Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[collinsmark]

Stephan's Quintet, attended from my back patio, Sept-Nov, 2024. The quintet is composed of several galaxies, NGC 7317 (upper left), NGC 7318A & NGC 7318B (center-left), NGC 7320 (center-upper-right), and NGC7319 (center-lower-right). Also in the image is NGC 7320C (far lower-right).

One of these galaxies is not like the others. Can you tell which one? It's NGC 7320 (center-upper-right), the one that looks blueish-white. That's because it's much closer to us than the other galaxies. The other gravitationally connected galaxies are about 210-240 million light-years away, while NGC 7320 is only a mere 39 million light-years away. The much smaller NGC 7320 is photobombing the other galaxies.

It's a bit like taking a snapshot of your friends, only to have your pet tarantula, much closer to your camera, jump into the frame in such a way that at a glance it appears human sized. It's sort of like that. Except your friends and tarantula are galaxy sized.

The purplish-red splotches in NGC 7320 are highlighted from data obtained with my Hα (hydrogen-alpha) filter. That's from emission nebulae within the NGC 7320 galaxy itself. After subtracting out the broadband red data, it was the only galaxy (in this particular image) showing such Hα specific emissions. That's not to say that the other galaxies don't have Hα emissions (or nebulae), but if they do, the spectrum is shifted outside the passband of my Hα filter due to cosmological redshift (i.e., the universe's expansion).

So if you've ever wondered what cosmological redshifted galaxies look like compared to a much closer galaxy in the foreground, here you go.

In retrospect, that gives me an idea: My back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the cosmological redshift of the other galaxies might serendipitously shift their Hα emissions into the passband of another filter I own (my SII [sulphur-II] filter). It's too late to gather more data now, but perhaps I'll revisit this target in the future with that in mind.

Equipment:
Celestron C14 EdgeHD telescope
SkyWatcher EQ8-R Pro mount
Celestron 0.7x Focal reducer (for C14 EdgeHD)
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader LRGB filter set
Antlia Hα filter
ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro Main Camera

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 Guiding
PixInsight with
o RC-Astro Plugins
o SkyPixels "GAME" plugin

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle Class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 2×2
Stacked using drizzle algorithm
L: 714×60 sec = 11.90 hrs
R: 378×120 sec = 12.60 hrs
G: 396×120 sec = 13.20 hrs
B: 319×120 sec = 10.63 hrs
Hα: 62×600 sec = 10.33 hrs
Total integration time: 58.67 hours
.

 

[DennisN]

Partial solar eclipse, 29 March 2025

There was a partial solar eclipse yesterday, and I shot it. It was the first time for me shooting a solar eclipse, and also the first time I shot the Sun with a tele lens. I used a cheap solar filter I once bought from China, and hoped it would protect the camera sufficiently. Luckily it did .

The partial eclipse shot with three different exposure times:

Partial eclipse (1/13 s):

Partial eclipse (1/50 s):

Partial eclipse (1/100 s):

I noticed a spot on the photos with shorter exposure times, which I guess is a sunspot.
And when I magnified the photo I saw a couple of smaller spots too which could be small
sunspots, perhaps? Or it's dirt in the lens .

The solar filter:

(I love the Chinglish text here;
"Everything is normal" - thanks for letting me know. Will the text change when it's not normal?
"Pay attention to safety" - very useful information, I have to remember that.

The lens used (Tokina 400mm f/5.6 set at f/11):

 

[glappkaeft]

I noticed a spot on the photos with shorter exposure times, which I guess is a sunspot.
And when I magnified the photo I saw a couple of smaller spots too which could be small
sunspots, perhaps? Or it's dirt in the lens .

IIRC those match the sunspots recorded that day. I looked it up that day using https://www.spaceweather.com and those are the locations I remember (the site don't have historical data).

