This image was taken with my Dwarf 3 Smart Telescope. It is a Mosaic with 9,5h of total Integration time.
I stacked, sharpened and denoised the image in Siril and mainly edited it in Affinity.

I hope to get another 20-30 hours on Thors Helmet over the next couple of months. This target is so much more interesting to me in RGB as opposed to SHO!

SVX180T | ASI2600MM

Integration

Some days ago I posted a wider FOV image of the region contaning this nebula, and since the weather was cooperating, I went ahead with my longer focal length telescope to zoom in the Bubble Nebula

Equipment and acquisition:

- Askar 71F + 0.75X reducer

- Asi585MC Air

- Teseek 17

- SvBony + asi120mm guide camera

- ZWO EAF, ZWO EFW

- L-Ultimate filter: 145 x 180 sec

- Antlia ALP-T SII-OIII 3nm: 167 x 180 sec

(15.6 hours in total)

- 30 darks, 30 flats per filter, 30 bias

Processing (PI)

WBPP 2x drizzle, SetiAstro AutoDBE, SPCC, blurX correct only, starX

On starless images: DBXtract, linear fit, then channel combination (will also be used as luminance later on). SetiAstro statistical stretch (soft), then manual curves transformations with different color and range masks, noiseX. For luminance, stretch and masked curves to bring up details, noiseX. LRGB combination, dark structure enhance script.

For stars: setiastro NB to RGB star stretch, pixelmath to recombine with starless

My image of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) — captured over four nights

I’ve been working on Andromeda recently, and this is the result of four nights of imaging from the North West of England.

Capture details:

• Telescope: Askar 71F (490mm focal length)
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
• Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ-AL55i PRO
• Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Mini
• Exposure: 221 × 120 seconds
• Total integration: 7 hours 22 minutes
• Filter: No filter — broadband

I found Andromeda relatively straightforward to capture, but processing was another matter! Getting a balance between the bright core and the fainter outer dust lanes was probably the biggest challenge.

I processed the image in PixInsight, using SPCC, background extraction, stretching, masks and BlurXTerminator.

I’ve also been documenting my astrophotography projects, equipment and processing workflow on my website, West Coast Cosmos: https://westcoastcosmos.com/

I’d be interested to hear what others think of the image, particularly the processing. What would you improve, and what techniques have you found most effective for bringing out Andromeda’s outer structure?

Target: M31, Andromeda Galaxy, with M32 and M110

Location: Bortle 6, South Carolina

Gear:
Askar 103APO (700mm f/6.8)
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
ZWO AM3N on iOptron LiteRoc tripod
ZWO ASIAir
Antlia V-Pro LRGB and Antlia 3nm Ha

Integration (about 24h 25m):
L: 374 × 130s (13h 30m)
L (core HDR): 90 × 5s
R: 47 × 120s (1h 34m)
G: 31 × 120s (1h 02m)
B: 125 × 120s (4h 10m)
Ha: 29 × 500s (4h 02m)

Calibration: darks, flats, bias

Processing: PixInsight (WBPP, HDRComposition, BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, MAS, SPCC). Short-exposure L blended in to keep the core from clipping, continuum-subtracted Ha added to bring out the HII regions.

Two sessions, exactly 1 yr apart. Imaged 21 Oct 2025/2026. Unfortunately, my framing was not the best (it sucked actually) and there was heavy rotational stacking and background issues. Managed through it nicely thanks to many helpful folks and a touch of the ChatGPT idea fairy. Even learned some stuff in the process!

Need to find a better way to balance colors from computer to mobile.

16.3 hrs on a C8 Edge Hyperstar
390mm @ f/1.9 speeds
Antlia Triband Ultra II RGB
ASI ZWO 2600 MC Air
ZWO EAF Pro
Skywatcher EQ6R Pro
Bortle 7.8, 48%lunar
Pixinsight

Fujifilm XT-3 with Fujinon 18-55mm lens.
ISO 6400 (I think), 372 pictures (each 3s of exposure).

Unguided, no Tripod (placed ontop on cardboard :‘(( )

Stacked with Siril
Edited with Siril+Gimp

I tried to focus with a Bahtinov-Mask but I guess the stars are too small at 55mm or I do smth wrong so I focused by Eye.

In my opinion my next step would be to buy a tripod, StarTracker and a new lens. I thought about a 70-300 lens because then I can use it as well for other photography, what do you think?

Oh and next time I will try to expose for an hour, this was close to 19 minutes.

This is about an hour and 40 minutes on these two beautiful galaxies!

Equipment used:

- Canon EOS R7

- Canon RF100-400mm f/5.6-8.0 @ 400mm

- StarAdventurer GTi

- ZWO ASIair mini

- ZWO ASI120mm mini

- SvBony SV105 50mm

Processing:

- Stacked, gradient removal before stacking, in siril

- Final edits in SetiAstroSuite pro with BXT, NXT, SXT trial

The California Nebula is a huge cloud of glowing hydrogen in the constellation Perseus, around 1,000 light-years away. Its long, stretched shape is what gives it the name “California Nebula”.

