This is a wide shot I took of the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. The closeup crops highlight areas that make this region so fascinating. #astrophotography #IC1396 #elephantstrunk #space #nebula
GingerAstroNerd
@gingerastro.bsky.social
52yo Ginger, husband, USMC veteran, dog dad for 6 mini schnauzers, nerd, anime fan, amateur astrophotographer, geek, Peloton rider, and self-taught knitter. 🐕 🏳️🌈 🔭 🌟 🚴🧶
Here are my latest captures of the Lobster Nebula & Cat’s Paw Nebula. They only rise 15 degrees above my horizon so I was worried that I was wasting my time on a lost cause. I’m sure glad I didn’t quit since I’m extremely pleased with these results! #astrophotography #NGC6357 #NGC6334 #nebula
M16 (Eagle Nebula) & M17 (Omega Nebula) taken last month. This includes both SHO as well as RGB. Currently under an entire month of cloudy skies and severe thunderstorms. Hope to get back out there soon! #astrophotography #space #omeganebula #eaglenebula #m16 #m17
M97 & M108 are also known as the Owl Nebula & Surfboard Galaxy. They appear near one another in the constellation Ursa Major. I captured it in RGB as well as HaOiiiRGB with 27.5 hours of exposure time across multiple weeks. #m108 #m97 #nebula #galaxy #owlnebula
This supernova remnant is known as the Jellyfish Nebula. I shot it over a period of 3 weeks and dealt with intermittent rain. I am very happy with the final result! I captured 26 hours of SHO data using a telescope with 400mm focal length. #astrophotography #space #ic443 #jellyfishnebula #nebula
Notice how the most celebrated and successful space mission in *decades* was run by at least 50% “DEI hires”—not all white men? And not even all Americans. Maybe diversity *is* strength . . .
I decided that 25.5 hours was finally enough for this wider shot of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). I shot it in both LRGB & HaLRGB. I also included a tighter crop that looks surprisingly sharp since it was taken with a 400mm focal length telescope. #m51 #whirlpoolgalaxy #space #astrophotography #galaxy
This is a reflection nebula called the Blue Horsehead (IC4592). It is made up of gas clouds that are illuminated by several hot blue stars. I might want to capture a bit more data after this rain finally stops. #ic4592 #space #bluehorseheadnebula #astrophotography #reflectionnebula
Our beautiful moon taken with my Sony A77 DSLR and tripod. This is comprised of 26 stacked images with a slight saturation boost. I’m always amazed at the amount of detail you can see with basic equipment you probably have at home. #moon #astrophotography #space #lunarphotography #lunar
Here’s a comparison of the 4 filters I’m currently using on the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). Each shot is a single 5 minute exposure so I haven’t tried stacking them yet. Hope this one turns out! #m51 #galaxy #monochrome #astrophotography #space
Lower’s Nebula is named after Harold and Charles Lower who discovered this nebula in 1939. In the constellation Orion, it’s about 3K light years away. Some even call it the “Eye of Ra” because of its similarity to an Egyptian hieroglyph. #lowersnebula #sh2261 #nebula #space #astrophotography
I captured over 32 hours of data on the Leo Triplet. I discovered that there is a cloud of dust trailing from the Hamburger galaxy I also included some closeups if you scroll through my photos. #leotriplet #astrophotography #space #galaxy #galaxycluster
This took about a month to complete due to spotty weather conditions. Along with M78, I picked up the Ha signal of Barnard’s Loop using a dual bandwidth filter. Scroll to see a closeup on the reflection nebula. #m78 #nebula #astrophotography #space #casperthefriendlyghost
Decided to capture some last minute ancient photons of the Rosette Nebula before it disappears for the spring/summer months.
