iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

If you need a good laugh, an emotional cry, or great music, head to your theater on Christmas Day to see "Song Sung Blue". As a member of the DGA and SAG-AFTRA, I've had the opportunity to see it 3 times and we're going again today. LOVE THIS FILM! #movie #music #songsungblue #christmasday #theater

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Beautiful integration! IC1805 was one of my first targets a few years ago. I should really revisit it now that I know what I'm doing. Nice work!!

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Milky Way at zenith between Vega and Andromeda. Single untracked 18.5 second frame, 18mm f/2.8 taken with a full-spectrum modified Canon T4i from Wildcat Mountain State Park in Wisconsin. #milkyway #nightphotography #darksky #astro #photography #canon #astronomy #night #wisconsin

Milky Way diagonally from lower left to upper right is a greyish brushstroke of stars and pink nebula. Above the Milky Way is the bright star Vega and below the Milky Way is the galaxy Andromeda, which appear as a bright spot with light fading from the center to both the left and right.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

I'm going to be driving across country in a couple of weeks to go to a star party in Wisconsin. Looking forward to some dark skies along the way, as well. The smoke from wildfires across the west has made for rough seeing, though.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Beautiful capture! Narrowband's biggest challenge for me is the amount of time and data it takes. I have friends who can be out shooting every night, then process in their "super computers". I don't have those luxuries, so mostly do OSC these days.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

I took up the hobby during the pandemic lockdown. Gave me something to do that was more than 6 feet from other people. Turns out I wasn't alone with that idea. When I tried to buy astrophotography gear on line, nearly every dealer was sold out.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Haven't posted in a while, so here's the Western Veil Nebula. 68 stacked images at 180 seconds each taken with ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, Optolong L-Ultimate filter, Orion 6" Ritchey-Chretien telescope on Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount, captured in ASIAIR Plus, processed in Pixinsight and GIMP.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

For the record, many companies - especially big corporations that are run by billionaires - hire large portions of their line-level workforce as less-than full time employees, specifically so they don't have to provide benefits like insurance.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Since we're in Castaic, Ca, right off the 5 just south of the Grapevine, we keep a pretty close eye (and nose) out for fires.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Guessing you have it, but the Watch Duty app covers fires all over the western US. The basic version is free, but they have a subscription version too if you want a few more functions.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

If it's not in the smoke (seems to be between fires with prevailing winds blowing it clear, maybe?) Upper Scorpion Campground near the Gila Cliff Dwellings is a good spot also. There are a few trees, but plenty of open sky depending on where you set up your rig.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Sorry, got sidetracked with our AC going out. Not sure my other suggestions would help right now. Looks like a few fires in Western NM. Cosmic seems far enough west to be out of the smoke, but a lot of the places I would go in the Gila National Forest are likely smoked out...

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

White Sands is cool for daytime film photography. Got some great contrasty dunes with Tri-X. For astrophotography, my favorite spot in Western NM is Cosmic Campground. My favorite spot in Northern NM is Wild Rivers. As for South-Central NM, it's always been too dusty when I've been there.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Further reminder that many Nazi propagandists were tried after World War II during the Nuremberg Trials for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

I loaded your coordinates and time/date into SkySafari Pro and pointed at zenith to get this screenshot. It may not be the correct orientation or focal length, but looking straight up, this is what would have been there.

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Reposted by Mike McNerney

Adam McMaster @adammc.space · 14/05/2025

Wow! Just look at this photo of the Milky Way taken by astronaut Don Pettit on the ISS. Taken with a homemade tracker to counteract the orbital motion. It kind of looks like an aurora, but that's actually just clouds just before dawn. The purple colour comes from nitrogen scattering sunlight. 🧪🔭

The dense stars and dust clouds of the Milky Way are visible, running vertically, in the top two thirds of the photo. At the bottom is the Earth, covered in clouds dimly lit by the pre-dawn sun. Running along the curve of the Earth is a hazy purple glow.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

