t t FANTASY IN ORION Paolo Moroni The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) and, to its immediate north, Messier 43 (sometimes called De Mairan's Nebula) are mustsee showpieces in any telescope. DETAILS: Sky-Watcher Esprit ED80 apochromatic refractor and Moravian Instruments G2-8300 CCD camera with Astronomik LRGB filters. Total exposure: 12.2 hours. t MERCURY MEETS THE MOON YuWen Chang The predawn occultation of Mercury by an ultrathin crescent Moon on September 19, 2017, was just 5° above the horizon as seen from Hsinchu City in Taiwan. Frames are 1 second apart. DETAILS: Vixen VC200L astrograph and Canon EOS 700D DSLR camera set to ISO 400. Exposures: 1.3 second. q FL ASHY AUROR A Matt Skinner After some poor weather, the skies cleared over Palmer, Alaska, on the morning of December 14, 2017 - just in time for a mottled auroral display and a dazzling Geminid fireball. DETAILS: Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR camera set to ISO 1600 with 24-mm lens. Exposure: 15 seconds. Gallery showcases the finest astronomical images submitted to us by our readers. Send your best shots to gallery@skyandtelescope.com. See skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/guidelines. Visit skyandtelescope.com/gallery for more of our readers' astrophotos. sk yandtele scope.com * A PR I L 2 018 75http://www.skyandtelescope.com/gallery http://www.skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/guidelines http://www.skyandtelescope.com