Rosetta NebulaRosetta Nebula
©RGallucci Photography
www.rgallucci.com
-----
Shoot Date: January 28, 2020
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV | EF300mm f/4L IS USM | f/8.0 | 60.0 sec | ISO 2000

The Rosetta Nebula. This was my Valentine's Day challenge. While anyone can buy a Rose, I wanted to capture God's celestial heavens rose. And, while I am not happy with the final image - any deep space photographer will understand why - I am ecstatic to have captured it at all. 

This is only my third deep sky image, and it was the most challenging. Not having a guiding device, I had to find this manually and, since it is not visible to the naked eye, I used the infamous line from "The Martian" and scienced the shit out of it. I knew roughly where it was supposed to be, but space is really big! Ultimately by determining its Azimuth and Altitude, I rested my iPhone on my lens with a bubble level app open, I was able to position my camera and get the Nebula in my crosshairs. That was not as easy as it sounds because the camera on the tracker only rotates on two points. OK, maybe it was more Mcgiver than science, but it worked! 

I am enamored by the heavens that surround us. Until I moved to the Dark Sky region of the southern Arizona high desert, I had no idea of the majesty and awe-inspiring beauty of the divine infinite. Living in a place where I can explore the beauty of the landscape during the day and the glory of the heavens at night is a blessing beyond comprehension. To have the honor of sharing it with others so that they, too, can wonder at the magnitude of creation is an undeserved gift.  I remain his scribe. 

This rose is dedicated to my wife, Cindy. Putting up with me earns her the right to the largest rose in the universe. I am forever grateful to her for loving me. 

Rosetta Nebula
©RGallucci Photography
www.rgallucci.com
-----
Shoot Date: January 28, 2020
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV | EF300mm f/4L IS USM | f/8.0 | 60.0 sec | ISO 2000

Made from 60 light frames with 30 dark frames by Starry Sky Stacker 1.3.1.  Algorithm: Mean