Captured in Bortle 4 skies with my 585mc Air and William Optics Redcat 51 v3. Just 50 mins of integration time!

Last week in my backyard with the S23ultra

My newest capture of supernova SN2026aaiv near the core of the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 7331 (Caldwell 30) just past peak flux (peaked at 12.2mag)

This galaxy sits 43.79 million light years away in the constellation Perseus, meaning this supernova happened when our earliest mammalian ancestors were first roaming the planet. It is a Type 1a supernova meaning its progenitors were a white dwarf and a second companion star that violently merge and eviscerate themselves without leaving any remnant. This supernova is notable as it is the second bright supernova to come out of NGC7331 in the last year which is a decently rare occurrence for a single “nearby” galaxy.

Capture information:

234 x 30s subs

1600ISO

Sony a7iv

3250mm 16 inch f/8 Meade RCX 400 UHTC

Bortle 2 skies

Processed in SIRIL and Graxpert, and finished in Photoshop

Hi. Would like to share my own experience of Aug 12, 2026 Total Solar Eclipse from Spain. 

This was my first total solar eclipse. Maximum phase, which I have seen before, was abt 90% in 1999. I had set my sights on this specific eclipse years ago and had long planned to make the trip, especially since no total solar eclipses are expected in my home country Ukraine in the coming decades.

Unlike the 2027 eclipse, the choice of location for the 2026 event was straightforward: aside from Spain, the chances of seeing it elsewhere were slim to none. The first and most crucial step was selecting an observation place, a detailed climate analysis along the eclipse path (https://eclipsophile.com/tse2026/) proved to be very useful here. Although the eclipse path crosses numerous Spanish cities, the range of viable options wasn't actually that broad. I ruled out the north due to its high humidity and cloudy weather, the Mediterranean coast also seemed too risky, given sea influence. Consequently, my list quickly narrowed down to the northern Meseta region (Burgos, Valladolid, León), which is the driest area and keeps the lowest statistical probability of cloud cover in August.

Initially, the plan was to stay overnight in the town where I planned to watch the eclipse, but accommodation prices were astronomical due to limited proposal and huge demand. Ultimately this issue was solved by staying in Madrid, which offers a vast number of hotels and has no prob with avails. Given this, Valladolid was finally chosen as logistically optimal. Although this meant sacrificing about 15 seconds of the eclipse's totality, it was an just hour away only by train, and I was back to Madrid by 11 PM.

Since the eclipse was taking place at sunset, a clear view of the western horizon was essential - a challenging requirement in a city I had never visited before. I started with google maps to search for high ground: hills, parks, or open fields on the western side of the city, virtually scouting the area and marking potential spots. Furthermore, www.peakfinder.com allowed to check the terrain, the elevation of the horizon, and the precise sunset time for each specific location.

Fortunately, the weather forecast was favorable. I arrived in Valladolid at noon and headed straight to the outskirts to check out the spots I had marked. The observation site turned out to be a sort of wild, remote park. Amidst the 35-degree heat, there were very few people around, and it quickly became clear that the few who were there had come for the exact same reason. On the way, I encountered an elderly man with a tent already setting up his equipment, and I passed a few other people who asked, "Eclipse, yeah?" After walking around a bit with a compass app on my phone (which was crucial, as many people didn't realize their view toward the sunset would be quite restricted) I found a good spot. I also scouted the area and noted a few other potential locations nearby, just in case mine was already taken.

The partial eclipse was set to begin around 7:30 PM, so there wasn't much point in hanging there all day. I headed back to the city center to walk around, planning to return abt 6:00 PM. The absence of a large number of people during the day ultimately proved deceptive. By evening, the approaches to the park were packed with a huge crowd, people spontaneously swarmed the slopes of the massive hill. Luckily, I managed to find a decent spot, though area around was packing increasingly, as the eclipse drew near.

I’m not a professional photographer and I didn’t want my first experience to be spent entirely fiddling with gear. Still, I wanted to keep something except memories, so I brought my Seestar S50 and set it to record a timelapse, which was an ideal solution that required quite little attention. Things didn't go exactly as planned :), but overall, I’m happy with the result.

