Mike Parker
@mp63.bsky.social
Mainframe manager by day. Astrophotographer, and baseball fanatic after hours! From Virginia, USA. All photos are my own, mostly taken in my bortle 7 backyard.
NGC281 Pac-Man nebula. Within the constellation Cassiopeia. Estimated at 9,200 light years away. #astrophotography
October 19, 2025 at 1:42 PM
NGC281 Pac-Man nebula. Within the constellation Cassiopeia. Estimated at 9,200 light years away. #astrophotography
NGC6960 Western Veil nebula. Not the best night with a near full moon but you take what you can. This is a supernova remnant from 10-20,000 years ago, spanning 3 degrees or 6 full moon diameters. Hydrogen is mapped to red and Oxygen is mapped to blue/green (HOO imaging). #astrophotography
October 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM
NGC6960 Western Veil nebula. Not the best night with a near full moon but you take what you can. This is a supernova remnant from 10-20,000 years ago, spanning 3 degrees or 6 full moon diameters. Hydrogen is mapped to red and Oxygen is mapped to blue/green (HOO imaging). #astrophotography
Lobster Claw nebula and the Bubble nebula. Both are positioned in the constellation Cassiopeia. The Bubble nebula is 7,100 light years distant while the Lobster Claw is an amazingly 11,000 light years distant. The Lobster claw is the same width as two full moons.! #astrophotography
September 22, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Lobster Claw nebula and the Bubble nebula. Both are positioned in the constellation Cassiopeia. The Bubble nebula is 7,100 light years distant while the Lobster Claw is an amazingly 11,000 light years distant. The Lobster claw is the same width as two full moons.! #astrophotography
NGC7380 - Wizard Nebula
Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. Nebula illuminated by a young star cluster in Cepheus. Estimated to be between 7,000 to 8,500 light years away. #astrophotography
Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. Nebula illuminated by a young star cluster in Cepheus. Estimated to be between 7,000 to 8,500 light years away. #astrophotography
September 19, 2025 at 3:52 AM
NGC7380 - Wizard Nebula
Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. Nebula illuminated by a young star cluster in Cepheus. Estimated to be between 7,000 to 8,500 light years away. #astrophotography
Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. Nebula illuminated by a young star cluster in Cepheus. Estimated to be between 7,000 to 8,500 light years away. #astrophotography
IC1396 - Elephant Trunk nebula
Over 2,400 light years away. The nebula is dim but large, exceeding 4 full moons in diameter. The nebula gets its name from the prominent dark dust lane extending to its center. #astrophotography
Over 2,400 light years away. The nebula is dim but large, exceeding 4 full moons in diameter. The nebula gets its name from the prominent dark dust lane extending to its center. #astrophotography
September 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
IC1396 - Elephant Trunk nebula
Over 2,400 light years away. The nebula is dim but large, exceeding 4 full moons in diameter. The nebula gets its name from the prominent dark dust lane extending to its center. #astrophotography
Over 2,400 light years away. The nebula is dim but large, exceeding 4 full moons in diameter. The nebula gets its name from the prominent dark dust lane extending to its center. #astrophotography
Mosaic of the North American nebula (NGC7000) and Pelican nebula (IC5070). Narrowband using the Hubble pallet for Ha, S2, and O3. #astrophotography
August 25, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Mosaic of the North American nebula (NGC7000) and Pelican nebula (IC5070). Narrowband using the Hubble pallet for Ha, S2, and O3. #astrophotography
NFC6992 Eastern Veil nebula. Captured in narrowband -Hubble pallet. 300 sec subs about 1.5 hours per Ha, O3, S2 filter. The square area to the right is called the Bat nebula. #astrophotography
August 20, 2025 at 3:16 AM
NFC6992 Eastern Veil nebula. Captured in narrowband -Hubble pallet. 300 sec subs about 1.5 hours per Ha, O3, S2 filter. The square area to the right is called the Bat nebula. #astrophotography
I’m still here… Terrible weather and dealing with a freak torn rotator cuff = no Astro photos. Doesn’t look to be surgically fixable so some lifestyle changes in store. Get lemons, make lemonade. Tuesday is looking positive for clear skies so keeping fingers crossed.
