All of the images I captured during my “second annual” trip to San Pedro de Atacama, 27 March – 2 April 2025, are documented in their own gallery pages. But, as I started doing last year, I wanted to create a single gallery entry containing all of the images from this year’s trip in one place…so, now it’s a tradition! This gallery has all the images arranged chronologically by their capture date, with a short commentary and the link to their gallery page (where you can read more information – the target fun facts, capture notes, equipment and processing information).
IC4604 Rho Ophiuchi Nebula mosaic; Captured from SPACE Atacama Lodge, Chile on 30 March 2025
Thursday, 27 March 2025: Chamaeleon III – Rippling Flames & Moa Nebulae mosaic
The nebulae in the Chamaeleon constellation are not catalogued. I discovered them by reading the book Imaging the Southern Sky: An Amateur Astronomer’s Guide, by Stephen Chadwick and Ian Cooper. I used the book extensively to plan this year’s targets. These are dark nebulae, usually hard to capture – but the glorious dark, clear skies of the Atacama Desert make them a viable and beautiful target. Gallery is: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/chamaeleon-iii-rippling-flames-moa-nebulae/
Friday, 28 March 2025: IC4628 Prawn Nebula
Although the title and capture lead you to believe this image’s data were captured during the trip’s second night (28Mar2025), the data capture actually began early in the next morning (02:05, 29 March 2025) after a 6-hour (YES, SIX HOURS) struggle with polar aligning to the very dim Southern Hemisphere pole star, Sigma Octantis (a.k.a. Polaris Australis) …a night that had me longing for our bright Polaris (and cursing my stupidity for moving the mount from its previous night’s aligned position – like I had done in 2024!!) Gallery is: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/ic4628-prawn-nebula/
Saturday, 29 March 2025 – Chamaeleon II: Haast Eagle & Possum Nebulae and Chamaeleon III: Talon and Thumbprint Nebulae
Another uncatalogued dark nebula from the Chamaeleon constellation discovered thanks to the Stephen Chadwick and Ian Cooper Imaging the Southern Sky book. Gallery is: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/chamaeleon-ii-haast-eagle-possum-nebulae-chamaeleon-iii-talon-and-thumbprint-nebulae/
On Sunday night, I was able to quickly polar align and have enough dark hours to capture two targets: SH2-308 Dolphin Head Nebula and a 2-tile mosaic of the IC4604 Rho Ophiuchi Nebula.
Sunday, 30 March 2025, DSO#1 – SH2-308 Dolphin Head Nebula
I’ve tried to capture an image of the Dolphin Head Nebula for quite some time, to commemorate Paul’s US Navy Submarine Service – and have made a hot mess of it with data captured from the Northern Hemisphere. After my last attempt in November 2024 (from the HCH front patio, with it low on the horizon and looking through lots of light pollution), I moved this target to my Southern Hemisphere target list. Good move! This was my first target of the night. I started imaging at dark when it was 45 minutes past its meridian flip – it was directly overhead in the the Atacama Desert dark skies. What a difference!! Gallery at: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/sh2-308-dolphin-head-nebula/
Sunday, 30 March 2025, DSO#2 – IC4604 Rho Ophiuchi Nebula
Another target that is “technically” visible from the Northern Hemisphere, but I have never had the opportunity in dark skies (and wouldn’t even want to try from the front patio using light pollution filters). Viewing from the Atacama Lodge, IC4604 rose at about 01:00, just as the Dolphin Head was setting. The timing gave me a little less than five hours of darkness to capture data on two tiles to create this mosaic. Again, the miracle of dark skies created what at this point I’m characterizing as my trip-favorite image. Gallery at: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/ic4604-rho-ophiuchi-nebula/
The trip was winding down (and I’d decided to spend the last night imaging the Milky Way), so I decided to make the most of my last night of DSO imaging. I searched my target list for DSO’s that would pair up to allow me to spend the night capturing data on two targets. The pairing turned out to be: NGC3372 Carina Nebula mosaic and IC4812 Anteater Nebula.
Monday, 31 March 2025, DSO#1 – NGC3372 Carina Nebula (or Eta Carina Nebula, the Great Carina Nebula) 2-tile mosaic
I’d imaged NGC3372 Carina Nebula during my 2024 trip, but since I captured it as a single frame and it didn’t fully fit into that frame, I had the target on my 2025 trip target list to capture as a two tile mosaic. Because I’d decided to forego the Vela SNR images (due to their setting at 03:00 making them not a great two-target night option (i.e., they didn’t leave enough time after they set to capture a second target)), the Carina mosaic worked its way onto the “play list” for the final night’s imaging. Gallery at: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/ngc3372-eta-carina-nebula/
Monday, 31 March 2025, DSO#2 – IC4812 Anteater Nebula
The final DSO captured during the 2025 trip – another dark nebula that “pops” from the gloriously dark Atacama Desert skies with only 3:30 hours of data. Gallery at: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/ic4812-anteater-nebula/
Tuesday, 1 April 2025 – Milky Way
I was initially planning to image a DSO on my last night, then quickly disassemble and pack-up my equipment for my scheduled departure from the lodge to the Calama airport NLT 10:30CDT (for my 14:00CDT flight departure). I was feeling a little uneasy with that plan. On 30Mar2025, when I was outside conducting IC4604 Rho Ophiuchi’s meridian flip at 05:25CDT, I marveled at the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon and decided then and there to pack up the DSO imaging equipment during the day on Tuesday and to image the Milky Way overnight on Tuesday, leaving a much easier packing job on the morning of my departure.
I had my alarm set for 0400, since that is when the MW was going to be directly overhead. But I wasn’t sleeping well, so when I was “wide awake” at 0315CDT I decided to get up and start the imaging process. I started with a set of images looking east toward the mountains, then switched to a set of images looking east capturing the little hut behind Lodge#1 in the foreground. I finished the night capturing tiles for a panoramic view stretching horizon-to-horizon. Gallery at: https://beersastrophotography.com/gallery/milky-way-over-space-atacama-lodge-chile-2025/
