Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[Andy Resnick]

So many galaxies! Hard to imagine the scale involved. Could some of the "stars" we are seeing also be galaxies. Maybe just smaller or alternatively further away ? Can a star be distinguished from what might just be a more distant galaxy ?

I know! It's sobering to contemplate the vastness and our insignificant place in it.

I typically run the image through Astrometry.net to identify Messier/NGC/IC objects, but it doesn't get all of them (for example, UGC and PGC catalogs are not included); often distant galaxies can be distinguished from stars because (in my images) they look a little blurry. I haven't run this image yet, but I suspect there are at least 300 galaxies visible....

 

[neilparker62]

If you look deep enough into space and time , it seems just about everything you see is a galaxy:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jul/11/nasa-james-webb-telescope-ancient-galaxy-images

There are some foreground stars and I'd guess they're a lot closer than the galaxies behind.

 

[neilparker62]

Just a cellphone pic but managed to pick up 3 planets - Venus, Jupiter and Mercury. You might need to zoom in on the pic to see Mercury (or at least what I assume is Mercury based on Stellarium positioning) towards the top of the tree on the left.

 

[davenn]

If you look deep enough into space and time , it seems just about everything you see is a galaxy:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jul/11/nasa-james-webb-telescope-ancient-galaxy-images

There are some foreground stars and I'd guess they're a lot closer than the galaxies behind.

ALL the foreground stars you see are all within our Milky Way Galaxy

 

[neilparker62]

ALL the foreground stars you see are all within our Milky Way Galaxy

Yes - in retrospect that should have been obvious. Even the highest resolution pic of our nearest galactic neighbour, Andromeda can only resolve stars as tiny yellow dots.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Crescent moon this evening @ 800mm (cropped):

Deets: nikon D810 + nikkor 800/8, 1/5s, ISO 1250, straight to jpg. Maybe you prefer the 1:1 crop:

(1/200s, ISO 250)

 

[Razvan Mihai]

Witch Head Nebula, acquired winter 2026, with Seestar S50. Ploiești, Romania, bortle 7.
Due to weak signal, processing was a challenge.
1 hour total integration time, stack with ASTAP, processing and editing with Seti Astro Suite and Photoshop.

 

[Andy Resnick]

My final attempt imaging Hoag's Object (PRC D-51, PGC 54559):

Maybe you can discern a faint circular glow around the center dot. Deets: Nikon D810 + Nikkor 800/4 on Losmandy G-8, 10s subs, 13 h total integration time, stacking etc. with AstroPixelProcessor.

I'm not entirely sure this is a 'fail', I knew the apparent magnitude of the ring (16) was near the detection limit I calculated a while ago, but I was hoping that with sufficient averaging, I could pull it out of the noise. Remember, the magnitude of an extended object is calculated as if all the light is detected by a point detector. I can see a faint whisper of LEDA 3843622 and 2MASS 15173403+2134060 at the bottom center and 2MASS 15173523+2139214 bottom left edge, so that's encouraging.

 

[AlexB23]

My final attempt imaging Hoag's Object (PRC D-51, PGC 54559):

View attachment 372744

Maybe you can discern a faint circular glow around the center dot. Deets: Nikon D810 + Nikkor 800/4 on Losmandy G-8, 10s subs, 13 h total integration time, stacking etc. with AstroPixelProcessor.

I'm not entirely sure this is a 'fail', I knew the apparent magnitude of the ring (16) was near the detection limit I calculated a while ago, but I was hoping that with sufficient averaging, I could pull it out of the noise. Remember, the magnitude of an extended object is calculated as if all the light is detected by a point detector. I can see a faint whisper of LEDA 3843622 and 2MASS 15173403+2134060 at the bottom center and 2MASS 15173523+2139214 bottom left edge, so that's encouraging.

Wow, that is a great photo. Your telescope imaged a galaxy nearly 600 million light-years away.

 

[timmdeeg]

It has been an unexpected and pleasant gift at my birthday.

Teleskop: William Optics RedCat 51
Montierung: Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro SynScan GoTo
Guiding: MGEN-3
Kamera: Sony A7III modifiziert
Bearbeitung: Siril: Crop - photometrische Farbkalibrierung-Graxpert Background Extraction+Denoising - PixelMath - VeraLux_Hypermetric_Stretch - Starnet und Kosmetik mit LightZone

Ort: Wachenheim, SQM 20,2
Datum: 25. und 26. Dezember 2025
Belichtung: 25.12.2025 - 57x300 ISO 640 ... 26.12.2025 - 43x300 ISO 80 - gesamt 101x300 8h 25'
Size: 5,96° x 4,2°

 

[sbrothy]

I can't get enough of this 'song'.

SYMPHONY OF SCIENCE - WAVES OF LIGHT
Symphony of Science returns! A musical celebration of light and how it tells the story of our universe. Featuring Brian Cox.

