🔭AstroBackyard

The Telescopes of Spring 🔭🌸

The camera is the 'astro modified' version (Ra), and I ran the session with a cheap intervalometer!

The Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex is one of the most colorful regions in the night sky, and one of my favorite summer targets to photograph. This area is filled with glowing nebulae, dark dust clouds, young stars, and the bright golden light of Antares nearby. It almost looks more like a painting than a real place in space. I captured this from a dark-sky location with my completely portable 'travel astro rig' built from components bought on Amazon 🤓 (gear pic in the comments) Camera: amzn.to/42wwXtE Tracker: amzn.to/3OWeUKp Lens: amzn.to/4tXkEma Image Details: 120 x 90-seconds (ISO 1600) 3 Hours Total Exposure Processing Guide: astrobackyard.com/image-processi…

One of the most common questions I get is: “What should I photograph tonight?” 🤔 The answer depends heavily on the time of year. Some deep-sky objects are only well placed for a short seasonal window, while others return year after year like old friends. Ashley put together a guide to help you plan your astrophotography targets by season, whether you’re shooting the current spring galaxies or upcoming summer nebulae. Here’s a seasonal breakdown of the best deep-sky objects to photograph throughout the year: astrobackyard.com/astrophotograp…

@glsteelhead Not overkill - look at the counterweight position. That's balanced!

@AstroBackyard That mount seems a little overkill?? Why not a simple mount line am3 or am5?

My ToupTek StellaVita Review is going live tomorrow!

I just posted my first look at the ToupTek StellaVita! 😮 It's a smart control box that can run an entire astrophotography setup from your phone or tablet. In this video, I share my early experience using the StellaVita with a nearly complete ToupTek imaging rig, including the ATR2600M monochrome camera and HOPE D60 refractor. The biggest appeal here is that the StellaVita is trying to offer an ASIAIR-like experience without locking you into a single brand ecosystem. It supports a wide range of astronomy cameras, mounts, focusers, filter wheels, and accessories, which could make it a very interesting option for astrophotographers using mixed-brand setups. Full Video: youtu.be/TIgs8UbSpWc?si…

The Blue Horsehead Nebula 🔭 This glorious reflection nebula lies in the constellation Scorpius, close to the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex. It's a great early nebula project for this time of year. A reflection nebula is made up of very fine dust that normally appears dark in space. This dust is reflected by the visible light of nearby stars. They are some of my favorite deep-sky targets in the night sky. I captured this image using my 'Travel Astro kit' featuring a compact refractor telescope and color camera last month. I took this last May, and I'm looking forward to improving it this year! Camera: bit.ly/3CaQWUI Telescope: bit.ly/4fqtt03 Mount: bit.ly/3QzZsns 60 x 3 minutes (no filter) 3 Hours Total Exposure Processing in PI and PS

@AJamesMcCarthy Thanks bro

@AstroBackyard Flawless work. Really looking forward to taking another crack at this one.

The Trifid Nebula (M20) 📷 The epic nebula targets in the Milky Way are coming next month - are you ready? 🤔 This is my latest edit of the jaw-dropping Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius, one of my top 10 favorite astrophotography targets in the night sky. If you're really impatient, you can start your Trifid Nebula project right now! The Milky Way core is rising higher and higher each night (tonight it'll be up by 2am) For this project, I used my 6-inch refractor telescope with a full-frame color camera (no filter) - under the super dark skies of the Texas Star Party. Equipment Used: Camera: bit.ly/48cAsZx Telescope: bit.ly/4cqCW95 Mount: bit.ly/3OK6Vxj Image Details: 69 x 2 minutes (2 Hours, 18 Minutes) Processed in PI, PS Texas Star Party 2023

This is where it is:

@AbhLafiel I really like the Sombrero. I saw an amazing version shared yesterday with a crazy, extended amount of glow around it and it looked amazing

@AstroBackyard I think I want to start the Coma Cluster, however I didn’t get to do Sombrero for you last year and I may have a chance this May. What do you think?

