The Herschel 400 Astronomical League Project is underway
It’s not too late to join. We are about 30 objects into the Herschel 400. Hope to get another session in soon. Please subscribe to the YouTube channel so you get notifications on LIVE STREAMS.
Angels in Monoceros: The Monoceros M2 Complex
The Monoceros R2 molecular complex (often shortened to Mon R2) is a massive giant molecular cloud and one of the nearest active star-forming regions to Earth. It's a dynamic stellar nursery embedded in dense gas and dust, where new stars—particularly massive ones—are actively being born.
Key Facts
Location: Southwestern part of the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn), near the border with Orion. It's part of the larger Orion-Monoceros cloud complex.
Distance: Approximately 2,400–2,700 light-years (around 830 parsecs).
Size and Structure: The main dense core is relatively compact (a few light-years across), but the overall molecular cloud and associated nebulae span a wide area—reflection nebulae alone stretch up to about 2° in the sky. It's situated well below the galactic plane, which makes it stand out in certain observations.
Age and Activity: Star formation here began roughly 6–10 million years ago. It hosts an OB association (young, hot, massive B- and A-type stars) that illuminates surrounding dust, creating prominent reflection nebulae with bluish hues. There's also significant emission from ionized gas (red glows) and dark nebulae that appear as shadowy silhouettes blocking background light.
Notable Features:
A central hub of massive star formation with embedded clusters, molecular outflows, and HII regions.
Infrared observations (like those from VISTA or 2MASS) penetrate the dust to reveal hidden young stars and protoplanetary disks.
It's a key site for studying early stellar evolution, variability in young stellar objects (YSOs), and the interplay between massive stars and their natal clouds.
The most famous and photogenic part of Mon R2 is the region around NGC 2170 (the Angel Nebula), a striking reflection nebula with wing-like dust structures, glowing blue from scattered starlight, mixed with red emission and dark lanes. Wider views of the complex reveal a richer tapestry of colorful gas, dust filaments, and star clusters.
Credit: GROK 2/28/26
Click on image for larger view.
New Astro Camera: OM-3
Join me for a LIVE conversation about this new astro camera coming to the market. Is this the best option for you? How does it compare to other options? https://www.earthandskyphoto.com Correction: when discussing Bulb mode with Canon, I incorrectly said it had a limit of 30”. I meant to say manual exposure has a max of 30”. In bulb, you need to use a remote control or app for exposure time control. The problem is you can’t set exposure time for stills in the camera menu. I was made aware that Olympus no longer owns the OM system. It is owned by Japanese industrial Partners, a private equity firm. For content on the OM-3 for astrophotography, please see Ben Chapell’s Narrow Band channel. https://youtube.com/@TheNarrowbandChannel?si=GcWY-BM9skG9LPhY
A Dark Sky EV Adventure
In January I received my long-awaited Ford F150 Lightning EV. Check out my YouTube videos where I discuss the truck for astronomical photography. A second video details the truck as an EV navigating the mountains of West Virginia. Thanks for checking them out.
How is the truck as a dark sky astrophotography vehicle at the 2023 Night Owl Star Party?
A more detailed look at the Lightning as an EV in the mountains of West Virginia.
Stargazing Cabin at Calhoun County Park YouTube video and images
Hello astronomer! Would you believe it if I told you that there is a first-class cabin at a dark sky you can rent during new Moon periods to enjoy the best of astronomy observing and imaging in comfort? As Han Solo once said…”It’s true….all of it”. Please check out the latest video where I present the wonderful Stargazing Cabin at Calhoun County Park in Grantsville, WV.
November 23, 2022 Solar Prominences putting on a fantastic show in the Daystar Quark.
The Stargazing Cabin and the Andromeda Galaxy overhead.
The Stargazing Cabin light-painted with star trails overhead.
NGC 1333 and chunky dust in the Milky Way.
Sh2-115 in a stunning narrow band palette.
Cederblad 214 in narrow band palette. Please check out my YouTube video on “What is a Cederblad?”
Lunar Eclipse November 8, 2022
A wonderful early morning view of the total Lunar Eclipse was available in Huntington, WV on November 8, 2022. We had great conditions. I scouted out some landscape opportunities, but none panned out and I returned to one of my compositions from several years ago. I had better equipment and technique and improved upon the image from nearly 10 years ago. I hope you had a chance to see the eclipse. Looking forward to the Mars-Moon occlusions on December 7. I hope to live stream the event on my YouTube channel. Clear skies.
The image is a blend of two exposures taken with my Canon Ra and Sigma 250-600mm zoom at 172mm at f/5 ISO 800 and .4 and 1/6 second exposures.
Almost Heaven Star Party 2022
It was glorious to see astronomers and their gear on the fields of Experience Learning Center in August 2022 for the Almost Heave Star Party. The sold out event was last held in 2019. Experience Learning Center debuted their new outdoor Yurt which served the group wonderfully for meals and camaraderie. The demands of my new job limited the amount of video and fellowship I had at the event. I still had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and getting acquainted with new ones. The event brings together the best folks who are all passionate about astronomy and nature. For a view of the star party and Experience Learning Center, please see the YouTube video.
Each night at the party had windows for observing/imaging, but we never had a totally clear night. The weather was very nice, if not a bit on the hot side for Spruce Knob. I captured 2 solid hours of data for the Andromeda Galaxy and combined that data with Hydrogen Alpha data for the image below. I only managed 45 minutes on the Pleiades, but combined that with 2 year old data from Spruce Knob and updated my image with a deeper presentation. I, also, gathered 4 hours of narrow band data for an upcoming project that will take a while to complete.
Work obligations and spending time simply visiting new and old friends limited my video and photo capture of the event. It was a joy simply sitting around catching up with other astronomers and talking/looking at gear and sharing experience.
My neighbor Skip had a 7” Astro-Physics refractor sharing wonderful views of the Sun and deep sky objects.
Another happy crowd at Skip’s telescope.
We never had a “clear” night, but had plenty of windows to view and image.
Spectacular sunset on the evening of Thursday August 25 for the AHSP staff.
Spectacular sunset on the evening of Thursday August 25 for the AHSP staff.
Clouds on August 25.
Sunspot group 3088 and prominence on August 28, 2022
The Milky Way over the southern field at the Almost Heaven Star Party 2022
45 minutes of data from the AHSP 2022 was added to legacy data for the Pleiades
The great Andromeda Galaxy. Two hours of data from AHSP.
North America and Pelican Nebulae in narrow band blend
My latest image was captured from the backyard over the past few months. The region is an amazing section of our Milky Way with many tendrils of gas and dust expanding and contracting in the constellation Cygnus. The North America and Pelican nebulae are the two of the most obviously named deep sky objects in the Milky Way. For technical details, please see my Astrobin page linked on the contact page. This image is now part of the “Narrow Band Gallery”.
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