Open Cluster

The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, is one of the highlight objects of the night sky – a remarkable region where new stars are being formed. The nebula glows as its gas is energized by the intense radiation from nearby young stars. Click to see and read more

The Spider and the Fly are a stunning pair of neighboring star-forming nebulae and open star clusters in the constellation Auriga. Click to see and read more

The Seagull Nebula is a sprawling region of open star clusters, glowing hydrogen gas, dark dust clouds, and scattered reflection nebulae. Its nickname comes from its distinct shape – suggesting a seagull in flight. Click to see and read more

The Tadpole Nebula (IC 410) gets its name from two striking tadpole-shaped clouds of dark dust that appear to be swimming towards the center. These “tadpoles” are dense streams of gas and dust, each stretching about 10 lightyears. Within them, new stars may be forming, hidden inside their thick cocoons. Click to see and read more

NGC 2467, also known as the “Skull and Crossbones Nebula,” is a region where new stars are being born. Some people think it looks like a grinning skull, while others see the face of a colorful mandrill. Click to see and read more

Near the bright star Sadr (grossly over exposed in the image) at the center of the Northern Cross lies the Butterfly Nebula. Its nickname comes from its intricate shape that somewhat resembles a butterfly with its delicate wings outstretched. Click to see and read more

Is the heart and soul of our Galaxy located in the northern constellation Cassiopeia? Possibly not, but that is where two bright emission nebulas nicknamed Heart and Soul can be found – soulmates you could say. (Groan) Click to see and read more

The Tulip Nebula is a glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust and gets its name from the flower it appears to resemble in photographs. While a pretty sight itself, the Tulip has an interesting neighbor. Click to see and read more

The Trifid Nebula, M20, is a beautiful gaseous cloud within which new stars are being born. It is one of several spectacular telescopic sights embedded in the summer and autumn Milky Way. Click to see and read more

The Eagle Nebula M16, one of the brightest night sky nebulae, is an area where stars are actively forming. It is filled with dark regions and globules, including a peculiar dark column named the “Stellar Spire”. Of special note are the “Pillars of Creation” made famous by an early (1995) picture from the Hubble Space Telescope. The pillars and spire are collapsing clouds of dust and gas being sculpted by intense starlight from newly formed hot stars. Click to see and read more

Following a stretch of poor weather, I got a chance to take the telescope out again the other night and got a good look at a somewhat whimsical space ghost - the Running Man Nebula. Click to see and read more

Although I made this picture back in December, I thought it would be appropriate to wait and post it on Valentine’s Day. Click to see and read more

Here are three somewhat whimsical objects. Click to see and read more

Merry Christmas! In keeping with the holiday, here is a fresh look at one of my favorite objects, the Christmas Tree Cluster, NGC 2264. Click to see and read more

The Trifid Nebula, M20, is a beautiful gaseous cloud within which new stars are being born. It is one of several spectacular telescopic sights embedded in the summertime Milky Way. Click to see and read more

The Lagoon Nebula, M8, is another remarkable region where new stars are being formed. It is a giant glowing cloud of interstellar gas lit up by nearby stars. It is divided by a dark lane of dust and it also contains an embedded cluster NGC 6530 whose stars have been newly formed from the nebular material. Click to see and read more

M16, the Eagle Nebula, is one of several spectacular objects now coming into view in the summer evening sky. It has been made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope “Pillars of Creation” photograph - easily the most ubiquitous of all Hubble images. Click to see and read more

The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, are an open star cluster containing hot middle-aged stars in the constellation Taurus. It is among the star clusters nearest to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. Most people can see the 6 or 7 brightest stars that form a smallish “dipper” – NOT to be confused with the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor constellation). Click to see and read more

Two for the price of one! The Double Cluster consists of two open star clusters, known as H and Chi Persei (also called NGC 884 and 869). Click to see and read more

Scattered mostly along the Milky Way are stellar groupings called open clusters, randomly shaped families of mostly young, hot stars that are all gravitationally bound to each other. Most stars are born in such clusters, containing anything between perhaps twenty to a few thousand stars. All of the stars in a given cluster are about the same age, having formed together from the same nebula. Click to see and read more

The Christmas Tree Cluster was named for its triangular shape, formed by a cluster of very young stars, that looks like a tree in visible light. The bright variable star S Monocerotis (near the bottom) marks the base of the Christmas tree and lights up the nearby nebulosity. Click to see and read more