Wired Science has some great amateur astronomers among our readers and followers. Our first reader-contributed space photo was an eerie glowing space bubble. We asked on Twitter and in a post for more of your photos of space, and we got some beautiful images in return. Thanks!
Above: Elias Jordan sent us this superb shot of the Pelican Nebula that he took in June with an astronomical camera (SBIG STL11000M) and a telescope (Takahashi FRC 300). The exposure time was 114 minutes. How awesome is it that someone can get an image this nice of something 2,000 light years away, basically from a backyard in New Mexico?
Below: Arran Hill shared this terrific image of the Pacman Nebula, more officially known as NGC 281. This star-forming region 10,000 light years away got its nickname from its overall shape, which resembles an open-mouthed Pacman. This image required 69 15-minute exposures, for a total of more than 17 hours divided among three different filters. Sulfur gas appears reddish, hydrogen is green and oxygen is blue.
"This gives a false color," Hill wrote in an e-mail. "But by using it, more delicate and subtle structure is revealed in the image."
If you've got some super space shots you'd like to see featured on Wired Science, let us know by e-mail or on Twitter @wiredscience.
See more images by all three of our reader astrophotographers on the next page.
More images on the next page.
M 45 / Arran Hill
Eagle Nebula / Elias Jordan
Galaxies in Ursa Major / Arran Hill
M31/ Richie Jarvis
Pelican Nebula / Arran Hill
