Here are a couple of cropped images from my original image from prior post representing the Eastern Veil Nebula (left) and Western Veil Nebula (right)

My coin flip last night was spot-on. Forecast clouds did not materialize and the smoke was not so bad, so got a second night in on this target. This is the Veil Nebula over two nights (12 hours total exposure). Askar 50P wide-field scope with narrow band filter. #Astrophotography

With the heat and smoke in the western US, a little levity is in order to lighten the mood. Going to step outside in a couple of hours, look up, and flip a coin. I would like to get one more night on the Veil Nebula.

This is the Sadr Region. Sadr is that bright supergiant star in the middle of the image. It sits directly in front of the Gamma Cygni Nebula, otherwise known as the Sadr Region. This is a 6-hour total exposure from last night. Same equipment and conditions as last post. #astrophotography

I tested out some new kit last night: Askar 50P scope and Optolong L-Ultimate narrow-band filter. Conditions are not great here. Bortle 8 light pollution with patchy smoke from current western US fires. Target was the North American Nebula (NGC 7000) with 6-hour total exposure.

Messier 5 or M5 (also designated NGC 5904) is a globular cluster in the constellation Serpens. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1702. Captured on 07/08/2026 using a Seestar S50, Oregon Coast. 45-minute total exposure. #astrophotography More info: science.nasa.gov/mission/hubb...

The fog lifted last night here on the Oregon Coast - so dusted off the Seestar S50. I was able to capture the Eagle Nebula (M16) with about a 2-hour total exposure. And a bonus - The Pillars of Creation are easily identified. More info here science.nasa.gov/mission/hubb...

This is the Spindle Galaxy (NGC 5866), taken from my backyard over a couple of nights (6/15-6/16), and represents 8 hours total exposure. One of the most outstanding features of NGC 5866 is the extended dust disk, which is seen almost exactly edge-on. This image has been cropped from the original.

This is the Hercules Galaxy Cluster, roughly a half-billion light years away! Photons hitting my camera sensor departed this region 250 million years before the dinos first showed up on earth. It consists of roughly 200 galaxies gravitationally bound to one another.

Setting up the scope just now after a few months of non-ideal conditions. Had a visitor. Guess he is not intimidated by that 3-legged monster that is known to devour wabbits from time to time. Imaging the Hercules Galaxy Cluster for the next few nights. #astrophotography

Stephan’s Quintet was discovered in 1877. Despite its name, only four of these galaxies are a true, physically interacting group (Hickson Compact Group 92) locked in a cosmic collision about 290 million light-years distant. From last October, 22 hours total exposure over 3 nights, Bortle 6 backyard.

I found this really interesting and definitely pretty cool! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v8m... #astrophotography

52 Seestars Shooting at Once: 246 Hours of Exposure, and the Results Are Insane

YouTube video by Rooftop Astronomy

youtube.com

This is M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy), taken with my Seestar S50 last night after a month of waiting for a clear sky! The image represents about 4 hours total exposure using 10-second subs in the stack. M51 is about 30 million light-years distant and consists of around 100 billion stars. #astrophotography

Clear skies are a premium on the Oregon Coast. I lucked out last night! I needed to get my astrojollies after 10 days of overcast. Here is M42 (Orion Nebula). 1.25 hours total exposure (450 10-second subs stacked). Seestar S50. #astrophotography

I have just finished cobbling together an all-sky camera from mostly bits and pieces I already had. I upgraded the ZWO camera (ASI178mc) fisheye with a better one Waiting for a clear night to test this contraption. 1st image is the camera and 2nd is my planned next iteration. #astrophotography

This is Jones-Emberson 1 (Headphone Nebula) discovered in 1939 by Rebecca Jones and Richard Emberson at Harvard Observatory. It is a planetary nebula 1600 light-years distant and about 13,000 years old, when a star shed its coat (the nebulosity) and left a white dwarf in the middle.

M81 (Bode's Galaxy) is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years distant. The galactic nucleus contains a supermassive black hole of roughly 70 million solar masses. Image was taken over two nights (12/29 and 12/30) and represents about 16 hours total exposure. #Astrophotography

This is M1, the Crab Nebula, also known as NGC1952. It is the remnant of a supernova explosion observed in the year 1054. There is a neutron star (Crab Pulsar) about 19 miles in diameter spinning 30 times a second at its center. Eight hours total exposure on 12/11/2025. #astrophotography

Sunset on the Oregon coast this evening. As it is the sun, I figure it is legit to add the tag #astrophotography. I know it is a stretch. Forgive me😁

This is Copelands Lost Galaxy (NGC4535) and represents a 5-hour total exposure (see equipment list in my bio) taken last May. It was first observed by William Herschel in 1785 and is about 55 million light years distant.

Probably my only clear night for two weeks here on the Oregon Coast! Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) using Seestar S50 on 11/21/2025. Two hours total exposure. Here is a time lapse over 100 years of its expansion: skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/u... From this article: skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...

Credit: Eugene Astronomical Society. #Astrophotography

NGC891 (Silver Sliver Galaxy) last night, 80% of 160x180s exposures. First test of the new ASI2600mc pro with replacement fan deployed (see prior post). More info on this target here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_891. A definite improvement over those elongate stars I was getting from imbalanced fan.

1/2: PSA: Do you get oblong stars like this but have good guiding? Are you using a ZWO cooled camera at long focal lengths? Is the elongation independent of exposure time? The problem is likely an imbalanced fan in the camera (in my case a brand new ASI2600mc pro). #astrophotography

Here is another screen capture this morning from the Mauna Kea Live webcam. Lasers are used to create an artificial laser guide star used for correcting for atmospheric turbulence. This technology is called adaptive optics and is a crucial tool for modern ground-based astronomy. #Astrophotography

This morning, I brought up the webcam at the Subaru Telescope, Mauna Kea, HI. The image was spectacular, so I am sharing the screen shot I took. Here is a link to that webcam for those interested. www.webcamtaxi.com/en/usa/hawai... #Astrophotography

An amateur star-gazer’s pain, Who wished for the skies clear again, Sat watching the rain, With a hopeful refrain— “Let me glimpse through this clouded domain!” #Astrophotography

M81 (Bode's Galaxy) this morning. I had an hour to kill before sunrise so gave it a shot. 48 minutes total exposure in Bortle 6 light pollution. Just tossing this out as an example of squeezing in all the dark you can in an imaging session. A "shot in the dark" maybe? #Astrophotography

ICE better not come after this badass alien! #astrophotography

After a bit of a hiatus from astrophotography, I gave my new camera (ASI2600mc Pro) a spin around the block last night (09/17/2025). Here is M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) with very little post processing. 120 X 180s exposures (stacked best 80%). C9.25 Edge with Hyperstar V4. #astrophotography