I just dug though some old computer files and realized that I forgot to process my Heart Nebula data from 2023. I’m so glad that I uncovered this long-forgotten data since the details are pretty darn sharp! #ic1805 #heartnebula #astrophotography #space #nebula
M35 (aka the Shoe Buckle Cluster) sits in the constellation Gemini at around 2.7K-2.9K light years away. It probably isn’t the most interesting object in the Messier catalog but I really love the array of star color in my image overall. #m35 #ngc2158 #astrophotography #opencluster #gemini
I shot about 25 hours on the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). I first captured about 22 hours RGB color data and then a few additional hours of Hydrogen alpha data. I also included a closeup since the details really came out nicely in the core. #galaxy #space #m101 #pinwheelgalaxy #astrophotography
Technology is so cool. We encounter a plane in one of our subs and can immediately identify the airline, departure/destination, speed, altitude, & flight number. 🤣 #photobomb #astrophotography #plane #galaxy #m104 #space #photofail
Here’s my latest attempt at our closest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy. I waited too long to even begin so I was getting light pollution. 🤷♂️ I’ll just try it again later in the summer! #galaxy #astrophotography #space #m31 #andromedagalaxy
Here’s 22 hours of RGB data on the Flame & Horsehead Nebulae. The signal was so good that I barely had to apply any noise reduction to the final image! #ic434 #horseheadnebula #flamenebula #astrophotography #space
I finally completed my recent capture of galaxies M81 & M82 more commonly known as Bode’s Galaxy & the Cigar Galaxy. I captured two versions showing just full color (RGB) as well as the Hydrogen alpha signal combined with full color (HaRGB). #astrophotography #space #galaxy #m81 #m82
I was deeply disappointed in my first processing attempt of this beautiful star cluster so I collected even more data and gave it another go. Here’s my new Pleiades (M45) image after stacking in 3 additional hours of data. #pleiades #starcluster #m45 #astrophotography #space
Here’s a reprocess of my data from last year showcasing the Tadpole Nebula (IC410). I’m also shocked that PixInsight rejected so many bad frames but the details still pop. I guess it’s a classic case of quality over quantity! #ic410 #astrophotography #nebula #space #tadpolenebula
This isn’t the most colorful galaxy cluster but there’s one on the left of my photo called NGC1365 that I absolutely love. It’s got such an interesting shape and is perfectly symmetrical. Too bad it rises only 15 degrees above my horizon. #ngc1365 #astrophotography #galaxy #astronomy #space
Here’s the last image taken with my ASI2600MM Pro camera right before the power port broke. I just got it back from repair yesterday. The Cone Nebula still looks great considering that I didn’t get more subs due to 📷 failure. #conenebula #christmastreecluster #ngc2264 #astrophotography #nebula
Capturing the Witch Head Nebula has been quite a journey. I’ve been shooting it for the past 2 months. I think I’ve actually trashed more exposures than I’ve saved but I still ended up with 200+ exposures at 5 minutes each. #witchheadnebula #astrophotography #nebula #space #ic2118 #witchhead
I just tried combining my Triangulum Galaxy (M33) data from last year with brand new data acquired this year. I took color photos (RGB including the galaxy and the stars) & Hydrogen alpha data using my dual band filter. #galaxy #m33 #triangulum #astrophography #space #askar #fra400 #asi294mc
Here’s an image I just completed of Markarian’s Chain. Not a whole lot of color variation in this galaxy cluster but the sheer abundance of galaxies in such a compact region is still quite impressive! #markarianschain #galaxy #galaxycluster #astrophotography #space #askar #fra400 #asi294mc #zwo
I decided to try something a bit different so here’s a 2 hour timelapse of comet 24P/Schaumasse. It is currently in the constellation Virgo. Each video frame is 2 minutes long so it’s actually moving quite slowly. #comet #space #timelapse #astrophotography #comet24P #24Pschaumasse
Here’s my annual obligatory photo of the Orion Nebula (M42). I want to keep shooting it annually to see if I’m getting any better at shooting and/or processing it. The trapezium isn’t quite visible so I still have room for improvement. #m42 #space #astrophotography #nebula #orion #orionnebula