The Dark Matters | Alex
LightNews LightNews
banner
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
The Dark Matters | Alex
@the-dark-matters.bsky.social
86 followers 32 following 74 posts
| 🔭 Astrophotography with a mild sense of existential dread ✨
| 🌍 based 📷 when the sky is covered by cloud
| 🇨🇭
IG: instagram.com/the.dark.matters.photos/
Posts Replies Media Videos
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
The Omega Nebula. Or swan. Or lobster. M17. Take your pick. Happy with how it turned out!

#astrophotography #astro #space #photography
September 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
7 years ago today. Near the Domes de Fabedougou in Burkina Faso

#photography #photo #travel #burkinafaso #africa #wanderlust
August 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
💠 NGC 7023 – The Iris Nebula
About 1,300 light-years away in Cepheus. It's light comes from dust scattering the glow of a star at its center.
⠀
The surrounding dark clouds? That’s cold, light-blocking interstellar matter—future star stuff just waiting.

#astrophotography #astro #photography
August 3, 2025 at 8:35 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
July 24, 2025 at 5:21 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
Markarians Chain

This was fun to take.

#astrophotography #astro #photography #space #galaxies
June 28, 2025 at 6:56 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
💽 M104 – Sombrero Galaxy

Roughly 800 billion stars, a supermassive black hole at the center.

My favorite galaxy. Had it as my desktop background for years—finally shot it myself, and yeah… kinda hit me. 29M ly away and still brought a tear to my eye.

#astrophotography #astro #photography #space
June 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
M16 Eagle Nebula

If you squint you can see the Pillars of Creation.

It's not exactly Hubble but at 0.00000443% the cost...I'm more than ok with the result.

#astrophotography #astro #photography #space
June 24, 2025 at 6:49 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
Today was nice.

#switzerland #photography
May 30, 2025 at 8:24 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
May 1, 2025 at 7:43 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
✨ M3 – Globular Cluster

500,000 stars in a single sphere. 11.4B years old, 34,000 ly out. One of the brightest and densest in the galaxy.

Loaded with variable stars and subtle color differences from aging red giants to hot blue stragglers.

#astrophotography #astro #photography #space
April 11, 2025 at 5:17 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
🌀 M101 – Pinwheel Galaxy

21M light-years out in Ursa Major (big supper) Nearly double the size of the Milky Way, with crisp spiral arms and background galaxies hiding everywhere.

#astrophotography #astro #space #photography
April 10, 2025 at 4:40 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
🎄 NGC 2264 – Cone & Christmas Tree Cluster

Starbirth in Monoceros. Didn’t get as many clean subs as I hoped, but quite stoked with the result. 2,500ly of quiet chaos.

#astrophotography #astro #space #photography
April 7, 2025 at 8:12 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
✨ NGC 2362 – Tau Canis Majoris Cluster

5M years old, 5,000 light-years away. A tight pack of newborn stars glowing in Canis Major. Clean, bright, and cosmic.

#astrophotography #astro #space #photography
April 6, 2025 at 7:17 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
M78. Casper, the friendly nebula.

Hoped for a sharper image but conditions are what they were. But I *Love* this nebula.

#Astrophotography #astro #photography #photo #space
March 24, 2025 at 2:17 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
✨ IC 447 & Neighbors ✨

IC 447, a reflection nebula in Monoceros about 2,700 light-years away, glows blue as starlight scatters off cosmic dust. It shares the stage with NGC 2245, NGC 2247, and IC 446—brighter patches above—forming a small cluster

#astrophotography #astro #photography #space
March 17, 2025 at 11:17 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
Swiss countryside. Taken from the village of Rue.

#naturephotography #nature #switzerland #photography #photo
March 12, 2025 at 9:10 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
😞 #astrophotography
March 12, 2025 at 9:07 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
An old one from the depths of my archives. The quality is poor and the original is lost but I still love it. Taken in Palezieux, Switzerland.

#photography #photo #switzerland
#naturephotography
March 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
Some journeys and views require that you look up from even the best reads.

#switzerland #wanderlust #photography #photo #travel #travelphotography
March 11, 2025 at 9:48 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
Lac Leman (Lake Geneva)

#photography #photo #naturephotography #nature
March 10, 2025 at 10:43 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
🌻 M63 – The Sunflower Galaxy 🌻

A bright spiral galaxy about 29 million light-years away, named for its swirling, petal-like structure.

Will add to it after the next pass of cloudy weather.

#astrophotography #astro #space #photography
March 9, 2025 at 7:27 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
Largely untouched photo of the pleiadies (M45). Roughly 100 stacked images at 10s exposure each. Might have to wait for next year to do a proper shot of it where I can really bring out it's hues. Still, a lovely bunch of stars.

#astrophotography #astro #space #photography #photo
March 8, 2025 at 3:27 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
In a galaxy far far away...

M106 and a couple of it's neighbours.

#astrophotography #astro #photography #photo #space
March 7, 2025 at 10:53 AM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
The hunter and his dog looked amazing last night. Shame about the moon being on that side otherwise would have grabbed my scope.

#space #photography #astro
March 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
the-dark-matters.bsky.social
My updated M51 Whirlpool Galaxy photo. Added a few hundred more shots to stack and voilà. Much better. Cute galaxy that should be renamed to the Snail.

#astrophotography #astro #photography #space #DeepSpace #galaxies
March 5, 2025 at 8:12 AM