Practical notes on capturing deep-sky targets, processing choices, gear in the field, beginner-friendly guides, and observing reports from Lost Photons.
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37 notes
Space News
After a long delay and a hold on the countdown, Artemis 1 had a very exciting launch into space. SLS took off at 1:47 AM from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It also marks a...
Space News
NASA mission management have stated that the Artemis 1 launch is a go. This will a test of the SLS rocket to test readiness to bring Astronauts back to the moon in a f...
Space News
The Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle which looks like a mini space shuttle has landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center . The space plane spent, 908 days in space. This...
Space News
I've been eagerly waiting to see the SLS rocket launch. This has been plagued by multiple delays, the latest of which was due to hurricane Nicole. The next launch is s...
Gear in the Real World
This is M81 & M82, also known as Bode's and the Cigar Galaxy. This is a pair of beautiful galaxies in Ursa Major. Also in this image, is NGC3077. This is my longest im...
How I Captured This
NGC281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula. This was my second attempt with this target, but my first with narrowband filters. I tried to do a blend and get an RGB look...
How I Captured This
This is my longest project to date—32 HOURS OF DATA over nine nights. I originally planned on taking 50 hours, but the weather and moon got in the way of what I aimed...
How I Captured This
Just in time for halloween. This is IC63 The Ghost of Cassiopeia. IC63 is 500 light-years away. The highly bright star Gamma Cassiopeia’s interaction with the nebula i...
Observing Reports
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) is the galaxy closest to us. This is a very bright object which can be observed with our naked eye. This is my third attempt at our closest neig...
Processing Notes
IC1396, also known as The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, is a region full of installer gas and dust. Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a star-forming region with several young star...
Processing Notes
This is NGC 6888 also known as the Crescent Nebula. I do not understand the name at all. Some people call i the Horseshoe Crab Nebula or Euro Sign nebula. I like the n...
How I Captured This
Messier 27 is also known as the Dumbbell Nebula or the Apple Core Nebula. M27 is a bright planetary nebula about 1227 light-years away. This was my second attempt at t...
How I Captured This
Messier 51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici located about 30 million light-years away from us. I took this in June over...
How I Captured This
This is my second attempt at Messier 13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. When I attempted this target last year I only had about 10 minutes of data. This time...
How I Captured This
Messier 101, commonly known as the Pinwheel Galaxy is a great target to image during galaxy season. I captured this image over multiple nights in NJ and at a dark site...
Gear in the Real World
This is M81 & M82, also known as Bode's and the Cigar Galaxy. This is a pair of beautiful galaxies in Ursa Major. Also in this image, is NGC3077. This group of galaxie...
Gear in the Real World
Is it NGC 2237 or 2244 or something else? It's the Rosette Nebula, and multiple star clusters are part of what we normally call the Rosette Nebula. Regardless of what...
Gear in the Real World
In my whole astrophotography career (which is really short), I've been using multiple guide scopes to guide. I finally decided to pull the trigger on an Off-Axis Guide...
Processing Notes
Messier 78 or NGC 2068, also known as Casper the Friendly Ghost (not sure how it applies, I don’t see a ghost), is a bright blue reflection nebula in Orion. The nebula...
Gear in the Real World
The Pleiades is one of my favorite objects to stare at. It's bright and can be observed from anywhere, all you need are your eyes. Binoculars and a telescope help, but...
How I Captured This
For Diwali, I present the Flame and the Horsehead Nebula. This is Barnard 33, a dark nebula in the constellation of Orion. The dark nebula which forms the horse’s head...
How I Captured This
This is IC1805, also known as the Heart Nebula. This is a large nebula about 7500 light-years away from us. The nebula shines bright red due to all the hydrogen gas ex...
How I Captured This
Sometimes it’s fun to work with bad data because you’re not expecting much and it turns out OK. The Wizard seems to be my arch-nemesis so far. This is the second time...
How I Captured This
IC1396, also known as The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, is a region full of installer gas and dust. This isn’t as colorful as my previous images, but it’s a fun target to i...
How I Captured This
Messier 33 also known as the Triangulum Galaxy is one of the most beautiful face-on galaxies in the night sky. This is part of our local group of galaxies which includ...
How I Captured This
Messier 20, also known as the Trifid Nebula, is one of the most beautiful night sky targets. I took this image at Cherry Springs State Park, a truly dark site in Penns...
How I Captured This
NGC 7293, also known as the Helix Nebula or God's Eye, is a planetary nebula about 700 light-years away. I took this image at Cherry Springs State Park, a truly dark s...
How I Captured This
M16, also known as The Eagle Nebula, is a beautiful emission nebula and star cluster in the Serpens constellation. This is an active star-forming region. I acquired th...
How I Captured This
IC5146 also known as The Cocoon Nebula is a reflection/emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This an active star-forming region. There is also a dark nebula B16...
How I Captured This
M27 also known as the Dumbbell Nebula is a bright planetary nebula about 1227 light-years away. This is a very short exposure as my observing time was cut short by spr...
Gear in the Real World
NGC 7635 also known as the Bubble Nebula is an emission nebula in Cassiopeia. This Bubble is a result of very fast stellar winds from a massive star in the middle. I t...
Gear in the Real World
This is one of my favorite nebula, NGC 7023 the Iris Nebula. This is 15 frames at 300 seconds each. I also used an Optolong L-Pro filter during this image to cut down...
Gear in the Real World
NGC 6888 also known as The Crescent Nebula. However, I like to call it the Horseshoe Crab Nebula. This is 50 exposures over two nights. This is an incredibly faint obj...
Gear in the Real World
M13 or the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules is a large globular cluster in Hercules. There aren't exact numbers on how many stars there are in this cluster, but esti...
Gear in the Real World
NGC 6960 or commonly known as the Veil Nebula or The Witch's Broom is a very large supernova remnant in the Cygnus constellation. The wispy filaments are from the expl...
Gear in the Real World
M45 also known as the Pleiades Cluster is one of the prettiest things to view during the fall/winter skies. It looks amazing through a telescope. The blue nebulosity a...
How I Captured This
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) is the galaxy closest to us. This is a very bright object which can be observed with our naked eye. I took this image of M31 in 2014. The target...
