The fall is a great time for wide-angle photography of the night sky.  The Milky Way passes overhead which provides a chance to capture some dark nebula.  Unfortunately after I had everything setup the 50mm Canon lens drifted out of focus; I only got about 2-3 frames with decent focus.  By frame 14 of 60, it was too out of focus to even register (align) with software.  When set to manual focus that lens is way too loose.

But I managed to capture a hint of my first dark nebula at the bottom half of the image.  Those immense molecular clouds that block out the background stars.  In the following millions of years, these clouds will collapse to create start nurseries and new solar systems.

Messier 71 (Globular Cluster) and Messier 27 (Planetary Nebula) near constellation Sagitta

Globular cluster Messier 71 and planetary nebula Messier 27 are identified in my image around the constellation Sagitta. I’m surprised at how “bright” and blue that nebula turned out.

Photo Details:
Canon XTi (ISO 800)
Canon 50mm F3.2
14 x 30 sec