Author Archives: Derek

Nestled within the Cocoon Nebula is a dark cloud known as Barnard 168 or Black Cigar, which appears as a dark lane cutting through the nebula in the constellation Cygnus (The Swan). Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: B168 (Dark … Continue reading →

Barnard 169, 170, 171, and 174 are dark nebulae in the constellation Cephus (The King) ~ located near the nebula IC1396 and are surrounded by more diffuse nebulae in emission. Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: IC1396Constellation: Cephus (The … Continue reading →

Caldwell 33 is often called the Eastern Veil, and includes regions also catalogued as NGC 6992 and NGC 6995 in the constellation Cygnus (The Swan). Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: C33 (Network Nebula)Constellation: Cygnus (The Swan)

The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus (The Swan). Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: C34 (Veil Nebula)Constellation: Cygnus (The Swan)

Better known as the Bubble Nebula, Caldwell 11 is a colourful region of gas and dust that stretches 7 light-years across in the constellation Cassiopeia (The Queen). Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: C11 (Bubble Nebula)Constellation: Cassiopeia (The Queen)

The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 or B33) is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion ~ the nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt. Guides to the night skyDeep Sky … Continue reading →

The Wild Duck Cluster (also known as Messier 11, or NGC 6705) is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Scutum (The Shield). Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: M11 (Wild Duck Cluster)Constellation: Scutum (The Shield)

Comets are icy frozen remnants of the Solar System’s formation that orbit our Sun ~ all comets are made of dust, rock, and ice, and can range in size from a few miles to tens of miles wide, and the … Continue reading →

By iphone to capture the planetary conjunctions of Jupiter and Venus.

IC 405 is a rippling cloud of gas emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga. Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: IC 405 (Flaming Star Nebula)Constellation: Auriga (The Charioteer)