 

[collinsmark]

The Spaghetti Nebula (Sh 2-240, Simeis 147), actually just a portion of it shown here, ingested from my back patio from Nov. 2024 - Jan. 2025. The Spaghetti Nebula is a supernova remnant about 3000 light-years away. It can be found in the constellation Taurus (on the border of Auriga), although it's too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

From our perspective, Sh 2-240 is actually pretty big, angular-wise. It's about 3 degrees across. If you hold up 2 fingers at arm's length, that 2 finger width will span slightly over 3 degrees. That might not sound like much until you realize that's about 6 full-moon diameters (angular diameters). So it's a pretty decent chunk of sky. As a matter of fact, it's too wide to fully fit into the field of view of my smaller, wider field of view telescope, so I just imaged a portion of the nebula. (I suppose I could have used a focal reducer.)

My point is that we can't see the Spaghetti Nebula with the naked eye, not because it's too small or too far away, but because it's too dim.

The reason I was able to capture it such detail here was a) I exposed the nebula for a total of 36 hours (broken up into hundreds of 8 minute sub-exposures) and b) I utilized narrowband filters, allowing much of the light emitted by the nebula to pass through to the camera while blocking everything else, including much of the light pollution and unwanted moonlight.

There are much, much dimmer nebula out there in the sky, but only a few that are quite so large (angular-wise). It's like a big plate of delicious pasta placed right under our noses, but we don't even notice.

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 1x1
Stacked using the drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 81×480s = 10.80 hrs
Hα: 95×480s = 12.67 hrs
Oiii: 94×480s = 12.53 hrs
Total integration time: 36.00 hours.

 

[timmdeeg]

As to my impression the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4051 in UMa isn't shown often. The spiral arms aren't symmetric, most probably due to some interaction in the past. It's a Seyfert-Galaxy around 33 Million Light years away from us.

Teleskop: TS-Optics UNC 200 mm f/4 Newton-Teleskop mit Carbontubus
Montierung: Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro SynScan GoTo
Guiding: StarAid Revolution B
Kamera: Sony A7III modifiziert
Zubehör: GPU 2" Newton Koma Korrektor

Bearbeitung: Siril - LightZone
Total integration 10 hrs 20 min

NGC 4051 with edge-on Galaxy NGC 4013

 

[DennisN]

The Spaghetti Nebula (Sh 2-240, Simeis 147), actually just a portion of it shown here, ingested from my back patio from Nov. 2024 - Jan. 2025

Amazing details!

 

[collinsmark]

The Heart Nebula (a.k.a. SH 2-190) pierced from my back patio, Dec. 2024 - Jan. 2025. the Heart is an emission nebula and can be found in the constellation Cassiopeia.

I've previously posted separate images of the Fish Head Nebula (NGC 896, upper left) and the center of the Heart Nebula, taken with a different setup. This time I used my smaller, wider field telescope to bring everything together. The Heart Nebula is a great target for astrophotography beginners.

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 1x1
Stacked using the drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 121×480s = 16.13 hrs
Hα: 111×480s = 14.80 hrs
Oiii: 103×480s = 13.73 hrs
Total integration time: 44.67 hours.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Over the past couple of months, there was a clear night now and then through which to image M51 and surroundings:

Nikon D810 + Nikkor 400/2.8 + 2x tele, shot at f/8 mounted on Losmandy GM-8, stacking and post-processing with AstroPixel Processor. 10s subs, total integration time 20.5 hours. Astrometry.net identified about a dozen galaxies in the field of view. Here's a close-up of the honored guest (1:1):

 

[collinsmark]

The Angel Nebula (NGC 2170) descended to my back patio, November 2024 - March 2025. NGC 2170 is a reflection nebula in the constellation Monoceros.