It's finally here! 6hrs on the beautiful Leo Triplet in LRGB. I didn't get as much time that I wanted on this, but I am quite pleased with what I did end up getting. I hope you enjoy it! 😁

@erfmufn So glad you're home. Thanks for the update 😊

I am home after 19 harrowing days in hospital where I stopped breathing after surgery and spent 10 days in the ICU. My hair is growing back patchily after chemo made me bald. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck and can only walk slowly. That was hard but necessary to remove the cancer in my stomach, so I don’t really have a stomach anymore. My weirdest symptom today is “an impending sense of doom” every time I eat. It’s a thing apparently. I hope that goes away before I develop an eating disorder. Anyway I’m so happy to be alive and with my family again! Thanks to everyone for their support and kind words. ❤️

My Best Image of M81 & M82 Ever! 📷 In my latest video, I share the process of capturing this stunning galaxy pair using a new astrophotography telescope. The image includes 8 hours of total exposure time from my backyard - so don't expect to see any IFN from this backyard shot 😅 (I'll save that for next time) You can see the full setup used, along with my processing notes (any guesses on the tricks I used?) in my latest video: youtu.be/9_eV04YKELU?si… Clear Skies - and Happy Friday!

This is your year... 👊 Who else is excited for an action-packed spring and summer of astrophotography? The weather is starting to turn the corner on the East Coast, and clear skies are on the horizon - are you ready? This picture of the Wizard Nebula I took last year from the backyard is exactly why I got into this hobby in the first place. It reminds me of the early days when I didn't even know where to start, and what I needed to take these kinds of images. While I get to test lots of different gear on the channel, certain rigs fall into the 'If I could only use one' category - and this is one of them! I am currently planning and exploring new projects and techniques to add to my 'life list' of deep-sky objects captured. I hope y'all are excited too! 🤓 IMAGE DETAILS: 18 Hours Total (SHO Palette) Processing in PI and PS GEAR USED: Camera: bit.ly/4nPzzeF Telescope: bit.ly/3IKurJv Mount: bit.ly/3WNMemz

New Processing Tutorial! 👨‍💻 I just published my complete astrophotography processing workflow in PixInsight and Photoshop. I have provided the raw data so you can follow along with each step. This tutorial focuses on the ORDER of the steps I take, including WHEN to use noise reduction, and when to bring the image into Photoshop for impactful color adjustments. If you want to practice your skills, I think you will enjoy this one! And if you're already a processing wizard, I'd love to see YOUR version of the dataset in the comments (it's always a humbling experience for me)😆 My Processing Workflow: youtu.be/MU3oXOvmOE0

@AstroBackyard What's the wireless controller? Also, have you tried out the stellavita?

I set up a new astrophotography rig today! Im testing a ToupTek system, complete with a mono camera, filter wheel, and autofocuser. The Wave 100i mount hasn't seen enough 'star time' - so it's carrying the load. I'll run this entire setup using a new wireless controller - and Im hoping it goes smoothly. Most of the time spent today was putting a full set of LRGB + SHO filters in the filter wheel! (check Ashley's Instagram story) 😆 Camera: bit.ly/4v1jXJw Telescope: bit.ly/41Cd5ER Controller: bit.ly/413T7Ts

The telescope:

The Sunflower Galaxy (M63) 📷 My latest picture from the backyard is the ancient light from the Sunflower Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. I used my 6-inch refractor telescope without a filter. I collected exactly 5 hours of this object in natural light to reveal the structure. While the telescope I used had a focal length of 1050mm, this galaxy could use a little more - it's pretty small! Equipment Used: Camera: bit.ly/4aofGaA Telescope: bit.ly/4tfxFXl Mount: bit.ly/49Pug8w Image Details: 100 x 3 minutes (5 Hours Total) Processed in PI, PS Bortle 6 Backyard