Moon; Oh Yeah - the Moon!

So what do you do when the skies are clear and the moonlight interferes with your imaging of deep space objects?  Why, photograph the Moon, of course :)

Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel
EdgeHD-11

Vallis Alpes region
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Hubble: Timelapse of V838 Monocerotis (2002-2006)

Many of us have seen images of supernovae remnants, rings of gas from exploding stars and various other astro-photos of similar star explosions. But because the objects are so far away, all we see is a static single image in time. But the Hubble telescope team captured the explosion of v838 monocerotis (20,000 light-years from earth) in a time-lapse video that spanned 4 years; 2002-2006. The video is absolutely fantastic - gives you a new perspective on the awesomeness of these stellar explosions.

The Eagle Nebula

This past Friday evening the sky conditions were the best they've been in months. Couldn't pass up the chance to try imaging some of the nebulae in the Sagittarius/Scutum area of the Milky Way. This region is low in the southern sky, and from my location just NW of Baltimore, there is a lot of light pollution to deal with. However, the moon had set, the sky was very transparent, and I had to go for it. So, here is the Eagle Nebula, a loose star cluster with associated nebulosity throughout.

Eagle Nebula (M16)
June 7, 2014 2:00AM - 30 minutes @ ISO800 f/10
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