Nebulae

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.

Nebulae in the night sky

Astrophotography from the City vs Dark Sky

Astrophotography from the City vs Dark Sky

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…

Astrophotographer Captures 68 Hour-Long Exposure on a Single Target

Astrophotographer Captures 68 Hour-Long Exposure on a Single Target

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…

JWST Crab Nebula vs. Amateur Telescope

JWST Crab Nebula vs. Amateur Telescope

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…

See the Orion Nebula Tonight with These Tips

See the Orion Nebula Tonight with These Tips

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…

$1,000 vs $10,000 Telescope for Astrophotography

$1,000 vs $10,000 Telescope for Astrophotography

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…

Astrophotography Image Processing Tutorial

Astrophotography Image Processing Tutorial

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 a…

Photographing Thor’s Helmet from the City

Photographing Thor’s Helmet from the City

In this post, I’ll walk you through my process of photographing a jaw-dropping nebula in the night sky known as Thor’s Helmet. As usual, there were a number of challenges in my way, but it wouldn’t be astrophotography without a little stress now would it? I am using an imaging setup that I have used…

Photographing the Lobster Claw Nebula

Photographing the Lobster Claw Nebula

The Lobster Claw Nebula (Sharpless 157) is a bright emission nebula. It lies near the edge of the northern constellation Cassiopeia, bordering on Cepheus. As you’ll soon see in my long-exposure image, this bright HII region is surrounded by many more interesting deep-sky objects. It sits very close in the sky to another popular emission…

I Captured My Most Detailed Portrait of the Wizard Nebula Yet

I Captured My Most Detailed Portrait of the Wizard Nebula Yet

Last week, I photographed the Wizard Nebula with my camera and telescope in the backyard. The final image includes 24 individual exposures of 4-minutes each, for a grand total of 1.5 hours. Despite a bright moon interfering, it is by far my best image of the Wizard Nebula to date. In this post, I’ll explain…

Optolong L-eXtreme Filter Review

Optolong L-eXtreme Filter Review

The Optolong L-eXtreme filter is now being used in backyards across the globe, which is great news for those that take astrophotography images in heavy light pollution. This astrophotography filter features even narrower bandpasses than last year’s L-eNhance, making it perfect for nebula photography from the city. The Optolong L-eXtreme filter isolates the H-alpha (Ha),…