{"id":13223,"date":"2025-07-21T15:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/13223\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:43:09","slug":"amateur-astrophotographer-captures-trio-of-breathtaking-nebulas-from-the-central-australian-desert-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/13223\/","title":{"rendered":"Amateur astrophotographer captures trio of breathtaking nebulas from the Central Australian Desert (photos)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The emission nebula NGC 6188 captured from the dark skies of the Central Australian Desert by astrophotographer Tim Henderson. (Image credit: Tim Henderson)<\/p>\n

Amateur astrophotographer and full-time wildlife conservationist Tim Henderson captured a trio of breathtaking nebula scenes adorning the pristine skies above the Central Australian Desert.<\/p>\n

Henderson was able to capture detailed portraits of the Carina Nebula<\/a>, along with the emission nebulas NGC 6188 and Sh2-1 in late April and May earlier this year using an Askar SQA55 scope coupled with a high-end astronomy camera and mount.<\/p>\n

A total of 50 separate 240-second-long exposures were captured to reveal the colossal filaments of dust and gas that comprise the emission nebula NGC 6188, which orbits within the Milky Way some 4,000 light-years from Earth<\/a> in the southern constellation Ara. The complex shapes are evocative of duelling monsters, granting it the unofficial nickname “the Dragons of Ara<\/a>“. The bright form of a second nebula, NGC 6164, can be seen towards the bottom of the image, surrounded by a faint gaseous shell.<\/p>\n

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“The skies here have zero light pollution (apart from the moon<\/a>) and the nights are cloudless 90% of the time, especially during winter,” Henderson told Space.com in an email. “It’s such an amazing place to enjoy the night sky<\/a>! I’ve been slowly progressing my astrophotography journey over the last two years, starting with a DSLR camera + lens setup, to something more dedicated for astro. There’s some great targets in the southern hemisphere, including the Carina Nebula.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The vast star forming region known as the Carina Nebula, as shot by astronophotographer Tim Henderson in 2025. (Image credit: Tim Henderson)<\/p>\n

Located 7,500 light-years<\/a> from Earth, the Carina Nebula is a vast stellar nursery, which is home to at least a dozen stars<\/a> with a mass between 50-100 times that of our sun, according to NASA<\/a>. The intense radiation blasted out from these stellar monsters ionizes the surrounding nebula, causing it to glow. Henderson was delighted to find that his view of the Carina Nebula \u2014 captured over the course of 50 minute-long exposures \u2014 happened to take on the vague outline of Australia!<\/p>\n

\"Nebula<\/p>\n

The Emission nebula Sh2-1, also known as Sharpless 1, rotated 90 degrees from original to reduce cropping. (Image credit: Tim Henderson)<\/p>\n

Henderson’s view of Sh2-1 \u2014 also known as Sharpless 1 \u2014 reveals the complex cloud-like structures and cavities of the emission nebula embedded in the constellation Scorpius<\/a>, close to the magnitude<\/a> +2.8 star Pi Scorpii.<\/p>\n

“These images were all captured next to my house (which is a small cabin on a remote wildlife station), which allows for easy access to power, internet and clear skies,” said Henderson. “I often work nights, as the animals I work with (e.g. Bilby) are nocturnal. This allows me to set-up my astrophotography rig before work and schedule it to take photos until I get home.”<\/p>\n

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!<\/p>\n

Stargazers interested in capturing the night sky for themselves should check out our roundup of the best cameras<\/a> and lenses for astrophotography<\/a> available in 2025. Those new to the night sky should also see our guide to the top smartphone astronomy apps<\/a>, which use augmented reality<\/a> to help you navigate the night sky.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The emission nebula NGC 6188 captured from the dark skies of the Central Australian Desert by astrophotographer Tim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-13223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}