Starship Asterisk*

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from Emilia https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54030017584_b334c57b4b_z.jpg C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS - Semptember 29th 2024 by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS taken on the morning of September 29, 2024. Currently nearing perihe...

M16 and The Eagle Nebula M16 is a young star cluster located about 7,000 light-years away from us. It lies within the Eagle Nebula, a region surrounded by clouds of glowing dust and gas in the center of which are dense dark columns of dust and gas that were immortalized by the Hubble Space Telescop...

The Gamma Cygni Nebulae The supergiant star Gamma Cygni lies at the center of the constellation Swan (Cygnus). Known by its proper name Sadr, the bright star is also at the center of this beautiful panorama, which features a complex of stars, dust clouds and bright nebulae along the plane of our Mi...

The summer Milky Way from Pintura di Bolognola with the background of the Sibillini Mountains, with the galactic center framed between Pizzo Tre Vescovi and Monte Rotondo. Technical data: Canon EOS 6D with Samyang 14mm. 13x80s f/4 6400 ISO chased with SkyWatcher Staradventurer + 150s f/4 6400 ISO no...

The emission nebula IC 1396 mixes glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds. Illuminated by the bright central stars, this star-forming region stretches for hundreds of light-years, nearly 3,000 light-years from planet Earth. Among the intriguing dark shapes of IC 1396, the sinuous elephant trunk nebu...

The supergiant star Gamma Cygni lies at the center of the constellation Swan (Cygnus). Known by its proper name Sadr, the bright star is also at the center of this beautiful panorama, which features a complex of stars, dust clouds and bright nebulae along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The emiss...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53870756628_055ea70d17_z.jpg Sun in H-Alpha - July 20th 2024 by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr The Sun in H-Alpha taken on the morning of July 20, 2024. In the image, active regions AR 3756, AR3761, AR 3751 and AR 3759 are portrayed from left to right. Tecnosky ...

Comet 13P/Olbers taken on July 7, 2024. It is a periodic comet, with an orbital period of about 69 years, belonging to Halley's comet family, which reached perihelion, the point of its orbit closest to the Sun, on June 30. It is currently visible, low on the northwest horizon shortly after sunset wi...

The Running Chicken Nebula https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53838648603_7e46331ac2_z.jpg The Running Chicken Nebula by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr IC 2944 is an emission nebula about 6,000 light years away, commonly called the Running Chicken Nebula, a rather creative name (I still don't unde...

M65 (right) and M66 (left) are two of the interacting galaxies of the famous Leo Triplet. They are about 35 million light years away in the 'Leo spur', a small cluster of galaxies between the Local Group (where the Milky Way is located) and the Virgo Cluster. Technical data: Planewave CDK 14" (...

A photo of the extraordinary aurora borealis above the Po Valley on the night of 10 May, at the peak of activity. The different colours are related to the excitation of the different atoms: the red and green are due to the excitation of oxygen, while the blue-violet hues are due to nitrogen. The bri...

Sunspot AR3364, i.e. the "responsible", through its ionized particle emissions, for the extraordinary aurora on the night of May 10th, taken in H-Alpha on May 11th, 2024. Tecnosky Acro 152 mm with Daystar Quark Chromosphere. ZWO ASI 174 MM. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53715555516_7...

A photo of the May 10th, 2024 aurora (it's more likely a SAR, but that name doesn't sound as good). If someone had told me that I would see the an aurora borealis from a hillside overlooking the Po Valley, in Italy, I probably would not have believed them. Still, thanks to the remarkable solar activ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53677610124_9f7bb093b6_z.jpg The Eta Carinae Nebula by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr The Eta Carinae Nebula is one of the largest star-forming areas in our galaxy, with an extension of about 300 light years. Located 7500 light years away, it hosts young and ext...

A full-disk photo of the Sun taken with an H-Alpha filter on 23 March 2024. The active regions 3614 and 3615 are almost in the center, the latter in particular is very bright due to an ongoing flare. Many protuberances on the edge complete the picture https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53607761429_...

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks taken on March 8, 2024 remotely from Utah. This is a periodic comet of the Halley's comet family with an orbital period of 70 years. It is currently visible in the evening, low on the horizon, in the constellation Andromeda even with simple binoculars. Technical data: RC 17&quo...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53492405317_fa9c6dc6f2_z.jpg California Nebula (NGC 1499) wide field by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr The California Nebula (NGC 1499). This is an emission nebula located about 1,000 light-years away from us in the constellation Perseus. The name comes, of cour...

The Sun in H-Alpha on Christmas Day (December 25th, 2023). Lots of sunspots, filaments, and a huge prominence completely detached from the edge. William Optics Megrez 90mm with Daystar Quark Cromosphere. ZWO ASI 174MM. Mosaic of 3 panels. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53423832186_56d58a0840_z....

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53375995300_0216dfa7c6_z.jpg The Small Magellanic Cloud by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr The Small Magellanic Cloud Among those who have pondered the nature of this small, fuzzy spot in the southern sky were Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew ...

The star-forming region around NGC 6726 in the southern constellation of Corona Australis (Southern Crown) about 400 – 500 light years distant is a complex association of dust and beautiful blue reflection nebula. In the image, the globular cluster NGC 6723 is also seen. Though prospectively near th...

VdB 152 is a dark nebula located about 1400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. Part of these interstellar clouds, which become visible only in long exposure photos, is illuminated by the reflected light of a nearby star, giving the upper part its characteristic blue-blue color. SkyWatche...

VdB 141 or Sh2-136, commonly known as the Phantom Nebula because of its shape, is an isolated Bok globule. Bok globules are the areas inside a nebula where gas condenses and new stars begin to form. This nebula is immersed in a large area of interstellar dust that weakly reflects light from nearby s...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53120412077_6698842cca_z.jpg The Iris Nebula - NGC 7023 by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr The Iris Nebula, also known as NGC 7023, is a reflection nebula located in the Cepheus constellation about 1400 light-years away from us. Reflection nebulae are clouds of g...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53107365360_4509bc6b01_z.jpg Sagitarius triplet by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr These three bright nebulae are a classic of the summer sky located near the center of the Milky Way. The group consists of the large M8, or Lagoon Nebula, the colorful M20 or Trifi...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949167481_37da8939d9_z.jpg NGC 6334 and 6357 by Alessandro Carrozzi , su Flickr NGC 6357 is an emission nebula also known as the Lobster Nebula due to its shape, extending about 400 light-years and located about 8,000 light-years away, toward the constellation ...