He's a good science mediator. I've never seen him in this role though.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Ergh... I stayed up way to late to try and image the Falcon 9 lunar impact. TL;DR: didn't see anything happen.

Firstly:

(Nikon Z7 + 800/5.6 nikkor @ f/8, 1/160s, ISO 200)

Here's where the plume would have been (300%), had I seen it:

But I did get nice images of Rupes Recta (200%, horizontal line in the center):

The embankment is 120 km long, 3 km wide, and 300m high.

Also some good topography (400%):

From lower left, going couterclockwise: Plato (crater), Mons Pico, Pico beta, Kirch and Piazzi Smyth, Mons Piton, Montes Alpes. The mountains are about 2.5km high.

 

[DennisN]

It was a solar eclipse yesterday in Europe.
Here in Sweden it was partial (ca 80%, if I remember correctly).

I learned about it just the day before, and wasn't well prepared, but I managed to gather some equipment and go down to the waterfront since the Sun would be quite low in the sky.

Photo 1: The eclipse has begun. Sunspots can also be seen on this photo.

Photo 2: The eclipse is close to the maximum. Sunspots can also be seen on this photo.

Photo 3: The solar eclipse with some clouds in the foreground.

Photo 4: A nice dramatic sky with a solar eclipse in the background. I got very pleased with this one.

Photo 5: A man looking at the eclipse on my camera screen.

Photo 6: Another man taking photos of my camera screen during the eclipse.

Photo 7: My camera pointing at the eclipse, which can also be seen on the camera screen.


It was fun, because quite a few people gathered around and wanted to get a better view of the eclipse with my gear. There were also two people who had brought a telescope (and camera) to the location, and they got really good views of the eclipse too. We talked a lot and exchanged experiences, and we had a great time experiencing the eclipse.

Gear used: Sony A6500, Tokina 400mm f/5.6, solar filter, remote control

 

[Andy Resnick]

Region of the night sky centered on NGC 6820, taken during summer:

(deets: Nikon Z7 + Nikkor 105/1.4 @ f/2.8 on Losmandy GM-8, 30s subs 19.5 h total integration, stacking &tc. AstroPixelProcessor)

There are many photogenic deep-sky objects in this field of view- Brocchi's cluster/NGC 6802, M71, pulsar PSR J1954+2836 (if you can see in γ-rays ) and M27 (100% crop):

Meanwhile, NGC 6820 @ 600% (no smoothing)

At the scale you are viewing this zoomed crop, the original image would be about a mile across.

 

[bruha]

Hello, solar eclipse from Austria-Murauer Hutte, (first, it looks bad , but finally sun appeared from behind clouds just before sunset..: ).

 

[Ibix]

I was lucky enough to be in the path of totality two weeks ago. Beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky... until an hour before the eclipse started. By the time the moon actually touched the limb of the Sun the cloud was thick enough that I got some shots without needing any filter except that which the weather gods provided. (I would add that I was very, very cautious about doing this, and I was using proper eclipse glasses myself to look anywhere near the Sun until the cloud was obviously uniformly very thick - I'm not too worried if I damage my phone camera, but I've only got one pair of eyes.)

This is about fifteen minutes into the eclipse, using my phone camera and its "digital zoom" (so it's all pixelly).

And this is about five minutes before totality, taken with a telescope attachment to the same phone camera (yes, the cloud was thick enough that looking at the Sun through a 5cm lens did not damage my camera - I still did not risk my eye, and I took care to arrange things so I couldn't accidentally find myself staring at the Sun past my equipment).

And that's all she wrote. I didn't see the corona. I did snap this shot of people around us during totality. It's looking out over the Atlantic and the light you can see in the distance is, I think, penumbral sunlight on the ocean.

Despite the lousy timing of the clouds, totality was awesome. My wife and I were just agreeing that the sunlight was definitely dimmer when the light pretty much went out like a switch had been thrown. There's a huge difference between 99% and totality.

I hadn't realised I'd be in Spain for the eclipse until shortly before, so I ended up using the equipment I could lay my hands on. It's nowhere near the quality of what @DennisN apparently has lying around! I used the same kit to take this shot of the moon ten days later. I'm pleased I could do it, but that I could only get this pixelly (and, if I'm not mistaken, chromatically aberrated) image just shows me I need better kit if I want to play this game properly.

 

[DennisN]

It's nowhere near the quality of what @DennisN apparently has lying around!

I take a bit of pride in that my equipment wasn't particularly expensive, which also is an encouragement to others to have a go at it if they want:

Camera: Sony A6500
- about $630 second hand. But you could do practically the same with an even less expensive camera, let's say Sony A6000 which costs ca $300 on the second hand market.

