Amateur Astronomer’s Starter Pack: - Nerd shirt ✅ - Cargo pants ✅ - Sandals ✅ - Goat-wool socks ❌ (too warm…) - Expensive telescope rig 🔭 ✅ - Losing track of time while observing ✅ - Looking up when exiting a building ✅ First light with the Baader 2” Cool-Ceramic Safety Herschel Prism Mark II

Exactly 19 years after the total solar #eclipse I observed in Libya, a partial solar eclipse was visible in the Netherlands today. Fortunately, it was clear around the maximum to capture an image.

Sunrise last Saturday at national park Drents-Friese Wold.

Sh2-149 & Sh2-148 (IC 443), Jellyfish Nebula | Hα www.mauricetoet.nl/DeepSky/i-HT...

The sun just set and the camera is cooling down for a night of deep sky imaging. #astronomy #astrophotography #deepsky

NGC 2264, Christmas Tree Cluster & Surrounding Field www.mauricetoet.nl/DeepSky/i-pW...

www.mauricetoet.nl/DeepSky/i-4v... #astrophotography #horseheadnebula #orion #astronomy

A dive into an ocean of hydrogen clouds: the well-known area around the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) in Hα only www.mauricetoet.nl/DeepSky/i-CP...

This one never gets old… The Horsehead Nebula in Orion. Automated sequence running with the ZWO ASIair Pro + 📷 ASI2600MM Pro + 🔭 Takahashi ε-180ED @ 500 mm f/2.8 + 🔴 Baader Planetarium Hα f/3 Ultra-Highspeed filter (3.5nm).

Dusted off this 11-year-old image of Orion's Belt which was shortlisted in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014 competition by the Royal Observatory at Royal Museums Greenwich.

NGC 2170, the Angel Nebula in Monoceros A bit noisy due to lack of exposure time on this tenuous object in Monoceros. I decided to process the data, as I most probably have to wait for moonless, clear nights next winter to continue on this object. www.mauricetoet.nl/DeepSky/i-x3...

Beautiful clear skies, finally ✨

Beautiful clear skies, finally ✨

Ready for #deepsky #imaging again. Today I installed the #Takahashi ε-180ED in tandem with the FS-60 on the AP Mach1 in the observatory. The AP 130 #StarFire GTX sits back on the AP 600E mount in 'portable-setup-mode' for visual use and solar imaging.

Misty winter day @ Sleenerzand forest

In 2020 I built my first GreenLine roll-off roof observatory in my back garden in Zoetermeer. This prefabricated observatory is made by Dome Parts GmbH. After moving to De Kiel in 2024, I started building another one. Progress photos of the second observatory can be seen here.

Saturn, 3 minutes prior to lunar #occultation. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to witness the egress (third contact) of #Saturn on the lit side of the #moon.

Beautiful #conjunction of #Venus and the #Moon this evening. Tomorrow evening, #Saturn will be occulted by the Moon. Fingers crossed for clear skies...

The end of 2024 is near, so here's an overview of astronomy activities and sightings I was happy to witness and observe: - Comet P12/Pons-Brooks - Spectacular Aurora displays - Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS - Attending the starparties in Wateren & Grandpré - My yearly visit to Olly in Étoile

My main imaging setup going strong for ± 12 yrs: Takahashi ε-180ED + Astro-Physics Mach1. Here in combination with a Nikon D810a.

Throwback time. While browsing through some old pics, I found some captured with my first CCD camera: a QHY8. Not the greatest camera, but a giant leap in sensitivity compared to analogue (film) astrophotography. Here it is attached in prime focus of a Takahashi FSQ-106ED mounted on a Losmandy GM-8.

'Le pièce de résistance' of a week of #astrophotography in Étoile-Saint-Cyrice: a two pane mosaic of the wonderful field around colourful #NGC1333, which contains Van den Bergh 12, 13, 16 & 17 (right next to NGC 1333) as well as #Barnard 1 and Barnard 202 to 206.