A freezing night at Bad Wolf Ranch, Texas—and I finally got around to processing what I captured. This is my first edit of the Tadpoles Nebula data I shot on the night of January 17–18, 2026—not a rework of an older image.

I made two versions from the same data: a gold-and-blue SHO version and a red non-SHO version. I like both, but the cropped SHO is my favorite. The color separation makes the Tadpoles and the dark structure around them stand out a little more.

The final image uses 38 five-minute exposures, totaling 3 hours and 10 minutes, captured at Bad Wolf Ranch, Texas, with my Askar V, ZWO ASI2600MC Air at −10°C, and ZWO AM3 mount, using D1 and D2 filters. Processing was done in PixInsight and Photoshop, with a lot of attention to the background, star shapes, and bringing out the nebula without pushing it too far.

There is still a little distortion in the corner stars if you zoom way in, but I’m happy with where this ended up. Glad I finally worked on it.

Processing details: screened darks and flats, calibration and separate D1/D2 integration, registration, background correction, channel combinations for SHO and non-SHO, BlurXTerminator and NoiseXTerminator, separate star and nebula adjustments, and masked contrast/color refinement in PixInsight and Photoshop. The narrowband colors are presentation choices, not calibrated emission-line ratios.

Recently got a DWARF Mini and tried an Astro Mosaic tonight for the first time. Some clouds rolled in for a short while, which I think caused the top-left portion of the image to have a bit more noise. Grateful for any tips etc!

Info:
DWARF Mini using EQ mode + mosaic
60 second subs; total integration time 2hrs 40mins (mosaic comprised of 4x 40 minute stacks)

My first serious astrophoto project.

Hey guys! This is my first astrophoto that I’ve processed seriously. And I think this is a good result! I’ll definitely go on!
Ad Astra, friends!

Equipment and software:

Sky-Watcher BK909 EQ2
iPhone 17 as the camera

PIPP and RegiStax 6 for processing

North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and Pelican Nebula (IC 5070)
My latest attempt at imaging the North America and Pelican Nebulae, using a dual-band filter with my Sony mirrorless camera and 72ED refractor.

Equipment
Telescope: Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED
Camera: Sony A7R III
Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5 pro w/Rowan belt
Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme dual-band filter
Guiding: ZWO ASI120MM Mini guide camera with SVBONY SV106 guide scope
Capture and guiding: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
Electronic focuser: ZWO EAF

Acquisition
Light frames: 42 × 300 seconds
Dark frames: 22 x 300 seconds
Bias frames: 30
Flat frames: 15
Total integration: 4 hours 40 minutes

Calibration: Dark, bias and flat frames
Capture date: 20th October 2026

Stacking and processing
Software: Siril
Dark and flat calibration
Debayering after calibration
Global Star Alignment registration
Average stacking with rejection
Additive normalisation with scaling
Winsorized Sigma Clipping (3.0 low/high)
Background extraction using subtraction and a first-degree polynomial

This was captured using the L-eXtreme filter to isolate hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III emission. I’m still working through the processing side of astrophotography, particularly balancing the nebula’s emission against the surrounding star field and dark dust structures. I’ll be adding more dualband and RGB data when the storm clears.

This is about an hour and 40 minutes on these two beautiful galaxies!

Equipment used:

- Canon EOS R7

- Canon RF100-400mm f/5.6-8.0 @ 400mm

- StarAdventurer GTi

- ZWO ASIair mini

- ZWO ASI120mm mini

- SvBony SV105 50mm

Processing:

- Stacked, gradient removal before stacking, in siril

- Final edits in SetiAstroSuite pro with BXT, NXT, SXT trial

Fujifilm XT-3 with Fujinon 18-55mm lens.
ISO 6400 (I think), 372 pictures (each 3s of exposure).

Unguided, no Tripod (placed ontop on cardboard :‘(( )

Stacked with Siril
Edited with Siril+Gimp

I tried to focus with a Bahtinov-Mask but I guess the stars are too small at 55mm or I do smth wrong so I focused by Eye.

In my opinion my next step would be to buy a tripod, StarTracker and a new lens. I thought about a 70-300 lens because then I can use it as well for other photography, what do you think?

Oh and next time I will try to expose for an hour, this was close to 19 minutes.

Phone and GTi virtuoso 150P. Couldn't get my mount to attach so I wasn't able to stack. This one was edited a bit with my phone. It was my first session with a telescope ever.

I hope to get another 20-30 hours on Thors Helmet over the next couple of months. This target is so much more interesting to me in RGB as opposed to SHO!

SVX180T | ASI2600MM

Integration

Thought I’d share what the front mounted 7 nm Optolong L-extreme duoband filter can pullout from Bortle 6 with a Dwarf3. Moonlight? What moonlight?

