The beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 2403 in the constellation Camelopardalis was my ‘spring project’. The #galaxy contains many HII regions, which is why I combined data taken with the Optolong L-Pro and the IDAS NB12 filter (just under 5 hours each). #astrophotography 🔭 @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

In the Camargue, we saw many Spotted Redshanks resting there on their migration to their Scandinavian breeding grounds. In a few weeks’ time, they will already be heading south again... 🪶 #birdmigration #birdwatching #NaturePhotography #BirdsSeenIn2026

Back in April, we were able to observe many Greater Flamingos in the Camargue. In fact, they were in almost every body of water and weren't shy at all... 🦩 #FlamingoFriday 🪶 #birdwatching #NaturePhotography

Abell 1656 - The Coma Cluster captured from my dark site in southern France in April 🇫🇷😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of 4 hours using a QHY183C cam without any filter. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ how many galaxies do you see?

In April, #comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) was easy to observe in the morning sky. At the time, we were in the Camargue, where I was able to photograph the comet at dawn. The final image is a stack of 179 x 6-second exposures at 150 mm, processed with & without background extraction 🔭 #astrophotography

Some of the birds we spotted in the Camargue back in April: a very curious Sardinian Warbler, a Chiffchaff and a Cattle Egret in its breeding plumage. Definitely a great region for #birdwatching 🪶 #NaturePhotography #BirdsSeenIn2026 #France

Over the past few days, planet #Venus passed between the two open star clusters of the #Pleiades and the #Hyades. A beautiful constellation after sunset, that I was able to capture on April 25 and 26 over a lake and a rapeseed field, respectively. #astrophotography 🔭

The Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) was my little side project in late winter; the total exposure time of this image is 7h 49min (North is left). Processing turned out to be surprisingly difficult, since the nearby star Alnitak left a lot of reflections in the field of view 🔭 @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

NGC 3344 - The Sliced Onion Galaxy captured from my patio on seven nights this month 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 46 hours in LRGB and Ha to reveal the star forming regions. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

The Leo Triplet is a small group of galaxies bound together by gravity in the constellation Leo. It lies approximately 35 million light-years from Earth and consists of three prominent spiral galaxies: Messier 65, Messier 66 and NGC 3628. Captured over two nights in March 2026. #Astrophotography

Two of the currently visible comets: C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) and 24P/Schaumasse, taken with an ASI294mc Pro through my C8 on 5 & 12 March, respectively (techn. details in images). No "pretty pictures" due to dust and light pollution, but at least two interesting objects for #astrophotography. #comet 🔭

In February, the #supernova SN2026dix flared up in the spiral galaxy NGC 3913. I captured it along with the galaxies NGC 3916 and 3921 on 8 & 9 March using my C8, but conditions were rather unfavourable due to Saharan dust in the atmosphere. #sn2026dix #astrophotography 🔭 @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

The spiral galaxy M 94 in Canes Venatici is an easy object to observe due to its bright centre with an inner ring of young stars. This photo, which I took over 3 nights in January with an exposure time of 12 h, also shows the faint outer ring of stars. #astrophotography 🔭 @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

PuWe 1 captured from my dark site in southern France 🇫🇷 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of about 6.5 hours using an OSC cam with the Baader UHCL filter. PuWe 1 is one of the largest and faintest planetary nebula known! #Astrophotography

The Crab Nebula (M 1) in the constellation Taurus was the second prominent supernova remnant that I captured this January. It is already visible with larger binoculars, but all the nice filaments only show up in the photo. Total integration: 6h 26min #astrophotography 🔭 @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

The Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443), a prominent supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini, was my first attempt at a mosaic. The idea only came to me during data collection, but after some challenging editing, I am kind of happy with the result. 🔭 #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

Currently, several weaker comets are at least bright enough to be photographed. I captured 24P/Schaumasse on 17 January and the fragmented #comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) back on 26 December 2025. Their very different appearances are definitely worth further observation #astrophotography 🔭

A short time-lapse of yesterday's bright northern lights in the Harz foothills. I'm still thrilled by yesterday's spectacular views – today's #aurora is significantly weaker... #AuroraBorealis #Polarlicht #astrophotography 🔭

Crazy #AuroraBorealis last night at latitude <52° N, even hitting Orion in the southern sky above the Harz mountains. What a night! #astrophotography 🔭

Sh2-234 (IC 417) The Spider Nebula captured from my patio on six nights in December 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 50 hours in mono using Ha, SII and OIII narrowband filters and combined with RGB stars. #Astrophotography

Finally, here is my composite image of the #Geminids peak on 13/14 December 2025. It was by far my most successful observation of a #MeteorShower, with over 260 meteors within 5 hours - what a night! The image is a composite of 61 individual shots of 15s and contains 65 Geminids. #Astrophotography 🔭

The interstellar #comet #3I/ATLAS is currently visible in the constellation Leo. I took this image on 14 December through my C8 with an ASI294mc Pro. 3I was brighter than I expected at the time, and numerous galaxies are also visible in the background. #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

That was a tough one: The galaxy M74 in the constellation Pisces (and the weather) gave me some trouble, but I'm quite happy with my final image. This is a combined exposure time of 13 h with the L-Pro & IDAS NB12, which brought out the H-alpha regions #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

Yesterday morning, I spotted the razor-thin crescent of the 28-day-old #moon just above the horizon. It was invisible to the naked eye, but it was a magnificent view through binoculars. This morning, there was a spectacular #sunrise to enjoy – what a display of colour! 🔭

