View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Abdul Thomas of Leeds, United Kingdom, captured the Rosette Nebula on March 11, 2024. Abdul wrote: “The Rosette Nebula is sometimes referred to as the Skull Nebula. It’s an emission nebula in the constellation Monoceros. The central open star cluster, NGC 2244, is mainly responsible for shaping the nebula.” Thank you, Abdul! See more of our editor’s picks from March’s deep-sky photos here.
Stunning deep-sky photos from our community
The EarthSky community has many talented astrophotographers who capture stunning images of the deep sky. So enjoy this gallery of some of the best deep-sky photos we received in March 2024. Do you have some of your own deep-sky images to share? You can submit them to us here. We love to see them!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Egidio Vergani of Italy processed the data of the Dolphin Head Nebula from a team project on a remote telescope in Chile on March 1, 2024. Egidio wrote: “The Dolphin Head Nebula (which really looks like its namesake) lies about 5,200 light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. The massive star itself, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near the center of the nebula. Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet star create the bubble-shaped nebula, as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of evolution. The wind-blown nebula has an age of about 70,000 years.” Thank you, Egidio!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Likness captured the Heart Nebula in Cassiopeia on March 5, 2024. Jeremy wrote: “The forecast called for rain, but I remained optimistic and brought my ‘rig.’ We had clear skies, so I set up in the backyard of a home near the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington. After four hours of imaging, I uncovered the ‘Heart of Redmond.'” Thank you, Jeremy!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana of Virginia captured the Cone Nebula and the Fox Fur Nebula in the constellation Monoceros on March 1, 2024. Thank you, Mario!
More nebulae
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mohamed Alaa in Baghdad, Iraq, captured the Monkey Head Nebula in Orion on March 21, 2024. Mohamed wrote: “NGC 2174 (Monkey Head Nebula) is an HII emission nebula located in the constellation Orion. It’s associated with the open star cluster NGC 2175. It’s about 6,400 light-years away from Earth.” Thank you, Mohamed!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Buzz Jumaah in Auckland, New Zealand, captured the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius on March 18, 2024. Buzz wrote: “The Lagoon Nebula is 4,100 light-years away. It’s 1 of the only 2 star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye. You can see it as a distinct cloud-like patch with a definite core using binoculars. I captured it from my driveway through my telescope using sulphur, hydrogen-alpha and oxygen filters.” Thank you, Buzz!
The Orion Molecular Complex
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Randy Strauss in Papillion, Nebraska, captured the Orion Nebula on March 4, 2024. Randy wrote: “I used a patio umbrella to block the worst of an LED street light directly in front of my scope. I wasn’t sure how well it would work. I ended up with 336 good frames.” Thank you, Randy!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Harshwardhan Pathak of India used a large remote telescope in Australia to capture Barnard’s Loop in Orion on March 5, 2024. Harshwardhan wrote: “Between darkness and light there is only a thin red line some say … but they apparently have never seen Barnard’s loop! The Boogeyman Nebula (see the left side) is a dark molecular cloud about 10 light-years across in size. On the other side of Barnard’s loop is another fascinating deep-sky object: Messier 78, where new stars are being being born. Open star cluster NGC 2112 appears at the very bottom of the image.” Amazing. Thank you, Harshwardhan!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steven Bellavia in Southold, New York, caught the Andromeda Galaxy with Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on on March 11, 2024. Steven wrote: “The comet is 155 million miles (250 million km) from Earth and Andromeda 15 trillion miles (24 trillion km) distant. But they’re now sharing the same part of the sky.” Amazing shot. Thank you, Steven!
Bottom line: Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for March 2024 from our EarthSky community. And if you have a great photo to share, send it in. We love to see them!
Armando is well known as an astronomy educator, after 30+ years leading extensive initiatives of public outreach and 10+ years teaching in colleges. As one of only a handful of Puerto Rican science communicators during Comet Halley's last visit, he assumed a pioneering role starting in 1985 when science was just beginning to enter the local mindset; over time his work brought meaningful change to the culture, inspiring people to pursue interests in science and technology. His affiliations include Ana G. Méndez University–Cupey, where in 2014 he spearheaded an 8-course extension program focusing on observational astronomy, the first ever in the island.
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