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The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion, and is known as the middle “star” in the “sword” of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with apparent magnitude 4.0. [wikipedia]

The Lobster Claw Nebula (shot here in SHO Hubble colors), is an emission nebula located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The red/orange portions of the nebula are made up of strong HII regions. The predominantly yellow part of the nebula is a vast H II region. The blue-colored regions are from the emission of light from molecular oxygen.

Revisiting the Andromeda Galaxy (which the is first astrophoto I’ve ever taken back on Dec 17th, 2023) is a barred spiral galaxy and is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. It was originally named the Andromeda Nebula and is cataloged as Messier 31, M31, and NGC 224. [wikipedia]

Bubble Nebula is an H II region emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the open cluster Messier 52. The “bubble” is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star. The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow. [wikipedia]

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star. The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is now thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young stars. [wikipedia]

The North America Nebula (Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb. It is named because its shape resembles North America. [wikipedia]

The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070) is an H II region associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The gaseous contortions of this emission nebula bear a resemblance to a pelican, giving rise to its name. [wikipedia]

NGC 6604 is a young open cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Serpens, positioned about 1.5° north of the Eagle Nebula. [wikipedia]

The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant, many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers. The Western Veil is also called “the Witch’s Broom”[wikipedia]

The Crescent Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light-years away from Earth. It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures. [wikipedia]

The North America Nebula (Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb. It is named because its shape resembles North America. This is a close up detail I shot that I call “Staring at Angels”.

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star. The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is now thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young stars. [wikipedia]

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star. The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is now thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young stars. [wikipedia]

The Eagle Nebula, also known as the Star Queen Nebula or Messier 16 (M16 for short), is a cluster of stars and an area of active star formation about 5,700 light-years from Earth. It is home to the iconic Pillars of Creation, made famous by an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. [space.com]

The North America Nebula (Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb. It is named because its shape resembles North America. [wikipedia]

The Pelican Nebula (also known as IC 5070) is an H II region associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The gaseous contortions of this emission nebula bear a resemblance to a pelican, giving rise to its name. [wikipedia]

NGC 7380 is a young open cluster of stars in the northern circumpolar constellation of Cepheus. The surrounding emission nebulosity is known colloquially as the Wizard Nebula. [wikipedia]

The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb (the tail of the swan and its brightest star). It is named because its shape resembles North America. [wikipedia]

The Sadr Region (also known as IC 1318 or the Gamma Cygni Nebula) is the diffuse emission nebula surrounding Sadr (γ Cygni) at the center of Cygnus’s cross. The Sadr Region is one of the surrounding nebulous regions; others include the Butterfly Nebula and the Crescent Nebula. It contains many dark nebulae in addition to the emission diffuse nebulae. [wikipedia]

The Cat’s Eye Nebula (also known as NGC 6543 and Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Draco. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins, demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature. [wikipedia]

NGC 4631 (also known as the Whale Galaxy or Caldwell 32) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici about 30 million light years away from Earth. This galaxy’s slightly distorted wedge shape gives it the appearance of a herring or a whale, hence its nickname.

NGC 4657 is a highly warped edge-on barred spiral galaxy. This galaxy is sometimes called the Crowbar Galaxy. Its unusual shape is thought to be due to an interaction between it and its neighboring galaxies. [wikipedia]

The Cygnus Loop is a large supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Cygnus. Radio, infrared, and X-ray images reveal the complete loop. The visual portion of the Cygnus Loop is known as the Veil Nebula, also called the Cirrus Nebula or the Filamentary Nebula. Several components have separate names and identifiers, including the “Western Veil” or “Witch’s Broom”, the “Eastern Veil”, and Pickering’s Triangle. [wikipedia]

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga north of the celestial equator. [wikipedia]

NGC 1931, the Fly Nebula (top) is an emission and reflection nebula, and has been referred to as a miniature version of the Orion Nebula, as it shares some of the same characteristics. There is a smaller version of M42’s “Trapezium” in the hot, young star cluster in the centre of the emission nebula. It is about 3 arcmins in size and is 4000 – 7000 light years from Earth.

IC 417, the Spider Nebula (center) is an emission nebula and star forming region. The nebula contains a young open cluster (Stock 8), and is energized by its hot, massive blue stars which are still embedded in glowing hydrogen gas. The bluish clouds of gas at the top of the image are locations of new star formation. [astro.nightsky.at]

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. [wikipedia]

12P/Pons–Brooks is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 71 years. The comet nucleus is estimated to be around 30 km in diameter. It will reach “perihelion” when it is closest to the earth at a distance of approximately 232 million km. [wikipedia]

Messier 13 or M13 (also designated NGC 6205 and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, the Hercules Globular Cluster, or the Great Hercules Cluster), is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Hercules. Messier 13 may be visible to the naked eye with averted vision on dark nights. [wikipedia]

The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. [wikipedia]

The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 or B33) is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion molecular cloud complex. The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion in the lower left of the photo. [wikipedia]

Simeis 147, also known as the Spaghetti Nebula, SNR G180.0-01.7 or Sharpless 2-240, is a supernova remnant (SNR) in the Milky Way, straddling the border between the constellations Auriga and Taurus. [wikipedia]

NGC 2264 is the location where the Cone Nebula, the Stellar Snowflake Cluster and the Christmas Tree Cluster have formed in this emission nebula located in the constellation Monoceros. [wikipedia]

The California Nebula (NGC 1499/Sh2-220) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. Its name comes from its resemblance to the outline of the US State of California in long exposure photographs. [wikipedia]

NGC 2174 (also known as Monkey Head Nebula) is an H II emission nebula located in the constellation Orion and is associated with the open star cluster NGC 2175

Soul Nebula is an emission nebula located in Cassiopeia. Several small open clusters are embedded in the nebula. [wikipedia]

The Heart Nebula (also known as the Running dog nebula, IC 1805, Sharpless 2-190) is an emission nebula, 7500 light years away from Earth and located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia.

IC 443 (also known as the Jellyfish Nebula and Sharpless 248 (Sh2-248)) is a galactic supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Gemini. [wikipedia]

The Owl Nebula (also known as M97) is a planetary nebula approximately 2,030 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

Messier 108 also known as NGC 3556, nicknamed the Surfboard Galaxy) is a barred spiral galaxy about 28 million light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 or 1782. From the Earth, this galaxy is seen almost edge-on. [wikipedia]

The HII region Sh 2-261 is often called Lower’s nebula because it appears on a photographic plate taken by the father-and-son team of Harold and Charles Lower in 1939. [wikipedia]

The Tadpole Nebula (IC 410) is an H II region located approximately 12,400 light-years away in the northern constellation Auriga. It is associated with the young open cluster NGC 1893. [constellation guide]

The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, Messier 45, and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. [wikipedia]

The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion, and is known as the middle “star” in the “sword” of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with apparent magnitude 4.0. [wikipedia]

The Andromeda Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy and is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. It was originally named the Andromeda Nebula and is cataloged as Messier 31, M31, and NGC 224. [wikipedia]

Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode’s Galaxy) is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. [wikipedia]

The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy 21 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.