The West Mountain Observatory is experiencing stardom for the second time this summer. NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) posted another composite image taken by Michael Joner and others at the observatory.
Entitled the Tulip in the Swan, the image, seen here, features the Tulip Nebula within the nebula-rich constellation Cygnus the Swan. A glowing cloud of gas and dust creates a strong contrast of fiery red and peaceful blue within the image, which NASA featured July 26.
The processed data combined several frames from a year ago and was assembled with narrow-band data. Just like the West Mountain Observatory image featured May 26, Dr. Robert Gendler, an amateur astronomer and medical doctor from Connecticut, processed the image and submitted it for consideration.
The website is viewed worldwide by astrophysics enthusiasts and those interested in staying up-to-date on the most recent galaxy images. Very few images are selected for the website, so having two images chosen from the West Mountain Observatory, in just a few months, is quite an honor.
To read more about the observatory and gaze at their last APOD-featured image click here.