Ben W Brown Photography

28/05/2026

Double Dragon 3

NGC 6188 - The Fighting Dragons of Ara

NGC 6188 is an emission nebula about 4,000 light years away in the constellation Ara. One of my favourite targets and I think my best version of it.
The jagged ridge running through the centre of the frame is an active star forming region where dense molecular clouds are being sculpted and eroded by intense radiation from the young massive stars of the nearby cluster NGC 6193, visible as the bright blue grouping in the upper left.
The warm orange regions are sulphur emission from denser compressed gas, the blue zones are doubly ionised oxygen being lit up close to the hot young stars, and the green transition zones in between show where the chemistry changes from one to the other.

Captured from suburban Perth
Bortle 9 backyard
Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Skywatcher Ed80
Asi533mc-pro
Asi120mc
Optolong L-ultimate 2 inch filter 20 hrs
Optolong L- Synergy 2 inch filter 14.5 hrs
300 sec exposures
34.5 hours total exposure
Pixinsight
Ps

06/04/2026

14/03/2026

Bortle Kombat – Round 1: Cometary Globules

CG-1 + CG-2 in the Gum Nebula

I very rarely shoot without a narrowband filter at home as the light pollution is terrible and the images come out a mess.
I recently got myself a filter wheel so I decided to just image this target in between some others as a test for some broadband imaging from home.
Shot a little Hydrogen Alpha for it .

These are cometary globules — dense pockets of gas & dust sculpted by fierce radiation and supernova winds from the heart of the Gum Nebula. Their 'heads' are potential star-forming nurseries.

Bortle 8/9 backyard
14.5 hours of anti halo UV/IR cut
4.5 hours of Optolong L-ultimate for Ha integration.
Skywatcher Ed80
Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Zwo Asi 533mc pro
Pixinsight
Ps

12/03/2026

The Skull and Crossbones Nebula

NGC 2467, a vibrant emission nebula located in the constellation Puppis, approximately 13,000 light-years from Earth, this nebula is a stellar nursery where new stars are being born.

Bortle 8/9 backyard
8 hours each filter total 16 hours
Skywatcher Ed80
Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Zwo Asi 533mc
Optolong L-Ultimate filter
Optolong L-Synergy filter
Pixinsight
Ps

07/03/2026

IC 2944

The Running Chicken Nebula

*Swipe for starless and a closer crop.

Bortle 8/9 backyard
Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Skywatcher Ed80
Asi533mc-pro
Asi120mc
Optolong L-Ultimate 2 inch filter Ha + Oiii
Optolong L- Synergy 2 inch filter Sii + Oiii
300 sec exposures
35.5 hours
Pixinsight
Ps

05/03/2026

Real or not?

05/03/2026

27/02/2026

NGC 3576

The Statue of Liberty Nebula

The Statue of Liberty Nebula (NGC 3576)
a star-forming region 9,000 light-years away in Carina.
66 hours of exposures from my backyard .

Bortle 8/9 backyard
66 hours of exposure
Skywatcher Ed80
Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
ZWO Asi533mc Pro
Optolong L-Ultimate 3nm Ha + Oiii (42 hours)
Optolong L-Synergy 7nm Sii + Oiii (24 hours)
Pixinsight
Ps

09/02/2026

The Rainbow Road to Oblivion

Part of the Vela Supernova Remnant

In the southern constellation of Vela, the remnants of an ancient cataclysm glow across the void.

This is part of the Vela Supernova Remnant, the expanding shell left by a massive star that detonated in a Type II supernova roughly 11,000 years ago.
Lying about 900–940 light-years from Earth—one of the nearest such remnants to us—the blast wave has carved a vast web of shocked gas, spanning nearly 100 light-years in reality and covering some 8 degrees on the sky (far larger than the full Moon).

Bortle 8/9 skies
skywatcher ed80
skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
zwo Asi533mc pro
Optolong L-Ultimate Ha + Oiii x 13 hours
Optolong L-Synergy S2 + Oiii x 8 hours
Total 21 hours of exposures
Pixinsight
Photoshop

01/02/2026

NGC 2264

The Cone Nebula

NGC 2264 is a star-forming region in the constellation Monoceros, about 2,500 light-years from Earth.
The designation covers both the Christmas Tree Cluster (an open cluster of young stars, roughly 1–5 million years old) and the iconic Cone Nebula (a dramatic dark pillar of gas and dust sculpted by intense radiation from hot young stars).

This is 23 hours of 5 minute exposures from my backyard.
Bortle 9 skies
skywatcher ed80
skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
zwo Asi533mc pro
Optolong L-Ultimate Ha + Oiii
Optolong L-Synergy S2 + Oiii
Pixinsight