Daniel Ethier
@dethier1958.bsky.social
I'm a retired middle school math teacher and cross country coach. Before teaching, I worked as a software engineer.
I am interested in computers, math, science, history, and politics. I enjoy running, amateur astronomy, drone photography, and programming.
I am interested in computers, math, science, history, and politics. I enjoy running, amateur astronomy, drone photography, and programming.
Northern lights at about 8:20 this evening. Things had just picked up with the reds starting to appear above the green that had just become more wavy and active.
November 13, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Northern lights at about 8:20 this evening. Things had just picked up with the reds starting to appear above the green that had just become more wavy and active.
November 12, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Panorama of tonight's northern lights. Handheld with my iPhone. Stitched two photos together using Panorama Stitcher.
#astronomy
#astronomy
November 6, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Panorama of tonight's northern lights. Handheld with my iPhone. Stitched two photos together using Panorama Stitcher.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Triangulum Galaxy. This is the result of almost 24 hours of imaging over 5 nights. This galaxy is about 2.7 million light years away. It is about 60,000 light years in diameter, a bit more than half the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
#astronomy
#astronomy
October 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The Triangulum Galaxy. This is the result of almost 24 hours of imaging over 5 nights. This galaxy is about 2.7 million light years away. It is about 60,000 light years in diameter, a bit more than half the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Andromeda Galaxy. We had 6 consecutive nights of very clear skies, just beautiful weather, with the moon new to a thin crescent setting before imaging began. This is a mosaic of five individual images totaling about 25 hours.
September 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
The Andromeda Galaxy. We had 6 consecutive nights of very clear skies, just beautiful weather, with the moon new to a thin crescent setting before imaging began. This is a mosaic of five individual images totaling about 25 hours.
Hint of the northern lights visible low in the sky from the Twin Cities this evening.
September 2, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Hint of the northern lights visible low in the sky from the Twin Cities this evening.
The Dumbbell Nebula. This is about 5 1/2 hours of imaging over three nights. Very clear all three nights. This is the result of a star that exploded about 10,000 years ago. It is about 1360 light years away and about 2 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
September 1, 2025 at 9:56 PM
The Dumbbell Nebula. This is about 5 1/2 hours of imaging over three nights. Very clear all three nights. This is the result of a star that exploded about 10,000 years ago. It is about 1360 light years away and about 2 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Iris Nebula. This is from 12 1/2 hours of imaging over six nights. It takes a lot of time to really capture the dark nebula surrounding the brighter blue nebula lit up by the star in the center of the nebula. The Iris Nebula is 1300 light years away and about 6 light years across.
#astronomy
#astronomy
July 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
The Iris Nebula. This is from 12 1/2 hours of imaging over six nights. It takes a lot of time to really capture the dark nebula surrounding the brighter blue nebula lit up by the star in the center of the nebula. The Iris Nebula is 1300 light years away and about 6 light years across.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Great Globular Cluster (Messier 13). This is about 5 hours of imaging over two nights with a nearly full moon. This globular cluster contains more than 300,000 stars. It is about 24,000 light years away and about 145 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
May 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
The Great Globular Cluster (Messier 13). This is about 5 hours of imaging over two nights with a nearly full moon. This globular cluster contains more than 300,000 stars. It is about 24,000 light years away and about 145 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Croc's Eye Galaxy (Messier 94). This is an interesting and weird galaxy. It has two ring structures, the inner one is very bright, the outer one is much dimmer. It has some spiral structure, but not all of that is visible in visible light from earth.
#astronomy
#astronomy
May 9, 2025 at 8:20 PM
The Croc's Eye Galaxy (Messier 94). This is an interesting and weird galaxy. It has two ring structures, the inner one is very bright, the outer one is much dimmer. It has some spiral structure, but not all of that is visible in visible light from earth.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Whirlpool Galaxy. This is about 6 hours and 40 minutes of imaging over three nights. The two galaxies are interacting as the smaller galaxy has pasted through the larger galaxy twice, causing the distortions in each galaxy.
