Observatorio Astronómico de Las Naves de la Huerta

20260220_M52_C11 Messier52 and Bubble Nebula

As always, here is the full picture! flic.kr/p/2rYTow5 #astrophotograpy #extremadura #sanvicentedealcantara

Recent estimates place #M52 at ~5400 ly. The cluster our camera captured is the one that existed in the 34th century BCE. Had we been there with a powerful telescope aimed at Mesopotamia, we might have seen the first scribes pressing protocuneiform signs into clay... unknowingly inventing writing!

Calmer night, steadier workflow. Compared to last session, everything went smoother, from capturing to mosaic assembly. This new setup is finally behaving as we expected!

To fit both objects into this single composition, we opted for our wider-field optical setup. The final mosaic is built from three 60-minute panels, stacked separately and later stitched in Siril.

Both objects lie close to one another in the constellation of Cassiopeia. #BubbleNebula is a nearly spherical emission nebula sculpted by the powerful stellar winds of a central, young massive star. #Messier52 is a rich open cluster thousands of light years away, full of young, bright suns.

Remember Cassiopeia, the mythological Ethiopian queen famed for her vanity? It seems she have developed a little "pimple" on her face! Let's take a closer look at #BubbleNebula and its companion #Messier52 [🧵 THREAD]

20260214_111_NCG2024 Flame and Horsehead nebulae

Thats all for now! Here you have the link to the aforementioned reference (doi.org/10.1051/0004...) and the full caption (flic.kr/p/2rXarGE). Hope to see you soon! #sanvicentedealcantara #extremadura #astrophotography

According to recent parallax measurements (A&A 684, A212), Orion B lies ~410 pc away (~1,337 ly). The light we captured may have left when the Dome of the Rock was being built — a shrine sacred to three Abrahamic faiths that, sadly, still clash in its shadow centuries later.

Why only 30 minutes per panel? Because we were caught between “Oriana” and “Pedro”, the latest storms named by the South-Western European Méteo Group. The risk of rain made us think twice before leaving our gear out all night… Fortunately, the winds were on our side and kept humidity under control.

It truly was a night of «firsts»! We had to wait for months until we finally put our new dedicated astro camera to use. It was also our first attempt at mosaic #astrophotography, and our first time working with Siril (which we absolutely loved!).

Among the jewels worn by Orion, these bright nebulae are among the finest. They belong to Orion B, one of the major molecular clouds within the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex — a vast stellar nursery in our galaxy. The perfect «finishing touch» for his endless pursuit of the Pleiades across the sky!

After months of relentless rains (more than 400 L/m2 at home so far this year), we look again at the sky to meet this nebular duo in Orion. Nice to see you again, #FlameNebula and #HorseheadNebula! [🧶 THREAD]

20251202_110_SOL

As always, here's the image in full... flic.kr/p/2rJuvSq
#Astrophotography #Astrofotografía #Extremadura #SanVicenteDeAlcantara #Sol #Ofiuco #Chromosphere #Cromosfera #Ophiucus #Sun

Just a few quick captures to make sure everything’s working… and back home again! Clouds were rolling in from the south — another rainy afternoon ahead (hopefully, we love these!). Time to wait again… See you next time! #Sun #Astrophotography #Extremadura #SanVicenteDeAlcantara

Besides giving us the chance to capture the 2026 solar eclipse, this new setup will allow us to get close to the Sun’s chromosphere—without getting scorched! In future posts, we’ll dive into each of its phenomena. One by one. Explained. Scientifically.

Our closest star is currently over #Ophiuchus — that constellation that happens to exist between Scorpius and Sagittarius, long ignored by ancient astrologers. But who cares? It’s yet another reminder that astrology is just a pseudoscientific hogwash...

Between clouds… there it is! Our Observatory is getting ready for the upcoming eclipse season with a new Hα solar scope and a dedicated cooled camera. This is our first (and fast) caption of the Sun’s chromosphere — featuring several prominences, large filaments, and a massive active region!

Here’s the full frame on Flickr — free to explore, share and use. Hope to see you soon!
flic.kr/p/2rtvQdQ
#astrophotography #astrofotografía #M27 #DumbbellNebula #nebulosa #Cassegrain #DeepSky #espacio #universo #astronomy #telescopio #astrofísicos #cosmos

The light we got last night from #M27 began left the nebula around 756 AD. That year, Abd al-Rahman I declared Córdoba independent as an Umayyad Emirate. Meanwhile, Pepin the Short was expanding the Carolingian rule across Europe, setting the stage for Charlemagne’s empire.

Here are the sky and weather conditions during our #astrophotography session. Dark skies, low wind, and moderate humidity gave us a pretty decent view of the object — even with the waning Moon rising around 1 a.m!

Yes, this was our second attempt. Back in August, clouds and wildfire smoke over Spain and Portugal (what a horrible summer here...) made it impossible to get anything good. Last night we finally made it, and here are the result of over 3 hours of exposures with our Classical Cassegrain telescope.

The #DumbbellNebula, named after that gym gear you lift once and again in a gym, is the second planetary we got this summer. Its twin lobes stretch north-south, surrounded by a faint outer halo. At its center lies the largest known white dwarf, whose violent past gave birth to this stunning remnant.

Too much ice cream this summer? Let's get fit with the #DumbbellNebula! No clouds (and no wildfire smoke), so it's time to lift the telescope again and work on #Messier27 and its whereabouts. 🧵[THREAD]

Forgot the technical data of our work! What you see is the result of stacking 47 exposures of three minutes each, taken with an astromodified DSLR camera, which allowed us to capture the reddis halo surrounding the object, at ISO 200

20250727_107_M57 Ring Nebula - Messier 57

As always, here is the full picture in Flickr (flic.kr/p/2rj6Nvi). Hope to see you all next new moon! #Astrophotography #Astronomy #DeepSky #PlanetaryNebula #RingNebula #Messier57 #M57 #Astrophoto #History #AncientRome #RomanRepublic #Lucretia #TarquinTheProud #HistoricalAstronomy #Space #Stargazing

Last estimates from SIMBAD places #M57 about 2560 ly away from here. Light in our picture began its journey in the 6th century BCE, when Tarquin the Proud ruled Rome. The rape of Lucrecia by his son sparked the revolts that ended the monarchy and led to the foundation of the Roman Republic.

Take a closer look at the center of #M57. Can you spot the faint star? It's the white dwarf at this nebula's heart. Its hard to resolve with equipment of the level of ours, and it only becomes visible under excellent observing conditions, like those we had last night.

Discovered in 1779, M57 is the remnant of a dying star that expelled its outer layers into space. What remains at the center of this kind of objects are dense white dwarves, stellar cores roughly the size of a planet! #Astrophotography

This little friend here, pretty hard to spot (dog bless plate solving...) is the #RingNebula ( #Messier57 ), one of the most iconic planetary nebulae in the sky. This is how we saw it last night through our telescope! [🧵THREAD]

Every amateur astronomer has a #MessierMarathon checklist, so here's ours. The outcome of four years of dedication and more than a hundred nights under the skies of Extremadura!