A handful of days ago, I posted that the sun had decided to get interesting again. Please add the word "very" to that assessment. #astronomy #astrophotography #skying

Jupiter in a lunar halo. That other spot of light is just a lens flare. #Skying

The moon and Jupiter tonight. #astronomy #astrophotography

The Quarter Moon with Jupiter, Castor and Pollux. #astronomy #astrophotography

Tonight's quarter moon. #astronomy #astrophotography

The sun has decided to be interesting again. #astronomy #astrophotography

The globular cluster M53 in Coma Berenices. #astronomy #astrophotography

IC 342 in the constellation Camelopardalis. It's called The Hidden Galaxy, because it's near the galactic equator where it's heavily obscured by the gas and dust of our Milky Way. #astronomy #astrophotography

The Medusa Nebula, a very old planetary nebula in the constellation Gemini. #astronomy #astrophotography

This little dark nebula in Cassiopeia is called the Helping Hand. It's very small and very faint. I've always loved it, and this is the first time I've successfully imaged it. This is more than 30 hours of total exposure time. #astronomy #astrophotography

Waxing crescent moon tonight. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The Leo Triplet of Galaxies. For reasons not worth going into, this is a starless image. So if you things that looks like stars, they are probably other small galaxies. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

NGC 2170, the Angel Nebula in Orion. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is NGC 2419, a tiny (from here) little globular cluster in the constellation Lynx. It's small for my equipment, but I really like it, so I keep trying. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

While I was at it, I was able to get a slightly improved version of Barnard's Loop. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

IC 405 and 410 again. I've been working on this way too long. I still don't have the color quite right, but it's a step in the right direction. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

IC 405 and IC 410, the Flaming Star Nebula and the Tadpole Nebula. I'm not thrilled with this processing and will probably take another crack at it at some point. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Barnard's Loop, a faint crescent of red nebulosity around the sword and belt of Orion. Inside is the Orion Nebula and the Flame and Horsehead Nebulae. You can also see the Witch Head Nebula hanging upside down on the lower right. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Venus and Saturn, preparing to set over the ocean.

I decided it had been a while since I broke out the Calcium-K solar filter. And the sun was cooperating by being interesting. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is the Blood Moon again, but this time 30 6-second images stacked. I think it might have gained a little bit in detail, but I might like the color better on the first one. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This was about half an hour after totality. The last decent image I got of it before it disappeared behind the studio over my garage. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

In case your sky was cloudy or you just didn't feel like getting up in the middle of the night (which I get), here's what the partial phase of the eclipse looked like. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The first image off my camera of the Blood Moon. This is right at totality, 3:33 a.m. I did very little processing on this. I sharpened it. The light and color are exactly as they came off my camera. #astronomy #astrophotography

A nice little open star cluster, M93 in Puppis. Somehow this has escaped my attention up until now. This was taken under a nearly full moon, with the light blue background discarded. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Just in case you thought the sun was going to go quietly into solar minimum. This is it today in hydrogen alpha and white light, both color and monochrome. I think I'm just playing because I'm so tired of not being able to take images at night. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Moon and Jupiter on partly cloudy night, just for the sake of mood. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The bright star Regulus, with the faint, fuzzy patch of Leo I on the left. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The California Nebula, but as a wider field with more dark sky around it. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The first spotless sun (clear of numbered sunspot regions) since 2022. Assuming it lasts until the end of the day, that is. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A very small planetary nebula called NGC 2392 in Gemini. Also called the Eskimo or Clown Face Nebula. Really too small for my equipment, but sometimes you just have to try. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The Moon with Saturn Tonight. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, and IC 1848, the Soul Nebula, and if that doesn't put a song in your heart then you just don't have a musical heart. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

This is NGC 2359 in Canis Major, also called Thor's Helmet or the Duck Nebula. Why the Duck Nebula, I will never know. I see no duck here. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

From just before dawn this morning, a 15% crescent moon hanging in one of my favorite asterisms, the Teapot. #Astronomy #astrophotography

This is the Alpha Persei Cluster, one of my favorite open clusters. Unfortunately there was a lot of humidity and thin clouds, which created a glow around the bright stars. The brightest is Alpha Persei, also known as Mirfak. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

NGC 2244, the Rosette Nebula. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

IC 1848, the Soul Nebula in Cassiopeia. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

IC443, the Jellyfish Nebula. I've been working on this for three nights, each night as long as moonrise would allow. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

For a couple of weeks the sun has been pretty quiet. But now we have AR 4366. And it's showing some spirit. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The Snow Moon, a little early. It's closer to full when it rises tomorrow, but I'm not sure it will be clear. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

I haven't taken a picture of the moon for a while. #Astronomy #astrophotography

I've been wanting to take a look at AR4341, the sunspot that was responsible for the geo-storm that gave us Monday night's Aurora. This is the first chance I've gotten, as it clouded up soon after. Looks unassuming, doesn't it? #Astronomy #Astrophotography

These seem to be the two best images from my (Central California!) Aurora hunt night before last. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Here's the most productive part of the night, gathered into a video. These are all still images, though. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

To be able to photograph the Aurora Borealis from Central CA is rare, to put it very mildly. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The open cluster Caroline's Rose (NGC 7789) in Cassiopeia. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A favorite of mine among star clusters. This is NGC 457, the Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia. It you're not seeing the owl, it's in flight, and the brightest star is one of its eyes. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

A longer and more detailed look at the Sword of Orion. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

One of my favorite asterisms, Kemble's Kite in Cassiopeia. Full disclosure, I brightened and enlarged the "kite stars" just a bit to help it stand out. #Astronomy #Astrophotography