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- AHEAD OF THE CURVE
The Crescent Nebula (NGC
- floats within a vast
region of glowing gas made
even more apparent because
the exposures used to create
this image came through
Hydrogen-alpha, Sulfur-II,
and Oxygen-III filters.
The Crescent lies in the
constellation Cygnus the
Swan about 5,000 light-years
away. • Greg Gurdak
- WITH THIS RING ...
NGC 7217 is a gorgeous ring
galaxy in Pegasus. It glows
at magnitude 10.1 and lies
50 million light-years away.
Because some stars orbit the
galaxy’s center in a direction
opposite others, astronomers
think a massive collision
formed the ring.
- Lefteris Velissaratos
- MEOW
The Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC
- glows slightly brighter
than 10th magnitude in the
northern constellation Draco
the Dragon. It lies about 3,400
light-years from Earth. The
expanding sphere of gas is
moving into space at a speed
of 4.25 million mph (6.8 million
km/h). • Tony Hallas
- OVER HERE!
Globular cluster M56 is often
overlooked by observers who
are more interested in the
Ring Nebula (M57), which
also lies in Lyra. M56 lies
33,000 light-years away and
glows at magnitude 8.3.
Astronomers estimate that it
has a mass of 230,000 suns.
- Rod Pommier
- AS DARK AS NIGHT
The Coalsack is a dark nebula
— a cloud of dust and cold
gas — mainly in the southern
constellation Crux the Cross,
although some of it touches
Centaurus and Musca. It lies
some 600 light-years away
and covers an area of sky 7°
by 5°. • Fernando Oliveira
de Menezes
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WI 53187. Please include
the date and location of the
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filters, and exposures.
Submit images by email to
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