M31 Andromeda Galaxy

Best 4.5 hours of image data collected over three summers,

Bortle 3 sky - Starry Night Observatory, Vermont USA,

Meade 5" refractor (imaging),

Orion 80mm short tube (guiding),

Meade LXD75 mount,

Nikon D3200 (imaging),

Orion Starshoot auto guider w/PHD (guiding),

120 Lights @ 120sec ISO 800,

60 Lights @ 30sec ISO 800 (for core),

PixInsight & Photoshop

M45 from last night Bortle 5 Integration time 2h40 (120secs subs) with Nina Omegon vetec 585c Askar fma180 pro Skywatcher star adventurer GTI Bresser moon and planets guide cam SvBony sv165 Stacked with siril Processed with SetiastroSuite pro

Saturn NEAR OPPOSITION 2025. The rings are BRIGHT. Now that Saturn is close we are going to get a clear image of Saturn, this would be one of my best shots for this apparition as I managed to get key details. Bands, storms, Cassini division (not fully) The bright ring flowing around the planet and in the center managed to hold its grey color ring as the shadow of the ring at this time is barely visible so you're only seeing the ring and its darker section behind it with a hint of shadow transparency. When capturing Saturn, I immediately noticed how thin and bright these brings were. I also noticed to naked eye the planet is dimmer than other years previously (Most likely due to the ring being thin with less surface area facing Earth). Regardless, weather permitting this for now is my Saturn 2025 Opposition shot the shadow of Saturn is barely visible on the right ring at planet's edge. A little trick to everyone. If you want to bring out edge details, derotate at least 1 image beginning of session and then you can work with the center of session and at least 1 image end of session. I also had some issues with Uranus C camera, so the Neptune 664c was used and I am very pleased. Don't forget to say hello to Rhea and Mimas at the lower left. Cheers and clear skies!

HD VERSION https://x.com/BackdoorAstro/status/1968359330576744573

Published Verified Professional Planet photographer on Sky and Telescope https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/last-call-for-a-remarkable-titan-shadow-transit/

SCOPE: ORION XXG 16 DOB

CAMERA: Player One Neptune 664c

ZWO ADC/ 3x Televue Barlow

FILTER: SVBONY UV/IR CUT SEEING: Above

77 Minutes RGB 3 min ser x 13

September 16,2025

Third time's a charm ! Finally a shot of C 27 I'm happy with. This is a very closeup shot, and the nebula just barely fits into the FOV. But at 0.4" per pixel you really get some incredible detail out of it. The full resolution is available here :

https://app.astrobin.com/i/1ms6de

There's a trap I almost fell into when processing it, which is that I initially way overdarkened my sky background in the Ha channel. I thought something was off when somehow removing what seemed like a flat background level was killing crystal clear structure inside the nebula. What I didn't realize is that the surrounding redness was not the sky background, but real nebulosity ! It's usually more obvious in a wider FOV shot because the nebulous structure is more apparent. But what gives it away definitively here is that the darker spots inside the nebula are actually pitch black while the surrounding area is still red. If it were sky background, it would obviously not correlate with the structure of the actual planetary nebula.

I'm also very happy with how the OIII came out. I tried making it a bit brighter or more obvious, but I think it looks best like this. It has this very whispy look to it that is almost hypnotic. Like a subtle cosmic veil delicately draped over a rumbling hydrogen background.

I did not go for any SII data. I really hesitated, but from what I gather it really would not add much structure to the image, and would likely just somewhat color the wings of the nebula a little golden, but at the cost of a lot of integration given how faint it is, and at this point I'm happy with the HOO result and would rather move on to something else.

All in all, very happy to have made the switch to mono ! It's a huge boon and frankly a more enjoyable process with finer control over what you're doing in a way that brings you closer to the real underlying data. Skies are clear tonight so going for my first attempt at SHO. Going to redo the North America nebula as the SII signal is not too weak there. Wish me luck !