Equipment:
Celestron C14 EdgeHD telescope
SkyWatcher EQ8-R Pro mount
Celestron 0.7x Focal reducer (for C14 EdgeHD)
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader LRGB filter set
ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro Main Camera

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 Guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro Plugins

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle Class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 2×2
Stacked using drizzle algorithm
L: 1140×40 sec = 12.67 hrs
R: 571×90 sec = 14.28 hrs
G: 452×90 sec = 11.3 hrs
B: 578×90 sec = 14.45 hrs
Total integration time: 52.69 hours

 

[Andy Resnick]

The past few months have been absolutely wretched in terms of sky viewing. I was hoping for more time, but this is what I was able to generate:

This is a 12 x 8 degree (stitched) region of sky showing the Virgo cluster imaged using my 400/2.8 lens @ f/4. The uneven background comes from not imaging every field-of-view patch for the same amount of time, so the noise level varies. Using astrometry.net to identify all of the galaxies in the image:

This blows my mind... there's a lot. And it's not all of them- astrometry.net does not identify PGC objects, for example. A few 1:1 crops:

The eyes (NGC 4438/4435):

Siamese twin galaxies (NGC 4567/4568):

NGC 4654, a galaxy deformed by ram pressure stripping:

M99 (Pinwheel galaxy)

 

[Ibix]

NGC 4654, a galaxy deformed by ram pressure stripping:

...and possibly interaction with NGC 4639, according to Wikipedia.

 

[collinsmark]

The Tadpoles (IC 410) captured from my back patio, Dec 2024 - Feb 2025.

IC 410, commonly called The Tadpoles, is an emission nebula in the constellation Auriga. What appears to be tadpole shapes are actually ionized clouds of gas and dust that are sculpted and shaped by the stellar winds emanating from open star cluster NGC 1893.

This is my second attempt at capturing The Tadpoles, this time with all new equipment and hopefully better processing skills.

Equipment:
Celestron C14 EdgeHD telescope
SkyWatcher EQ8-R Pro mount
Celestron 0.7x Focal reducer (for C14 EdgeHD)
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Antlia 3nm Narrowband (SII, Hα, Oiii) filter set
ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro Main Camera

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 Guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro Plugins

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle Class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 2×2
Stacked using drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 82×600 sec = 13.67 hrs
Hα: 90×600 sec = 15.00 hrs
Oiii: 99×600 sec = 16.5 hrs
Total integration time: 45.17 hours
.

 

[neilparker62]

The Pointers. 19th June 2025

 

[Andy Resnick]

Pretty happy with this one of Hoag's object:

From astrometry.net (not sure why it didn't identify the galaxy):

Not sure how well it displays for you, but I can definitely see the ring. Deets: Nikon D810 + Nikkor 800/5.6 @ f/8 on a Losmandy GM-8, 10s subs. 6.3 h total integration time. stacking etc. with AstroPixel Processor. It's not as good as SDSS, tho....

Comparing SDSS and mine, I can also barely make out those two galaxies located at the bottom center.

 

[timmdeeg]

First light for my RedCat 51 at the Astro-Farm Kiripotib in Namibia in May 2025. The conditions have been overwhelming, 10 hours dark sky each night, SQM around 21.6 and while walking to the Astro-Camp the bright Milky way already at half past 7 pm.

Setup
Teleskop: RedCat P 51/250 f/4,9
Montierung: EQ6-R
Guidung: StarAid Revolution B
Kamera: Sony A7III modifiziert
Bearbeitung: Siril/Starnet - SetiAstro - LightZone

Ort: Astrofarm Kiripotib, Namibia
Datum: 30. und 31. May 2025

Frames 116x300 ISO 1600
The Blue Horse Head Nebula - total integration 9h 50' - size 6,23° x 5,04°

Frames: 107x300 ISO 1600
Rho Ophiuchi - total integration 8h 55' - size 6,54° x 5,39°

 

[neilparker62]

Wish I had kit to take pics like you guys are taking! Practically speaking I guess the next step for me will be some form of telephoto lens. I might at least get some resolution on objects such as M7, What minimum would I need to resolve Andromeda as a galaxy ?

Edit: could you perhaps take a pic through Baade's window ? Sagittarius (teapot asterism) should be at a convenient elevation round about 5:30 am in Namibia same as here in Johannesburg. Not the greatest pic below. Teapot on its side on the right and Corona Australis on the left upper.

 

[DennisN]

What minimum would I need to resolve Andromeda as a galaxy ?