July 20, 2025 at 2:28 AM
I’m still here… Terrible weather and dealing with a freak torn rotator cuff = no Astro photos. Doesn’t look to be surgically fixable so some lifestyle changes in store. Get lemons, make lemonade. Tuesday is looking positive for clear skies so keeping fingers crossed.
No posts for a while. In the process of moving and it is fully consuming of my time. Hope to have more astro photos soon!
April 25, 2025 at 10:33 PM
No posts for a while. In the process of moving and it is fully consuming of my time. Hope to have more astro photos soon!
NGC2264 Cone Nebula taken with narrowband filters. I mapped red for Hydrogen, blue for Oxygen III, and blended Sulfur II as a complimentary yellow tone. Just over 2,700 light years away. #astrophotography
February 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
NGC2264 Cone Nebula taken with narrowband filters. I mapped red for Hydrogen, blue for Oxygen III, and blended Sulfur II as a complimentary yellow tone. Just over 2,700 light years away. #astrophotography
Rosette nebula NGC2237 with red=hydrogen, oxygen=blue processed as HOO. Sulfur was added as a yellow highlight. Located in the constellation Monoceros, it is 5,200 light-years away from Earth. This emission nebula spans about 130 light-years across.
January 28, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Rosette nebula NGC2237 with red=hydrogen, oxygen=blue processed as HOO. Sulfur was added as a yellow highlight. Located in the constellation Monoceros, it is 5,200 light-years away from Earth. This emission nebula spans about 130 light-years across.
M13 - The Great Hercules Cluster is one of 150 known globular cluster within the Milky Way. The associated stars of the cluster tend to be very old with some actually approaching being the oldest stars in the universe. #astrophotography
January 10, 2025 at 11:44 PM
M13 - The Great Hercules Cluster is one of 150 known globular cluster within the Milky Way. The associated stars of the cluster tend to be very old with some actually approaching being the oldest stars in the universe. #astrophotography
Today is perihelion, the day earth is closest to the sun. It also marks the period of the latest sunrise in the northern hemisphere. The two are closely linked due to the earths orbital speed increasing as it reaches perihelion and decelerating afterwards causing changes to the solar time.
January 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Today is perihelion, the day earth is closest to the sun. It also marks the period of the latest sunrise in the northern hemisphere. The two are closely linked due to the earths orbital speed increasing as it reaches perihelion and decelerating afterwards causing changes to the solar time.
IC443 Jellyfish nebula in Gemini shot across 3 nights. A supernova remnant created about 30,000 years ago. Over 5,000 light years away and 70 light years across. #astrophotography
January 3, 2025 at 3:23 PM
IC443 Jellyfish nebula in Gemini shot across 3 nights. A supernova remnant created about 30,000 years ago. Over 5,000 light years away and 70 light years across. #astrophotography
My first astrophotography purchase in early 2019 was an iOptron SkyGuider Pro. It allowed me to take 45-60 second shots with my DSLR. It required manual polar aligning and of course no goto but I was fully impressed with the longer exposures.
January 1, 2025 at 5:16 PM
My first astrophotography purchase in early 2019 was an iOptron SkyGuider Pro. It allowed me to take 45-60 second shots with my DSLR. It required manual polar aligning and of course no goto but I was fully impressed with the longer exposures.
NGC2174 also known as the Monkey Head Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion at about 6,400 light years away. I mapped Hydrogen to red, Oxygen 3 to blue, and Sulfur 2 to yellow. Ended up with a magenta area where the oxygen and hydrogen were strongest. #astrophotography
December 31, 2024 at 5:42 PM
NGC2174 also known as the Monkey Head Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion at about 6,400 light years away. I mapped Hydrogen to red, Oxygen 3 to blue, and Sulfur 2 to yellow. Ended up with a magenta area where the oxygen and hydrogen were strongest. #astrophotography
Looking to get into astrophotography? I started with a simple DSLR and tripod. Set your camera to take 30 seconds shots and point near Polaris There is free software that will allow you to stitch your photos into an incredible image!