#pictureoftheday IC443 - The Jellyfish Nebula is a supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini, about 5,000 lightyears from Earth. 36 frames x 180 seconds plus calibration frames. Processed in Pixinsight. #photography #photo #astrophotography #night #sky #stars #pink #nebula #outerspace #space

On the black background of outer space, a modeled pink nebulous cloud fills much of the center of the frame. Beginning about a quarter of the way from the left edge, a globular nebula with streamers of gaseous clouds is centered on the lower left "third" mark of the frame. To the right of that, expanding and extending upward to near the top of the frame and to the right to about a third of the way from the edge of frame, a more whispy, lighter nebulous cloud with darker pink edges and areas of very dark, making it look like a person with a headlamp on looking at the globular "jellyfish" nebula. The entire image is covered in white, yellow, red, and blue stars ranging in size from very small to medium. One larger medium star makes the "light" of the headlamp, and another larger medium star is just off the lower right of the jellyfish.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

#pictureoftheday NGC4565 - The Needle Galaxy (no, not the same as The Silver Needle Galaxy that I posted last week). #photography #photo #astrophotography #night #sky #nightsky #stars #galaxy #space #outerspace

On the black background of outer space, medium and small white, yellow, and orange stars cover the entire canvas, with a galaxy viewed on edge running diagonally from upper left to lower right in the middle 1/3 of the frame. The galaxy is dimmer on both ends, brightening to the core in the middle, making the visible flat side of the galaxy appear to look like a needle. The galaxy is mostly light gold tone, with an orange and brown mottled band of dust and nebulosity running the entire length. The center core appears as a bright fuzzy near-circular ball.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Family went there nearly 60 years ago when I was a kid. Glad to see it hasn't been spoiled by "progress". Beautiful picture!

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Tough to choose just one. I admire Cesar Chavez for worker's rights, Mother Theresa for calming a storm, and an actual revolutionary from the American Revolution, James Armistead Lafayette, an African American who gained his freedom by becoming a double agent working against the crown.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Picture of the day. The Silver Needle Galaxy, about 13 mil ly away. Taken earlier this week from my backyard in California, this image stacks 116 subs x 180 seconds through a 6" Ritchey-Chretien telescope. #photography #photo #astrophotography, #astronomy #galaxy #space #nightsky #night #sky #stars

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Gorgeous captures! I spent a lot of time at Jemez a couple of years ago while working on the show "Big Sky" (one of our main sets was at Hummingbird Music Camp). Beautiful area!

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

#pictureoftheday. #spring! Throwback to the #california #superbloom. These were taken near Soda Lake and the Carrizo Plain #nationalmonument. In the image with my wife walking down the path, the white ridge is the San Andreas fault. #photography #photo #flowers #yellow #nature @altnps.bsky.social

Green grass covered hill in the foreground, beginning at the middle left edge of the picture, extending to the bottom right corner. Behind that a yellow, green, and orange hill covered in poppies and other wildflowers - that hill extends from the upper third right edge of frame, down to meet and go behind the green hill near center left, about a quarter of the way down the green hill. Beyond that hill is the distant valley ranging in color from tan to blue, with the hazy blue sky above.

This is a square image, taken with a film camera, so it's a little grainy if you zoom in. The image is a field of yellow wild flowers with occasional patches of green weeds covering the lower two-thirds of the frame, with a dirt path extending from center left edge of frame to center upper third of frame and the end of the field of flowers. There is also an area in the near foreground at the bottom of the frame, where the flowers and weeds are less compacted and the sandy ground beneath is exposed. Walking along the dirt path away from camera is a woman in white sneakers, black pants, a white smock-type tops with large prints of flowers on it, and a black bucket-style hat. At the upper third of frame, where the flower field ends, is a narrow blueish-gray strip of lake running left to right across the entire frame. On the other side of the lake is an off-white sand and rock ridge running the length of the photo from left to right, with occasional yellow flower patches. This ridge is the San Andreas fault. Above the fault ridge is a row of darker green and yellow mountains, then a mostly cloudy sky with the clouds being higher level streaks rather than puffy ones. A small patch of blue sky emerges from the clouds just at the right edge, extending about a quarter of the way into the frame to the left.

