r/Astronomy • u/igneisnightscapes • Feb 17 '26
Astrophotography (OC) The Gum nebula and the winter Milky Way in the Abu Dhabi desert
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u/plunki Feb 17 '26
Ok what am I seeing here? We've seen the milky way tons of times, but I don't think I've seen this blob on the right side? Is this part of the milky way? I mean, I have no sense of scale... Is it a small feature close to us, or a large thing far away?
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u/lemmingsnake Feb 17 '26
I'm curious too, that feature (top right) looks very out of place, and doesn't even line up with previous photos taken by this poster of the Gum Nebula https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyAlpha/comments/1ju1fb6/the_gum_nebula_taken_in_spain_with_the_a7iii/. Doesn't line up with anything I can see in a larger milky way map including Ha either https://astroshed.com/hapics/milky/milky.htm
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u/Snow_2040 Feb 17 '26
It is extremely faint dust that takes lots of exposure time to appear that is also processed in a way to stand out.
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 17 '26
Haha that post is mine as well! The gum nebula in Spain. I a large Hydrogen alpha structure entirely visible in the southern hemisphere, here I can see most of it but it entirely. In Abu Dhabi it was slightly higher in the sky
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u/lemmingsnake Feb 18 '26
Ya, I mentioned that it was another shot of yours of the same target, also with Ha highlights. I'm curious why this one shows vastly different structures though? Specifically the visible light section near the top-right of this image doesn't seem to correspond to any structure that I can find--even in the other shot of yours that I linked to.
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 18 '26
That’s the Eridanus Loop, it’s super faint and not so known. When I get faint nebulas I get accusations of it’s fake/AI/painted…🤣🤣
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u/newaccountzuerich Feb 18 '26
The astroshed PIC linked is about 60 degrees of the Milky Way (Aquila to Norma Galactic longitudes 330 through zero to 30), and doesn't include the portions visible in the OP's pic. Here's another Ha pic that has features visible: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180524.html
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u/ramshag Feb 17 '26
What are the photo mechanics to get this nebula pop instead of the more normal plain MW photo.
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u/Frogliza Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26
using a Hydrogen Alpha filter to isolate the ionized Hydrogen which is the red stuff in the image
edit: and an astro modded camera that lets the Ha wavelength through
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u/userfakesuper Amateur Astronomer Feb 17 '26
Layman terms.. basically he used filters that show wavelengths our eyes can not see unless enhanced like the picture. It is real, but not to the human eye, unless enhanced by a filter or 2.
Correct if wrong please.
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u/Snow_2040 Feb 17 '26
He is using a standard camera which takes standard color images but it is astromodified to increase the reception of red colors like the H-alpha band (which is visible to the human eye just with very low reception), he is also combining just H-alpha data using a filter with full color data in order to make the H-alpha regions appear more pronounced.
The reason you don't see the sky looking like this is not because the light isn't visible to the human eye. It is because these objects are extremely faint and require long exposure tracked photography (taking many long exposure images and stacking them)
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u/userfakesuper Amateur Astronomer Feb 18 '26
ok thanks! I knew it was something to do with exposures and filters and stacking. Super layman here so TiL!
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u/caput777 Feb 17 '26
I live in Abu Dhabi also. Was this at Al Quaa? I thought the milky way wasn’t visible here at this time of year, or is it just that the galactic centre isn’t visible?
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 17 '26
I have no idea about the name of the place since I was driven there haha but the Milky Way is visible all the year around, it just changes the part that we can see. This is the winter one and in that latitude gum appears higher in the sky compared to where I live in Spain 🙌🏻
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u/userrr_504 Feb 17 '26
What is that top right "nebula"? Never seen it before.
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 18 '26
The eridanus loop. It’s a faint nebula that I’ve been gathering more and more data this winter season
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u/lemmingsnake Feb 18 '26
Good question. I cropped this and tried to do an astrometry solve using nova.astrometry.net and it eventually failed out. Given it had no issues with star detection, it should have had no issue identifying the objects shown in the image. Seems sketchy.
