SLOOH Nebulae

I have been very slow with my entries here and with good reasons too.The weather has gotten cold and the nights aren't always cooperative enough to allow for some clear gazing into the night sky. It has been rainy, wet and cold the past week and I have been lulled into a good state of laziness and lethargy whenever night fell. :-P

So, to make up for my recent lapses, here are a few shots taken from my sessions over at SLOOH this evening, after a long break.

This is the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405). It is a diffuse nebula in Auriga that mainly surrounds the star AE Aurigae and gives the impression that the star is burning, hence, its name. AE Aurigae is one of the runaway stars whose proper motion can be traced back to the area of the Orion's Belt.

Next is the California Nebula. This large, faint emission nebula, discovered in 1845 by E.E. Barnard, is likely ionized by one of the very stars born from within its midst, Xi Persei. In wide-field, another bright star, Zeta Persei, can be seen just beneath the nebula.

A quiet night on site with the SLOOH scopes do help to get away from the cold as one views the universe from the comforts of a warm room!