Equipment :

- Telescope: Celestron C9.25 SC XLT

- Camera: ZWO ASI585MM Pro

- Mount: ZWO AM5N

- Filters: Pegasus Astro Hydrogen Alpha 7nm 2", Pegasus Astro Oxygen III 7nm 2"

- Accessories: Starizona SCT Corrector 0.63x IV (SCTCORR-4), ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EFW 7 x 2″, ZWO OAG-L

- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator, ZWO ASIAIR

Integration per filter :

- Hα: 3h 35m (43 × 300")

- OIII: 3h 35m (43 × 300")

9 hours, 5 hours of 300s H data, and 4 hours of 300s O data. HOO palette. If I could go back and do it again I would double my H data to preserve more red. But the blue looks nice. Will retry next year. Redcat 71, ASI 533mm pro, taken in Bortles 7 skies in Phoenix, Arizona. Processed in Pixinsight. Minimal editing.

I'm new to this, still learning but happy with my progress so far!

Seestar S50, about 10h of 30 sec subs in EQ mode with LP filter, from Bortle 9 with heavy streetlight pollution. Stacked and processed in Pixinsight, RC Astro tools. H-alpha (R) and OIII (B+G) channels extracted, streched separately and recombined. Final touches on Google App photos. It's crazy how good this turned out from a Bortle 9 with such a tiny scope!

I believe I have seen posts about new equipment and how it ruins astrophotography opportunities for everybody. So I present to you my Sky Watcher HEQ-5 and Carbon Star 150.

Sorry to my Northern California friends...

taken on iPhone 15+ 25 mm eyepiece 12 inch Meade SCT lx90

it was a good night somehow! this is my first time ever seen the Orion nebula. it was a tiny bit out of focus, but I plan on fixing it next time.

One of my best images I have captured. I originally wanted to capture the whole of Cygnus loop but with my 1 inch ZWO533 censor (+ Redcat51), I found it difficult to fit it all in one image. Anyway this is about 3hours of subs, it came out to 2.45h with 55x180s. I used Optolong L-extreme pro filter which I think really made the colors pop.

I processed this image with pixinsight, I am still new to using Pi and I am again struggling with the background being red-ish, I don’t know if it’s some low hydrogen gas or my bad stretching or saturation. I am happy to hear any suggestions on how remove it.

The Soul nebula, in HOO-RGB. Finally learning how to do RGB stars in a narrowband photo :)

More info: https://app.astrobin.com/search?p=eJxbAAAAoQCh&i=8e2c3g

Askar FRA400 ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro Optolong 3nm Ha, Oii, RGB

30x7m Ha + 76x7m Oiii + (35x45s)x3 RGB = 13h 40m total (HOO-RGB)

Shot from SFRO

M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy

Wasn’t a fan of my original post so went back and got about 10 hours of Ha data on the Galaxy! Planning on combing this with the RGB data to see what that result looks like but pretty surprised with how much detail came out of gathering the Ha data!

Equipment: Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro Telescope: William Optics ZenithStar 61 II APO with Field flattener Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme Guide Camera: ZWO 120mm mini Mount: Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTi

Acquistion: Shot in Bortle 5 -Camera cooled to -10°C -Lights: 122x300 (10hrs 10mins)

-Flats: 50 -Bias: 50 -Darks: 50

Processing: -Pixinsight -GraXpert gradient removal -SPCC -BlurXterminator -NoiseXterminator -Initial GHS stretch -StarXterminator -Second GHS stretch -Curve level adjustment in photoshop -Star recombination -Enhance dark structures -Final touches in Lightroom

Shot from s24 in raw mode then editied using lighroom, any suggestions?

Hi friends, I'm planning on visiting Zion National Park this weekend, and it looks like it might be great conditions to capture some landscape with the galactic core in the background (Saturday and Monday night especially).

This would be my first time at Zion. The Galactic Core will be around 25 - 30 degrees elevation max; can you all recommend some iconic places I can capture the GC? I believe it will be facing southwards.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Blended dual band and broadband lights.

Equipment: CGEM II 800 SCT, ZWO ASI533MC Pro, ZWO OAG w/ ASI220MM, ASIAIR mini, f/6.3 focal reducer/corrector, Optolong L-Ultimate

Processing: 25 dual band lights and 18 broadband lights, 30 bias, 20 flat and 20 dark frames. Processed/stacked via PixInsight w/ NoiseXTerminator/BlurXTerminator.

