Wolf's Cave(LDN 1228) and Dark Shark(LDN 1235) nebulae located in the Cepheus Flare, a large molecular cloud complex. Both are extremely faint and are a mix of reflection and cold dark nebula components. Exposure: 6 hours, updated 07/15/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
Walt Watson Astrophotography
@waltwatsonastro.bsky.social
Amateur astrophotographer enjoying the hobby on Cape Cod. All photos were taken by me in my wife's garden unless otherwise noted. waltwatsonastro.com
The Elephant Trunk Nebula (IC1396A) in Cepheus is a dense column of gas about 30 light years long sculpted by UV radiation and stellar winds. In this photo ionized Hydrogen are reds and Oxygen are blues. (Per Wiki) Exp: 5 hrs, Taken 07/23/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Cocoon Nebula (Caldwell 19) and the Dark Nebula Barnard168. This photo of the region shows how they are intertwined. The HII region SH2-124 is at the bottom right. Two sessions: wb RGB - 5hrs 07/23/26 for dust and reflection nb Ha+Oiii - 5hrs 07/27/26 for emission #astronomy #astrophotography
The Perseus Double Cluster (Caldwell 14). This is my 2026 visit to one of my favorite star clusters. The clusters are bright and fairly close at a distance of ~ 7500ly. They are also young at only ~12 to 14 million years of age.(per Wiki) Exp: 75 min, Taken 07/24/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
Cocoon Nebula (Caldwell 19) is powered by a young bright star in Cygnus and sits at the end of the molecular cloud Barnard 168. (per Wiki) Contains: - RGB data for stars,dust & reflections - Narrow band data (Sii, Ha, Oiii) for emissions Exp: 6 hours, updated 07/22/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Ring Nebula (M57) is a expanding shell of ionized gas ejected by a dying sun-like star. Barred Spiral Galaxy (IC1296), seen as a edge on smudge, is 10,000x further away than the Ring at ~220 Mly, testing the resolving power of my scope. Exp: 5hrs, Taken 07/14/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Clamshell Nebula (Sh2-119) is a large emission nebula in Cygnus illuminated by the hot star 68 Cygni. This multi-spectral image shows the areas of ionized Sulfur(reds), Hydrogen(yellows) and Oxygen (blues) within the nebula. Exp:6 hours, taken July 11th -15th 2026 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380, SH2-142), in Cepheus. It's apparent size is about the that of the Moon. This photo uses the Hubble palette which renders ionized Sulfur(reds), Hydrogen(yellows) and Oxygen (blues). - Updated with additional sessions 07/10/2026 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Ghosts of Cassiopeia Nebula (IC63,IC59) are clouds of dust and gas being pummeled by intense UV radiation from the blue white sub-giant star Gamma Cas. These reflection and emission nebula are ~500 ly from Earth. Total Exp: 10 hrs from several sessions #astronomy #astrophotography
Tulip Nebula (SH2-101) is a bright HII emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This narrow band multi-spectral image shows the dominate areas of ionized Sulfur(reds), Hydrogen(yellows) and Oxygen (blues) within the nebula. Total Exp: 9.5 hours, updated 07/02/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Hidden Galaxy (IC 342, C5) is a fairly close (7-11 Mly) galaxy dimmed and reddened by the dust of the Milky Way because it lies in the galactic plane. It's apparent size is: (1/2 to 2/3rds the Moon's diameter). Total exposure: 8.5 hours taken Spring 2026 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946) is a face on spiral galaxy that lies in the Milky Way's dusty galactic plane. It has 10x more supernova activity than the Milky Way despite being smaller thus giving it it's nickname. Exposure 9 hours over 3 sessions in June 2026 #astronomy #astrophotography
Action photo's of my equipment setup on Cape Cod. They are polar aligned and ready to go for a night of acquiring far away photons. I typically run both scopes all night if weather allows. Scope1: SVBony SV555, wide field Scope2: SVBony SV503 102ed, narrow field #astronomy #astrophotography
Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946), Dark Seahorse Nebula (Barnard 150) and the Ghost Bush Cluster (NGC 6939) in the dusty region of Cepheus. This is a wide field photo of the region, taken from astronomical dusk to dawn, loosing a half hour to clouds. Exp: 4.5 hrs, 06/25/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
"HII Emission region in Perseus", Last Sept. I had commanded my scope to point at the M&M double cluster + Fossil Footprint nebula, but for some reason it glitched and moved a few degrees away. This is the resulting photo of that pointing error. No data is bad data ... #astronomy #astrophotography
