Eagle Nebula M16 Coachella Valley Astrophotography

The Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16 or M16, is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens. It’s the location of several famous structures including the Pillars of Creation.

One of the inspirations that led me down the road to astrophotography was the beautiful image the Hubble telescope sent back in 1995 of the Pillars of Creation inside the Eagle Nebula. It is truly a breathtaking image, one for the ages. I was blown away, as were many others I am sure.

This is a stack of 20x2 minute & 25x3 minute exposures at ISO 1600, camera used is a Canon 450d, and a Celestron Nexstar 6se telescope + wedge and a 6.3 focal reducer, 60mm guidescope + asi120mc-s. Taken in Cathedral City, CA 6-4-16