Astrophotography for Education

The Tarantula Nebula is located in the nearby dwarf galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud (at a distance of 170,000 light years). It is the most active star-forming region in the nearby universe. It creates massive stars that die quickly in a supernova, releasing gas and shockwaves that continue to fuel stellar formation.

Imaged April 2025 in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

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The Carina Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away and is a massive cloud of gas and dust. It is home to many famous features including the Cosmic Cliffs (recently photographed by JWST) and Eta Carinae (a bright double star system that goes through massive outbursts). 

Imaged April 2025 in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

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Omega Centauri is the largest and brightest globular cluster in our sky, which can appear as large as the full moon on dark nights. Globular clusters are collections of typically hundreds of thousands of stars that are densely packed and held together by gravity. These clusters hold some of the oldest stars in the universe and there are over 100 globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy.

Imaged April 2025 in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

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The Lagoon Nebula is located approximately 5,200 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius (best visibility in August). It is a large cloud of gas and dust that is forming new stars. These new stars emit large amounts of ultraviolet radiation, which ionizes the surrounding gas and causes the gas to glow. This type of nebula is known as an emission nebula.

Imaged July 2025 in Jackson, WY

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The Orion Nebula is the closest large star forming region to Earth at a distance of only 1,500 light years. It is bright enough to be visible with the naked eye, seen below the middle star of the belt of Orion. It is particularly known for a group of 4 bright stars (known as the Trapezium Cluster) which are emitting intense ultraviolet light that is actually carving a cavity in the gas cloud and disrupting nearby star formation.

Imaged October 2025 in Jackson, WY

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The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy and is the closest giant galaxy to the Milky Way at a distance of 2.5 million light years. In fact, Andromeda and the Milky Way are on a collision course and will combine in a few billion years. If you have a very dark night, you can see the central part of the Andromeda Galaxy with your eye. If your eye was sensitive enough to see the entire extent of the galaxy, it would appear approximately as long as 6 full moons next to each other. 

Imaged October 2025 in Jackson, WY

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The Horsehead Nebula is an iconic nebula in the constellation of Orion. The bright star in the top center is Zeta Orionis, the leftmost star in Orion's Belt (as viewed from the northern hemisphere). It is 1,600 light years away and is part of a large star forming region that expands throughout the constellation of Orion.

Imaged October 2025 in Jackson, WY

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The Triangulum Galaxy is the third largest galaxy in the Local Group (behind Andromeda and the Milky Way). It is approximately half the size of the Milky Way and may be a gravitational companion to Andromeda. It is known for its high star formation rate.

Imaged October 2025 in Jackson, WY

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The Pleiades star cluster is an iconic group of stars in the constellation of Taurus. While it is commonly known as the Seven Sisters, the cluster contains over 1,000 stars loosely bound by gravity. It is visible with the naked eye and is located approximatley 445 light years away. In Japanese, this star cluster is known as Subaru, and you can see these iconic stars displayed in the logo of the Subaru car company.

Imaged October 2025 in Jackson, WY

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This picture shows a small part of a structure known as the Veil Nebula. These colorful gas clouds are a supernova remnant, meaning they formed as the result of a massive star (20 times more massive than our sun!) exploding roughly 8,000 years ago. At 2,100 light years away and 110 light years across, this massive structure spans the size of 6 full moons in our sky. To this day, the structure is continuing to expand.

Imaged July 2025 in Jackson, WY

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The Whirlpool Galaxy is a grand design spiral galaxy located 31 million light years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici. It is iconic for being face-on with incredibly distinct spiral arms. The smaller structure to the upper-right is NGC 5195, a small galaxy that is interacting with the Whirlpool Galaxy and is likely triggering intense star formation in the outer arms of the Whirlpool Galaxy.

Imaged June 2025 in Jackson, WY

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The Eagle Nebula, located 7,000 light years away in the constellation of Serpens, is well known for its iconic "Pillars of Creation" which can be seen at the very center of the image above. (See here for a close up!). These pillars are 4-5 light years tall, and the whole nebula spans a massive area of 70 by 55 light years. 

Imaged July 2025 in Jackson, WY

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Comet Lemmon was discovered in January 2025 and made its closest approach to earth in late October 2025. Scientists have determined that this object will not visit our skies again until the year 3421!

Comets are large balls of ice and dust that orbit the sun in highly elliptical orbits. They are known for displaying tails, as seen above. Comets typically have 2 tails: 1 that trails in the path of the comet and 1 that points away from the sun.

Imaged October 2025 in Jackson, WY

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Earth's moon shows beautiful features from dark lava plains (called maria) and large craters with bright paths of ejecta. It is less than a third the width of earth and approximately 30 Earths could fit between Earth and the Moon. A common theory for the formation of the moon states that a Mars-sized planet may have crashed into Earth during its formation, causing a large chunk to orbit and turn into our moon.

Imaged July 2025 in Jackson, WY

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Comet SWAN was confirmed in September 2025 and was visible at the same time as Comet Lemmon. It was discovered by the SWAN instrument of the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft.

Imaged October 2025 in Jackson, WY

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