Watch: 110 galaxies, star clusters, nebulas snapped in stunning photo
What's the story
Amateur astrophotographer Cornelis van Zuilen has created a breathtaking cosmic mosaic of all 110 galaxies, star clusters, and nebulas in the Messier catalog. The massive project took him hundreds of hours and many nights sleeping in his car to complete. "One of the first Messier objects I photographed was Messier 45 (the Pleiades) back in 2024," van Zuilen told Space.com.
Project evolution
How van Zuilen captured the Messier catalog
Van Zuilen's journey into deep-sky astrophotography started with his cooled deep-sky camera.
About a year and a half ago, he decided to photograph the entire Messier catalog.
He spent 352 hours and 13 minutes capturing these celestial objects with an Askar 103APO telescope and a William Optics Redcat 51 MK2.5.
Each subject was then meticulously processed using Photoshop and the astronomy software PixInsight.
Technical details
Van Zuilen directly observed many objects from his balcony
The ancient light from the celestial objects was captured using a variety of ZWO astronomy cameras and filters.
Van Zuilen directly observed many of the objects from his balcony in Heiloo, Netherlands.
However, some required him to take his telescopes away from home to avoid capturing treetops and farm buildings in his field of view.
Obstacles encountered
Van Zuilen slept in his car to complete the project
Van Zuilen said, "Doing this from the Netherlands was quite a challenge."
He often had to travel to a semi-dark field nearby for an unobstructed view of the horizon.
This meant many nights spent sleeping in his car, but he didn't mind it much.
"But to be honest, I actually really enjoyed that part, it felt like camping," he added.
Catalog significance
What is the Messier catalog?
The Messier catalog, first compiled by 18th-century astronomer Charles Messier, is a list of deep-sky objects that could be mistaken for comets.
It includes some of the most famous deep-sky objects visible from the Northern Hemisphere, such as Andromeda galaxy, Pleiades open star cluster, and Orion Nebula.
Each object can be seen with a simple backyard telescope under dark sky conditions.