In the foreground, a horizontal row of orange flowers runs across the entire bottom of the frame, extending about an eighth of the way up from the bottom. Above the orange flowers is a horizontal band of yellow wild flowers, followed by a band of green and gray weeds, followed by a rolling carpet of yellow flowers, occasionally broken by green weeds, all extending up to the center of the frame. Above that rises a green, yellow and tan mountain, with areas of white sand/rock ridges which identify where the San Andreas fault is. Above the mountain, at about the upper third frame line, are some grayish-white puffy clouds with blue sky above them.

A dirt road extends from near the center of the frame forward to the lower right corner of the frame, with a Jeep driving down the road toward us, leaving a dust haze in its wake. The dirt road runs through a field of orange and yellow wildflowers on a bed of green weeds, extending up from the center line into the rolling mountains which are mostly covered in the yellow flowers up to about the upper third of the frame, where the mountain becomes green up to the blue sky above. In the center, at about the lower third line, a man dressed in all white faces away from us and toward the flower field, with a tripod leg visible in front of him, although the camera is hidden by his body. The dust cloud from the Jeep is approaching him. Slightly farther up the road and on the other side, a car is parked facing away, with both doors open and a person standing in the driver's doorway taking a picture of the flowers. In the far distant portion of the road are two other vehicles traveling away.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

I haven't tried planetary imaging with a Barlow yet. I've only used them for visual. Maybe I'll give it a go.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Nice capture! Did you use a Barlow of some sort? I'm guessing you're SCT has a native focal length of about 1500mm. With my 1400mm RC, I get about the size of an eraser tip.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Done! Hopefully things will ease up soon for all of us.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Picture of the day. The Christmas Tree Cluster and Cone Nebula - NGC2264. Taken 12/5/24 from my backyard. 102 x 180 seconds = 5 hours and 6 minutes of data (ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera). #photography #photo #astrophotography #astronomy #science #stars #space #nightsky #night #sky #science #red #nebula

On a dark background of outer space, a mostly red nebula (cloud of gasses in space) stretches across almost the entire frame from left to right, with a cone shaped cloud protruding from left to right near the left edge, and a bluish white cloud from about center (left to right) to about 1/3 of the way from the right edge and from about 1/3 of the way from the bottom edge to about the center top to bottom, with a very bright star illuminating the bluish white cloud. Medium and small stars cover the entire image.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Beautiful capture! NINA is frustrating. I know many APs who use it successfully, but even 3 years into playing with it, I haven't mastered it's quirks. Right now I'm using ASIAIR Plus and APT (depending on camera) because I know I can have a productive night with either of them.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Picture of the day. The Tadpole Nebula (NGC1893) in the constellation Auriga. Taken on 12/4/24 from my backyard in Castaic, CA. 132 frames x 180 seconds = 6 hrs 36 min exposure time. #photography #photo #astrophotography #astronomy #night #sky #nightsky #stars #nebula #universe #space #outerspace

on a black background of outer space, a red nebulous cloud covers most of the upper two-thirds of the image, curving from a little below center at the left edge of the frame, around to about the upper third near the right edge of the frame, with a pink reflection nebula glowing from under the red upper/thicker cloud formation. A single large dark brown to black odd-shaped spot is just left of center frame, like a hole cut in the nebula to see through to the blackness of space beyond. A few other non-uniform splotches of darkness permeate the nebula above and to the right of the large one. Below and to the right of the large dark spot are two nebulous forms looking like red tadpoles with bright heads swimming toward the center. The entire image is spattered with small, medium and large white, blue, orange, yellow, and red stars. Deep in the shadows to the outer edges are faint whisps of red nebulae, as this is a bright portion of a much larger nebula system.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Picture of the day. Okay, the second one today. Medium format #film image taken with a vintage #mamiya C330 twin-lens reflex camera on #kodak TriX 400TX film at Carpenteria State #beach near #santabarbara #california. #photography #photo #blackandwhite #monochrome #ocean #waves #bird #seagull #sand

