13 Wolf-Rayet Shell Nebula to Observe or Image with 1 Cool Planetary Nebula to make it a 14 list object (No Unlucky Numbers here!)

NGC 2359 Thor's Helmet, Emission Nebula in Canis Major; February 4th, 2016, 9:10pm MST; FR006 Site 1; Antoniadi I, clear, cold, 17 degrees F; 17.5" Dob; 5mm, 7mm, 10mm, 14mm 20mm Pentax XW; 24mm Explore Scientific 82 degrees, 27mm Panoptic; Type II Paracorr; OIII Filter.   

 Here's the Wolf-Rayet Star and Nebula Program I said I was doing. It has 13 of those objects and I included the Fetus Nebula in Cygnus which also has a high speed stellar wind but the main star is a white dwarf that is pushing the outer layers away and it looks cool! That gives us 14 objects and like Bilbo in the Hobbit, that gives us 14 which is not an unlucky number 😉

Head over to Eadsy Astronomy for the program and to get the Google Doc copy or the PDF! LINK

Cosmic Engines: What Is a Wolf-Rayet Star

James Webb Space Telescope Image of Wolf-Rayet Star WR 125

So I made this video and created an article on What is a Wolf-Rayet Star over at Eadsy Astronomy and uploaded it here.  Why? Well one of the things I try to do is educate on the objects that I post observing/imaging programs for.  

I have a small program for Wolf-Rayet stars and the shells that surround them. I think it enhances the experience of observing or imaging  them if we understand what we are seeing and imaging! 

As always, I have a full article on this over at Eadsy Astronomy LINK so head on over and take a look! Thanks!  

Observing at Wolf Creek Pass, Duchesne Ridge: August 16th-17th, 2026

 

In this video I share my full post over at Eadsy Astronomy on my observing trip out to Wolf Creek Pass, Duchesne Ridge on the night of August 16th and 17th, 2026.  I usually am too busy on a Sunday to head out, but I finished all my needed things that day and it was the one window I had in August. 

So I had considered doing Top View/Toon Rd but the forecast went south and Wolf Creek opened up. I absolutely LOVE this site so anytime I can go there I will.  I had planned in July to do several nights there but the weather didn't cooperate! Go figure. 

So here I share what you'll see if you head over to Eadsy Astronomy. Probably my favorite observing and sketches that I share are Sharpless 2-91, that OTHER Supernova Remnant in Cygnus. Thanks to my good friend Shane I was able to observer for the first time Sharpless 2-94 and 2-96! I also got some planetary nebula so this observing trip has fit right in with some of my posts lately! 

For the full report, including additional video of how to get there and of the site with images and my sketches and SeeStar images, please head over to Eadsy Astronomy! LINK

Here is a list of the sketches over at Eadsy Astronomy: 

NGC 5907

NGC 6343

NGC 6171 

NGC 6638

NGC 6642

Sharpless 2-91 

Sharpless 2-94

Sharpless 2-96

M-1-92 wide field and with magnification 

NGC 6543

NGC 6826 The Blinking Planetary Nebula 

NGC 6309 The Box Planetary Nebula 

NGC 6884 

NGC 3310

Hubble Solves Merger Mystery from Milky Way's Early Years Using Globular Clusters

 

LKH and Milky Way Merging 11.8 BY ago 

This is a fun summary of the article that shows that the Milky Way hasn't just undergone two mergers with dwarf galaxies; the Sagitarrius Dwarf Galaxy that started over 6 billion years ago and is still ongoing and the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus merger  that occurred 10 billion years ago. 

Guess what, they now have found a third merger that occurred 11.8 billion years ago which is only 2 billion years after the Big Bang! Come learn more about that merger and how they found it! 

My summary article and images are available over at Eadsy Astronomy at this LINK along with a link to the release and my highlights of the article. 

Lion Nebula or NGC 2392 in Gemini Roars to Life in James Webb

 

Yesterday, I posted a LOT about planetary nebula. I discovered this article/news release from the James Webb Space Telescope Website on NGC 2392 the Lion Nebula.  Here they use the NIRCam and MIRI instruments/cameras on the James Webb to image it.  The article discusses how all this is being caused by the white dwarf star seen in the center!

Head over to Eadsy Astronomy LINK to see the images from Webb and a link to the news release! 

SwRI Led Modeling Identifies New Scenerios for the Formation of our Moon!

 

Real cool article on possible ways the moon formed. In the image above (and in their video I shared) they show how the Moon may have formed when a Mars size object that formed relatively close to the Earth in the protoplanetary disc, so they had the similar composition, resulted in material being blasted around the Earth that later formed into the Moon. OR if the protoEarth and the Theia object were of the same temperture basically, the Moon could have formed within hours of the impact! Cool! More to learn and more for our astronomers and scientists to study and learn!

To see the simulation that SwRI put out on YouTube and get a quick snapshot of this video, head over to Eadsy Astronomy at this LINK. You can also go and see the article for yourself!