Visually, it was an incredible experience. Even though the Sun shone quite brightly right up to the last moment, making it hard to spot the narrowing crescent, the changing daylight made the event unmistakable. It brought back memories of that strange twilight I recall from 1999, as if someone had simply turned down the brightness outside. It is difficult to put into words the experience of an eclipse near totality, no youtube video can truly capture the scale of the "black sun" effect surrounded by its corona. As an extra bonus, since the eclipse was near sunset, the final phase could be observed with the naked eye, without glasses. If that is possible, I would highly recommend to witness a total solar eclipse for every amateur astronomer at least once in their life.

A few takeaways for the future:

1. I would advise anyone planning to see totality to have a Plan B, C, and so on, just in case circumstances change. Weather is the primary concern, but there are plenty of other potential complications, such as train cancellations or strikes, etc. I had considered alternative options in other cities beforehand, just in case I needed to change plans at the last minute. Fortunately, I didn't have to use them, however, even though it was August and Valladolid has a very hot climate, it was rainy there just a couple of days after the eclipse, so you never really know for sure.
2. Practice. You really should take the time to practice beforehand and keep a clear plan in mind for what to do during the eclipse. Set timers or alarms for specific times, there’s even an app that tells you exactly when to put on your glasses or remove the filter, though that’s more for professional photography. Despite my preparation, I still managed to miss the shots of the "diamond ring" and Baily's beads, but without practice, the outcome could have been truly bad.
3. Food and drink. The eclipse lasts 2–3 hours from start to finish, plus the time spent on-site before and after, and it’ll be too late to go anywhere else once it begins. Personally, I underestimated how much water I’d need given the heat, though fortunately, there were plenty of people nearby to ask.

And most importantly, of course: don't stress and just enjoy the event.

On a fun note, I managed to capture three airplanes in the background.

Photos are extracts from Seestar S50 timelapse via PIPP.

S30 Pro: Bortle 6.7: 12hrs integration: 10% 10sec, 15% 20sec, 25% 30sec, 50% 60sec, anything above 3.5FWHM or below 100 stable stars got culled.

Stacked and processed in Siril, James Ritson's Affinity Photo Astrophotography macros for post stretch editing.

Final masks for cleanup & cropping in LR mobile

Biggest hurdle? Figuring out what version I liked the most so I said screw it made a couple both wide angle and close up to the cluster.

Shot on IPhone 16 + through my Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130 AZ in the pro camera app

Taken with a Seestar S50 in a Bortle 4-5 area. After edits in Siril, this is 515x10sec of stacking

In 2024 i took my first photo of a DSO - Pleiades.

It inspired me to pursue this hobby.

Now in 2026 i acquired a mount - the MSM Nomad.

So it was about time to shoot it again,this time with 2 years of experience behind me.

I was only able to acquire about 1hr and 40 minutes of data,due to the cloudy weather, but even then the result is still pretty good.

OM System OM-1 & Tair 11-a 135mm f2.8 mounted on MSM Nomad.

100 x 60s. Stacked in APP, Processed in Siril and Lightroom.

Bortle 4.

I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d capture in just a few hours the other night, since the Butterfly Nebula seems to be a bit less popular target than the Crescent Nebula in the famous Sadr Region. The Butterfly is situated right by the star Sadr itself (the biggest star in this image!), and I have to say I’m impressed.

Check out the full photo at: https://app.astrobin.com/i/f2z2ot

Subs: 28 x 300s

Total integration time: 2h 20m

Equipment:

• Telescope: William Optics Pleiades 111
• Main camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
• Mount: ZWO AM5N
• Filters: Optolong L-Ultimate 2"
• Accessories: ZWO EAF Pro, ZWO 5x2 EFW
• Guidescope: William Optics Guide Star 61
• Guide camera: ZWO ASI220MM Mini

Processing:

• Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
  • RC Astro BlurXTerminator
  • RC Astro NoiseXTerminator
  • RC Astro StarXTerminator
• Adobe Photoshop 2026

Chandra observations suggest the “Treble Clef” radio structure was created by a supermassive black hole outburst and later reshaped by a collision between galaxy clusters.