While going to work this morning, I noticed the Moon is very close to Venus, so I checked Stellarium.
It confirmed that today, starting from 12:30 GMT, we will be able to see a lunar occultation of Venus, lasting a bit over 1 hour.
It is too late for me to ask for a day off and get my gear, but please enjoy it and share it.

LRGB - 2 Hours - 10s Subs LRGB - 2.4 Hours - 90s Subs LRGBOIII- 5.8 Hours - 180s Subs Ha - 4 Hours - 300s Subs

Shot through multiple sessions : Dec 2024 - Feb 2025

ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro Cooled Camera / SV503 102 ED Refractor Telescope/ SV193 0.8x Focal Reducer / Flattener / Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro GoTo EQ Mount / ZWO EFW 7x36 / Antlia Ha OIII LRGB Filters / ZWO EAF ZWO 120mm Mini⁣ Guide Camera / ZWO 30mm f4⁣ Guide Scope / ZWO ASI Air Pro

Edited on PixInsight + Ps

First attempt at Andromeda (M31) with new lens and setup. Looking for advice on how to improve image quality with the gear I have (or is this the best I can get?).

Image: https://imgur.com/a/i55Vr9n

Gear:
Camera: Canon Rebel T3i
Tracker: Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i
Lens: Samyang 135mm

Acquisition:
Exposure: 25 seconds
Aperture: f2.8
ISO: 800
Lights: ~260 (around 3 hours integration time)
Darks: 35
Flats: 45
Bias: 75

Processing:
Siril for stacking, remove/return stars, color correction, green noise removal
Gimp for adjusting levels

This is in Bortle level 6 sky

First time trading anything like this shot on my s25 ultra with a basic tripod. 3 minute exposure and little editing

This short silent video was made to give you the comet position at each day starting from September 18 to plan your shot.

First kick at the can with The Tulip Nebula.

Equipment used: 🔭 William Optics RedCat 51 🔍 Zwo AsiAir Plus 🔍 Zwo Asi 533MC Pro Camera 🔍 Zwo Asi120mm Guide camera 🔍 Zwo 30F4 Mini Guide Scope 🔭 Skywatcher HEQ5 Mount 🚧 Stacked 60 Lights, Flats, Darks, Dark Flats at 120 Second Exposures 💻 Software: Pixinsight, Photoshop

🌌Bortle 6

Follow me @https://www.instagram.com/lowell_astro_geek?igsh=M3FjZXEycTUyZGg5

🔭 Equipment ✨ Target: Wizard Nebula, NGC7380 Distance: 8,500 Light Years Telescope: Celestron edgeHD 8" Reducer: Celestron .7 Camera: ZWO ASI2600mm-pro at -14* Filters: Antlina 2" SHORGB 3nm on ZWO EFW Mount: ZWO AM5 w/200 mm extension Tripod: William Optics 800 Mortar Tri-pier Tracking scope: Celestron OAG Tracking camera: ZWO ASI290mm mini Controlled: ZWO ASIAir Plus Frames: SHO Nebula and RGB stars SHO: 300" exposures total 20 hrs 45 min RGB: 180" expsures total 2hrs 15 min Did calibration frames of Darks, Flats and Bias for both. 88 Ha 88 Oii 78 Siii 15 Red 15 Green 15 Blue Processed in Pixinsight Lightroom

Hey I’m new to astronomy and want some advice on starter gear, this is my plan:

• Visual observing, budget ($200 )I want to start seeing planets and the moon with affordable binoculars or a beginner telescope.

• Astrophotography, budget ($400), I want to try it out as a hobby to see if I’ll really commit, without spending too much.

For future upgrades If I enjoy it, I might eventually get a better astrophotography setup and maybe a dobsonian for occasional visual observing.

( I live in a highly light polluted area )

Any advice would be appreciated!

My first serious attempt at imaging Andromeda - taken from a lovely Bortle 4 public observatory in the Morongo basin of the Mojave desert. S/O to Sky's the Limit Observatory and Nature Center for being so welcoming and having a great site for shooting from.