I have a deep love for astronomy but I also love photography. I try and take astrophotography photos but I mostly take photos of landscapes and objects. There are two sets of photos on this page:
- My personal photography
- Photos I’ve used in all my posts (some are awesome as desktop wallpapers!
Comet NEOWISE – Close up
Comet NEOWISE – 2020 – Portrait shot with stars
Caption
Orion’s Belt & Wispy Sky
Crescent Moon & Jet Plane
Third Quarter Moon
Urban Night Stars & Meteorites
Researcher Laser & Stars
Stars
Stars & Meteorites
Mystical Moon
Milky Way & Tobermory
Milky Way & Meteorites
Milky Way & Stars
Tobermory House & Stars
Tree and Stars
Chimney & Moon
Cozy House & Moon
My Panasonic GX7 with Gordy Strap
My weapon of choice for photography. Panasonic GX7 with 20mm lens
New York City Night Sky
Moon & Flower
Everything you need to know about NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission
If there’s one planet that will define the next milestone in human civilization, it’s Mars. You probably have heard from the likes of Elon Musk to NASA to even China on getting humans to Mars. Thus far, we’ve seen the amazing world of Mars through the eyes of our rovers. and orbiters. Now, NASA is launching their latest mission called Mars 2020 on July 30th. This is not any ordinary mission either. It has a ton of firsts and will even answer questions like “was there life on Mars in the past?” It will also be the...
read moreAstronomers Discover the Biggest Explosion Seen in the Universe in Ophiuchus Galaxy Cluster
Scientists discover the biggest explosion ever seen in the universe! The blast came from a supermassive black hole located in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster. Not only that but the explosion was five times more explosive than the previous record holder! It was so powerful that it punched a cavity in the cluster plasma1. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Naval Research Lab/Giacintucci, S.; XMM:ESA/XMM; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRTN; Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF The lead author of the study Dr. Simona Giacintucci, from the Naval Research Laboratory...
read moreESA Solar Orbiter Mission Successfully Launches to Study the Sun
European Space Agency (ESA) new Solar Orbiter mission launched successfully from Cape Canaveral at 04:03 GMT (05:03 CET) on 10 February 2020. This mission is exciting and will be off to go study the Sun up-close and personal. The Solar Orbiter mission is led with a strong partnership with NASA and studies the Sun’s poles which have never been seen before! The Solar Orbiter was launched atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket which also launched other famous missions like NASA’s Mars orbiter MAVEN. It even has an almost...
read moreStunning View of the Famous (M27) Dumbbell Nebula
Located 1,227 light-years from Earth is a beautiful planetary nebula called the Dumbbell Nebula. This nebula was actually the first planetary nebula discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. He is famous for publishing an astronomical catalogue that contained 110 nebulae and faint star clusters, which were known as Messier objects. Dumbbell Nebula Credit: Steve Mazlin The first thing you notice is the gorgeous red which represents hydrogen and blue that represents oxygen gasses. This is also a great example of what the future of our Sun may look...
read moreZeta Oph the Runaway Star that Left a Gorgeous Bow Shock
Located 366 light-years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus is a runaway star called Zeta Ophiuchi (ζ Ophiuchi) or Zeta Oph. It’s a runaway star because it was flung out of a star system as a result of a supernova. This enormous star is about 20 times the mass of our own Sun! Not only that but our Sun’s radius is about 696,340 km and Zeta Oph is 8 times that. This star is huge but is rotating extremely fast. It’s rotating about 400 km/s where it can rotate this gargantuan mass once per Earth day! To give you some...
read moreCarnival of Space 648: Awesome Space Stories of the Week
Hi space fans! Welcome to another edition of Carnival of Space! This is the 648th edition in this great community post. It’s where a group of space bloggers will help curate the best space stories around the web and create a post. I will be your host today and got some great stories from our fellow space bloggers. Let’s jump into it! Betelgeuse is Continuing to Dim! It’s Down to 1.506 Magnitude – Universe Today Betelgeuse Our first story comes from Universe Today with a story around the star called Betelgeuse. This star is...
read more5 Things Astronomers Learned About Venus that Surprised Them
It’s been a great start to 2020 as astronomers have already discovered something new about Venus. However, there is so much happening with Venus that it would be sad not to tell the world about it. Let’s jump into 5 things astronomers recently learned about Venus that really surprised them. Upper Clouds on Venus Are Vastly Different Than Originally Thought “Akatsuki’s LIR camera spotted an enormous stationary wave running completely across the globe from north to south on Venus. The camera sees heat emanating from Venus’...
read moreRubin’s Galaxy (UGC 2885) Largest Galaxy in Local Universe?
