COLORS OF OUR UNIVERSE 2010

VDB-152 (complex dusty region in Cepheus). ASA N16“ f 3,6 David Churchill, USA www.skyimager.net
Van den Bergh 152 is often described as a „dusty curtain“ or „ghostly apparition“, this mysterious reflection nebula is very faint
and lies about 1400 light-years away, along the edge of a large molecular cloud. Pockets of cosmic dust in the region block light
from background stars and scatter light from the embedded bright star (top) giving parts of the nebula a characteristic blue color.

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NGC 6188 (emission nebula in Ara). ASA N10“ f 3,6 Gerhard Bachmayer, Austria www.pbase.com/gbachmayer/astropix/
The emission nebula is found near the edge of an otherwise dark large molecular cloud in the southern constellation Ara, about
4,000 light-years away (the picture spans about 300 light-years). Formed in that region only a few million years ago, the massive
young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association sculpt the fantastic shapes and power the nebular glow with stellar winds and
intense ultraviolet radiation.

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IC 1318 (emission nebula in Cygni). ASA N10“ f 3,6 Gerhard Bachmayer, Austria www.pbase.com/gbachmayer/astropix/
This large area of emission nebulosity surrounds Sadr (Gamma Cygni), the brightest star in this photo and the heart of the
constellation of Cygnus the Swan. Numerous star clusters can also be found embedded in the nebulosity. The two sections of bright
(yellow) nebulosity to left of Sadr are called the Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318); the large area of dark nebulosity that separates the
two halves of the Butterfly is LDN 889. The small open cluster NGC 6910 is just left and above of Sadr.

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IC 2631 & Cederblad 111 (dark cloud complex in Chamaeleon). ASA N8“ f 3,6 Gerald Rhemann, Austria www.astrostudio.at
This very rare amateur wide field image shows both nebulae IC 2631 (to the left) and Ced 111 (to the right). The clouds are part of the Chamaeleon
dark cloud complex, the closest low-mass star formation region to the sun. The complex contains dust that reflects the blue light of nearby B-type
stars, a few pink areas glow where energetic starlight manages to make hydrogen fluoresce. The clouds lie 520 light-years away.

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IC 1848 (emission nebula in Cassiopeia). ASA N10“ f 3,6 Antonio Pérez, Spain www.datsi.fi.upm.es/%7Eaperez/astronomia_ing.html
In the constellation Cassiopeia you will find two bright emission nebulas nicknamed Heart and Soul. The Soul Nebula -
officially dubbed IC 1848 - shines brightly in the red light of energized hydrogen. Several young open clusters of stars
populate the image which spans roughly 150 light years across. The nebula is around 6,000 light years from earth.

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NGC 6992 (supernova remnant In Cygnus). ASA N10“ f 3,8 Antonio Fernandez, Spain www.astrosurf.com/afernandez/
Cataloged as NGC 6992, these glowing filaments of interstellar shocked gas are part of a larger spherical supernova remnant known as
the Cygnus Loop or the Veil Nebula – expanding debris from a star which exploded over 5,000 years ago. Seen from our perspective
against a rich Milky Way star field, the Veil Nebula is now known to lie some 1,400 light-years away toward the constellation Cygnus.

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IC 4628 (emission nebula in Scorbius). ASA N12“ f 3,6 Gerald Rhemann, Austria www.astrostudio.at
South of Antares, in the tail of the nebula-rich constellation Scorpius, lies emission nebula IC 4628. Nearby hot massive stars - only
millions of years young - radiate into the nebula with invisible ultraviolet light, stripping electrons from atoms. The electrons eventually
recombine with the atoms to produce the visible nebular glow. At an estimated distance of 6,000 light-years, the region shown is about
250 light-years across.

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NGC 7000 - North America Nebula (emission nebula in Cygnus). ASA N10“ f 3,6 Gerhard Bachmayer, Austria www.pbase.com/gbachmayer/astropix/
This emission nebula is famous partly because it resembles Earth‘s continent of North America. To the right of the North America
Nebula is the less luminous Pelican Nebula. The two emission nebulae measure about 50 light-years across, are located about 1500
light-years away and are separated by a dark absorption cloud. The nebulae can be seen with binoculars from a dark location.

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M 31 - The Andromeda Galaxy (A Local group galaxy). ASA N12“ f 3,6 Wolfgang Promper, Austria www.astro-pics.com
The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2,5 Million light-years away in the direction of the constellation
Andromeda. It is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own galactic Milky Way. In 2006 observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope
revealed that M 31 contains one trillion stars, more than twice the number of stars in our own galaxy.

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M 45 - Pleiades (open star cluster in Taurus). ASA N8“ f 3,6 Michael Manthey, Swiss http://sternwarte.faegswil.ch/
Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted
city. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M 45, the Pleiades is one of the brightest and closest open star clusters. M 45 contains over
3000 stars, is 13 light years across and is about 400 light years away from earth. Quite evident in the above photograph are the blue
reflection nebulae that surround the brighter cluster stars.

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M 78 (reflection nebula In Orion). ASA N16“ f 3,6 David Churchill, USA www.skyimager.net
The dark filamentary dust not only absorbs light, but also reflects the light of several bright blue stars that formed recently in the
nebula. M 78 is about five light-years across and light of the above image took roughly 1600 years to arrive at earth. M 78 belongs
to the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that contains the Great Nebula in Orion and the Horsehead Nebula.

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M 42 - The Great Orion Nebula (diffuse nebula in Orion). ASA N10“ f 3,6 Antonio Fernandez, Spain www.astrosurf.com/afernandez
The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion‘s Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked
eye in the night sky. M 42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to
Earth. It is estimated to be 24 light years across.

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On the cover: The Great Orion Nebula ASA N10“ f 3,6 Antonio Fernandez, Spain www.astrosurf.com/afernandez
Image annotation credit: APOD Nasa (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html) & Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

All images in this calendar were taken using ASA‘s
(corrected) Newtonian Astrograph Telescopes. We
would like to thank all our customers who have
providing us with their images. All images were
taking by amateur astrophotographers.
Alle Fotos wurden mit Astrographen der Firma ASA Astrosysteme
aufgenommen. Wir danken unseren Kunden, dass sie uns die
Bilder zur Verfügung gestellt haben. Auf diesem Wege möchten wir
auch unserer Bewunderung Ausdruck verleihen, da die professionell
wirkenden Aufnahmen durchwegs von Amateuren gemacht wurden.

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