Deep-sky photos for November 2023: Editor’s picks

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Harshwardhan Pathak of India, using a large remote telescope in Chile, captured this detailed view of Messier 42, the Orion Nebula, on November 9, 2023. Harshwardhan wrote: “In this image you can see the Trapezium Cluster, an open cluster at the center of the Orion Nebula. The cluster has an apparent magnitude of 4.0 and lies 1,600 light-years away from the Earth.” Impressive capture. Thank you, Harshwardhan! See more of November’s best deep-sky photos below.

Best deep-sky photos from our community

The EarthSky community has many talented astrophotographers who capture stunning images of the deep sky. So enjoy this gallery of some of the best deep-sky photos we have received in November 2023. Do you have some of your own best deep-sky images to share? You can submit them to us here. We love to see them!

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Diffuse nebulae

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Emil Andronic in Hemel, Hempstead, UK, captured this telescopic narrow-band image of the California Nebula on November 11, 2023. Emil wrote: “The California Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Perseus. Its name comes from its resemblance to the outline of the state of California in long-exposure photographs. This has got to be one of my best photos … I love it.” An outstanding photo. Thank you, Emil!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Catherine Hyde in Cambria, California, captured this telescopic view of the Rosette Nebula in the constellation Monoceros on November 11, 2023. Catherine wrote: “This is 5 hours, with the open star cluster NGC 2244 in its center. I actually started shooting around 11:45, in 5-minute increments, and kept going until the sky got too light at 5:30-ish.” Thank you, Catherine!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mohammed Abdallah in Suez, Egypt, used a telephoto lens to capture this view of the Thor’s Helmet Nebula in the constellation Canis Major on November 17, 2023. Mohammed wrote: “I’m so proud of this. I was eager to shoot Thor’s Helmet since forever, and maybe it was one of the reasons I got into astrophotography.” Thank you, Mohammed!

Orion’s deep sky

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Basudeb Chakrabarti in Jhandi, West Bengal, India, and Samit Raz Saha captured this view of nebulae in Orion on November 13, 2023. Basudeb wrote: “I have been captivated with the great Orion region’s utter magnificence ever since I started my astrophotography journey … Samit Raz Saha traveled to Jhandi in North Bengal for a tour focused on astrophotography, during which he took this picture. He gathered data for more than 13 hours. He granted me the privilege of handling the exquisite data. In this image you can see the Orion Nebula, Running Man, Horsehead, Flame, M78, Barnard’s loop, Pearl Nebula …” Thank you, Basudeb!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tameem Altameemi in the Ras Al Khaimah Mountains, United Arab Emirates, captured this view of the Horsehead Nebula on November 18, 2023. Tameem wrote: “The Flame Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion. It is about 900 to 1,500 light-years away, and the Horsehead Nebula is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion.” Thank you, Tameem!

Deep-sky photos of star clusters

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, captured this view of 5 open star clusters in the constellation Cassiopeia on November 13, 2023. David wrote: “The constellation Cassiopeia is home to many beautiful open star clusters. Messier 103, Trumpler 1, NGC 659, NGC 663 and NGC 654 are visible in this image.” Thank you, David!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Likness in Newport Oregon, captured this telescopic view of the Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus on November 24, 2023. Jeremy wrote: “The Double Cluster is the beautiful pair of NGC 869 (h Persei) and NGC 884 (Chi Persei), containing over 300 blue-white supergiants and a scattering of red supergiants. The cluster is also blue-shifted as it inches its way 24 miles closer [39 km] to earth every second. It is visible to the unaided eye and lurks near the distinct ‘W’ of Cassiopeia.” Thank you, Jeremy!

The Pleiades star cluster

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, used a telephoto lens to capture this wide-field view of the Pleiades star cluster on November 5, 2023. Andy wrote: “I wanted a better shot than I had taken a year ago of Pleiades in the Taurus constellation. I am still amazed at the quality you can get with standard camera gear and a tracker.” Thank you, Andy!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, captured this telescopic view of the Pleiades star cluster on November 18, 2023. Thank you, Mario!

Galaxies

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steven Bellavia in Mattituck, New York, used a telephoto lens to capture this amazing view of the Andromeda Galaxy on November 17, 2023. Steven wrote: “People have been taking photographs of the Andromeda Galaxy for over 130 years (the first photo was December 29, 1888, by Isaac Roberts). But only recently did amateur astronomers Xavier Strottner, Marcel Drechsler, and Yann Sainty discover an OIII emission arc right next to it. They used over 100 hours of data to capture and bring out this ultra-faint nebula, never seen before. I was pleasantly surprised that I could just barely reveal this new discovery with ‘only’ 48 hours of data, from my home.” That’s fabulous. Thank you, Steven!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Shireen Gonzaga in Cockeysville, Maryland, captured this view of the Triangulum Galaxy on November 18, 2023. Shireen wrote: “Messier 33 is also known as the Triangulum Galaxy because it’s in the northern constellation Triangulum. It’s a slightly disorganized spiral galaxy about 2.73 million light-years away. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, belongs to a neighborhood of galaxies known as the Local Group. The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest in the group, our galaxy is 2nd-largest, and Messier 33 ranks third.” Thank you, Shireen!

Bottom line: Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for November 2023 from our EarthSky community. And if you have a great photo to share, send it in. We love to see them!

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The post Deep-sky photos for November 2023: Editor’s picks first appeared on EarthSky.