January’s deep sky: Rosette Nebula and more

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Rupesh Sangoi in Mumbai, India, took this image of the Rosette Nebula on January 9, 2022. Rupesh wrote: “The Rosette Nebula is a nebula in the Milky Way galaxy. It is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way galaxy. It’s called an emission nebula because its young stars are so hot that the gases in the nebula give off colored light. The nebula is 130 light-years across and 5,200 light-years away from us.” Thank you, Rupesh! See more of January’s deep sky below.

January photos of the deep sky

Enjoy these January deep-sky photos taken by members of the EarthSky community.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman was using the Sierra Remote Observatory in California and took this image on January 24, 2022. Eliot wrote: “This is supernova 2021adpf, a Type 1a, in galaxy NGC 5732. One of the brighter (magnitude 13.8) current supernovas. This supernova illustrates quite nicely how it can be as bright as all the other trillion or more stars that comprise a spiral galaxy.” Wow! Thank you, Eliot!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | James Lawton took this image of a wispy green nebula from his backyard in Flowermound, Texas, on January 22, 2022. James wrote: “NGC 2359, Thor’s Helmet.” Thank you, James!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Basudeb Chakrabarti at IC Astronomy Observatory in Spain took this image of the Heart Nebula on January 16, 2022. Basudeb wrote: “The Heart Nebula is some 7,500 light-years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. The Heart Nebula is also made up of ionized oxygen and sulfur gases, responsible for the rich blue and orange colors seen in this narrowband image. The nebula also spans almost 2 degrees of the sky, covering an area four times that of the diameter of the full moon.” Thank you, Basudeb!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Prabhakaran A in Mleiha, United Arab Emirates, took this image of IC 410 on January 9, 2022. Here’s a similar image – and an explanation – in APOD.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, took this image of a nebula and galaxy on January 4, 2022. David wrote: “The Owl Nebula (Messier 97) and the Surfboard Galaxy (Messier 108). Messier 97 is a planetary nebula about 2,030 light-years from Earth. Messier 108 is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 46 million light-years from Earth. Both of these Messier objects are located in Ursa Major.” Thank you, David!

Nebulae in Orion

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patrick Prokop in Savannah, Georgia, took this image of the Horsehead and Flame nebulae on January 23, 2022. Patrick wrote: “The region is about 1,375 light-years away, and the Horsehead is mainly a large cloud of interstellar dust obscuring the stars and nebulous gases. The red/orange color originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis above the Horsehead in the upper right (blue double star). There is an additional abundance of hydrogen dust throughout this region that glows in a red color caused by the radiation of nearby stars. The bright blue star above the Flame Nebula is Alnitak, the left-most star of the 3 stars of Orion’s Belt. The bright spots to the lower left of the Horsehead are new stars forming.” Thank you, Patrick!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Roland Kueng in Wolfhausen, Switzerland, took this image of nebulae on January 22, 2022. Roland wrote: “January’s highlight within Orion: Flame Nebula NGC 2024 and the Horsehead dark nebula.” Thank you, Roland!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Basudeb Chakrabarti in Pokhriabong, India, took this image of famous nebulae in Orion on January 7, 2022. Basudeb wrote: “The dusty great Orion region: 4 nebulae are visible in this image. (Flame, Horsehead, Running Man and Orion nebulae).” Thank you, Basudeb!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ron Haggett in Yuma, Arizona, took this image of the Horsehead Nebula on January 5, 2022. Ron wrote: “An obvious and popular target, Barnard 33, also known as the Horsehead Nebula, is a part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The large, bright star to the left is Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt. The Horsehead is about 1,375 light-years from Earth.” Thank you, Ron!

Star clusters

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, took this image of Kemble’s Cascade on January 11, 2022. David wrote: “Last night I braved the sub-zero cold to spend some time imaging Kemble’s Cascade, which is a line of colorful stars in Camelopardalis that ends in the compact open star cluster NGC 1502. Father Lucien Kemble, a Franciscan priest and member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, was the discoverer of this asterism.” Thank you, David!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, took this image of the star cluster M37 on January 8, 2022. David wrote: “Messier 37 is a wonderful open star cluster located in the constellation Auriga. This bright, rich star cluster is between 347 and 550 million years old. Messier 37 is comprised of more than 500 stars and is 4,511 light-years from Earth. This is one of my favorite targets for winter imaging.” Thank you, David!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ron Haggett in Yuma, Arizona, took this image of a globular cluster on January 5, 2022. Ron wrote: “Messier 13 or the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. Fortunately for me it is viewable around 5 in the morning! Currently the moon is not above the horizon at this time of day, allowing for good photo opportunities. This image is from my backyard, Bortle 4.” Thank you, Ron!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Rajat Kumar in Mukteshwar, India, took this image of the Double Cluster on January 3, 2022. Rajat wrote: “Image is a wide-field view of the area around the Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus. Several open clusters, like NGC 957, IC 1848, IC 1805 etc., are in the image. The double cluster is approximately 7,000 light-years away from earth in the Perseus arm of the Milky Way.” Thank you, Rajat!

Bottom line: Enjoy these January photos of the deep sky, from nebulae to clusters, taken by members of the EarthSky community. Have a great photo of your own? Share it at EarthSky Community Photos.

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