I would suggest a 135mm or 200mm tele lens, but it also depends on if your camera is a full frame, APS-C (or even Micro Four Thirds) camera.

I shot the Andromeda galaxy with a Sony A6000 camera (which is an APS-C camera) using both a 135mm and 200mm lens. Here is the post about it. But if you have a full frame camera you may want to increase the focal lengths to, let's say 200mm or 300mm, since otherwise the galaxy may become a bit too small in the photos.

You could perhaps shoot with even higher focal lengths, but then I would ask @Andy Resnick , since he has done that, if I remember correctly.

You'll of course need to find a good dark spot, use a tripod and preferably an intervalometer (i.e. a timer/remote shutter release e.g. like this one), take many photos and use stacking software. If you haven't done anything like this before, I have to inform you there are quite many things to keep in mind . But it can be fun nevertheless!

I would suggest seeing these excellent tutorial videos:

1. Astrophotography without a star tracker (Forrest Tanaka)


2. ANDROMEDA GALAXY with only a Camera, Lens, & Tripod (Nebula Photos)

 

[Andy Resnick]

Experimenting with a wider lens, imaging the area around Brocchi's cluster/NGC 6802:

Nikon D810 + Nikkor 105/1.4 @ f/2; 30s subs on Losmandy GM-8, 8h total integration time. Stacking etc. with AstroPIxel Processor.

The color rendition is really good (assuming it's 'accurate'... hard to find comparison images)

 

[Andy Resnick]

Wish I had kit to take pics like you guys are taking! Practically speaking I guess the next step for me will be some form of telephoto lens. I might at least get some resolution on objects such as M7, What minimum would I need to resolve Andromeda as a galaxy ?

FWIW, a good telephoto lens is also a good refracting telescope. But I am not sure what you mean by "resolve Andromeda as a galaxy"... I don't think you mean the minimum magnification to demonstrate that Andromeda is an extended object, but what do you mean?

When I image M31 with my 800mm lens (400mm + 2x tele), M31 just barely fits within the field of view of my full-frame 35mm format sensor. My guess is that same situation holds for a DX-format frame and a 500mm lens.

 

[neilparker62]

FWIW, a good telephoto lens is also a good refracting telescope. But I am not sure what you mean by "resolve Andromeda as a galaxy"... I don't think you mean the minimum magnification to demonstrate that Andromeda is an extended object, but what do you mean?

When I image M31 with my 800mm lens (400mm + 2x tele), M31 just barely fits within the field of view of my full-frame 35mm format sensor. My guess is that same situation holds for a DX-format frame and a 500mm lens.

I had in mind something like we see here: https://www.blog.jimdoty.com/?p=31403 although even here the kit being used is a bit out of my 'league'. I will start by pointing my camera in the right direction and seeing if at least one can pick up a 'smudge'.

 

[collinsmark]

Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405), celebrated from my back patio, January-March, 2025.

IC 405 is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga.

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 1x1
Stacked using the drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 115×480s = 15.33 hrs
Hα: 90×480s = 12.00 hrs
Oiii: 75×480s = 10.00 hrs
Total integration time: 37.33 hours.
.

 

[Andy Resnick]

I had in mind something like we see here: https://www.blog.jimdoty.com/?p=31403 although even here the kit being used is a bit out of my 'league'. I will start by pointing my camera in the right direction and seeing if at least one can pick up a 'smudge'.

If I am understanding you, what you really need is a motorized mount, not necessarily a longer focal length lens. In order to use exposure times longer than a second (or so), you need a motorized mount.

If all you have is a 'normal' tripod, then your maximum exposure time (in seconds) before the stars start to make trails in your image is about 300/(lens focal length).

 

[timmdeeg]

Wish I had kit to take pics like you guys are taking! Practically speaking I guess the next step for me will be some form of telephoto lens. I might at least get some resolution on objects such as M7, What minimum would I need to resolve Andromeda as a galaxy ?

