The Bubble Nebula in loving memory of a friend

The New Moon weekend of July 2020 (16-18 July) was mainly devoted to imaging Comet Neowise, which treated northern hemisphere observers to a spectacular show for several weeks. Of course, after the comet’s setting, there was time left for deep-sky imaging. I focused on a well-known pair of objects of the summer and fall sky: the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) and nearby open cluster Messier 52 (M 52).

I imaged this famous pair of deep-sky objects with an OSC camera (my ZWO ASI 071 MC Pro) at the prime focus of my Tecnosky 130 f/7 apo refractor. The image below is a composite of 20 x 10 min subs (about 6h total exposure).

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This post is dedicated to the loving memory of Giosuè Ghioldi (1941-2020). A passionate and skilled astrophotographer, Giosuè was above all a very good friend, with whom I shared my passion, countless weekends under dark skies and even my first ever trip to Tivoli Farm (Namibia) in 2011 to observe and image the wonders of the southern sky. Giosuè would always offer shelter and a warm meal to his closest friends (among which I am proud to be counted) in his RV: we had a lot of quality time and cheerful moments together, in the deep of the winter and on the short summer nights alike.

That New Moon weekend of July 2020 was the last one we spent together. Giosuè passed away from COVID-19 in December 2020. Below are a few pictures of him (taken by Lorenzo Comolli) to keep these lovely memories alive.