GOFlaherty
@goflaherty
🛰️ Space nerd🚀
The Eastern Veil Nebula (NGC 6992) is part of the expanding shockwave from a supernova that exploded ~10,000 years ago. Hydrogen and oxygen emissions reveal its intricate filaments. Approx. 2 hours of 60s sub-exposures. 🔭✨ #Astrophotography #Astronomy #VeilNebula @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social
Today marks the anniversary of Apollo 11's historic lunar landing on 20 July 1969—the day humanity first set foot on another world. The UN established International Moon Day to celebrate this achievement and to inspire the peaceful exploration and sustainable use of the Moon.
The Western Veil Nebula (NGC 6960), part of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, captured over ~5 hours using 60-second sub-exposures with a Seestar S30 in EQ mode. 🔭✨ #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social
Tonight's planned observations. It's nice to have a clear night at last. #astrophotography
M51 interacting with NGC 5195. Their gravitational encounter compresses gas and dust, triggering star formation while reshaping M51's spiral arms. Around 31 million light-years away, this pair offers a nearby glimpse of galaxy evolution. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social
Today's Sun 🌞 with a closeup of its sun spots. Taken from my front driveway on a rare sunny day in Ireland. #Sun #SolarActivity #Solarphotography
Last night's first quarter Moon, imaged from my suburban back garden before I went looking for Deep Space Objects to capture. I can't wait for humans to land on the Moon again in 2028. Go Artemis IV! #Moon #Lunar #LunarPhotography
M35 with the compact background cluster NGC 2158, captured with my Seestar S30 smart telescope. 60 minutes total integration (10s subs, EQ mode) reveals a dense stellar field with natural color variation. @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social #astrophotography #deepsky #astronomy #seestar #opencluster
M42 (Orion Nebula) captured with a Seestar S30. ~1 hour total integration from 10s sub-exposures. Short subs preserve core detail while stacking reveals faint outer nebulosity. Emission from ionized hydrogen (Hα) and oxygen (OIII) traces active star formation. False color palette. #Astrophotography
M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy) Seestar S30 (EQ mode) 70 min integration | 60s subs Face-on spiral ~21 million light years distant in Ursa Major. #Astrophotography #M101 #DeepSky #Space
Happy International Day of Human Space Flight to all my fellow Space nerds!
My second image published in the April 2026 issue of Astronomy Ireland 🌌 Aurora Borealis over Newbridge, Co. Kildare Captured Jan 19, 2026 at 21:53 — Orion watching overhead. Ireland under northern lights… still doesn’t feel real. #Astronomy #Aurora #Ireland #Astrophotography
Just got published in Astronomy Ireland magazine 🚀 My image of the Pac-Man Nebula (NGC 281), captured with a Seestar S30 — 64 mins of data bringing out those deep H-alpha reds. Seeing it in print hits different. Backyard astronomy lives on 🌌 #astrophotography #space #NGC281
Tonight's nearly full moon as the crew of Artemis 2 prepare for lift off! Godspeed!
Seestar S30 observation of planetary nebula M97. ~60 min integration resolves OIII-dominated inner shell (teal) with surrounding Hα emission. Processing kept conservative to preserve photometric integrity and faint structure.
At the vernal equinox, Earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the Sun, placing it over the celestial equator. Day and night are nearly equal worldwide. From Ireland, winter constellations set as spring rises. Happy Vernal Equinox 2026! #equinox
NGC 2175, an H II emission region, shows ionized hydrogen shaped by radiation from embedded young stars. This broadband view resolves diffuse structure and stellar content within a dense Galactic field, captured with a Seestar S30. #astrophotography #astronomy #deepsky #seestar #emissionnebula
Leo Triplet (M65, M66, and NGC 3628) captured with a Seestar S30. This wide-field view shows the contrasting structures of two bright spiral galaxies and the edge-on dust lane of NGC 3628 within a dense background star field. #astrophotography #deepsky #astronomy #galaxies #seestar
Castor (α Geminorum), ~51 light-years away in Gemini. What appears to be one star is actually a hierarchical sextuple system: three gravitationally bound binary pairs. The two brightest A-type stars orbit each other every ~467 years. #astrophotography
Out doing what I love, capturing the beauty of the cosmos #astrophotography
Thin waxing crescent Moon captured with a Seestar S30. Low solar incidence along the terminator enhances crater rims and highland relief through elongated shadow contrast. Subtle Earthshine is visible on the night side, caused by sunlight reflected from Earth.
M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) and NGC 5195 — 9.35 hours of 1-minute subs with a Seestar S30. Extended integration reveals spiral arm structure, HII regions, and the faint tidal bridge between the interacting pair, set in a dense Milky Way star field. #astrophotography #deepsky #astronomy #seestar
Messier 52 (NGC 7654) is a young open cluster in Cassiopeia, ~5,000 light-years away. Roughly 15–20 light-years across, it contains hundreds of stars, including hot B-type members. Captured with 20-second sub-exposures, 73 minutes total integration using a Seestar S30. #astrophotography #astronomy
Starless view of IC 63 highlighting the hydrogen emission arc and faint surrounding structure. With the stellar field removed, the delicate shape and internal density variations stand out more clearly in this Seestar S30 capture. #astrophotography #deepsky #astronomy #seestar #nebula #emissionnebula
IC 63 captured with a Seestar S30 using dual-band narrowband filter. Teal–gold color mapping enhances hydrogen emission excited by Gamma Cassiopeiae, tracing how stellar radiation sculpts the surrounding interstellar medium.