Located about 232 million light-years in the northern constellation Perseus is UGC 2885 or nicknamed “Rubin’s Galaxy.” This galaxy is 2.5 times wider than our own Milky Way! It also contains 10 times as many stars which results in as much 4 trillion stars! Now you really get a sense of why astronomers are referring to it as the largest galaxy known to date. Credits: NASA, ESA and B. Holwerda (University of Louisville) Rubins galaxy is enormous and really quite relaxed for a giant. The number of stars it produces is half the...
read more10 Amazing Discoveries that Changed Astronomy in the Last Decade
Astronomy has seen so much progress and change in the last decade. From SpaceX and reusable rockets to landing on comets and discovering oceans on moons. The last ten years gave us great science. However, the start of 2010 didn’t look so promising. It started off in February of 2010 with Obama cancelling the Constellation program or the mission to get back to the Moon by 2020, due to budget constraints. Nonetheless, it was a tough start and a year later the space shuttle retired signifying that NASA needed a new spacecraft to take them...
read moreCarnival of Space 644: Awesome Space Stories of the Week
Hello space fans and welcome to another edition of Carnival of Space 644. It’s a space community-driven post where we gather the best space stories of the week and share them with you. You can check out the archive of all the past Carnival Space over at Universe Today here. NextBigFuture – US Space Force Will Be Created Tonight (Dec 20) We’re starting off our first story with NextBigFuture article on how Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act 2020. It’s a hefty one that creates the new Space Force agency...
read moreLong March 5 Successfully Launches from China Reaffirming China’s Space Flight Program
China Aerospace Science and Technology agency launches a critical mission called the Chang Zheng 5 or also known as Long March 5 outside of China. This launch is amazing and a testament to China’s commitment to space. The success of Long March 5 means it paves the way for a mission to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. It officially launched at 7:45 AM EST from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan, People’s Republic of China. If you’re familiar with rockets from the U.S such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 or Europe’s Ariane 5 then...
read moreRed Supergiant Star Betelgeuse Going Supernova Soon? Not quite
There has been lots of buzz in the Astro community about whether Betelgeuse will be supernova or not. Well, let’s catch you up quickly on the background. TL;DR version here Betelgeuse is a huge star that is about 11-20 times larger than our own Sun! In fact, if it was placed where our Sun is that it would reach as far as Jupiter, engulfing Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Now, when we think about the most fantastic and terrifying explosions in the universe you might hear or think of supernova. If you start asking the question...
read moreFirst Discovery of Black Hole that Actually Prevents Star Formation in Phoenix Galaxy Cluster
Let’s take a journey 5.7 billion light-years away from Earth and find ourselves looking at the beautiful Phoenix Galaxy Cluster. This cluster is one of the most massive galaxy clusters so far discovered by astronomers. It’s so big that it would take you 1.1 million years travelling at the speed of light to go from the center to the outer edges of the halo. Check it out in its full glory here: Credit: NASA/Chandra At the center of the gargantuan galaxy cluster is a supermassive black hole that is about a thousand times more massive...
read moreFuture Space Missions I’m Excited About
It’s one of the most exciting times to be alive when it comes to space exploration. For starters, we are finally going back to the Moon and will get to experience it in much greater detail than ever before. This got me thinking about what agencies like NASA, ESA, or ISRO have planned in the next 5 or even 10 years. After some research, here are some space missions I am excited about. Let’s jump into it! NASA (National Aeronautics Space Administration) ESA (European Space Agency)ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) Future NASA...
read moreThe Awe-Inspiring and Sad Story of Star R Aquarii
Located about 710 light-years away from Earth is a red giant star called R Aquarii. A red giant star is a star that is at the end of its stellar evolution. It’s what will eventually happen to our own Sun. However, there is a lot going on in the photo below and actually, there are two stars in this photo. This story is about these two stars tangled in destiny. Credit: Hubble/NASA/ESA Let’s start with what is happening inside the red giant star R Aquarii. As it’s going through the last hurrah of its life the star is constantly...
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