If you boarded a spacecraft and set out from the sun, past all the planets in our solar system, and out into the Oort Cloud between stars… the distance you just traveled would only cover a few pixels on this image.

A. Few. Pixels.

The sheer scale of the universe is staggering. It humbles even the greatest among us. It is my goal to capture these slivers of infinity—these parts of space that make me feel both small and endless at the same time—and pass that feeling on to you.

Acquisition Details:

Caldwell 49 is an emission nebula located in the constellation Monoceros, approximately 5,200 light-years from Earth. The burning cloud of plasma was formed by collapsing clouds of gas and dust, which heat up and glow, forming new stars.

I captured this mosaic image over many nights near the Gulf of Mexico, using my apochromatic refracting telescope.