A Private Astronomical Observatory in Central Florida
Boardwalks completed; Observing Deck open for business!! After another year of effort, the Rolloff Observatory building and all the boardwalks and decks are now completed, and ready for Observing Season ’22! I have worked long and hard this year on adding them. We will now have our observing sessions under the stars and the open Read More …
This is NGC6888, the Crescent Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. I think it looks more like a brain than a crescent. The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light-years away from Earth. It is formed by the fast stellar wind Read More …
This incredible area in the night sky is dominated by this deep sky object – the Veil Nebula, which is a supernova remnant; a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. This image captured the western components of this supernova remnant, which are “The Witch’s Broom Nebula” (NGC 6960) at Read More …
This is Messier 27; the Dumbbell Nebula. This is one of the largest planetary nebulae in the sky, formed from the nova of a medium-sized star, now a white dwarf. The central star can be seen in this image when zoomed in. The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as the Apple Core Nebula, Messier 27, and Read More …
This is the massive emission nebula M17 in Sagittarius, also known as the “Swan Nebula” due to the waterfowl shape of the main nebula section. It is also known as the “Omega Nebula”. This emission nebula is between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diameter. It is considered one Read More …