Astrophoto: Dramatic View of the Pipe Nebula

By Nancy Atkinson - May 02, 2013 10:23 PM UTC | Milky Way

This dramatic shot of the dark and shadowy Pipe Nebula has an Instagram-like feel to it. But astrophotographer

Martin Campbell

from France said on Flickr he has "no doubt that the pristine skies at 10,000 feet and the absence of light pollution makes it possible to produce images like this!" Campbell's image is a two frame stack of two minute exposure time, stacked with darks and edited in Photoshop CS5. Images were taken in July 2012 in Pyrénées National Park in France. Campbell used a modified Canon 5D mkII DSLR and a Canon 85mm prime lens at F/4. Stunning!

The Pipe Nebula is part of the Ophiuchus dark cloud complex, and is also known as Barnard 59. It is located at a distance of about 600-700 light-years from Earth.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com