Eye of Sauron?

I think the heat of summer is behind me now. By next week it looks like an even more significant cool down is on the way. I’ve been getting a little bit of astro done too. I decided that I’m going to spend more time on fewer deep sky objects. I started out with the Helix Nebula. As always, one can right click on an image, open in a new tab and see a larger image.

The Helix Nebula in the constellation Aquarius. This is one of the largest and brightest planetary nebulas in the night sky but even at this latitude (32 degrees north) it only rises to about 35 degrees above the horizon, so I am shooting through lots of atmosphere. I’ve got almost 7 hours on it now (with the C8) and the faint outer bands of glowing hydrogen are starting to show up. I’ve become somewhat of a Lord of the Rings fan and I think it looks like the eye of Sauron.

My snake hunting is going OK, I’m finding lots of snakes but mostly of three species, including this one, the Long-nosed Snake. I have photographed these before but here’s a new one.

A young female Red-naped Sapsucker that let me get very close.

2 replies on “Eye of Sauron?”

Eye of Sauron- that’s awesome! We can identify with that. David thought it was very appropriate. It’s pretty cool that you got a good picture of the long nosed snake with it’s tongue out.
I’m glad it’s cooled down for you. Are you in the county park or on BLM land?

Love the Long-nosed Snake. I need so many of the herps here in Arizona.

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