John Gallardo

Fiona Morris wins the Photo of the Week for April 1, 2022, with her image of the interacting spiral galaxies that belong to the Leo Triplet. The Leo Triplet by Fiona Morris The Leo Triplet is a group of interacting spiral galaxies that can be found within the constellation Leo, approximately 35 million light-years from Earth. Messier 66 (pictured in the bottom-right of the photo), is the brightest and largest member of the trio.

Capturing an impressive 36 hours of data, Artem Ukropov’s glimpse of the Rosette Nebula wins Photo of the Week on March 25, 2022. Rosette Nebula by Artem Ukropov NCG 2237, known as the Rosette Nebula, is an emission nebula located in the constellation Monoceros. It is about 5,000 light-years away from Earth, and gets its glow as a result of NGC 2244, an open star cluster within the nebula.

With delicate wispy nebulosity and clear stars, Dave Dev snags the Photo of the Week title for March 18, 2022, with a glimpse of the distant Lion Nebula. Lion Nebula by Dave Dev The lion-like Sh2-132 is a relatively faint emission nebula located approximately 10,000 light-years away from Earth, within the constellation Cepheus. The Lion Nebula is mainly composed of hydrogen and oxygen gases, which are in turn stimulated by high energy ultraviolet light from nearby stars that re-emit the light.