3 weeks in Crete Archives

Messier catalogued most of the deep space objects we can still watch nowadays in dark night skies like in Crete. Pictures shot with D800, Skyguider Pro tracking system and William Optics 61/360 ZS61 II. Exposure times 150 seconds, ISO 3200.

North America on the left and Pelican nebula (NGC 7000) on the right

Lagoon nebula (M8) in Sagittarius

Western Veil and Eastern veil of Cygnus (NGC 6960)

The galaxy of Andromeda (M31) with M32 and M110 satellite galaxies

Eagle nebula (M16) on the top and Omega Nebula (M17) on the bottom

Trifid nebula (M20) on the top and Lagoon nebula on the bottom (M8)

This is the new episode of the reportage Crete:Kingdom of Candia. Click each picture to open it full size. Previous episode(s):

1. Once upon the time in the Kingdom of Candia

2. Gramvousa ochre and turquoise

3. Solo sliders

4. Go West: Falassarna shores of Crete

5. Balos lagoon, a royal beauty

6. Balos, all the colors of water

7. Visitors (or not) in the Mediterranean Sea

8. The only good nation is Imagination

9. Postcards from Chania

10. Wet rocks

11. Rethymno: the Fortezza

12. Between two words

13. A lucky underwater encounter

14. A trip to Spinalonga

15. The last leper colony

16. Blue Crete

17. These are the Minoans!

18. A 5000 year-long time travel

Minoans are the oldest population of Crete and are proposed as the founders of the first European advanced civilization. Crete and the island of Santorini preserve Minoan traces from 3500 BC to present days. Art habits and religion of Minoan were later absorbed by the Mycenaean (Greek) culture.

In the palace of Knossos, red bull fresco, a labyrinth reminder