This is the Fireworks Galaxy in Cygnus. Unlike the last galaxy I posted, this is very small and hard to capture (the image is heavily cropped). This one needs quite a bit more time. Fingers crossed I get it. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is four hours of the big, beautiful galaxy M33 in Triangulum. Eight-ten would be better. I might be able to get another four or five tonight, but I'm not sure what the weather will do. After tonight, I'm very sure--clouds and rain. #astronomy #astrophotography

There was a nice grouping this morning of the moon with Jupiter and the stars Castor and Pollux. But it was foggy when I woke up. At one point the fog thinned and the moon and Jupiter were bright enough to show through. #Astronomy #astrophotography

Suffice it to say that the solar active region AR4274 is not done with us yet. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This was purely an experiment. I've never managed to do much with the tiny, faint cluster NGC 7006. I tried a 4X barlow, even though I knew it would introduce new problems. Not a great image, but worth trying. #Astronomy #astrophotography

And this small cluster of bright stars is Messier 29 in Cygnus. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The moon when I woke up this morning. This is with the smaller "upstairs" scope, as it had already set out of view of my main one. #astronomy #Astrophotography

Still a very active solar surface. In fact, incoming coronal mass ejections will probably bring aurora displays. If you live at a high latitude, try taking a picture of the northern sky. The sensor sees things you don't. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This active region on the sun, formerly AR4246, caused a lot of activity in October. Now it's traveled all the way around and reappeared on the Earth-facing side again, renumbered AR4274. And it's already release an X-flare. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

On the blog today is my list of ten books I hope to read this month 💙📚 #authors @benmantle.bsky.social @catherineryanhyde.bsky.social @suemoorcroftauthor.bsky.social @johnirvingimr.bsky.social @margaretamatt.bsky.social @simonmason.bsky.social @katewilliamsme.bsky.social @tudorblogger.bsky.social

The moon with Saturn last night. Inevitably, Saturn will be a bit hard to see. I'm not sure if this one will work on a phone. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The open cluster NGC 6885 in Vulpecula. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The Lunar X and the Lunar V. Oddly, the X is easier to make out in a wider image. I was experimenting with a new planetary camera with the top two images. The bottom one was with my old Canon. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

IC 1396, the Elephant Trunk Nebula. I find this one maddeningly difficult, and especially I can't seem to get the color right. But I've been working on it for hours, so I might as well post what I've got. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The globular star cluster M15 in Pegasus. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A better processing of the moon in the Teapot Asterism. Might be a little easier to see. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

One of my favorite asterisms, the Coathanger in Vulpecula. Also known as Brocchi's cluster. It's in the Galactic Center, which is why you get all this interesting nebulosity around it. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A wider view of M45, the Pleiades. I was hoping for more. Specifically, more surrounding nebulosity and a bit more sharpness of detail. But I've processed this three times now, and I think this is as good as it gets. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The moon in the Teapot Asterism. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A field of nebulosity around the bright star Sadr. The glow around the stars is a result of light fog, and ideally would not be there. But sky conditions are not always ideal. #Astronomy #astrophotography

The Western Veil Nebula. This was supposed to be a 2-night project. Four hours a night (as long as I have it right now) for two consecutive nights. Astrophotographers plan, fog laughs. It's barely four hours total. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The waxing crescent moon and the bright star Antares hover over the trees and the fog before setting. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The bright spiral galaxy M74 in Pisces. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

I went through my images again and actually found a second Orionid meteor. It's a shorter trail than the first one, but it's bright. Not sure how I missed it on the first go. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

I usually have terrible luck trying to catch images of meteors, so I was very happy to see this one Orionid crop up in about 600 15-second images from this morning. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

From the observatory last night, IC 1805, the Heart Nebula. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Now *this* baby has a tail. This is comet c/2025 A6 (LEMMON). One single image. It was close to setting, and I didn't have it for long. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is a better try at the comet C/2025 R2 SWAN. The head of the comet shows up well, but I just can't seem to resolve a tail on this one. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Pickering's Triangle. This is part of the supernova remnant called the Cygnus Loop, with the Eastern Veil on one side of it and the Western Veil on the other. I find it very hard to capture. #astronomy #Astrophotography

For what it's worth, this is the bright star Aldebaran, the eye of the bull in Taurus. I didn't mean to photograph it. I used it to frame and focus and then moved over to the Pleiades. Or so I thought. But I liked the image anyway. This is not processed at all. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A fairly close image of M45, the Pleiades. I usually like to use of my my smaller scopes and get more sky around it. And I'm sure I will do that, too, as the season goes on. #astronomy #astrophotography

Waning moon with "Earthshine." #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A not entirely successful attempt to get a wide-field image of the crescent moon with the Sickle in Leo. I seem to have cut off a bright star on the bottom (Algieba), making it harder to see the sickle shape. At this focal length it's hard to see what you're framing. #Astrophotography #Astronomy

Before this past round of clouds and rain, I looked at the sun and saw no active regions. I thought, well, solar maximum is ending. Now the clouds are gone, and look at it today. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Just for fun, the moon with M44, the Beehive Cluster. I had to wait for the clouds to briefly part, and there was still a bit of cloud action down by the moon. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Quick cell phone pic of the moon with Jupiter this morning. The clouds are coming back.

I was able to get another three hours of NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula, and I think I'm ready to call it done. Especially in light of the coming rain. #Astronomy #astrophotography

This is a lightly annotated image of the constellation Lyra. Even at this short focal length you can see the Double Double and the Ring Nebula. It gets pixellated when you zoom in to see, because no way could I post the full image. Even the jpeg was 35MB. #astronomy #Astrophotography

This is NGC7293, the Helix Nebula. I got a couple of hours of it last month, but that didn't feel like enough. I got another couple last night. I'd like to double the exposure time, but the seeing is supposed to be awful tonight, and there's rain coming. I'll try. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

An hour of the open star cluster M39. It's what I was doing while waiting for the moon/Pleiades to rise. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A fool's errand right from the start: a bright moon occulting the Pleiades. Of course the moon nearly obliterates the stars in the Pleiades, so this is a composite of five different lengths of exposure, plus I had to brighten the stars. Worth it for the challenge. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is a different comet. There are two in the northern hemisphere now. This is C/2025 A6 LEMMON, a single 60-second exposure on very low ISO so it wouldn't be too noisy. Kind of noisy anyway. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A couple of tries at the comet C/2025 R2 SWAN, neither of which turned out too well. Background is mucky because it's down by the horizon, and I only got the barest hint of the tail. In the longer exposure the stars look stretched because I was tracking on the comet. #Astronomy #astrophotography

It looked like I was going to get extraordinarily lucky for the last crack at the Saturn/Titan transit, but the fog came in before the shadow of Titan was visible. But you can see Titan itself crossing in front of the planet, so it's not a total loss. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is a binary star system in Lyra commonly called the Double Double. This is just a single snapshot of it, because I have yet to find stacking software that can handle so little detail. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Another try at Jupiter. I'm hoping to get that last Saturn/Titan transit tomorrow night, so I'm practicing with the new equipment (electronic atmospheric dispersion corrector). #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Saturn with an atmospheric dispersion corrector. This is at barely 40 degrees in only average seeing, and I've barely learned the device. But I think it's making a difference. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

My favorite moon crater, Copernicus. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

I'm experimenting with planetary imaging again, and while I was in close and trying out some new equipment, I thought I'd get a detail of the moon. #astronomy #Astrophotography

In defiance of recent history and all the weather forecasts, I saw the sky today. I was so excited I had to take an image of something. Fortunately the sun cooperated with a very active surface. #Astronomy #astrophotography