Here Be Merlions

Singapore: hot, humid, utterly beautiful.

A city that comes alive at night.

Marina Bay Sands   Sunset Panorama II thumb

A metropolis in a garden.

Jurong Lake Gardens   Chinese Garden Sunset I thumb

Nebula in Nebulae

This is the Crescent Nebula (captured in OHS narrowband), adrift in the swirling waves of the Milky Way:

NGC 6888   Crescent Nebula in Narrowband thumb

Full of Stars

Though visible to the naked eye as a faint star, M 5 is a globular star cluster made up of over 100,000 stars:

M 5 thumb

Sapphire Eye

Back to nebulae today. When you gaze into space, does the Iris Nebula gaze back at you?

NGC 7023   Iris Nebula thumb

A Gaggle of Galaxies

There are two galaxy groups in today’s image, the first being the NGC 7331 Group, made up of the spiral galaxy NGC 7331 that dominates the center of the image, and smaller galaxies visually (though not spatially) near it. In the upper right is Stephan’s Quintet, another visual grouping of galaxies.

NGC 7331 Group thumb

On Wings of Stardust

The focus today is on the Eagle Nebula, part of Sunday’s image, but this time rendered in OSH narrowband:

M 16   Eagle Nebula in Narrowband thumb

Shining Jewels in the Night

Just up and to the right of yesterday’s image is the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex, a celestial jewel box of differently-colored stars and nebulae:

Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex thumb

A Celestial River

This is a section of the Milky Way near Sagittarius. Some prominent nebulae that can be spotted include the Eagle Nebula near the top center, the Omega Nebula below that, and the Trifid Nebula near the bottom center.

Milky Way near Sagittarius thumb

M 106

This is Messier 106, a spiral galaxy, along with some neighboring galaxies:

M 106 thumb

Scenes from the Big Apple

Some photos from a trip to New York City, including the sun setting over its fire escape-lined apartment buildings,

Hudson Yards   Sunset Reflection I thumb

the moon rising over a constellation of lights,

Empire State Building   Moon over Manhattan II thumb

and neon colors softly illuminating a city that never sleeps.

Midtown   Madison Square Garden thumb