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Bipolar jets with an apparent length of 20' ejected from KX And have been discovered. KX And is a well-studied interacting binary with mass transfer from a red giant to an emission-line star at a distance of about 760 pc. However, the faint jets, which are visible in Hα light, have been overlooked in the past. With a known inclination of about 50° of the binary system, this leads to a true length of the jets of about 19 light-years (5.8 pc) in each direction.

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A 80°×70° view of several large HII regions, including the Orion-Eridanus Superbubble and the California Nebula. The latter appears to be part of a much larger region, mostly obscured by dense molecular clouds in the constellations Taurus and Perseus.

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A 48°×72° view of nebulae above the galactic plane near the celestial north pole. Most of the structures are thin reflection nebulae which scatter light from the Milky Way.

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A 45°×60° view of the Milky Way in the constellations Cygnus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Camelopardalis, and Perseus is presented. This region is full of prominent emission nebulae.

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A 55°×55° view showing nebulae below the galactic plane is presented. The region includes the constellations Pisces, Pegasus, Andromeda, and Lacerta. Most of the structures are thin reflection nebulae that scatter light from the Milky Way.

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A 45°×62° view of the Milky Way in the constellations Aquila, Sagitta, Vulpecula, and Cygnus is presented. That part of the sky is full of emission nebulae. Many of them are known supernova remnants, and the huge HII region in Cygnus also appears to have been formed by ancient supernovae.

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Why should nebulae always be round and curvy? A 16°×20° view of two objects that appear to be created using a ruler is presented. The nebulae can be found at a high galactic latitude (about 42°) on the border between the constellations Aquarius and Pegasus.

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Data release DR0.1 of the Northern Sky Narrowband Survey, which contains a first complete set of H-alpha (656.3 nm) and continuum data, has been published. The dataset contains pre-processed 8-bit color images with a resolution of up to 10 arcsecs and full dynamic range images with linear intensity that can be retrieved from an HiPS (Hierarchical Progressive Survey) repository and viewed with tools like Aladin.

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A 20°×30° view of SH2-27, partially obscured by molecular clouds, is presented. The large emission nebula, also known as the Zeta Ophiuchi Nebula, has an apparent size of about 15°×10° and is ionized by Zeta Ophiuchi, the bright star at the center, located 370 light-years away.

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A 36°×54° view of a dense region of the Milky Way, located about 30° from the Galactic Center, is presented. This part of the sky covers the constellations Aquila, Scutum, Serpens Cauda, and Ophiuchus and is dominated by star fields and dark nebulae.

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An arc-shaped emission nebula in the constellation Gemini with dominant OIII lines and an apparent length of about 14° is presented. The object has already been recorded in far UV surveys. What is new, however, is that this object can be seen in visible light and that it is an OIII emitter.

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Auroras caused by an extreme geomagnetic storm that began on May 10, 2024 where captured with sky surveillance cameras covering visible and infrared wavelengths.

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SH2-185, also known as the γ Cas nebula or the Ghost of Cassiopeia, is a mixed emission/reflection nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. The nebula is ionized and illuminated by the star γ Cas and formed by its stellar wind. The region also features some faint background nebulae, primarily visible in the infrared spectrum.

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A 35°×25° wide-field view of the Milky Way in the constellations Perseus, Camelopardalis, and Cassiopeia is presented in different color composites. This region is full of known and unknown nebulae.

Click on the preview images for detailed information and full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel).

SH2-101 (also known as Tulip Nebula) is an emission nebula in constellation Cygnus. The images also show a nebula formed by the jets of Cygnus X-1, a black hole in a binary system which is accreting its companion star.

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An emission nebula has been discovered in close apparent proximity to Tarazed (aka γ Aql). The diameter of the nebula is about 27.4 arcmin and its center is about 7 arcmin away from Tarazed, which is known to be an X-ray source. However, it is most likely not the ionization source of the nebula.

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On February 8 comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was close to the large nebula complex SH2-230 in constellation Auriga. The comet was observed between 17:25 and 20:00 UTC.

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Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was captured on Feb 07, 2023 in short time window between sunset and moonrise.

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On Feb 06, 2023 there was a close apparent approach between comets C/2022 E3 (ZTF) and C/2022 U2 (ATLAS). In that night ZTF also crossed the galactic plane. That unusual event was observed between 17:10 and 00:40 UTC.

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A 24°×35° wide-field view of the Milky Way in constellations Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and the north-eastern part of Cygnus is presented in different color composites. This region is full of smaller emission nebulae. For many of them the ionization sources an thus the distance can be determined which provides an insight in the 3D structure of the milky way in that direction.