December 30, 2024 at 3:24 PM
Looking to get into astrophotography? I started with a simple DSLR and tripod. Set your camera to take 30 seconds shots and point near Polaris There is free software that will allow you to stitch your photos into an incredible image!
Below are YouTube astrophotographers I follow. AstroBackyard got me hooked 5 years ago that started my journey!
- Adam Block, AstroBackyard, Cosgrove Cosmos, Dark Rangers Inc, Dylan O’Donnell, Easy Astro Images, Lukomatico, Nebula Photos, Peter Zelinka, Seti Astro, View into Space, VisibleDark
- Adam Block, AstroBackyard, Cosgrove Cosmos, Dark Rangers Inc, Dylan O’Donnell, Easy Astro Images, Lukomatico, Nebula Photos, Peter Zelinka, Seti Astro, View into Space, VisibleDark
December 29, 2024 at 6:41 PM
Below are YouTube astrophotographers I follow. AstroBackyard got me hooked 5 years ago that started my journey!
- Adam Block, AstroBackyard, Cosgrove Cosmos, Dark Rangers Inc, Dylan O’Donnell, Easy Astro Images, Lukomatico, Nebula Photos, Peter Zelinka, Seti Astro, View into Space, VisibleDark
- Adam Block, AstroBackyard, Cosgrove Cosmos, Dark Rangers Inc, Dylan O’Donnell, Easy Astro Images, Lukomatico, Nebula Photos, Peter Zelinka, Seti Astro, View into Space, VisibleDark
NGC2264 - Cone nebula. Dark V shaped object in the upper right and below it the Christmas Tree cluster of stars. Both are an incredible 2,300 light years away. I normally crop into the subject more but really liked the interplay with the dark nebula LDN1610 bottom left #astrophotography
December 28, 2024 at 6:10 PM
NGC2264 - Cone nebula. Dark V shaped object in the upper right and below it the Christmas Tree cluster of stars. Both are an incredible 2,300 light years away. I normally crop into the subject more but really liked the interplay with the dark nebula LDN1610 bottom left #astrophotography
M42 Orion Nebula. Taken in 2022, I’m overdue for an update to one of the jewels of the night sky. To the left is NGC1977 the Running Man Nebula. M42 by itself is 24 light years across. This is 5-6x further away in distance than our closest star Proxima Centauri!
December 26, 2024 at 8:00 PM
M42 Orion Nebula. Taken in 2022, I’m overdue for an update to one of the jewels of the night sky. To the left is NGC1977 the Running Man Nebula. M42 by itself is 24 light years across. This is 5-6x further away in distance than our closest star Proxima Centauri!
IC443 Jellyfish nebula in narrowband. Processed in HSO with Hydrogen mapped to red, Sulfur to green, and Oxygen to blue. Unfortunately, high clouds during the night caused the nearby stars to bloom. #astrophotography
December 25, 2024 at 3:20 PM
IC443 Jellyfish nebula in narrowband. Processed in HSO with Hydrogen mapped to red, Sulfur to green, and Oxygen to blue. Unfortunately, high clouds during the night caused the nearby stars to bloom. #astrophotography
Happy solstice! Although today is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, our earliest sunset has already happened on December 8th. Likewise, our latest sunrise will occur on January 5th. Blame our elliptical orbit for that oddity!
December 21, 2024 at 3:52 PM
Happy solstice! Although today is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, our earliest sunset has already happened on December 8th. Likewise, our latest sunrise will occur on January 5th. Blame our elliptical orbit for that oddity!
NGC6888 Crescent nebula. Around 5,000 light years away, this nebula is the result of extremely fast stellar wind colliding with stellar material ejected from a Wolf-Rayet star as it became a red giant. #astrophotography
December 20, 2024 at 5:19 AM
NGC6888 Crescent nebula. Around 5,000 light years away, this nebula is the result of extremely fast stellar wind colliding with stellar material ejected from a Wolf-Rayet star as it became a red giant. #astrophotography
Andromeda M31 is the furthest object we can see with our naked eye at night at 2.5 million light years away! #astrophotography
December 18, 2024 at 1:23 AM
Andromeda M31 is the furthest object we can see with our naked eye at night at 2.5 million light years away! #astrophotography