TOP 8 Best Astrophotos Of Last Week: Markarian’s Chain, Elephant Trunk, And More! [14th-21st June]

Another week has brought us new celestial wonders resulting in beautiful images of space objects. In this collection of top 8 best astrophotos of the week, discover images of the Markarian’s Chain, the Elephant Trunk Nebula, and more!

As always, all astophotos are take by passionate and talented astrophotographers who kindly shared their artwork on social media (Facebook and X, former Twitter). Let’s go on a space trip, flipping through the article!

Monkey Head Nebula By Andrew Ramsay

Here is the first one of our top 8 best astrophoto: impressive colours!

“Today’s post is on NGC 2174, the Monkey Head Nebula, captured between the 6th and 24th of February 2024. Discovered by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Batista Hodierna in or before 1654 (it may have been earlier), the Monkey Head Nebula is located in the constellation of Orion, roughly 6,400 light-years from Earth. Due to its high number of new-forming stars, it has been a target of great interest to Nasa over the years and many other space agencies,” the photographer has shared via Facebook.

“This project was taken over 5 evenings and was a challenge due to being roughly 1/9th of my total shot. Being further out on this target, I decided to shoot it with the intention of creating a more vibrant and colourful result rather than a subtle Nasa-style image where you are close enough to show some of the finer details. These images on NGC 2174 are SHOs with RGB stars, a combination shot with Sulphur, Hydrogen Alpha, and Ionised Oxygen placed into the red, green, and blue digital colour channels with normal RGB stars shot separately, then replacing the emission filter stars,” he added.

Wolf-Rayet 134 And The Tulip Nebula By James Clark

The following photo definitely wins the prize for its mystery depth of shades.

“Finally, processed this 5h of SHO data from last month,” the photographer commented on his image via X (former Twitter). “Wolf-Rayet 134 on the left (bright blue), the Tulip Nebula on the top right….& so much else going on everywhere! What an incredible part of the sky Cygnus is – it really deserves 20h+ when dark skies return. Antlia 3nm SHO filters.”

Markarian’s Chain Of Galaxies By Tom Wildoner

“Markarian’s Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. Charles Messier first discovered two of the galaxies, M84 and M86, in 1781. The other galaxies seen in the chain were discovered by William Herschel and are now known primarily by their catalogue numbers in John Louis Emil Dreyer’s New General Catalog, published in 1888,” the author has written on Facebook.

“Tech Specs: William Optics REDCAT 51 Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera running at -10F, 325 minutes using 60-second exposures (5 hours 25 minutes), Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in PixInsight. Image Date: February 5 and 6, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4),” he summed.

“Space Around You”: Milky Way By Ian Lauer Astro

“When you stargaze for the first time, something incredible happens You realize space isn’t just a place in sci-fi movies or in pretty pictures It’s all around you, all the time, in constant motion And you’re flying through it on this spaceship we call Earth,” here is how poetically the author described his artwork via X (former Twitter).

Elephant Trunk Nebula By @EncarnacionAstro

“After collecting 17.5 hours worth of photons from space and over 3 hours of stacking and processing, I’m thrilled to share this detailed view of this stunning nebula located in the constellation Cepheus. IC 1396 is a fascinating mix of glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds, a testament to the incredible beauty and complexity of our universe,” the author has written via Facebook.

Lunar Eclipse By Doug Barnard

“Lunar eclipse over the Ravenel Bridge in Mt. Pleasant, SC,” this is how the photographer commented on this image.

Western Veil Nebula By Brendan Kinch

“Some people just never get to see the detail – when they only look at Facebook astro images on a mobile device. Here is a closer look at a section of my Western Veil Image,”

Globular Cluster In Hercules By Jeremy Jonkman

This lightful bright one of the top 8 best astrophotos closes our weekly collection.

“M13, also known as the great globular cluster in Hercules. It is composed of several hundred thousand stars and is one of the best globular clusters in the northern hemisphere. This was taken at my dark sky site near Goldendale, WA Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for any constructive comments,” the photographer has written on Facebook.

Thank you to all the photographers who shared their amazing images for our top 8 best astrophotos of the week list! We greatly appreciate your dedication and passion for astrophotography and wish you clear skies for your future captures!