📸 NGC 6946 and NGC 6939
This deep-sky image shows two cosmic neighbors in Cepheus: open star cluster NGC 6939 at 5,600 light-years and spiral galaxy NGC 6946, The Fireworks Galaxy, at 22 million light-years. Over 68 hours of exposure reveal stunning detail and faint dust lanes.

📅 July 4, 2025
📷 Alberto Pisabarro / https://www.loscoloresinvisibles.com/en
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space

#APOD #NGC6946 #FireworksGalaxy #NGC6939 #Cepheus #SpiralGalaxy #OpenCluster #DeepSky #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #NightSky

The open star cluster Messier 21 as imaged by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Located near the Trifid Nebula, Messier 21 is relatively young and tightly packed with small, dim stars.

Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2521ag

@VRubinObs

#RubinFirstLook #CaptureTheCosmos #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrodon #Rubin #observatory #RubinObservatory #science #telescope #Messier21 #opencluster #starcluster #astrophotography

Rubin with M41 during First Look Observations

Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava)

https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2521i/

@VRubinObs

#RubinFirstLook #CaptureTheCosmos #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrodon #Rubin #observatory #RubinObservatory #science #telescope #Messier41 #opencluster #starcluster #beehivecluster #astrophotography #nightskyphotography

So I'm attending a tech conference in Munich this week - virtually. This means I am keeping CEST, and that lunchtime is 6pm local.

So at lunchtime, I set up my #dwarf3 on the back roof, and let it run for the 'afternoon'.

My target was Messier 6 aka NGC6405 aka "The Butterfly Cluster". There is some very nice nebulosity right next to it. so I framed things a little off, and also got the smaller open clusters NGC6383 (aka NGC6374) and the tiny NGC6404.

I ended up with 240 frames out of 300, at 60s per frame - or 4 hours of usable data.

I then ran it through the Dwarflab postprocessing tools, and finished off with some work in Google photos and Snapseed.

#nebula #OpenCluster #M6 #NGC6383 #NGC6406 #Astrodon #Astronomy #astrophotography #Scorpius

#Melotte 41 - #Messier 35 is a large #opencluster located in the #constellation #Gemini, approximately 2,800 light-years away from Earth, best observed during its annual culmination at astronomical midnight around end-December.

Detailed Information: https://astrocamp.eu/en/messier-35-2/

▼ Vixen ED80sf | EOS M100(a) '22

#astrophoto #astrophotography #nightsky #space #sky #astronomy #telescope #clearsky #photography #nature #astrodon

#Messier37 is a bright #opencluster located in the #constellation #Auriga, approximately 4,511 light-years away from Earth, best observed during its annual culmination at astronomical midnight around the end of December.

detailed Information: https://astrocamp.eu/en/messier-37/

▼ Vixen VC200L | EOS R(a) '24

#astrophoto #astrophotography #nightsky #space #sky #astronomy #telescope #clearsky #photography #nature #astrodon

So we headed down to the beach in the hopes of the Kp index going up and granting us an #aurora but it is not playing ball tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

While waiting, though, we thought we'd run our #DwarfII scopes. I targetted a little #OpenCluster called #NGC6451, or The Tom Thumb cluster.

All sorts of fun stuff going on around it.

#Astrodon #Astronomy #Astrophotography