Barnard's Merope Nebula

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A rare triangle formed by bright Aldebaran, Mars, and the Pleiades.
Winter Triangle
A steady mount and extremely clear skies gave me the conditions I was waiting for to test long (3-minute) exposures. This is just 7 of them. I purposefully increased the saturation to make this an almost celebatory looking skyscape.
M45 in 30 minutes at 50mm
The palm trees did a great job of framing the Seven Sisters from Grand Cayman.
Palm Pleiades
A supersaturated Mars glows furiously in sight of the pale Pleiades.
Saturated Mars
A rare meeting of Mars and the Pleiades.
Mars and the Seven Sisters
The Pleiades rise with Mars. This is my second year of astrophotography, and I got a bit sentimental when I realized I would be able to see the Pleiades in the morning. When I started this hobby in 2020 in the Pacific Northwest, the nights were long and cold while the planets rose high and early. Orion dominated the southern skies, and the Seven Sisters were ever present. My first photographs using a regular camera were of this easy-to-locate cluster with pockets of nebulosity. Seeing them again heralds Autumn, with new nebula, wide field shots of flames and horseheads, rosettes and runners, sisters and monkeyheads. So, I decided to capture a picture and as I was framing the 55mm shot, I realized Mars could just squeeze into it. It was past nautical dawn, so I ditched the idea of a 5-minute exposure. Normally I stack 30-second exposures, but I felt like 2 minutes would be enough to capture the cluster even if I didn't catch the wispy blue nebulosity while keeping Mars from completely oversaturating. Here's the result. This is a single two-minute exposure of 'The Pleiades rise with Mars.'
M45 and Mars
My favorite signal of winter is the magical faint glow that glimmers in your peripheral vision but fades to a blur when you gaze head on. Magnification reveals several bright blue stars burrowing through long filaments of ionized gas and dust. The brightest of these are the famed Seven Sisters or Pleiades.
⭐ The Winter Sky Sapphires
Version of M45 reprocessed to reveal the interstellar dust.
Dusty M45
One of my favorite winter targets, the Pleiades are easily visible as a bright cluster of stars that resemble a 'tiny dipper.' You can see their faint bluish/purple glow with the naked eye and the Seven Sisters are photogenic and multiple focal lengths. This is a series of broadband RGB long exposures to bring out the subtle dust and nebulosity that surround this young group of stars.
M45 in 2022
A long exposure reveals the wispy tendrils of nebulosity that surround the major stars in M45 like a cocoon.
⭐ The Pleiades
A brilliant blue cluster wreathed in intricate strands of nebula.
⭐ Maia Nebula
40 2-minute exposures in Bortle 5.
M45: The Merope Nebula
The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, are visible to the naked eye, resolve in binoculars and can be captured by regular cameras. This is the first time I've collected enough exposure to capture the delicate nebulosity that surrounds these beautiful blue stars.
M45: The Luminous Pleiades
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