Monochrome (black and white) image of a seagull flying over the waves along the coastline. The bird is in the upper right of the picture, the horizon at the upper third, the sky is clear, the waves are rolling with foam crashing, but not large waves running along the coastline from the left horizon edge to about the lower third on the right edge of the picture, with two spent waves rolling back to sea under the newly crashing waves. The beach is mostly smooth with a few small stones in the lower center of the picture, and two sizeable clumps of seaweed near the left edge at about the center between top and bottom.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Picture of the day. Messier 46, an open cluster in the constellation Puppis about 5k light years away. Within this frame are also two tiny planetary nebulae, NGC2437 and M1-18, and a smaller open cluster, NGC2425. #photography #photo #astrophotography #space #stars #nightsky #night #sky #outerspace

on a black field of outer space, the entire frame is covered in yellow, gold, white, and orange stars, with a tight grouping of small stars in the center. Just to the upper right of center is a single larger yellow star. At the left edge of the grouping in the center is a tiny red ring nebula with a blue center. About half way to straight to the left edge of frame from that nebula is an even smaller round red nebula.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

@qlenear.bsky.social @dgossfield.bsky.social Hope you're well! I found the original data of the Horsehead (JarJar Binks) Nebula and reprocessed it. I'll email you the file, as well.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Picture of the day. Horsehead and Flame Nebulas, uncropped, including a sizeable halo from Alnilam, the middle star in Orion's belt. I took this about 3 years ago from Cosmic Campground, NM. #photography #photo #astrophotography #astronomy #nebula #space #outerspace #night #sky #nightsky #red #stars

On a dark field of outer space, diagonally from the lower right to the mid-upper left is a pink and red nebulous cloud, featuring shadows and highlights, including, at near the middle of the picture, the shadow side of a cloud protruding above the lighter nebulous clouds in a curve from near straight up to a right-angle point to the left, resembling a horses head (although I think it looks more like JarJar Binks from the Star Wars movies). About a quarter of the width of the picture to the left of the horsehead, is a bright nebula with protrusions to the left resembling flames (although I think it looks more like a flaming musical lyre or parade configured xylophone). In the upper left corner, extending down from the top of the picture, is the halo from the bright star Alnilam that is just out of frame. To the lower right of that halo is a nebulous cloud extending tall and clear from above the flame nebula. Immediately above the upper right corner of the flame nebula is Alnitak, the left-most star of Orion's belt. There are other stars of varying sizes dotting the entire image.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Long as you have the time to re-process, it's worth a shot.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

I'm dealing with a different issue of combining multiple sessions right now with the Needle Galaxy. Even though the rig was unmoved during the day, I must have bumped something in covering and uncovering, so now my flats aren't aligning. Makes it look like I have 3-D dust motes.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

2/2 A few years back I had that issue when doing the Elephant Trunk (shot on a Canon DSLR) turned out to be that I didn't process the sessions separately and combine after. It's worth a shot.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

1/2 I see it in your Christmas Tree, but not really in the Pinwheel or Leo Triplets. Maybe a tiny bit at the top of the Pinwheel. You said you did the Christmas Tree over a couple of sessions. Did you integrate the sessions separately then combine or process them all together? ...

