zwestfall
@zwestfall.bsky.social
Software Engineer and dabbler in astronomy/nature photography
Sadr and the Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318), shot from my deck over a few evenings this week. I had fun playing with this one - love all those little dust lanes, Bok globules and other whatsits. :) Redcat 51/ASI 2600MC Pro/AM3N/L-Enhance, 5 hours total. #astrophotography
I made it to my favourite dark place this week to try out a few ideas. Heart of Cygnus, Nikon 50mm 1.8G/D5600a/SGPro. 74 minutes total. #astrophotography
M13 - first test with the shiny new astronomy camera! I was blown away by how close I could crop and still get a decent result. This is just 11% of the original image. 😀 Redcat 51/ASI 2600MC Pro/AM3N/3+ hours integration. #astrophotography
Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex - I'd been itching to try out the old macro lens on this target for a while & finally got out to my favourite dark site this weekend. Happy with how the lens performed! :) (Nikon 105mm f/2.8G @f/4, D5600a, 2.5 hours) #astrophotography
A look into the Virgo Cluster (including Markarian's Chain), taken from my front deck over three evenings. There are more than 500 galaxies visible in this image! Redcat 51/Nikon D5600/7.5 hrs. #astrophotography
With all the downtime I had this winter, I was starting to think I’d fully miss out on the Orion targets. Either way, after 2 months of hardware problems here’s the Horsehead! I’ve always wanted to shoot this one but just never had a good opportunity in the pnw. #astrophotography #photography
Flaming Star (IC 405) and Tadpoles (IC 410) nebulae in the Auriga constellation, shot from my front deck over a few recent evenings. Redcat 51/L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 10 hours total exposure. #astrophotography
Hey, a clear night in November! Managed to get about 90 minutes on the Double Cluster in Perseus last night. Redcat 51/Nikon D5600a 🔭
Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) in constellation Boötes, Oct 21, 2025. (Redcat 51, 1 hour stacked) #astrophotography #comets
IC 1396 (w/ Elephant's Trunk Nebula) in HOO palette. The dead street lamp outside my house really helped... hope they never fix it! 12.5 hours, Redcat 51, L-Enhance, Nikon D5600a. #astrophotography
WR 134 captured from my patio on 14 nights in July & August 😊🔭 This nebula around the star WR 134 was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of 58 h in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and merged with RGB stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social what do you see?
North America and Pelican Nebulae, captured from my front deck (Bortle 7) over several nights last week. 8 hours with dual narrowband filter + 1 hour without (for stars). Redcat 51, L-Enhance, Nikon D5600a. #astrophotography
A bit of ‘low hanging fruit’ from a recent trip into the North Cascades, BC, Canada. M8 & 20 (Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae), 90 minutes with Redcat 51 + Nikon D5600a. #astrophotography
Just over one hour on the Rho Ophiuchi region using a 'nifty fifty' lens. :) Taken last week from a very dark beach on Vancouver Island. #astrophotography
Made it to my favourite dark site for the first time in a while! My intended target was behind puffy clouds, so I changed plans and pointed north. Milky Way from Cassiopeia to Aquila, 1 hour stack @11mm. #astrophotography #MilkyWay
Life has been really getting in the way of hobbies this year, but I'm finally finding some free time again. Here is a neat little waterfall I discovered last week on Vancouver Island! I took this using a neutral density filter and a 4 second long exposure. #nature #waterfalls
The Rosette Nebula in Monoceros - giant cedars in my neighbour's yard always make this one a challenge, but I got a few more hours on it this year. Redcat 51/L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 7 hours narrowband + 1 hour broadband. #astrophotography
NGC 1499 (California Nebula) - January has been kind to us this year on BC’s ‘wet coast’; I managed to get 11 imaging nights in total! Happy for the opportunity to dig in to a bonus winter project. :D Redcat 51/L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 14 hours integration #astrophotography
IC 1805 (Heart Nebula) - this "preschooler’s valentine" made for a fun January project, and I ended up spending quite a bit more time on it than I'd planned. 😉 Redcat 51/Optolong L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 14.5 hours integration #astrophotography
There's a large amount of stuff in this one. 😀 Cygnus to Scutum, taken from my favourite Bortle 2 mountain perch (summertime). #astrophotography #MilkyWay
M45, the pretty Pleiades ✨ Imaged January 2024 and reprocessed recently with PixInsight. Nikon 300mm f/4D with step-down filter ring, D7200, 5.5 hours integration. #astrophotography
I’ve been having a bit of fun this week going back to some old datasets and reprocessing them with newer & better tools. It’s a wonderful time to be getting into this hobby! 😀 Nikon 300mm f/4D + D7200, 6 hours integration #astrophotography #Andromeda #galaxies
Cygnus Loop (aka Veil Nebula) - this was my most ambitious #astrophotography project of 2024. I spent a total of 9 summer evenings absorbing these faint photons... :) Redcat 51/L-Enhance Filter/Nikon D5600a, 16 hours integration. 🔭
Kemble’s Cascade and the Golden Harp Cluster (NGC 1502) - this neat and colourful asterism can be found in the northern constellation Camelopardalis. 🔭 Redcat 51 + Nikon D5600. #astrophotography
Planet Mercury rising above Boundary Bay, BC, early Monday morning. Have a peaceful holiday! 🎄🔭
A wide field view of IC 434, Flame and Horsehead Nebula. This is one of my favourite 'backyard projects' to date! Redcat 51 + Nikon D5600a, 7 hours integration. #astrophotography #deepspace
Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) - I’ve been itching to get to this one for a while, and I was finally able to give it a try earlier this week. Redcat 51 with L-Enhance dual narrowband filter, Nikon D5600a, 3 hours total. #astrophotography #deepspace