#astronomy
#astronomy
May 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
The Whirlpool Galaxy. This is about 6 hours and 40 minutes of imaging over three nights. The two galaxies are interacting as the smaller galaxy has pasted through the larger galaxy twice, causing the distortions in each galaxy.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101). This is from three nights of imaging totaling about 9 hours.
The Pinwheel Galaxy is 21 million light years away and is about twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. The distorted spiral is caused by gravity of other galaxies in its local group.
#astronomy
The Pinwheel Galaxy is 21 million light years away and is about twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. The distorted spiral is caused by gravity of other galaxies in its local group.
#astronomy
April 23, 2025 at 5:21 PM
The Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101). This is from three nights of imaging totaling about 9 hours.
The Pinwheel Galaxy is 21 million light years away and is about twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. The distorted spiral is caused by gravity of other galaxies in its local group.
#astronomy
The Pinwheel Galaxy is 21 million light years away and is about twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. The distorted spiral is caused by gravity of other galaxies in its local group.
#astronomy
Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy. I've been trying to get this done for over a month, but lots of cloudy nights made it frustrating.
I had about 8 hours of imaging on each of M81 and M82 and a few hours between them to get a good mosaic of the two galaxies together.
#astronomy
I had about 8 hours of imaging on each of M81 and M82 and a few hours between them to get a good mosaic of the two galaxies together.
#astronomy
April 9, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy. I've been trying to get this done for over a month, but lots of cloudy nights made it frustrating.
I had about 8 hours of imaging on each of M81 and M82 and a few hours between them to get a good mosaic of the two galaxies together.
#astronomy
I had about 8 hours of imaging on each of M81 and M82 and a few hours between them to get a good mosaic of the two galaxies together.
#astronomy
Totality during the lunar eclipse last night. This is a single photo taken with my Dwarf 3 smart telescope. A 2 second exposure with 60 gain. I did some noise reduction and a bit of sharpening.
March 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Totality during the lunar eclipse last night. This is a single photo taken with my Dwarf 3 smart telescope. A 2 second exposure with 60 gain. I did some noise reduction and a bit of sharpening.
The Horsehead Nebula. The bright star at the top center is the left most star in Orion's belt.
This is from 252 images of 120 seconds each taken over four nights over the past two weeks or so (too many clouds!) for a total of about 8 1/2 hours of imaging time.
#astronomy
This is from 252 images of 120 seconds each taken over four nights over the past two weeks or so (too many clouds!) for a total of about 8 1/2 hours of imaging time.
#astronomy
March 6, 2025 at 8:23 PM
The Horsehead Nebula. The bright star at the top center is the left most star in Orion's belt.
This is from 252 images of 120 seconds each taken over four nights over the past two weeks or so (too many clouds!) for a total of about 8 1/2 hours of imaging time.
#astronomy
This is from 252 images of 120 seconds each taken over four nights over the past two weeks or so (too many clouds!) for a total of about 8 1/2 hours of imaging time.
#astronomy
The Orion Nebula from three nights of imaging totaling 8 hours. The Orion Nebula is the middle "star" in Orion's sword below the three stars that make up his belt. You can see it with the naked eye, but it's really nice in a small telescope.
#astronomy
#astronomy
February 18, 2025 at 8:55 PM
The Orion Nebula from three nights of imaging totaling 8 hours. The Orion Nebula is the middle "star" in Orion's sword below the three stars that make up his belt. You can see it with the naked eye, but it's really nice in a small telescope.
#astronomy
#astronomy
Google Maps went ahead and renamed the Gulf of Mexico. I did submit feedback complaining about this.
If you would like to submit your own feedback, click the three horizontal lines at the top left in Google Maps, choose Edit the Map, then Your opinions about Maps.
If you would like to submit your own feedback, click the three horizontal lines at the top left in Google Maps, choose Edit the Map, then Your opinions about Maps.
February 11, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Google Maps went ahead and renamed the Gulf of Mexico. I did submit feedback complaining about this.
If you would like to submit your own feedback, click the three horizontal lines at the top left in Google Maps, choose Edit the Map, then Your opinions about Maps.
If you would like to submit your own feedback, click the three horizontal lines at the top left in Google Maps, choose Edit the Map, then Your opinions about Maps.
