72 ASTRONOMY • FEBRUARY 2018
- NEBULOUS PAIRING
The Heart Nebula (IC 1805), which lies
in the center of this image, surrounds
the star cluster that provides the
radiation that excites the gas around
it. To the right is the Fish Head Nebula
(IC 1795), a smaller and denser cloud
of hydrogen. • Terry Hancock/Walter
Holloway - G E T I N L I N E
This striking celestial alignment
occurred September 18, 2017. The
photographer captured it at 5:44 A.M.
MDT from the Door Trail in Badlands
National Park in South Dakota. From
bottom left, the objects are Mercury,
Mars, the Moon, Regulus (Alpha
Leonis), and Venus, which shone at
magnitude –3.9. • Gregg Alliss - ROUND AND ROUND
This spectacular solar prominence
appeared on the Sun’s limb
September 10, 2017, and was visible
from the observer’s location in
Lafayette, Indiana. Of the 500 frames
of video he captured, he needed only
50 to create this shot. • Gabriel Almonte - SILVERY MOON
The waning gibbous Moon rose late on
the night of November 9, 2017, when
this photographer captured it from his
backyard observatory. • John Chumack - BLUE LIGHT DISTRICT
IC 4182 is an odd little galaxy in the
constellation Canes Venatici. Although
it appears irregular through small
scopes, this object actually is a spiral
galaxy. In 1937, astronomers observed
a supernova in IC 4182 that shone 16
times brighter than the entire galaxy.
- Dean Salman
- BLACK AND BLUE
This beautiful molecular cloud
lies at the northeast corner of the
constellation Aries. Three blue
reflection nebulae, as well as a pair of
yellow reflection nebulae, highlight
the image. They lie among a host of
larger dark nebulae. • Bob Franke
Send your images to:
Astronomy Reader Gallery, P. O. Box
1612, Waukesha, WI 53187. Please
include the date and location of the
image and complete photo data:
telescope, camera, filters, and
exposures. Submit images by email
to [email protected]. 876