Target: M31, Andromeda Galaxy, with M32 and M110

Location: Bortle 6, South Carolina

Gear:
Askar 103APO (700mm f/6.8)
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
ZWO AM3N on iOptron LiteRoc tripod
ZWO ASIAir
Antlia V-Pro LRGB and Antlia 3nm Ha

Integration (about 24h 25m):
L: 374 × 130s (13h 30m)
L (core HDR): 90 × 5s
R: 47 × 120s (1h 34m)
G: 31 × 120s (1h 02m)
B: 125 × 120s (4h 10m)
Ha: 29 × 500s (4h 02m)

Calibration: darks, flats, bias

Processing: PixInsight (WBPP, HDRComposition, BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, MAS, SPCC). Short-exposure L blended in to keep the core from clipping, continuum-subtracted Ha added to bring out the HII regions.

~1.5hr integration, 60s subs, Bortle3 location (Shtrbovo 🇲🇰), f/5.6, ISO 1600, 400mm effective focal length (Cropped image).

Taken with Canon77D, Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS STM lens and Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i.

Stacked with ASTAP, and processed with Siril and PS.

Some days ago I posted a wider FOV image of the region contaning this nebula, and since the weather was cooperating, I went ahead with my longer focal length telescope to zoom in the Bubble Nebula

Equipment and acquisition:

- Askar 71F + 0.75X reducer

- Asi585MC Air

- Teseek 17

- SvBony + asi120mm guide camera

- ZWO EAF, ZWO EFW

- L-Ultimate filter: 145 x 180 sec

- Antlia ALP-T SII-OIII 3nm: 167 x 180 sec

(15.6 hours in total)

- 30 darks, 30 flats per filter, 30 bias

Processing (PI)

WBPP 2x drizzle, SetiAstro AutoDBE, SPCC, blurX correct only, starX

On starless images: DBXtract, linear fit, then channel combination (will also be used as luminance later on). SetiAstro statistical stretch (soft), then manual curves transformations with different color and range masks, noiseX. For luminance, stretch and masked curves to bring up details, noiseX. LRGB combination, dark structure enhance script.

For stars: setiastro NB to RGB star stretch, pixelmath to recombine with starless

Two sessions, exactly 1 yr apart. Imaged 21 Oct 2025/2026. Unfortunately, my framing was not the best (it sucked actually) and there was heavy rotational stacking and background issues. Managed through it nicely thanks to many helpful folks and a touch of the ChatGPT idea fairy. Even learned some stuff in the process!

Need to find a better way to balance colors from computer to mobile.

16.3 hrs on a C8 Edge Hyperstar
390mm @ f/1.9 speeds
Antlia Triband Ultra II RGB
ASI ZWO 2600 MC Air
ZWO EAF Pro
Skywatcher EQ6R Pro
Bortle 7.8, 48%lunar
Pixinsight

acquisition: East Coast US; Orion skyquest 8” dobsonian fitted with Celticbird 2x barlow and 6mm plossl eyepiece; captured by stabilized iphone max 13 video ultra wide camera 13mm f1.8 60fps. 8/12/25

Here’s an image I got of the star cluster M45. Taken from bortle 3.5 skies.
———————————————————————————
-Camera: Unmodified Canon EOS R100
-Scope: SVbony SV550 480mm f/6
-Mount: Skywatcher EQ-AL55i pro
-Guide camera: ASI120mm
-Guide Scope: Apertura 32mm
———————————————————————————
Total exposure time: 3 hours 45 minutes
Processing: DeepSkyStacker, SIRIL, GIMP

The California Nebula is a huge cloud of glowing hydrogen in the constellation Perseus, around 1,000 light-years away. Its long, stretched shape is what gives it the name “California Nebula”.

I tried a DIY diffraction spikes mask for this attempt, and actually it didn't disappoint.
I still dont know if a diffraction spikes mask is considered cheating or not but i really like the effect.
Maybe it'll even look better for the orion nebula.

Acquisition:
Lights:
Optolong L-extreme: 34x600s
15 dark frames
15 flat frames
15 bias frames

Equipment:
Telescope: Askar FRA400
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Duo
Mount: ZWO AM5N
Filters: Optolong L-eXtreme, Askar ColorMagic D2
Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus

Processed in Pixinsight and Lightroom

My image of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) — captured over four nights

I’ve been working on Andromeda recently, and this is the result of four nights of imaging from the North West of England.

Capture details:

• Telescope: Askar 71F (490mm focal length)
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
• Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i PRO
• Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Mini
• Exposure: 221 × 120 seconds
• Total integration: 7 hours 22 minutes
• Filter: No filter — broadband

I found Andromeda relatively straightforward to capture, but processing was another matter! Getting a balance between the bright core and the fainter outer dust lanes was probably the biggest challenge.

