New AstroPhotos from Mikey's Place

Been awhile since I posted my latest captures here on the blog. Here are a few of them. Hope you enjoy them.

The Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula is a stunning emission nebula located in the constellation Monoceros, about 5,200 light-years away from Earth. It spans approximately 130 light-years across and is closely associated with the open star cluster NGC 2244, which lies at its center. This cluster's young, hot stars ionize the surrounding hydrogen gas, causing the nebula to glow in beautiful shades of red.

Rosette Nebula - January 17-20, 2024
WO ZS61/ASI1600mm/HaO3RGB 8hrs integration

The Rosette Nebula is a stellar nursery, home to thousands of young stars and fascinating features like dark dust filaments, often called "elephant trunks," shaped by stellar winds and radiation.

Been over 4 years since I imaged the Rosette. Last time was with my WO GT102 and the sky conditions weren't all that great. I wanted to try a wider field capture and so here is the Rosette with the ZS61. Subs were captured this past January and since I didn't have O3 flats (don't ask why) I had to do some creative processing. Only got around to doing that recently. Although the data was captured in Jan 2024, this was only just processed in November of that year.

Thor's Helmet

Thor's Helmet, also known as NGC 2359, is an emission nebula located in the constellation Canis Major. This nebula is approximately 11,960 light-years away from Earth and spans about 30 light-years in size.

The nebula gets its name from its resemblance to the helmet worn by the Norse god Thor. At its center lies a Wolf-Rayet star known as WR 7, which is an extremely hot and massive star in a pre-supernova stage. The intense stellar winds from WR 7 have shaped the surrounding gas into the helmet-like structure we see.

Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359) - Feb 2-3, 2025
EdgeHD11/ASI2600mm/HaO3RGB 4.5 hours integration

I didn't get a lot of data on this object as the weather went sour but decided to process it anyway.  My previous attempt was a while ago back in 2018 and a lot has changed since then - equipment and the largest change, new software. Now I realize there is a lot more nebulosity around this object beyond the FOV of the native f/10 on the Edge but I was curious as to what I would get if I went really deep inside.

The Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443)

IC 443, also known as the Jellyfish Nebula, is a supernova remnant located in the constellation Gemini. Approximately 5,000 light years away from Earth it is the result of a supernova that occurred between 3,000 and 30,000 years ago.

The nebula is notable for its complex interaction with surrounding molecular clouds, which has significantly influenced its morphology. It spans about 70 light years in diameter and consists of two connected sub-shells with different centers and radii. The supernova event also created a neutron star, CXOU J061705.3+222127, which is moving away from the explosion site at high speed.

Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443) - March 17-18, 2025
GT102/ASI2600mm/SHORGB 6.5 hours integration

My attempt at the Jellyfish was a tough journey. Once again, my flats would not correct the subs and I need to find out why. Not sure if the image train is moving between the sub exposures capture and the time, I create the flats, or something else. Now that clouds are once again back, I may disassemble the filter wheel and camera and do an aggressive clean up job to remove as much dust as I can. Probably a good thing to do periodically anyway. So, this image was actually processed without any flats or darks at all! After a bit of a long time in postprocessing, this is the result.

The Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 3628)

NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy, is a captivating unbarred spiral galaxy located approximately 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Discovered by William Herschel in 1784, this galaxy is a prominent member of the Leo Triplet, a small group of galaxies that includes M65 and M66. NGC 3628's most striking feature is its broad, dark dust lane that bisects the galaxy, giving it the appearance of a cosmic hamburger. This dust lane, along with the galaxy's 300,000 light-year long tidal tail, is a result of gravitational interactions with its neighboring galaxies.

Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 3628) - March 27-28, 2025
EdgeHD11/ASI2600mm/LRGB 5.5 hours integration

This is not one of my normal captures and processing as I ran into one problem after another. First and foremost were the sky conditions - as usual for Maryland, what appeared to be a clear night actually had a thin upper layer I had to deal with. Astrospheric warned me of that as I could use the NBM cloud cover model which shows layers of clouds that the standard models do not.  Result - I did not get all the Lum subs I wanted. Second, my flats, yet again, did not completely correct for the dust donuts and gradients. Most of the problem was in the Lum and Green subs. Not sure what caused the gradient in the green subs but the misplaced dust donut correction has the hallmark of a filter wheel that did not place the filter in the same spot between the lights and flats. I checked the FW configuration in NINA and, sure enough, unidirectional was off! Not sure why as I always have it set to on, but my guess is that was the problem.

Tiger's Eye Galaxy (NGC 2841)

NGC 2841 is a stunning unbarred spiral galaxy located approximately 46 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Discovered by William Herschel in 1788, this galaxy is notable for its flocculent spiral arms, which appear patchy and discontinuous. The galaxy's bright nucleus is surrounded by a majestic disk of stars and intricate dust lanes. Unlike many other spiral galaxies, NGC 2841 has a relatively low star formation rate, with fewer pinkish emission nebulae. Its yellowish core and the presence of young blue stars tracing the spiral arms create a striking visual contrast.

Numerous background galaxies can be seen throughout the image.

Tiger's Eye Galaxy - April 2, 2025
EdgeHD11/ASI2600mm/LRGB 3.5 hours integration

Owl Nebula (M97)

Messier 97 (M97), commonly referred to as the Owl Nebula, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Ursa Major, approximately 2,000 light-years away from Earth. It was formed by the outer layers of a dying star, which were expelled during the later stages of its evolution. The nebula displays a roughly spherical shape and is characterized by faint, darker regions resembling "eyes," which give rise to its nickname. These features are caused by variations in the nebula's density and composition. M97 spans approximately 3 light-years in diameter and emits light primarily due to ionized gases, including hydrogen and oxygen, energized by the ultraviolet radiation from the central star—a white dwarf.

Owl Nebula (M97) - April 8-9, 2025
EdgeHD11/ASI2600mm/HaO3RGB 7.5 hours integration

All my images (well, at least most of them) are hosted on Astrobin. You can see them at: 
Michael J. Mangieri - AstroBin

Many are available for sale as metal prints at: MdAstro.com