The Ring Nebula, Messier 57, in Lyra, the classic planetary nebula, here in a wide shot showing it in context in the rich starfield between the bottom two stars of Lyra: Sulafat (Gamma Lyrae) at lower left and Sheliak (Beta Lyrae) at upper right. North is up in this field. This is a stack of 6 x 8-minute exposures with Astro-Physics 130mm apo refractor at f/6 (with the 6x7 field flattener) and Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800.
The Horsehead Nebula (B33) at bottom, below the star Zeta Orionis (aka Alnitak, the left star of Orion’s Belt), plus NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula, above Zeta. The field includes Messier 78 at upper left, a reflection nebula crossed by lanes of dark nebulosity, plus the smaller NGC 2071 above the main M78 nebula. This is a stack of 12 x 6 minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 through the TMB 92mm apo refractor at f/4.4 with the Borg. 0.85x field flattener/reducer. Taken from New Mexico, Nov 17, 2014.
Red rivals in Scorpius, with bright Mars above dimmer - and more yellow here — Antares below embedded in yellow reflection nebulas. The area is rife with colourful reflection and emission nebulas, making this one of the most colourfull regions of the deep sky. The hot blue stars of the head of Scorpius are at right. This is a stack of 5 x 3-minute exposures with the 135mm telephoto lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600. Some light clouds were moving in. They likely add the glow around Mars.
