The space of night is infinite,
The blackness and emptiness
Crossed only by thin bright fences
Of logic

— Kenneth Rexroth
"Theory of Numbers"

Dumbbell nebula overhead

Dumbbell nebula overhead

Whiting NJ is not exactly New Mexico, but the skies are certainly darker than Montclair and it shows. This is a 5 minute shot of the dumbell with a one hour luminance in h alpha.

Filters and CCD camera allow us to image from our light polluted skies, but nothing can substitute for a darker sky. What a shame we are losing our night skies.

The Dark Side

...can have hidden treasures if you "look" long enough - 1 hr in Ha will do it
Great One!