the art of astronomy
the art of astronomy
Astrophotographer: Ginny St. Lawrence
Astrophotographer: Ginny St. Lawrence
Horsehead Nebula
“The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most popular targets in
the night sky. It is close to the Orion Nebula which is in the Orion
constellation (one of my favorites)! It is a dark nebula, and is
called the Horsehead because well... The big burst of what looks
like a flaming tree to the left of the Horsehead Nebula is called
the Flame Nebula. This photo was shot in narrowband.”
Jellyfish Nebula
Andromeda Galaxy
“The Jellyfish Nebula is one of my all-time favorite targets to shoot due to its
negative space, and the contrast in colors when processed in narrowband.
This target was shot in narrowband (Ha, OIII, SII) in Oceanside, Calif., on a
small refractor. I really loved how the deep blues and golds brought this
image together. The Jellyfish Nebula resides inside the Gemini constellation
and is a remnant of a supernova!”
“If you are in a dark enough location, you can see the
Andromeda Galaxy with your naked eye. It sits close to my
all-time favorite constellation — Cassiopeia — and it looks
like a tiny little fuzzy blur. I don’t image a lot of galaxies – but
Andromeda is very special. To think that that galaxy is twice
the size of our Milky Way, and has billions of suns just like our
own is absolutely mind blowing. Eventually our galaxy will be
colliding with Andromeda.”
Both of these photographs were acquired using a small
refractor and a CCD camera. St. Lawrence typically images in
city locations, which causes her to shoot most of her photos
in narrowband (3 nanometer filters). For processing, she uses
Nebulosity, PixInsight, and Photoshop as well as some minor
edits in Snapseed.
Orion Nebula and Running Man
“This nebula is found in the Orion constellation and, like the Andromeda
Galaxy, can be seen with the naked eye. Most people actually confuse this
nebula with a star because it is so bright. Capturing images of this nebula is
always a lot of fun. I find this target compelling because Orion looks like a bird
with either the world on its back or a bird with wings on fire — similar to the
phoenix — who sets itself ablaze only to rise from its own ashes. The purple
and blue amoeba looking object to the left of the Orion Nebula is called the
Running Man Nebula. This target was shot on a small refractor and processed
in real color.”
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