The Jellyfish Nebula. This is from 17 hours of imaging over 5 nights. The Jellyfish Nebula is a remnant of a supernova from 35,000 years ago. It is about 5000 light years away and 70 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
January 31, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The Jellyfish Nebula. This is from 17 hours of imaging over 5 nights. The Jellyfish Nebula is a remnant of a supernova from 35,000 years ago. It is about 5000 light years away and 70 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
Messier 52 (the Scorpion cluster). You may notice a bit of nebula on the lower right. That is the Bubble Nebula. So I did a mosaic with my Bubble Nebula image from September.
#astronomy
#astronomy
January 15, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Messier 52 (the Scorpion cluster). You may notice a bit of nebula on the lower right. That is the Bubble Nebula. So I did a mosaic with my Bubble Nebula image from September.
#astronomy
#astronomy
The Pleiades star cluster from over 13 hours of imaging over 4 nights. The Pleiades are visible to the naked eye in reasonably dark skies. Follow the belt of Orion to the upper right, just past Jupiter. The cluster is moving through a dust cloud and its stars are lighting up the dust.
#astronomy
#astronomy
January 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
The Pleiades star cluster from over 13 hours of imaging over 4 nights. The Pleiades are visible to the naked eye in reasonably dark skies. Follow the belt of Orion to the upper right, just past Jupiter. The cluster is moving through a dust cloud and its stars are lighting up the dust.
#astronomy
#astronomy
A nice sun halo greeted me as I finished my run this morning.
January 7, 2025 at 6:23 PM
A nice sun halo greeted me as I finished my run this morning.
The White Rose Cluster from last night. This is from about 2 1/2 hours of imaging.
This cluster includes about 1000 stars and is 7600 light years away and about 50 light years in diameter. It was discovered by Caroline Hersch in 1783, which is why it is also called Caroline's Rose.
#astronomy
This cluster includes about 1000 stars and is 7600 light years away and about 50 light years in diameter. It was discovered by Caroline Hersch in 1783, which is why it is also called Caroline's Rose.
#astronomy
December 13, 2024 at 1:53 PM
The White Rose Cluster from last night. This is from about 2 1/2 hours of imaging.
This cluster includes about 1000 stars and is 7600 light years away and about 50 light years in diameter. It was discovered by Caroline Hersch in 1783, which is why it is also called Caroline's Rose.
#astronomy
This cluster includes about 1000 stars and is 7600 light years away and about 50 light years in diameter. It was discovered by Caroline Hersch in 1783, which is why it is also called Caroline's Rose.
#astronomy
This is a mosaic of the California Nebula. This is two nights of imaging, with about 5 hours of imaging each night.
I've been hoping to do some more imaging for this mosaic. But it's been frustrating with the clouds lately. Some sunny days, but with clouds moving in by sundown.
#astronomy
I've been hoping to do some more imaging for this mosaic. But it's been frustrating with the clouds lately. Some sunny days, but with clouds moving in by sundown.
#astronomy
December 9, 2024 at 9:08 PM
This is a mosaic of the California Nebula. This is two nights of imaging, with about 5 hours of imaging each night.
I've been hoping to do some more imaging for this mosaic. But it's been frustrating with the clouds lately. Some sunny days, but with clouds moving in by sundown.
#astronomy
I've been hoping to do some more imaging for this mosaic. But it's been frustrating with the clouds lately. Some sunny days, but with clouds moving in by sundown.
#astronomy
With the nearly full moon lighting up the sky, I imaged another open cluster this evening. This is the Sailboat Cluster. This is from about 2 1/2 hours of imaging. Some nice red and blue color to the stars in the cluster. There is also some blue nebula mixed in with the cluster.
#astronomy
#astronomy
November 18, 2024 at 6:16 AM
With the nearly full moon lighting up the sky, I imaged another open cluster this evening. This is the Sailboat Cluster. This is from about 2 1/2 hours of imaging. Some nice red and blue color to the stars in the cluster. There is also some blue nebula mixed in with the cluster.
#astronomy
#astronomy
November 16, 2024 at 1:27 AM