The Leo Triplet (M65, M66 and NGC 3628) is a group of galaxies roughly 35 million light years away. The galaxy NGC 3628 is sometimes referred to as the Hamburger Galaxy.
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Thor’s Helmet (NGC 2359 or SH2-208) is an emission nebula in Canis Major located 12 thousand light years away. At the center of the round bubble is a Wolf-Rayet star, that is thought to be at the early stages of a supernova. This is similar to what is happening in the Bubble Nebula. The Wolf-Rayet type star is what is making this nebula shine.
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The Horsehead Nebula (1,375 light years away) is a located at the left-most star of Orion’s belt. Orion has a lot of interest for the astrophotographer, mostly because of M42 – The Orion Nebula (which can be seen with the naked eye).
The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula, in that the dust is so thick that it blocks visible light. The structure around the Horsehead Nebula is lit by the bright star located below and left of the horse’s head in the image.
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I recently completed a 15-panel mosaic using only the hydrogen alpha filter to capture IC 1805 – The Heart Nebula. The next step was to focus attention on the center of the heart, called Melotte 15. The heart of the heart nebula, shot with three narrowband filters to generate a color image.
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