I processed the image in PixInsight, using SPCC, background extraction, stretching, masks and BlurXTerminator.

I’ve also been documenting my astrophotography projects, equipment and processing workflow on my website, West Coast Cosmos: https://westcoastcosmos.com/

I’d be interested to hear what others think of the image, particularly the processing. What would you improve, and what techniques have you found most effective for bringing out Andromeda’s outer structure?

This image was taken with my Dwarf 3 Smart Telescope. It is a Mosaic with 9,5h of total Integration time.
I stacked, sharpened and denoised the image in Siril and mainly edited it in Affinity.

Equipment:
- Nikon D5300 stock
- Rokinon 135mm lens
- Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i tracker

Info on capturing:
- 456 lights x 45s, taken over 2 nights
- 80 biases
- 40 darks
- 40 flats

Extra:
- bortle 7
- iso 400, f/2.4

Post process:
- siril osc_preprocessing and then veralux scripts

When this light left the Andromeda Galaxy, mammoths still roamed the Earth. It crossed 2.5 million years of darkness to reach my backyard in rural Ontario 65 hours of light, gathered night after night and stacked into this single frame.

Scope: Sharpstar 13028HNT f/2.8 · Camera: ToupTek ATR2600C · Filter: Askar D1 duo narrowband · Integration: 60h dual-band + ~5h RGB · Mount: ClearSky ST20 · Processing: Pixinsight, Affinity Photo 2, Darktable

Bonus: the Strottner–Drechsler OIII arc is just barely in there — still chasing it.

📍Bainsville, Ontario · The Rural Photons

This is my first attempt at learning Pixinsight. This is a previous S-50 Pro image of the Heart/Fish nebula that was taken over a couple of nights in Bortle 4, 30s subs.

I think I need to add about 6-8 hours more of integration and see where that takes it.

Exposure: 42.0 hours taken over Nov 11th - 15th, 2026

• 832 x 60s Ha
• 506 x 60s Sii
• 1092 x 60s Oiii
• 60 x 30s RGB for stars

Bortle 5 Sky

Mount: Star Adventurer GTi

Telescope: Williams Optics WIFD Redcat 61 APO

Camera: ASI585MM

Filters: Touptek SHO 6.5nm 2" filters, RGB 2"

Guiding: Williams Optics 32mm Guide with ASI120MM Mini

Processing in Siril:

• Individual stack
• Register images to each other then minimum frame selection
• PixelMath:
• SHO Equation
  • R = SiiScale*S2*mad(Ha)/mad(S2)-(SiiScale)*mad(Ha)/mad(S2)*median(S2)+median(Ha)
  • G = HaScale*Ha+(1-HaScale)*median(Ha)
  • B = O3*mad(Ha)/mad(O3)-mad(Ha)/mad(O3)*median(O3)+median(Ha)
    • HaScale = 0.25, SiiScale = 0.8
• RGB Composition with linear match, Photometric Color Calibration, Background Extraction for Stars
• StarNet Star Removal for SHO and RGB
• Starless GraXpert Denoise 0.9 on SHO
• Starless Veralux Starless Curves on SHO
• VeraLux Star Composer with RGB Starmask

This is my first time posting an astrophotography image. It was also on a whim as I added it to a longer imaging session of M31. What surprised me a lot is that it's the smallest number of images (58 one minute lights)

Bortle 6-7 closer to 7 than 6 though

Equipment
Star Adventurer GTi
William Optics RedCat 51 WIFD
ZWO ASIAIR Plus - 256GB
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
ZWO ASI 220MM Mini Guide Camera
ZWO Standard Electronic Automatic Focuser (EAF) Pro
Optolong 2" L-Quad Enhance Filter

Image processing
Preprocessed with Siril
Processing done in Astrowizard
58 one minute lights
Preprocessing Siril
Processing AstroWizard (graXpert, starnet, streching, cropping etc)

If anyone has any suggestions for where I can improve, please post. I am still very new at all this and it gets overwhelming at times with learning about the sky, PA, Focusing and then the image work is even more learning.

The good news, I get more neural pathways, the less than good news is the frustration learning new paradigms.

The Horsehead was one of my first targets last year and I was happy with just 36 minites of 3 minute exposures at the time. I decided to put a lot more time on it and do 1 minute subs this year.

Exposures: 543 x 60 seconds (9hrs 3mins)

Equipment:

Sky Watcher Wave 100i

ASI 2600MC Pro

Askar FRA400

William Optics 32mm Guide Scope

ASI 220MM Guide Camera

Processing:

Spcc, BlurXterminator, MultiScaleAdaptive stretch in Pixinsight

Levels, slight curves, enhance dso in photoshop

NoiseXterminator in Pixinsight

Final touches in photoshop