This is #comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) from 11 December with two distinct nucleus fragments. It has changed significantly compared to my image from 22 November - and it has clearly reduced its relative speed, as I was able to expose for a little longer this time... #astrophotography 🔭

Sh2-200 The Bearclaw Nebula captured from my patio on six nights last month 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 55 hours in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and combined with RGB stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

A little late to the party, but here's last weekend's sun with massive sunspots, captured with a Nikon D5600 + Tamron 150-600 at 600 mm (f/8; ISO100; stack of 10 x 1/100 s) through thin clouds #astrophotography #sunphotography 🔭

#Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) showed three clearly recognisable fragments of its nucleus on 22 November, and it appeared brighter than I had expected. Due to its fast movement relative to the stars, I could only take 20-second exposures through the C8 (image is a stack of 100 subs) #astrophotography

VdB 14 and VdB 15 captured from my dark site in southern France end of September 🇫🇷 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of about 5.5 hours using an OSC cam with just the UV/IR-Cut filter. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

The Pacman Nebula NGC 281 in Cassiopeia had been on my wish list for several years, and now, over the course of 4 nights in September & October, I finally got it. Visually not an easy object due to light pollution, but really fun to photograph (tech. details in image) 🔭 @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

WR 134 is a Wolf-Rayet star in the constellation Cygnus, surrounded by a ring nebula created by its extreme stellar wind and radiation. The image was taken in July 2025 over several nights and is composed of 70 photos, each with an exposure time of 600 seconds. #Astrophotography

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The two brightest comets currently visible in the sky, C/2025 R2 (SWAN) and C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), captured last weekend with an ASI294mc Pro on my C8. #Comet Lemmon is already bidding farewell to the northern hemisphere, so I had to catch it in the near-horizon haze. #astrophotography 🔭

The planetary nebula Sh2-188 in the constellation Cassiopeia is also known as Shrimp Nebula due to its shape. I took this image over five nights in August using a C8, an ASI294mc Pro camera and a total exposure time of around 13 hours (details in image) #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

Wolf’s Cave Nebula (LDN 1217 / vdB 152) captured on two nights a couple of weeks ago 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of about 8.5 hours. I combined OSC and mono Ha data for this image. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

At the end of September, we went #birdwatching in Donana National Park in Spain. Here is a small selection of the birds I photographed there: one of many Hoopoes, a very curious Short-toed Snake Eagle and a Yellow-crowned Weaver. #birds 🦉 #BirdsSeenIn2025

LDN 1165 captured on two nights a couple of weeks ago 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of 7 hours in OSC and Mono. I used the mono Ha data to enhance the red and the luminance details. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) taken on 19 October from the roof of our garage at 135 mm focal length (stack of 192 10s-subs). Despite thin clouds and streetlights between the comet and me, the gas & dust tails are clearly visible in different colors. Brings back memories of Hale-Bopp #astrophotography

That was an exciting evening on 18 October: 2 cameras, 2 comets and, to top it off, some #auroraborealis: C/2025 R2 (SWAN) was close to the bright nebulae M16 & M17 and the open clusters NGC6645 & M25 (1. image). Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) tried to hide behind clouds but failed (2.)😉 #astrophotography

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) in the early hours of 3 October, captured through the C8 with an ASI294mc and additionally with a Nikon D5600 and a Tamron 70-200 at a focal length of 130 mm. The #comet was also nice to observe visually and will hopefully brighten significantly. #astrophotography

LBN 437 The Gecko Nebula captured from my dark site in southern France last month 🇫🇷 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of 8 hours in OSC and Mono. The red nebulosity was enhanced with Ha data. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

The Snowglobe Nebula (NGC6781) is a beautiful and rather bright planetary nebula in the constellation Aquila. It is also visually a nice object. In August, I photographed it with an ASI294mc Pro through my C8 with a total exposure time of 5 hours. #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

Some images of yesterday's #LunarEclipse, taken with a Nikon D5600 and a Tamron 150-600 (at 600 mm) at 20:47, 21:22, 21:31 and 21:49 p.m., respectively. It took the #moon quite a while to emerge above the dust, but then the eclipse was great to observe. #astrophotography

WR 134 captured from my patio on 14 nights in July & August 😊🔭 This nebula around the star WR 134 was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of 58 h in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and merged with RGB stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) in Cassiopeia was my first target with the new ASI294mc Pro camera. In total, I accumulated a good 8.5 hours of exposure time over 8 nights from our terrasse and am really happy with the result (techn. details in picture) #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

The spiral galaxy NGC 6946 is known as the Fireworks Galaxy due to its high rate of supernovae. I captured it through my C8 over 6 nights in June & July – actually just as a test of the astro camera that @astrophil.de lent me (technical details in image) #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

Abell 39 captured from my patio on seven nights in June 😊🔭 This bubble like planetary nebula was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of 27 hours in mono using Ha and OIII narrowband filters and RGB filters for the stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

Over the course of 7 nights in May and June, I took test images of the Hercules cluster M13 with the ASI183mc Pro camera, which was kindly provided by @astrophil.de. Also tested different filters, and I'm quite happy with the final stack of all frames #astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

NGC 6543 The Cat’s Eye Nebula captured from my patio on seven nights 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 27 hours in mono. It’s a combination of Ha and OIII narrowband data with LRGB data for the core and the stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬

It's Milky Way season. So I went up on our garage roof when the street lights were finally switched off and took some photos. This one is a composite of 120 s for the landscape and 15 x 8 s for the sky (Nikon D5600 + Sigma 18-35 at 18 mm, f/2.8, ISO1600). #astrophotography