Lens: Tokina 400mm f/5.6
- far from an amazing lens, but it cost me only ca $30 second hand. To use it, I must use a lens adapter, which costs about $20.

Remote control: ca $20 second hand.

Tripod: Neewer Litetrip LT07 61 Inch Aluminium Travel Tripod
- amazing "bang for the buck", costed me ca $80 new

Solar filter: Something cheap from China, costed probably around $20.

So, to sum it up, assuming using a Sony A6000:

Camera: $300
Lens: $30
Lens adapter: $20
Remote control: $20
Tripod: $80
Solar filter: $20
SUM: $470

I think that is pretty neat, and you can use the camera for lots of other things too, of course .

Anyway, cheaper than JWST .

 

[Devin-M]

Moonlight Over Whiskeytown Lake
iPhone
8/18/26 9:18pm
Shasta County, California, USA

 

[Devin-M]

Moonlight Refracted 22 Degrees
(moonring caused by high altitude ice crystals)
iPhone
8/28/26 12:03am
Shasta County, California, USA

 

[DennisN]

Moonlight Over Whiskeytown Lake

Moonlight Refracted 22 Degrees

Gorgeous photos!

 

[Razvan Mihai]

Fireworks Galaxy and Pelican Nebula. Captured and stacked with Seestar S50; processed with Seti Astro Suite. Ploiești, Romania, bortle 6.

 

[davenn]

First light for my ZWO Seestar S50 Pro imaging scope.
From home - Bortle 7 light pollution, can only see brightest stars visually.
M8 - Lagoon Nebula, 2min 30sec (10sec subs) with Light Pollution filter.
Small bit of enhancement in the scope
Am amazed what it can do in such a short exposure time.
So much fun watching each sub get added to the stack and seeing the image "grow" with each addition.

This is the first deep space image I have done from my home location

Home location in the "gunk"

Map generated from here
Light Pollution Map

just zoom out from its current location and go to where-ever you are in the world

 

[davenn]

Fireworks Galaxy and Pelican Nebula. Captured and stacked with Seestar S50; processed with Seti Astro Suite. Ploiești, Romania, bortle 6.

What exposure times and time of subs ?
cheers
Dave

 

[Razvan Mihai]

What exposure times and time of subs ?
cheers
Dave

10 seconds exposures; total integration time 38 minutes for Pelican Nebula and 62 minutes for Fireworks Galaxy. In alt-az mode, from my backyard, bortle 6-7. It was a very clear night.

 

[DennisN]

First light for my ZWO Seestar S50 Pro imaging scope.

Congratulations!

I had a look at the scope in your post in another thread, and I understand that it is controllable via smartphone and tablet. So are you using a smartphone or a tablet I wonder?

At one time in the future maybe such scopes will be controllable via voice commands, and when you ask the scope to do a particular task it will turn around and say "I'm sorry davenn, I'm afraid I can't do that".

 

[Razvan Mihai]

Angel Nebula (NGC 2170), is a reflection nebula in the constellation Monoceros, at 2400 light-year distant (source Wikipedia).
The image was taken with Seestar S50, from Ploiești, Romania, bortle 6. Total integration time 102 minutes, in alt-az mode, 10 sec exposures. Stack in Seestar app; processed and edited in Seti Astro Suite.

 

[davenn]

Congratulations!

I am absolutely wrapped ... I could never do that from home with any of my other scopes.

I had a look at the scope in your post in another thread, and I understand that it is controllable via smartphone and tablet. So are you using a smartphone or a tablet I wonder?

yes, That's correct, I have a Samsung Z Fold4 -- an Android device. It uses a WiFi connection to the scope
Being able to open the phone up, gives the larger screen which is great compared to most smartphones.

At one time in the future maybe such scopes will be controllable via voice commands, and when you ask the scope to do a particular task it will turn around and say "I'm sorry davenn, I'm afraid I can't do that".

hahaha wouldnt surprise me

cheers
Dave

 

[Andy Resnick]

Yesterday morning's moon and Jupiter:

Nikon Z7, 800mm lens, ISO 64, 1/15s (IIRC). I shot this RAW because I hoped I could pull out the Galilean moons of Jupiter with tone mapping (200% zoom):

The aberration is expected since this part of the image is located near the very edge of the field.

This morning, I took this image of the moon @ ISO5000, 1/10s

It's a little grainy because of the high ISO, but since I wasn't using a tracking mount I have to keep the shutter speed (relatively) fast.

 

[DennisN]

Yesterday morning's moon and Jupiter:

A lovely photo!

 

[Andy Resnick]

This morning was also clear:

Nikon Z7 + 800mm lens, 0.5s ISO 800. Lower ISO = less noise = :)

ISO 64, 1/20s exposure. At 200%, along the border of Oceanus Procellarum:

Prominent craters from lower right: Grimaldi, Hevelius, Cavalerius (located approximately in the image center).