Acquisition details
Target: Sh2-157 (Lobster Claw Nebula), Cassiopeia
Location: Fort Mill, SC, USA (Bortle 6)
Dates: October 2026, 4 nights

Equipment
Telescope: Askar 103APO (700mm, f/6.8)
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
Mount: ZWO AM3N
Filters: Antlia 3nm Ha / OIll / SIl, Antlia V-Pro R / G / B
Filter wheel: ZWO EFW
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Guiding: SVBony guide scope + ZWO ASI220MM Mini Control: ZWO ASlair Plus

Integration
Ha: 45 × 500s (6.3 h)
OIII: 53 × 500s (7.4 h)
SII: 60 × 500s (8.3 h)
RGB (stars): 15 × 120s each (1.5 h)
Total: 23.4 hours
Gain 100, cooled to - 10°C
Calibration: 500s: 25, 120s: 25 darks, Ha: 50, OIll: 50, SIl:
50, R: 50, G: 50 B: 50 flats, 50 bias

Processing (PixInsight 1.9.5)
WBPP (PSF Signal Weight, Local Normalization, cosmetic correction)
GradientCorrection, BlurXTerminator
GHS stretch with highlight protection on the bright core StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator
NarrowbandNormalization (SHO palette)
Curves, masked core dimming, DarkStructureEnhance, LocalHistogramEqualization, SCNR
RGB stars: SPCC, BlurTerminator, GHS, StarTerminator, black-point clip, screen-blended back in

See also: The study as it was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

1100 subs, 60s each, Dwarf 3, Duo-Band Filter, shot in Lugano, Switzerland. Processing through Dwarflab's Megastacking function, post processing in Apple Photos.

Dear astronomy enthusiasts,

Today, October 14, 2026, at 20:58 (GMT+2), I spotted a bright object near Polaris in a long-exposure photograph taken from Duisburg, Germany. It appeared only briefly and then suddenly vanished. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been?

At the top, you can see a few satellites and airplanes, as well as a couple of shooting stars.

I used Slow Shutter for iOS on a iPhone 13 PRO MAX

NGC 869–884, the Double Cluster in Perseus: this image represents 11 hours of RGB integration using a Takahashi 106/530 f/5 wide-field refractor and a ZWO ASI2600 MM Pro camera. It consists of 133 exposures—comprising 39x300s (Red filter), 47x300s (Green filter), and 47x300s (Blue filter)—processed with PixInsight and Photoshop. All data and images were acquired via Telescope Live.

Telescope: Skywatcher dob 8 1200/200 f/6.

Mount: homemade EQ platform

Total exposure time: 1 hour 35 minutes (230x25s subs, ISO 2500 + 40 darks, 30 flats, 30 biases.)

Camera: unmodified Nikon D800

Bortle 5

07.10.2026

Around the stars, you can see not 4, as usual with Newtonians, but 8 diffraction spikes. The reason is that the EP provides a little more than an hour of tracking, and after that you need to reset it, and the field of view rotates a bit. With every hour of exposure you will be add 4 spikes to the final image)

Stacked frames in Siril, background extraction and denoise in Graxpert, photometric CC and stretch in Siril (stretch by Veralux automatic stretch script).

Telescope: Skywatcher dob 8 1200/200 f/6.

Mount: homemade EQ platform

Total exposure time: 32 minutes (146x13s subs, ISO 2500 + biases.)

Camera: unmodified Nikon D800

Bortle 5

19.09.2026

Back then I didn't shoot the planned number of frames because there were heavy dew and I had to stop a session. Some of the shoots got ruined and I was upset and forgot to do darks and flats:). Also there were some problems with tracking, that I've partly solved now. Stacked frames in Siril, background extraction and denoise in Graxpert, photometric CC and stretch in Siril (stretch by Veralux automatic stretch script).

NGC 7822 is a large emission nebula in the constellation of Cepheus that has some resemblance to a question mark. This image however does not show the circular dot part of it, which is located far below this.

This is 3 hours of frames (386 x 30sec for 3 hours and 13 minutes total integration) from a bortle 6 location, shot on a Seestar S30 Pro.

I'm very pleased with how it came out! It looks a little like a face from this angle.

Closest start to earth that’s visible in the northern hemisphere

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130 AZ

IPHONE 16+

AstroShader 45 one second long exposures