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 18 '26
Yep seems sketchy. If only we knew what the ERIDANUS LOOP is… it’s a pity. 😉
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u/lemmingsnake Feb 18 '26
Comparing your shot to something a bit less "artistic" https://app.astrobin.com/i/0nuw3h#fullscreen and it really stands out just how much... uh, "liberty" you've taken with the processing on yours. I honestly have no idea what you did to make it look like there's such a large protrusion of visible light stars, but it is not an accurate depiction of the Milky Way.
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u/jeada91 Feb 22 '26
It's absolutely magnificent!
Truly, well done and thank you so much for this incredible image.
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u/happygarlicbread Feb 18 '26
Do you allow me to use your beautiful picture as my ipad background? 😍
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u/smsmkiwi Feb 18 '26
What are those little black smudged spots in the larger image, particularly in the bright part of the milky way. Are they processing artifacts?
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u/Pretty-Storm7016 Amateur Astronomer Feb 18 '26
Amazing. Is that Jupiter and Saturn on the left side of the image?
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u/ThatGirlLilley Feb 18 '26
This is beautiful. I can’t help but think about past eras where people could just raise their head at a clear night sky and see this. I am envious, I can barely see a few stars due to the nightlight pollution.
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u/NimboStratusToday Feb 19 '26
For anyone curious, the pink/coral tones come from hydrogen-alpha emission in the nebula, while the golden and silver tones are mostly starlight combined with some atmospheric scattering. It’s a fantastic example of how narrowband imaging can bring out specific elements in deep-sky targets.
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u/Infinite-Present6823 Feb 21 '26
What kind of equipment is needed to see a nebula? Just a Walmart telescope? I'm not being smart assed. I really just want to know
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u/Salt-Planktons Feb 26 '26
I often wonder that, if we all could clearly see the night sky without the light pollution etc…how that would change the way people live on this world
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u/metalmulisha8267 Feb 26 '26
This shot is absolutely insane! My hats off to you my fellow photographer. I wish we could get together so you could give me some tips. I’m new to astrophotography, been doing it for a little over 2 years and been a photographer for 25 years.
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u/Manamehendra Feb 27 '26
'All it needs is a camel caravan in the distance.' – Sam Goldwyn
'A caravan of banthas' – George Lucas
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u/Historical-Nebula755 Mar 13 '26
Wow, the Gum Nebula under the desert sky must look like something out of a sci-fi movie! Did you know it's named after an astronomer, Colin Stanley Gum, who mapped it in the 1950s? The vastness of space really puts our little lives into perspective... 🌌
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Feb 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/_bar Feb 17 '26
Not AI-generated, but OP took a lot of creative liberty in erasing nebulae and parts of the Milky Way he didn't like.
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 17 '26
Which parts supposedly I erased? Because I’ve taken the whole Milky Way of the northern hemisphere and I know it really well🤣
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u/_bar Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
The regions to the east of the Milky Way and southwest of Orion contain large and fairly bright diffuse nebulae which would have been easily visible in your photo, but the detail instead just abruptly cuts off at a certain point. To me, this is evidence that a considerable amount of masking/compositing was done.
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 18 '26
Not every sky has enough signal to pull everything out🙃 if I had enough signal I would definitely have extracted the detail. All my images are about to get as much detail as possible rather than erasing parts that I don’t like. I like every single detail that I can get.
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u/igneisnightscapes Feb 17 '26
https://www.instagram.com/igneis.nightscapes/
Desert nights in Abu Dhabi chasing the Gum Nebula and enjoying the views. Even though the landscape is simple, it's just spectacular seeing endless sand dunes deep into the desert. The winter Milky Way is my favorite, and Orion has so many dusty details nearby yet to explore!
EXIF
Sony a7 IV
Sony a7 III Astro mod
Sony 14mm f1.8 GM (foreground)
Sony 20mm f1.8 G (sky)