The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) is a grand design spiral galaxy interacting with it's companion NGC 5195. In M51 the bluish regions are hot young stars and the reddish regions are dust lanes. I doubled my exposure time in this updated photo. Updated 6/19/26, exp: 8 hours #astronomy #astrophotography
The Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) is a face on spiral in Ursa Major. I used two scopes on this object the night I imaged it. The scopes were different so I scaled, registered and balanced the data for merging to make a more detailed photo. Total exp: 8 hours, taken 04/08/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The M81 group comprised of Bode's Galaxy (M81) ,Cigar(M82) an edge on starburst galaxy, Holmberg IX a young tidal dwarf galaxy formed by past interaction of M81 and M82, and the Garland Galaxy(NGC 3077) wrapped in tidal debris from M81 and M82. updated 06/11/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Croc's Eye Galaxy (M94) is a face on spiral galaxy with an unusual ring structure and hosts a supermassive black hole. Discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. (Per Wikipedia) Taken 06/02/26 Exp: 4 hours (started 2 hours before moon rise) #astronomy #astrophotography
The Cocoon Galaxy (NGC4490) is part of a gravitationally interacting pair of galaxies. It's large hydrogen envelope and tidal bridge to the smaller galaxy (NGC4485) are the result of this pairs gravitational dance. Taken 06/01/26 Exposure: 3.5 hours #astronomy #astrophotography
Pleiades Star Cluster(M45). The weather has been poor on the Cape for while now so I reworked my Pleiades data set from last November using new tools and lessons learned over the past year. The Pleiades has been a favorite of mine since I was 7. Exp 6 hours, 11/19/25 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Leo Triplet (M66 Group) are gravitationally bound and have interacted in the past, causing the group to exhibit tidal distortion structures. Members: The Hamburger galaxy+tidal tail (NGC 3628), top Bright asymmetric spiral (M66) Inclined spiral galaxy (M65), bottom #astronomy #astrophotography
The Beehive Cluster (M44) is a open star cluster containing ~ 1000 stars and is ~ 600-700 million years old. It is fairly bright and is visible to the naked eye under dark skies. Included is an annotated version which outlines the Beehive. Taken 05/12/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Black Eye Galaxy (M64) has a distinct asymmetric dust lane and when observed by William Herschel he compared it to a "Black Eye". Fun Fact: The internal gas+stars disk is rotating in the opposite direction of the external gas disk. Taken 05/12/26 Exposure: 3 hours #astronomy #astrophotography
Deneb is a blue-white supergiant and is the 19th brightest star in the sky. This was quick test of my refractor scope using a star spike diffraction mask which is required to get that old time Mt. Palomar photo style. #astronomy #astrophotography
Markarian's Chain is an arc of galaxies inside the Virgo Cluster. Benjamin Markarian in the 1960's determined several galaxies within the arc shared a common motion. The arc also contains an interacting pair in it's center. (per Wiki) Taken 05/12/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The KOI Fish Galaxy (NGC 4559) in Coma Berenices. It's spiral arms are discontinuous and patchy and have bright star forming regions giving it a KOI Fish like resemblance. I have included a annotated image showing the fish. Taken 05/07/26 before a 12:39am moon rise #astronomy #astrophotography
The Coma Star Cluster(Melotte 111) and Needle Galaxy (NGC4565) an edge on spiral in Coma Berenices. Melotte 111 is only 280 ly distant, while the Needle Galaxy is ~ 45 Mly. Melotte 111 starts with the V shaped set of core stars and extends right. exp: 2hrs 05/04/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Silver Needle (NGC4244, 14Mly), Eye of Sauron (NGC4151, 52Mly) and the Barred Spiral (NGC4145, 68Mly) galaxies located in Canes Venatici. The Eye of Sauron hosts the closest actively accreting super massive black hole. (Per Wiki) Exposure: 3 hours, taken 05/08/26 #astronomy #astrophotography
The Whale (NGC 4631) and Crowbar (NGC 4656/4657) galaxies in Canes Venatici ~ 25-30 Mly from Earth. The Whale has a central starburst region. They are gravitationally interactive causing strong tidal distortion in the Crowbar. (Per Wiki) Taken 05/04, exposure 4 hrs #astronomy #astrophotography