I tried a DIY diffraction spikes mask for this attempt, and actually it didn't disappoint.
I still dont know if a diffraction spikes mask is considered cheating or not but i really like the effect.
Maybe it'll even look better for the orion nebula.

Acquisition:
Lights:
Optolong L-extreme: 34x600s
15 dark frames
15 flat frames
15 bias frames

Equipment:
Telescope: Askar FRA400
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Duo
Mount: ZWO AM5N
Filters: Optolong L-eXtreme, Askar ColorMagic D2
Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus

Processed in Pixinsight and Lightroom

When this light left the Andromeda Galaxy, mammoths still roamed the Earth. It crossed 2.5 million years of darkness to reach my backyard in rural Ontario 65 hours of light, gathered night after night and stacked into this single frame.

Scope: Sharpstar 13028HNT f/2.8 · Camera: ToupTek ATR2600C · Filter: Askar D1 duo narrowband · Integration: 60h dual-band + ~5h RGB · Mount: ClearSky ST20 · Processing: Pixinsight, Affinity Photo 2, Darktable

Bonus: the Strottner–Drechsler OIII arc is just barely in there — still chasing it.

📍Bainsville, Ontario · The Rural Photons

My first serious astrophoto project.

Hey guys! This is my first astrophoto that I’ve processed seriously. And I think this is a good result! I’ll definitely go on!
Ad Astra, friends!

Equipment and software:

Sky-Watcher BK909 EQ2
iPhone 17 as the camera

PIPP and RegiStax 6 for processing

North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and Pelican Nebula (IC 5070)
My latest attempt at imaging the North America and Pelican Nebulae, using a dual-band filter with my Sony mirrorless camera and 72ED refractor.

Equipment
Telescope: Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED
Camera: Sony A7R III
Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5 pro w/Rowan belt
Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme dual-band filter
Guiding: ZWO ASI120MM Mini guide camera with SVBONY SV106 guide scope
Capture and guiding: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
Electronic focuser: ZWO EAF

Acquisition
Light frames: 42 × 300 seconds
Dark frames: 22 x 300 seconds
Bias frames: 30
Flat frames: 15
Total integration: 4 hours 40 minutes

Calibration: Dark, bias and flat frames
Capture date: 20th October 2026

Stacking and processing
Software: Siril
Dark and flat calibration
Debayering after calibration
Global Star Alignment registration
Average stacking with rejection
Additive normalisation with scaling
Winsorized Sigma Clipping (3.0 low/high)
Background extraction using subtraction and a first-degree polynomial

This was captured using the L-eXtreme filter to isolate hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III emission. I’m still working through the processing side of astrophotography, particularly balancing the nebula’s emission against the surrounding star field and dark dust structures. I’ll be adding more dualband and RGB data when the storm clears.

Recently got a DWARF Mini and tried an Astro Mosaic tonight for the first time. Some clouds rolled in for a short while, which I think caused the top-left portion of the image to have a bit more noise. Grateful for any tips etc!

Info:
DWARF Mini using EQ mode + mosaic
60 second subs; total integration time 2hrs 40mins (mosaic comprised of 4x 40 minute stacks)

~1.5hr integration, 60s subs, Bortle3 location (Shtrbovo 🇲🇰), f/5.6, ISO 1600, 400mm effective focal length (Cropped image).

Taken with Canon77D, Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS STM lens and Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i.

Stacked with ASTAP, and processed with Siril and PS.

Here’s an image I got of the star cluster M45. Taken from bortle 3.5 skies.
———————————————————————————
-Camera: Unmodified Canon EOS R100
-Scope: SVbony SV550 480mm f/6
-Mount: Skywatcher EQ-AL55i pro
-Guide camera: ASI120mm
-Guide Scope: Apertura 32mm
———————————————————————————
Total exposure time: 3 hours 45 minutes
Processing: DeepSkyStacker, SIRIL, GIMP

I decided to give my Andromeda image another round of processing to see if I could improve the colors, contrast, and overall galaxy appearance. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out! At this point I feel like I have spent more time processing than the 65 hours of capture, but it was well worth it for the improved star color and resolution within the galaxy.

For more information and to see the full-resolution version, visit AstroBin:

https://app.astrobin.com/i/t8u67i

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) with its companions M32 (upper left of the core) and M110, captured in HaLRGB over eight nights in early October 2026 from Nebraska. Hydrogen-alpha was blended into the red channel and luminance to bring out the HII regions strung along the spiral arms and the dust lanes threading through the bulge.

The core is an HDR composite. Short 5s and 30s luminance subs and 15s RGB subs were blended with the long exposures so the core keeps its structure, while the long subs carry the fainter outer disc.

