View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steven Bellavia in Mattituck, New York, captured the Shark Nebula in Cepheus on September 2, 2024. Steven wrote: “The brighter portion of the shark (though still very faint) is Lynds’ Bright Nebula and the dark head (or eye) of the shark is Lynds’ Dark Nebula. The 2 blue-white areas are reflection nebulae. They’re about 1,000 light-years distant. Also in the image (but not remotely close) are several galaxies around 100 million light-years away.” Thank you, Steven! See more deep-sky photos from September below.
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 September 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
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Martin Curran in Cheyenne, Wyoming, captured the Iris Nebula on September 17, 2024. Martin wrote: “The Iris Nebula is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. The designation NGC 7023 refers to the open cluster within the larger reflection nebula designated LBN 487. The nebula, which shines at magnitude 6.8, is illuminated by a magnitude 7.4 star designated HD 200775.” Thank you, Martin!
Cygnus and the Veil Nebula
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured this wide-field view of diffuse nebulae in Cygnus on September 24, 2024. Andy wrote: “As the moon continues to come up later, I have been experimenting with wide-angle photos. Cygnus is such a treat because there are so many spectacular objects quite close together and this pic shows them.” Thank you, Andy!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, also sent us the Veil Nebula from September 28, 2024, with deeper detail. Andy wrote: “I love taking pics in this area. Normally pics are taken of one of the nebulae in this area. I decided to take a more wide-field view. You can imagine the explosion better when you see the parts.” Thank you, Andy!
The Heart Nebula
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Muafak Bisher in the Negev Desert, Israel, captured the Heart Nebula in Cassiopeia on September 6, 2024. Muafak wrote: “The biggest heart in the universe is the Heart Nebula, over 7,500 light-years from earth. It’s one of the most beautiful objects of the night sky. Hope you like it.” Indeed, we like it. Thank you, Muafak!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steven Bellavia in Mattituck, New York, captured the open cluster Melotte 15 at the center of the Heart Nebula on September 10, 2024. Steven wrote: “Melotte 15 contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our sun. And it has many more dim stars only a fraction of our sun’s mass. Young stars are eroding away several picturesque dust pillars with their energetic light and winds. It is 7,500 light-years away from Earth and in the Perseus Arm of the galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. The Melotte catalog is a catalog of 245 star clusters by British astronomer Philibert Jacques Melotte.” Thank you, Steven!
The Wizard Nebula
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Duane Mathes in Eagle, Idaho, captured the Wizard Nebula on September 1, 2024. Duane wrote: “The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380) is a stunning star-forming region about 8,500 light-years away in Cepheus. About 100 light-years across, this emission nebula gets its name from its intricate, magical shape that resembles a sorcerer. The powerful radiation from a cluster of young, hot stars at its core energizes the surrounding gas and dust, causing it to glow. The nebula is an active site of stellar birth.” Thank you, Duane!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andrea Iorio in Marino, Rome, Italy, also captured the Wizard Nebula, on September 5, 2024. Andrea wrote: “The Wizard Nebula is a collection of interstellar gas surrounding the open star cluster NGC 7380. It has an apparent magnitude of 7.2. While impossible to observe this deep-sky object visually from my backyard, it is well within reach of my current astrophotography equipment. In total I spent 12 hours on the Wizard Nebula. From my sky it would have required perhaps another 10 hours, but for this year I am satisfied with the improvement. See you next year, dear Wizard!” Thank you, Andrea!
Deep-sky photos of star clusters
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Piotr Modzelewski in Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland, captured the Pleiades star cluster on September 8, 2024. Piotr wrote: “The light of nearby stars reflecting off the dust nebulae surrounding the Pleiades cluster.” Outstanding image. Thank you, Piotr!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, captured the Double Cluster on September 4, 2024. David wrote: “Open star clusters NGC 884 and NGC 869 together are referred to as the Double Cluster. Located in Perseus, you can see these beautiful open star clusters with the unaided eye. Both open star clusters are relatively young at 14 million years and are about 7,500 light years from Earth.” Thank you, David!
And a couple of external galaxies
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | George Tzellos in Mesogeia, Greece, captured Messier 33, the Triangulum galaxy. George wrote: “I captured this image of M33 from my backyard during the 25th, 26th and 28th of September 2024. I have put a lot of time and effort on this one and really enjoyed processing it. The total integration is around 21 hours.” Thank you, George!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jan Curtis in Cheyenne, Wyoming, caught Messier 31, the Andromeda galaxy, on September 25, 2024. Jan wrote: “M31 is well-placed this time of year for all-night viewing.” Thank you, Jan!
Deep-sky video for September
Relax and watch a video of some of our editor’s pick of deep-sky photos for September 2024.
Bottom line: Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for September 2024 from our EarthSky community. If you have a great photo to share, send it in, too. We love to see them!
Armando is known primarily as an astronomy educator, after 30+ years of extensive public outreach and 10 years teaching in colleges. As one of only a handful of science communicators in Puerto Rico during Comet Halley's last visit, he assumed a pioneering role starting in 1985 when science was just beginning to enter the collective mindset. Over the years, his work as a teacher, speaker and writer, inspired people to pursue interests in science and brought enduring change to Puerto Rican culture. After being accepted into the 2014–2015 Antarctic season of PolarTREC, Armando was assigned to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, where in 2015 he successfully conducted 10 days of work at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. His affiliations include Ana G. Méndez University, Cupey campus (2014 to 2021), the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla campus (2015 to 2017), NASA JPL's Solar System Ambassadors (2004 to 2006), and NASA Space Grant (2017 to 2019) where he served as an affiliate representative.
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