All photos are © Marshall Faintich
Click on each picture for a larger image.
Nebulae are clouds of interstellar gas where stars are born as the gaseous material condenses into a tightly packed mass. Emission nebulae have one or more bright stars nearby that cause the gases to emit energy primarily in the reddish hydrogen-alpha part of the spectrum. Reflection nebulae have one or more bright stars nearby but not close enough to cause emission, and only bluish light from the stars is reflected. |
![]() Orion & Running Man Nebulae ![]() Flame & Horsehead Nebulae (Orion Belt) ![]() Orion Belt and Sword | ||
![]() Barnard's Loop ![]() M78, Flame & Horsehead Nebulae ![]() Witch Head Nebula |
![]() Lagoon & Trifid Nebulae ![]() Lagoon & Trifid Nebulae ![]() Lagoon Nebula ![]() Trifid Nebula & M21 Open Cluster |
![]() Omega & Eagle Nebulae ![]() Omega Nebula ![]() EagleNebula |
![]() North American, Elephant Trunk, & Veil Nebulae ![]() Fish Head Nebula ![]() IC5076 Reflection Nebula ![]() Cocoon Nebula NGC 7209&7243 |
![]() Dumbbell Nebula ![]() Dumbbell Nebula ![]() Helix Nebula ![]() HelixNebula | |||
![]() Ring Nebula ![]() Ring Nebula ![]() Owl Nebula & Surfboard Galaxy ![]() Little Gem Nebula |
![]() Blinking Eye Nebula ![]() NGC 6833 Nebula |
Galaxies contain hundreds of billlions of stars.
![]() Andromeda & M110, M32 Galaxies ![]() Andromeda & M110, M32 Galaxies ![]() Triangulum Galaxy |
![]() Markarian's Chain ![]() Markarian's Chain annotated ![]() Virgo Cluster ![]() Virgo Cluster annotated |
![]() M88 ![]() M90 ![]() M91 |
Supernovae are powerful explosions of stars when their internal nuclear fuel supplies burn out and the stars quickly collapse, resulting in massive shock waves causing stars to explode. |
![]() Supernova SN 2023ixf Pinwheel Galaxy 3 July 2023 & 19 April 2022 ![]() Supernova SN 2023ixf Pinwheel & NGC 5474 Galaxies 3 July 2023 |
The Crab Nebula, while quite small and really difficult to photograph without a telescope, is the remnant of the great supernova of 1054 A.D. This supernova was so bright in 1054 that it was visible in the daylight for 23 days, and some medieval rulers added its representation to their coinage as a divine signal for their rule. |
![]() Crab Nebula |
Open star clusters are loosely bound by mutual gravitational attraction. Note the blue nebulosity around the stars of the Pleiades. Globular clusters are spheroidal conglomerations of stars, and often contain more than a million stars in a single cluster. |
![]() NGC2355 Open Cluster ![]() M52 Open Cluster |
![]() Beehive Open Cluster ![]() Wild Duck Open Cluster ![]() Omega Centauri Globular Cluster |
![]() Canis Major+ ![]() Canis Major+ annotated |
![]() Eta Carina Nebula, Omega Centauri, Southern and False Crosses |
![]() Eta Carina Nebula, Omega Centauri, Southern and False Crosses |