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Reposted by Mike McNerney

Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

This letter appeared in the Bloomsburg PA Press Enterprise this morning. I am assured the writer is who he purports to be, an Air Force veteran.

benion
Grieving a wasted life
At a point in life when there are far too many days behind than ahead, one tends to
re-elected in contrast to standing up for the
reflect on a life lived. In my lifetime decades
greater good?
were devoted to protecting America. Sacri
A compromised Supreme Court recently
fices were made both by myself and my fam-
trotted out a shallow token standards of
Ily in military service. The tip of the spear:
conduct for themselves. Apparently it's
Countless weeks over the years were spent
not a bribe to accept favors after a deci-sion; only before. Corporations are people?
living at the end of a runway on alert with an Really? Whatever happened to Superman's armed B-52 as generations of aviators have motto of "truth, justice, and the American done before and since.
way?"
The purpose: if required, be airborne
Pay-to-play is the theme of the day. Un-
in minutes on a one-way trip bringing a
challenged and uncontested blatant conflicts
nuclear Armageddon to an adversary. Fly:
of interest abound. The rule of law is situ-
ing the unfriendly skies over North Viet-
ational if adhered to at all. America can no
nam provided a brief interlude, but overall,
longer be trusted. The unbridled pursuit of
this long line of silent sentinels stood firm
power and wealth driven by unquenchable
to protect America by deterring external
greed has left service above self and Con-
threats to our freedoms and way of life
stitutional norms in the dustbin of a quaint
across the decades. I was privileged to serve past. with men and women of integrity imbued
Recently the VA said exposure to Agent
with a sense of service.
Orange is the probable cause of the can-
I'm truly grateful that the B-52s we flew, which were built tough, were engineered
cers I live with. Actually I suspect it's more from yet unspecified sources, which cause
on scientific principles and fabricated by experienced, skilled workers rather than
military pilots to have significantly higher
founded on mere beli…

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

I wish you success in your endeavor!

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Art, as a business, is a very fickle relationship. I, too, have attempted to offer my AP in various forms, but with the wealth of images freely available from JWST and Hubble, the market is difficult. Many people have asked to use my works gratis, but I've had no success, yet, in monetization.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Video of the day. We took the tour at #firestonewalkerbrewery where someone in the bottling department is apparently a 2001 A Space Oddyssey fan.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Pictures of the day. We spent the past couple of days with #friends in #pasorobles #california #wine and #beer tasting and touring. #tincity #firestonewalker #etto

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Thank you!! This is one of my favorites.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Was supposed to say, "...a few days before Halloween in October 2024."

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Picture of the day. The Wizard Nebula imaged from a Bortle 2 campsite near Ash Fork, AZ a few days before in October 2024. #photography #photo #astrophotography #astronomy #universe #nebula #sky #nightsky #night #stars #outerspace #space #red

On a dark field of outer space, this vertical image focuses on a red and pink nebulous cloud curved with the convex side facing to the lower left and concave side to the upper right. The features of the cloud make it appear as a wizard's face with pointy hat about center-left, his body curved down and to the right from his head, with darker cloud formations appearing as arms and hands in a robe-like gown reaching out from his body, and a pink glow effusing from his hands toward the upper right, dissipating about center-right in the frame. There is a medium sized star just to the right of the wizard's left hand, two brighter stars close together about half way from his hand to the right edge of the frame, slightly above and nearly to the right edge of the frame is a very bright star, and near the top center of the frame, but slightly to the left of center, is another very bright star. The entire image is dotted with tiny to medium white, yellow, orange, and red stars.

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Mike McNerney @mikemcnerney.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Picture of the day. The Seagull Nebula (IC 2177) in Hubble palette. Taken from Corales, NM taken 11/25/22. 70 x 300 seconds (mixed narrowband). #photography #photo #astrophotography #astronomy #sky #nightsky #night #nebula #universe #blue #yellow #stars

Against a black background of outer space, a nebula cloud shaped like a bird flying through space, with the trailing edges of the wings a translucent blue, the leading edges of the wings gradiating from translucent gold on the left to a greenish yellow on the right, and the head of the bird form also gradiating from gold to greenish yellow. The entire image is dotted with various sized stars from medium to tiny in size.

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