M42 in Orion - From the front yard

The neighbors thought I was crazy. But, not bad for almost a full moon lighting the sky. Taken with a Canon 550D, Tamron 200mm lens, 2 secs per image, ISO 3200, f5.6. 100 images stacked in DeepSkyStacker.  The picture below is the same as the one above, except the neighboring stars and other space "objects" are also identified. Thanks to the program called UniMap from www.LarryO.org

The Andromeda Galaxy and Meteorite - Free from the Bonneville Salt Flats, UT

A view brought to you free of charge from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah is this image of the Andromeda Galaxy, which is about 2.5 million light years away.  The meteorite to the north got a closer look. Enjoy!
(Canon T2i, 25 secs, f5.0, 65mm, ISO 1600, taken 26 Nov 2011)

M42 Nebula from our Backyard

It is amazing what you can see in the night sky. Visible in the fall and winter (Northern Hemisphere),

the Orion Nebula, aka M42, is about 1350 light years away, and is about 24 light years across.

Taken with a Canon T2i DSLR, tripod mounted, Tamron 18-270 lens, zoom to 270, 2.0 secs, f6.3. Saved as JPEG, and 39 images stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed im GIMP, cropped in Picasa.