Processing (All in PixInsight)

• Calibration and stacking in WBPP with 2× drizzle
• DynamicCrop
• SpectrophotometricFluxCalibration and MultiscaleGradientCorrection per channel
• HDRComposition on the core from the short and long exposure masters
• SPCC, custom PixInsight script to calibrate star colors
• BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator
• Ha continuum-subtracted against R using a photometric flux ratio and blended into the red channel and luminance
• GHS stretches per layer
• LRGB combination, curves for tone

Total integration: 65h 18m

Integration per filter:

• Lum/Clear: 27h 23m
• R: 7h 54m (158 × 180s)
• G: 7h 39m (153 × 180s)
• B: 8h 57m (179 × 180s)
• Hα: 13h 25m

Equipment:

• Telescope: William Optics RedCat 91 WIFD
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM DUO
• Mount: ZWO AM5N
• Filters:
  • Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2"
  • Antlia V-Pro Blue 2"
  • Antlia V-Pro Green 2"
  • Antlia V-Pro Luminance 2"
  • Antlia V-Pro Red 2"
• Accessories: ZWO EAF, ZWO EFW 7 x 2″

The Horsehead was one of my first targets last year and I was happy with just 36 minites of 3 minute exposures at the time. I decided to put a lot more time on it and do 1 minute subs this year.

Exposures: 543 x 60 seconds (9hrs 3mins)

Equipment:

Sky Watcher Wave 100i

ASI 2600MC Pro

Askar FRA400

William Optics 32mm Guide Scope

ASI 220MM Guide Camera

Processing:

Spcc, BlurXterminator, MultiScaleAdaptive stretch in Pixinsight

Levels, slight curves, enhance dso in photoshop

NoiseXterminator in Pixinsight

Final touches in photoshop

acquisition: East Coast US; Orion skyquest 8” dobsonian fitted with Celticbird 2x barlow and 6mm plossl eyepiece; captured by stabilized iphone max 13 video ultra wide camera 13mm f1.8 60fps. 8/12/25

A freezing night at Bad Wolf Ranch, Texas—and I finally got around to processing what I captured. This is my first edit of the Tadpoles Nebula data I shot on the night of January 17–18, 2026—not a rework of an older image.

I made two versions from the same data: a gold-and-blue SHO version and a red non-SHO version. I like both, but the cropped SHO is my favorite. The color separation makes the Tadpoles and the dark structure around them stand out a little more.

The final image uses 38 five-minute exposures, totaling 3 hours and 10 minutes, captured at Bad Wolf Ranch, Texas, with my Askar V, ZWO ASI2600MC Air at −10°C, and ZWO AM3 mount, using D1 and D2 filters. Processing was done in PixInsight and Photoshop, with a lot of attention to the background, star shapes, and bringing out the nebula without pushing it too far.

There is still a little distortion in the corner stars if you zoom way in, but I’m happy with where this ended up. Glad I finally worked on it.

Processing details: screened darks and flats, calibration and separate D1/D2 integration, registration, background correction, channel combinations for SHO and non-SHO, BlurXTerminator and NoiseXTerminator, separate star and nebula adjustments, and masked contrast/color refinement in PixInsight and Photoshop. The narrowband colors are presentation choices, not calibrated emission-line ratios.

SVX180T - ASI2600MM - Pixinsight

Approx ~25hrs of integration in Bortle 5 (mag 5.6-6.0), cropped in approximately 2x.

Equipment

- Celestron RASA 8” + dew ring
- ZWO 533MC + UV/IR cut filter
- ZWO AM5
- ZWO 20F4 Guidescope
- ZWO 120mm Mini
- ZWO EAF
- Beelink N150 Mini PC
- Pegasus Astro Adv gen3

Processing

PixInsight:
- Frames checked in Subframe Selector and culled of poor quality subs.
- Stacked in WBPP with 2x Drizzle
- applied SFC to master frame
- BlurXterminator on master frame
- SPCC on master frame
- StarXterminator
- NoiseXterminator
- Combination of GHS + Arcsinh stretch on starless frame
- Masked adjustments using curves to reduce colour unevenness in background.
- Stretched star only image gently with room to tweak in PS

Photoshop:
- Clone stamp tool to remove splotches from stars in background
- Saturation and vibrancy adjustments to bring out dust colour
- Dodge and burn tool to bring out some of the fainter areas more prominently.
- Imported star only image and adjusted colour saturation
- Screen overlay stars onto starless frame
- Minor adjustments to stretch of star layer and stretch of starless to get as much contrast as possible.
- flatten image and export.

instagram

🔭 EXPOSURE DETAILS:

🎯 Wolfs Cave, vDb152

📏 Distance: 1,4000 LY away

🔭 Telescope: Sharpstar 15028HNT CF

📷 Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro

🏗️ Mount: ZWO AM5

🧭 Guide Scope and Camera: Askar FRA180 Pro + ASI174mm

🌈 Filters: Antlina 3nm Ha + Optolong LRGB

🌌 Bortle Scale: 4

⏱️ INTEGRATION TIME

⚪ L - 276 * 180s - 13h 48m

🔴 Ha - 58 * 180s - 2h 54m

🟥 R - 144 * 60s - 2h 24m

🟩 G - 148 * 60s - 2h 28m

🟦 B - 104 * 60s - 1h 44m

Total Integration: 23h 18m

💻 SOFTWARE

💻 Computer: ASIAIR

⚙️ Editing: PixInsight + Lightroom

🤳 Lowell Astrophotography on Instagram

LRGB+SHO