NASA praises Hungarian photographer’s incredible image of Iris Nebula

NASA chose Lóránd Fényes’ photo of the Iris Nebula as Saturday’s photo, an unprecedented acknowledgement towards the Hungarian astrophotographer.

According to 24.hu, NASA selected Fényes’ photo as the astronomy photo of yesterday. You can check out the full screen image on the official website of NASA (HERE). You may find its version uploaded on the astrophotographer’s Facebook page below. It depicts the Iris Nebula, a cosmic cloud 1,300 lightyears away in the fertile starfields of the constellation Cepheus. It is not the only nebula to evoke the imagery of flowers.

Still, this deep telescopic image shows off the Iris Nebula’s range of colours and symmetries embedded in surrounding fields of interstellar dust. Within the Iris itself, dusty nebular material surrounds a hot, young star. The dominant color of the brighter reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight.

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Central filaments of the reflection nebula glow with faint reddish photoluminescence as some dust grains effectively convert the star’s invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Infrared observations indicate that this nebula contains complex carbon molecules known as PAHs. The dusty blue petals of the Iris Nebula span about six light-years, NASA wrote.

The astrophotographer told 24.hu that taking such a photo of the nebula was very difficult; it took three years. That is because such long-distance objects are very faint, so exposure takes hours. In astrophotography, 20-30-hour-long photos are not exceptional. Since a night does not last that long, an astrophotographer must make several snaps. Mr Fényes said making one photo regularly takes 1-2 months. He added that he made several photos in 2021 and 2022 about the Iris Nebula but was not satisfied. Therefore, he bought a new lens this year and tried again. The result may be award-winning.