Onto 2021 and Beyond…

Another year gone by. Birding has been very slow here and not much else worth mentioning until now, when the moon is starting to rise later every night. I did make a move of my campsite. I got tired of listening to dogs barking all the time and left the county campground. I’m now located in a remote site and enjoying the quiet here.

NGC 1300 again. I’ve been adding more exposure to this when I can, but it is in a difficult location, low in the south. I still like the look of this galaxy and will keep trying.

This is the Monkey Head Nebula (NGC2174). This is a nebula that I’ve never imaged before. I do not see a monkey head in there, but maybe someone else can. It is located in the Orion constellation, about 6400 light years from Earth. I took about 5 hours of exposure with the C8.

Another planetary nebula, Cleopatra’s Eye. The nebula is very small, less than an arc minute, so not much bigger than Jupiter from Earth. I thought I’d give it a try one night while waiting for the Monkey Head Nebula to rise. It is very bright and I’m thinking I could photograph this at much higher magnification and with fast exposures. Maybe I will try it some night.

And here’s a bird. Another Long-eared Owl in The Thicket. I was able to get a pretty clear shot this time.

2 replies on “Onto 2021 and Beyond…”

I can see the monkey’s head, it’s looking straight up in your photo, it’s chin and mouth are on the left. A long eared owl is always a good bird to find.

I guess maybe that is the monkey’s head. I don’t know who picks these names, they show up in Stellarium. The official designation is NGC 2174.

Comments are closed.