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Continue reading →: The Surfboard GalaxyAnother addition to the galaxy collection this galaxy season. M108 – the Surfboard Galaxy. This was a quick, one night shoot, which was relatively uneventful with the exception of some light clouds rolling in near the end of the night. Post-processing also went fairly quickly, according to my standard galaxy…
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Continue reading →: Some Additional Data on M106I was not satisfied with the results after the first night on M106, so I went back and collected data over another 2 nights. Unfortunately I forgot to plug in my dew heater, so most of the 1st night was a waste. However, there was another clear night, and I…
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Continue reading →: What I Did Last WeekSince 5 bullet points without context seem to be the most efficient way to communicate all my accomplishments from the previous week….here goes. -Carried my telescope outside -Pointed it at M106 -Collected data for 6 hours -Packed everything back up -Post-processed the data in PixInsight
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Continue reading →: The Medusa NebulaHere’s the latest image I’m adding to my collection. I took this over two nights in late January, took some time getting around to post processing it. The Medusa nebula is fairly faint and small as nebula go, so I went with my longer focal length setup. I was hoping…
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Continue reading →: Reprocessing M31I went back to my Andromeda Galaxy work from earlier this year. I had a stretch of cloudy nights and wanted to spend some time practicing Pixinsight. My original had been done in Siril. I was happy with how the original had come out, but blown away by how much…
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Continue reading →: The Flaming Star NebulaAfter shooting the Flaming Star and Tadpole Nebulas together in a wider field shot a few weeks ago, I decided to return and capture the Flaming Star solo in a tighter shot. It’s been a bit chilly here, and my equipment wasn’t fully cooperative, but I managed to get about…
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Continue reading →: Lunar Occultation of MarsI’ve never really attempted serious planetary or lunar photography before, and my setup isn’t really optimal for it. Everything is reversed from deep sky photography. Instead of short-ish focal lengths, long exposures, dark skies, and careful guiding; for lunar or planetary photography skies don’t matter, guiding isn’t necessary, focal lengths…
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Continue reading →: The Crab NebulaI’m really excited about how this photo came out. I had been planning to collect on the Crab Nebula, but this is small target, so I went up to my 8 inch SCT scope to take advantage of the much longer focal length. Unfortunately the first night I tried was…
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Continue reading →: The Tadpole and Flaming Star NebulaTime for some new imaging. Above is the Tadpole Nebula, designated NGC 1893 and The Flaming Star Nebula, designated IC 405. Although they appear close together, they are entirely separate structures and are superimposed by chance. The Tadpole Nebula (left) is approximately 12,400 light years away and is believed to be…
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Continue reading →: Reprocessing the Horsehead NebulaI spent some time over the holiday break trying to improve my PixInsight game. Below is my original image. I was happy enough at the time, but there was a nagging feeling that I was losing a lot of data to the black point, and the dark nebulosity was annoyingly…
Hello,
I’m Mike
I hope you’ll join me as I explore the amazing universe of astrophotography. This hobby can seem overwhelming at first, but it I find it to be perspective changing and inspiring.
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Sweetman Astrophotography 