He drove past the Eagle Nebula and the iconic Pillars of Creation, from his home in Chile’s Atacama Desert, on the night of October 17 earlier this year.
The background of comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) is dominated by the Eagle Nebula — a vast cosmic structure of dust and hydrogen-rich gas that glows with its own light, having been ionized by the radiation emitted by its population of energetic young people stars.
He nebula It is named for its resemblance to a cosmic bird of prey and is most famous for housing the Pillars of Creation, a collection of impressive radiation-sculpted columns made of interstellar dust and gas. The formation has been immortalized in images captured by both the Hubble space telescope and the James Webb Space Telescopealong with many others. Although small, the Pillars of Creation can be seen nestled in the bright star-studded heart of the Eagle Nebula, to the left of the bright coma of C/2025 R2 (SWAN) in Gasparri’s image.
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Do you want to capture a nebula that shines thousands of light years from Earth? He ZWO ASI533MC Pro Camera In our opinion, it is the best dedicated astronomical camera out there. Check out our ZWO ASI533MC Pro review for a deeper look.
Gasparri captured the scene over the course of 40 x 120 second exposures using a 130mm Newtonian reflecting telescope in the skies of the Atacama Desert, near the Chilean city of Copiapó, where he works as a professional astronomer. “It was also an amazing view through the eyepiece, with its characteristic green coma floating above one of the most observed nebulae in the sky,” Gasparri told Space.com in an email.
C/2025 R2 (SWAN) was discovered by Ukrainian astronomer Vladimir Bezgly on September 10, 2025, in data collected by the Solar and Heliospheric Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) camera on NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO) spaceship. The comet is now heading towards the ends of the planet. solar systemhaving survived its approach to the sun on September 12 and will not return for approximately 1,400 years.
Make sure you’re prepared to see the next comet visitor or night sky event by browsing our roundups of the best telescopes and binoculars to explore the night sky. If you are an astrophotographer looking to improve your equipment, you may also want to read our selection of upper chambers and glasses For capturing the majesty of the post-sunset kingdom!
Editor’s note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com readers, please send your photos, comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
#Comet #SWAN #shines #Pillars #Creation #stunning #deep #space #photo
