Willow Rise Observatory is an amateur observatory in rural Illinois, roughly 65 miles southwest of Chicago. Astrophotographer Bob Lange has always been fascinated by astronomical phenomena and has spent the past few years learning how to capture increasingly respectable photographs of these celestial objects. In the summer of 2008, Bob decided to build a more permanent home for his telescopes which he named "Willow Rise Observatory".

Beginning by taking photos of galaxies with a Canon Rebel XTi DSLR camera and his Celestron C11 telescope, he has since become more proficient with slightly more advanced equipment and primarily enjoys taking photos of nebulae with an SBIG STL-11000M CCD camera paired with a Takahashi FSQ-106EDX telescope.