View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Stephanie McNaughton in Red Rock, Arizona, captured Thor’s Helmet Nebula (NGC 2359) in Canis Major on January 22, 2023. Stephanie wrote: “One of my favorites! Thor’s Helmet. I know it isn’t as extravagant as, say, Orion, but it is so beautiful! As an aspiring female astrophotographer, I’m proud to be able to send you this image!” Thank you, Stephanie. Outstanding work! We’d love to see more from you in the future. See more of January’s deep sky below.
January photos of the deep sky
Enjoy these January deep-sky photos. See diffuse nebulae as well as star clusters (and a planet passing across). These images are all from members of the EarthSky community. Do you have a great photo to share? Submit it here.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eric Thurber in Boise, Idaho, captured the Orion Nebula (Messier 42) on January 2, 2023. The image also features surrounding objects such as Messier 43 in the constellation Orion. Good work. Thank you, Eric!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Likness in Monroe, Washington, captured the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (a section of the IC 1396 complex) in Cepheus on January 21, 2023. He wrote: “Last night I was able to follow the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula down to the horizon for 6 additional hours of data. My setup was a bit unorthodox: I had my Celestron Edge HD 9.25 guiding for my Svbony SV503 70ED that usually serves as my guide scope. They worked well with their roles reversed. Here is IC 1396 in a capture I call Elefante.” Thank you, Jeremy!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mohammed Abdallah captured the Orion molecular cloud complex on January 21, 2023. He wrote: “Orion, Running Man, Flame Nebulae and the stars of the Orion constellation. This is a simple image from a Bortle 8 sky as I live in Suez, an industrial city famous for the Suez Canal. The total integration time is one hour. I’m happy about the results as this is the first time I use this lens.” Thank you, Mohammed!
Star clusters
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Likness in Monroe, Washington, captured Mars, the Hyades and Pleiades in Taurus on January 8, 2023. Jeremy wrote: “A winter triangle: the bright star Aldebaran, Mars and the Pleiades were bright and clear in the winter sky.” Thank you, Jeremy!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, captured 2 open star clusters in Gemini on January 12, 2023. David wrote: “I captured Messier 35 (on the left) and its neighbor, NGC 2158 (on the right), from my backyard before the clouds arrived. Messier 35 is a large open star cluster that is 2,970 light-years from Earth. It’s about 24 light-years in diameter and 110 million years old. NGC 2158 is a compact, metal-poor open star cluster that’s 11,000 light-years from us. It’s about 17 light-years in diameter and around 2 billion years old.” Excellent. Thank you, David!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Irwin Seidman captured the Pleiades star cluster on January 14, 2023. Irwin wrote: “This 1 hour and 21 minute integrated exposure was from the Fox Observatory on the Bruce Peninsula (Ontario, Canada). Located about 444 light-years from Earth, Messier 45 (aka the 7 Sisters) is an open star cluster in Taurus. A reflection nebula around hot blue luminous stars gives the Pleiades its somewhat eerie and spectacular glow.” Thank you, Irwin!
Bottom line: Enjoy these January photos of the deep sky, from nebulae to clusters, taken by members of the EarthSky community. Have a great photo of your own? Share it at EarthSky Community Photos.
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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