I don't know if its the minimum. I took this picture end of 2021 with my Sony A7III using a 200 mm telephoto lens together with the Omegon MiniTrack LX3, which is mechanically guiding. This picture was my motivation to learn Astrofotografie later.

 

[neilparker62]

If I am understanding you, what you really need is a motorized mount, not necessarily a longer focal length lens. In order to use exposure times longer than a second (or so), you need a motorized mount.

If all you have is a 'normal' tripod, then your maximum exposure time (in seconds) before the stars start to make trails in your image is about 300/(lens focal length).

Yes - at the moment all I have is a tripod. And I do get the trails as you say but even so I think Andromeda is visible in this pic albeit 'under-whelming'. Smudgy dot at lower centre if I'm not mistaken. Camera is pointing directly North. 2025/07/05 / 05:42:24. My location: -26.153011, 27.824459. 30s exposure.

 

[neilparker62]

I don't know if its the minimum. I took this picture end of 2021 with my Sony A7III using a 200 mm telephoto lens together with the Omegon MiniTrack LX3, which is mechanically guiding. This picture was my motivation to learn Astrofotografie later.

View attachment 362850

Great pic - yes perhaps this is the direction I need to take. Thanks for the info.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Yes - at the moment all I have is a tripod. And I do get the trails as you say but even so I think Andromeda is visible in this pic albeit 'under-whelming'. Smudgy dot at lower centre if I'm not mistaken. Camera is pointing directly North. 2025/07/05 / 05:42:24. My location: -26.153011, 27.824459. 30s exposure.

Could be! Here's an image I took a while ago, my 15mm lens on a regular-ol' tripod, 30s exposure:

M31 is the smudge in the lower center. Here it is at 1:1 crop:

It's clearly not a star!

 

[DennisN]

Some amazing photos in this article!

15 Otherworldly Finalists of the 2025 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Contest
https://mymodernmet.com/2025-astronomy-photographer-year-shortlist/

Two examples:

“Electric Threads of the Lightning Spaghetti Nebula” by Shaoyu Zhang

“500,000-km Solar Prominence Eruption” by PengFei Chou

 

[TensorCalculus]

Me and My Dad do a lot of astrophotography in our back garden, me and my little sister have been helping him out since he was young (when we were younger, it was helping set up and calibrate the telescope, now we're older we also help a bit with image processing). Here are some of my favourite images, from over the years (quality butchered by sending them from my phone to my laptop via outlook):

OTA: Skywatcher Evostar 72ED
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-PRO
Mount: iOptron GEM28, unguided
Subs: 60s x 120 (2 Hrs total integration)

OTA: Skywatcher Explorer 150-PDS f/5
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-PRO, Optolong L-Pro filter
Mount: iOptron GEM28
Subs: 90s x 120 (3 Hrs total integration)

OTA: Skywatcher Explorer 150-PDS f/5
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-PRO, Optolong L-extreme filter
Mount: iOptron GEM28, unguided
Subs: 60s x 180 (2.6 Hrs total integration), 20 darks

OTA: Skywatcher 72ED with OVL field flattener, FL 420mm f/5.8
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-PRO, Optolong L-Pro filter
Mount: iOptron GEM28
Subs: 60s x 278 (4.63 Hrs total integration), 20 darks

OTA: Skywatcher Evostar 72ED
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-PRO, Optolong L-Extreme filter
Mount: iOptron GEM28
Subs: 90s x 140 (3.5 Hrs total integration)

OTA: Skywatcher Explorer 150-PDS f/5
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-PRO, UV/IR cut filter
Mount: iOptron GEM28
Subs: 90s x 108 (2.7 Hrs total integration), 20 darks

DM me if you would like to see more :D
As you can tell, I'm pretty proud of the pictures we have produced over the years...

 

[DennisN]

DM me if you would like to see more :D

You're welcome to put more of them in this thread for us to see!
(that's what this thread is for)

 

[TensorCalculus]

You're welcome to put more of them in this thread for us to see!
(that's what this thread is for)

Haha sure, thanks - maybe in a bit since I don't want to flood the channel with hundreds of space photos :)