Today's Image

Deep-sky photos for August 2024: Editor’s picks

Deep-sky photos: A bright, large and reddish heart-shaped nebulosity over a multitude of distant stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Catherine Hyde in Shandon, California, captured IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, on August 3, 2024. Catherine wrote: “This is the Heart Nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. I took images from 9:30 at night until almost 5:00 in the morning.” An outstanding image. Thank you, Catherine! See more deep-sky photos from August below.

Stunning deep-sky photos from our community

The EarthSky community has many talented astrophotographers who capture stunning images of the deep sky. We gathered some of our favorite deep-sky photos we received in August 2024 for you to enjoy. Do you have some of your own deep-sky images to share? You can submit them to us here. We love to see them!

Deep-sky photos of diffuse nebulae

Prolific swirls of red purple nebulosity over a background of distant stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andrea Iorio in Marino, Rome, Italy, made this mosaic of the Veil Nebula on August 10, 2024. Andrea wrote: “This is the remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago. Called the Veil Nebula, the debris is one of the best-known supernova remnants, deriving its name from its delicate, draped, filamentary structures. The entire nebula is 110 light-years across, covering six full moons on the sky as seen from Earth. It resides about 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus the Swan.” Thank you, Andrea!
A bright white star surrounded by wisps of reddish gas and a nultitude of field stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Kris Hazelbaker in Grangeville, Idaho, captured IC 63, the Ghost of Cassiopeia, on August 29, 2024. Kris wrote: “I aimed my gear at this target over 2 nights. It’s an area that has always interested me, and I’m really happy with how this turned out.” Wonderful shot. Thank you, Kris!
A bright blue, nebulous region with dark lanes, over a rich background of stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured this view in the constellation Cepheus on August 26, 2024. It contains the Iris Nebula and nearby dark clouds. Andy wrote: “They say there are always lots of failures in astrophotography. It has been nonstop for me, but last night, like the 2 previous nights, I just went outside, set up and took pics. Getting pics like this makes it all worth it. Space is so cool!” Indeed it is! Thank you, Andy.

The Crescent Nebula

A small and bright, reddish cocoon of gas overlaid with prolific red clouds and numerous stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Isaac Cruz in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, captured the Crescent Nebula on August 21, 2024. Isaac wrote: “This is a long-exposure image of the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) in the constellation Cygnus. The Soap Bubble Nebula is in the lower-left quadrant.” Spectacular image. Thank you, Isaac!
A large, pink cocoon of gas overlaid with prolific red clouds and numerous stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andrea Iorio in Marino, Rome, Italy, caught the Crescent Nebula on August 30, 2024. Andrea wrote: “The Crescent Nebula is about 25 light-years across. Visible within the nebula, the central star is a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). It’s shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the sun’s mass every 10,000 years. The nebula’s complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. This star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion.” Thank you, Andrea!

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula

A bright red, nebulous region with dark lanes, over a rich background of stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula in the constellation Cepheus on August 27, 2024. Andy wrote: “The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula in Cepheus. This was my second night in row of finally having less clouds and less moon. There was enough moonless time for 26 10-minute shots. What a joy to finally have my new gear working. I used 100% of the shots I took!” Thank you, Andy!
A bright red, nebulous region with dark lanes, over a rich background of stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, again went on to image the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula – this time using a larger telescope to capture deeper detail – on August 31, 2024. Andy wrote: “A few days ago I took a wide-field pic of the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. This pic is zoomed into the trunk only. What fun it is to see the big and the small!” Thank you, Andy!

Deep-sky photos of the Dumbbell Nebula

Dumbbell-shaped cloud of reddish and green nebulosity over a background of distant stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Kris Hazelbaker in Grangeville, Idaho, captured the Dumbbell Nebula on August 1, 2024. Kris wrote: “The Dumbbell Nebula, M27, is in the constellation Vulpecula, which straddles the Milky Way. I took just over 3 hours of 3-minute exposures to make this final image.” Thank you, Kris!
Dumbbell-shaped cloud of reddish and blue nebulosity over a background of distant stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Catherine Hyde in Cambria, California, captured the Dumbbell Nebula on August 5, 2024. Catherine wrote: “This is M27, the Dumbbell Nebula in the constellation Vulpecula.” Thank you, Catherine!

A globular cluster

A large, spherical cluster containing thousands of bright stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, used an astrograph to capture this view of the globular cluster Messier 22 in the constellation Sagittarius on August 22, 2024. Thank you, Mario!

… and the Andromeda Galaxy

Large whitish nebula with a bright nucleus, dark lanes and thousands of foreground stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Russell Owens in Reno, Nevada, captured the Andromeda galaxy on August 27, 2024. Thank you, Russell!

Bottom line: Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for August 2024 from our EarthSky community. If you have a great photo to share, send it in too. We love to see them!

Share your recent Earth or sky photo at EarthSky Community Photos.

Posted 
September 6, 2024
 in 
Today's Image

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