processing stage of astrophotography is an exciting experience because it is when you finally get to enjoy the deep-sky object you have captured, up close. This is…
In this article, I’ll describe how I photographed the Boogeyman Nebula (LDN 1622) in the constellation Orion using my camera and telescope. This was the first time I had ever captured this deep-sky object before, and one of only a handful of dark nebulae I have ever photographed. LDN 1622 is a dark molecular cloud…