IC354
Images
The Galactic Menagerie of Comets, Galaxies and Things
Nominated for top pick at AstroBin. On Saturday, March 16th, I experienced an amazing moment as the comet 12P/Pons-Brooks threaded the needle between M33: the Triangulum galaxy and M31: the Andromeda galaxy. As the trio descended slowly towards the Pacific Ocean, the International Space Station (ISS) flew overhead. M45: the Pleiades dangles like a diamond necklace above the brilliant disc of the planet Jupiter. This 20mm shot captured the scene at exactly 9:03pm. At the bottom, you can see the sand of Agate Beach in Newport, Oregon, USA as it stretches to the water. In the distance, a boat shines with a red glow and the lighthouse casts the beam of its beacon through a lower-lying layer of fog. I used a set of 20mm exposures to frame the scene and stacked 10 50mm photographs of the comet and galaxies to boost the resolution.
2024-03-18
A wide angle view of Orion next to a winter arrangement of bright Aldebaran, Mars, and the Pleiades.
2023-01-08
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.
2022-11-05
Mars Meets the Pleiades at Dawn
Capturing the rare proximity of Mars to M45, the Pleiades.
2022-08-30
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.'
2022-07-31