Click on the preview images for detailed information and full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel).

Around the California Nebula (NGC 1499) there is a huge HII region which lies behind the dust in constellations Perseus and Taurus and thus is only visible in the voids and less dense regions of these molecular clouds. A 30°×30° wide-field view is presented which (probably) shows entire nebula.

Click on the preview images for detailed information and full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel).

A 32°×26° view of the Milky Way in the constellation Cygnus is presented in different color composites. This region is full of emission nebulae which are partially obscured by dark nebulae near the galactic plane.

Click on the selected previews below for detailed information, full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel) and more views from that region.

A 21°×40° view of the Milky Way in the constellations Monoceros, Orion and Gemini is presented in different color composites. That part of the sky is full of famous HII regions (e.g. Monkey Head Nebula, Cone Nebulae, Rosette Nebula, Seagull Nebula), but there are only a few reflection nebulae.

Click on the selected previews below for detailed information, full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel) and more views from that region.

A 30°×28° wide-field view of Milky Way in the constellations Vulpecula, Sagitta and Aquila is presented. That region is characterized dense dark nebulae at the galactic plane and only a few larger emission nebulae in constellation Vulpecula.

Click on the selected previews below for full resolution images (>100 MPixel), more views and detailed information.

M63 is a spiral galaxy in constellation Canes Venatici.

The image is calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

NGC 2403 is a spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis. NGC 2404 is one of many large HII region within the galaxy.

The image is calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

A 50°×16° wide-field view of Milky Way that covers large parts of the constellations Scutum, Serpens Cauda and Ophiuchus. That part of the sky is characterized by HII regions near the galactic plane, the large emission nebula SH2-27 (Zeta Ophiuchi Nebula), and dense star clouds, more or less hidden behind dark nebulae.

Click on the selected previews below for full resolution images (>100 MPixel), more views and detailed information.

NGC 4244 (also known as Caldwell 26) is an edge-on spiral galaxy in constellation Canes Venatici with extended star-forming regions showing strong H-alpha emissions.

The image is calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

M101 (also known as Pinwheel Galaxy) is a large spiral galaxy in constellation Ursa Major. It contains many bright HII regions. Some of them even have their own NGC numbers.

The image was calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

NGC 4395 is a low surface brightness galaxy constellation Canes Venatici. NGC 4399 to NGC 4401 are bright HII regions inside the galaxy.

The image was calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

M51 (also known as Whirlpool Galaxy) are two interacting galaxies in constellation Canes Venatici. The larger one (M51A or NGC 5194) is a spiral galaxy, the smaller companion (M51B or NGC 5195) is a distorted a dwarf galaxy.

The image was calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

NGC 4565 is a edge-on spiral galaxy in constellation Coma Berenices. Together with the smaller smaller NGC 4562 it belongs to the Coma I group.

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IC 2574 (also known as Coddington's Nebula) is a very faint dwarf galaxy in Ursa Major. It is a member of the M81 group and contains very active star-forming regions showing strong H-alpha emissions.

The image was calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

M94 is a spiral galaxy in constellation Canes Venatici with two ring structures. The inner ring is an active star formation region and contains a lot of young blue stars and HII regions, the broader outer ring is very faint.

The image was calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and probably also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

NGC 2903 is a barred spiral galaxy in constellation Leo.

The image was calculated with and without H-alpha information. By toggling between the two variants the correlation between HII gas clouds and bluish regions (containing young stars and also OIII gas) can be visualized.

Click on the animation for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

Different views (up to 6.3° × 3.9°), resolutions (up to 63MP) and color composites (false color with near infrared and true color) of the Pleiades and the surrounding reflection nebulae.

Click on the image for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

A 24°×34° view of the constellation Orion is presented in different color composites. That region is full of emission and reflection nebulae. Most of them lie within the Orion-Eridanus superbubble which consists in smaller bubbles most likely formed by supernovae. The H-alpha data seem to reveal a previously unknown bubble.

The images where re-calculated with new data and improved image processing.

The previews show a false color version with H-alpha and continuum, a pseudo color image only containing H-alpha (both with reduced stars) and an almost-true color image without star reduction. Click on the thumbnails for more information, selected details and full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel).

A 21°×42° view which covers most of the constellations Andromeda and Lacerta is presented. The center of the photographed region lies about 20° south of the galactic plane and is rich of high galactic latitude nebulae. Most famous objects are M33 (Triangulum galaxy), M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) and SH2-126, a large HII region in Lacerta.

The images where re-calculated with new data and improved image processing.

Click on the selected previews below for detailed information, full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel) and more views from that region.

