Between Rain and Starlight: Chasing Nebulae Over South Wales

 The rain finally paused!

Not stopped entirely — South Wales would never permit such extravagance, but eased just long enough for the clouds to fracture and the sky to reveal its quieter architecture. Over two brief evenings this week, the DWARF 3 was given a narrow window to do what it does best: patiently collect ancient light.

And what light it was.

Rosette Nebula – A Stellar Nursery in Bloom

Roughly 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros, the Rosette Nebula is a vast hydrogen cloud spanning approximately 130 light-years. At its centre sits NGC 2244, a cluster of young, energetic stars whose ultraviolet radiation excites the surrounding gas.

That glow isn’t artistic flair — it’s physics. Energised hydrogen emits light at specific wavelengths, producing the nebula’s characteristic red hues. The delicate cavities and filaments are sculpted by stellar winds, as newborn stars slowly erode the very cloud that formed them.

Flame Nebula & Horsehead – Fire and Shadow in Orion

In Orion, about 1,350 light-years distant, the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) burns brightly under the influence of Alnitak. Dark dust lanes slice through the glowing gas, dense interstellar clouds blocking and shaping the light.

Just below, the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) offers a beautiful inversion. It does not shine. It exists as a cold, opaque column of dust silhouetted against the luminous hydrogen backdrop of IC 434.

A nebula defined by absence.

Two short gaps in the clouds. A small digital telescope. Photons that began their journey thousands of years ago, arriving quietly between rain showers.