Mapping Astronomical Points

Christmas Tree Cluster | December 21, 2023

Officially recognized as NGC 2264, this cluster is referred to as the "Christmas Tree Cluster" because of its shape and cosmic green glow. NGC 2264 is roughly 2500 light-years from Earth in our Milky Way Galaxy and is composed of various young stars with ages ranging from one to five million years old. The color of te cluster is not actually green in color, but is given this color via various imaging techniques. The image is initially rotated 160 degrees to give it its tree-like appearance and the images taken by National Science Foundation's WIYN 0.9-meter telescope and infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey give the green color to the cluster.

In reality, if NGC 2264 could be seen by the naked eye, it would appear much fainter, like a whitish smudge. But the sophistication of astrophotography techniques gives us this brilliant color and image just in time for the holiday season. Merry Christmas everyone!

Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) | February 1, 2023

Comet c/2022 ES (ZTF), also recognized as the green comet, is making another close approach to Earth on February 2023, where it will be around 27 million miles (or 43 million km) from the planet. The comet gets its distinct color from its composition, which is composed of diatomic carbon - two atom carbon molecules - that react to the sun's solar wind's particles. What makes this comet more unique is it's double tail, with one tail composed of dust and ice, and the other tail composed of ionized carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen molecules; because of its composition, it is also called the ion tail. The comet gets its double tail because Earth is close to the plane of the comet orbit in a way that the angle between te projections of the dust and gas tail on te celestial sphere for ground observers exceeds 90°.

The ZTF in te comet's name stands for Zwicky Transit Facility, which is a sopisticated camera and computer attached to one of te telescopes at Palomar, an observatory located near San Diego, California. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) made its last close approach to Eart 50,000 years ago, and was spotted last year in 2022 on March 2. The comet is categorized in the long-period comets, which means it comes from the Oort Cloud and can take from 200 years to one million years to complete transit of the solar system.

The comet is quickly passing through our solar system, with it being visible on January 23 near the Draco Constellation below the Little Dipper. Afterwards, it was sighted beside the Little Dipper on January 26, and will make its closest approach on January 30 - February 2, where it will be visible near the Camelopardalis constellation. Upon observing the comet myself, I was able to shoot images and witness myself how the comet moves within each shot. By mid February, Comet c/2022 E3 (ZTF) will have complete its passby in our solar system and will no longer be visible - at least until another 50,000 years.

Welcome and Hello to my First Post! | February 1, 2023

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog website! I hope to shoot images of various nebulas, planets, and stars to share them with you here. Additionally, I will also write up and post astronomy related news that I find interesting.

The realm of astrophotography is particularly tricky and requires time and patience in order to capture an image that will satisfy your efforts. Although I consider myself fairly new to the hobby, I hope to become an excellent astrophotographer one day. I do hope you enjoy your visit to my website.