A 25°×35° wide-field view of Milky Way in the constellations Taurus, Auriga and Perseus is presented in different color composites. Many famous nebulae like Spaghetti Nebulae, IC 405 and IC 410 can be seen near the galactic plane. The region south of it is full of Molecular clouds. Behind them there lies a larger HII complex which contains the California Nebula.

The images where re-calculated with new data and improved image processing.

The previews show a false color version with H-alpha and continuum, a pseudo color image only containing H-alpha (both with reduced stars) and an almost-true color image without star reduction. Click on the thumbnails for more information, selected details and full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel).

A dusty 6.25° × 4.0° large region in Cepheus containing NGC 7023 (Iris Nebula) and VdB 4141 (Ghost Nebula). The image was shot with SDSS I', R' and G' filters. Regions known as dark nebulae are reddish because they become transparent in infrared light (mapped to red).

Click on the image for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

A 6.25° × 4.0° large view of the Taurus Molecular Cloud containing LBN 1495 and the Baby Eagle nebula. The image was shot with SDSS I', R' and G' filters. Regions known as dark nebulae are reddish because they become transparent in infrared light (mapped to red).

Click on the image for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

New pseudo color images of SH2-105 (also known as NGC 6888 or Crescent Nebula), an emission nebula in constellation Cygnus which is ionized by a Wolf-Rayet star.

Click on the images for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

New pseudo color image of M27 (also known as Dumbbell Nebula), a planetary nebula in constellation Vulpecula.

Click on the images for detailed information, more views and full resolution pictures.

New pseudo color image of SH2-86, an emission nebula in constellation Vulpecula.

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The nebula complex SH2-254 thru SH2-258 lies on the border between constellations Orion and Gemini and is a part of the GEM OB1 molecular cloud.

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SH2-206 (also known as NGC 1491) is an emission nebula in constellation Perseus. The interaction of the stellar wind of the ionizing star with a larger molecular cloud forms a small bubble-like structure.

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SH2-184 (also known as NGC 281 or Pacman Nebula) is an emission nebula in constellation Cassiopeia containing many Bok globules and the very young star cluster IC 1590.

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SH2-170 is a faint emission nebula in constellation Cassiopeia.

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SH2-162 (also known as NGC 7635 or Bubble Nebula) is an emission nebula in constellation Cassiopeia. The interaction of the stellar wind of the ionizing star with a larger molecular cloud forms a bubble-like structure.

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SH2-142 (also known as Wizard Nebula) is an emission nebula in constellation Cepheus which is ionized by the young star cluster NGC 7380.

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SH2-112 is an emission nebula in constellation Cygnus.

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SH2-105 (also known as NGC 6888 or Crescent Nebula) is an emission nebula in constellation Cygnus which is ionized by a Wolf-Rayet star.

Click on the images for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

SH2-101 (also known as Tulip Nebula) is an emission nebula in constellation Cygnus. The images also show (partially cropped) a nebula formed by the jets of Cygnus X-1, a black hole in a binary system which is accreting its companion star.

Click on the images for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

M27 (also known as Dumbbell Nebula) is a planetary nebula in constellation Vulpecula with an apparent diameter of about 16' (arcminutes). Most sources only state about 7'. But this is only the bright inner structure. This pictures also show the faint outer shell.

Click on the images for detailed information, more views and full resolution pictures.

SH2-86 is an emission nebula in constellation Vulpecula with an apparent diameter of about 40 arcminutes. The nebula is not very bright but contains some interesting pillar-structures and Bok globules.

Click on the image for detailed information and full resolution pictures.

A 21°×42° view which covers most of the constellations Andromeda and Lacerta is presented. The center of the photographed region lies about 20° south of the galactic plane and is rich of high galactic latitude nebulae. Most famous objects are M33 (Triangulum galaxy), M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) and SH2-126, a large HII region in Lacerta.

Click on the selected previews below for detailed information, full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel) and more views from that region.

A 24°×34° view of the constellation Orion is presented in different color composites. That region is full of emission and reflection nebulae. Most of them lie within the Orion-Eridanus superbubble which consists in smaller bubbles most likely formed by supernovae. The H-alpha data seem to reveal a previously unknown bubble.

Click on the selected previews below for detailed information, full resolution pictures (>100 MPixel) and more views from that region.

Latest images of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) have been uploaded. Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was captured between Jul 12 and Jul 25, 2020 using two different instruments. On several images a faint reddish gas tail that comes from H2O+ ions is visible (not sodium because a light pollution filter was used). A short animation the shows the movement of the gas tail is shown to.

Click on the selected previews below for detailed information, full resolution pictures and more views.