Read about my successes (and failures) collimating my 6" Ritchey-Chretien telescope. You can really see the difference between bad and not-so-bad collimation.
photonphanatic.com/2026/04/21/r...
#astrophotography
There's actually an iPad app called Dragonlight Mobile that works with ASCOM Alpaca to turn it into an adjustable brightness flat panel. I used it a few times with NINA but it seemed to disconnect at random for me.
Shot this with my 6" RC, which I'm still figuring out. 7 hours in LRGB and Ha with an ASI533MM Pro camera. Not as sharp as I would like, and I've since reconfigured and recollimated. Waiting for a chance to fine tune the collimation under the stars and shoot again.
#astrophotography
My super high-tech equipment for shooting flats:
photonphanatic.com/2026/04/18/m...
#astrophotography
Mark, that seems to make a decent difference. In one case, anyway, the minsub value cut in half with the newer calculator. Thanks for looking into that!
Thanks, Mark. I wondered if maybe there might be some limitations like that. Great calculator, though. I love that it uses actual images to perform the evaluation rather than just camera specs and other guesstimates.
@deepskydetail.bsky.social recently posted a neat tool for estimating minimum sub exposure times. I played around with it and wrote some general thoughts on noise and subs. photonphanatic.com/2026/04/12/a...
#astrophotography
You can get a great bargain on a great small refractor thanks to Sky-Watcher discontinuing their Esprit ED line of refractors. (No financial interest here--wish I could have bought mine at this price.)
photonphanatic.com/2026/04/04/s...
#astrophotography
Nice shot. The Esprit 80 doesn't get the respect it deserves, IMHO.
Barnard 18, a dark nebula in Taurus. About 10 hours of integration in LRGB back in January using my SW Esprit 80ED f/5 refractor and ASI2600MM Pro camera on a Wave 150i mount. Details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/u/PhotonPhan...
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I got four nights in before I ran out of clear skies.
Another galaxy I was able to image last week--NGC 2403, a spiral galaxy about 10 Mly away in Camelopardalis. Shot with my 6" f/9 RC telescope and ASI533MM Pro camera in LRGB+Ha. 13.5 hours of exposures. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/64hn5z
#astrophotography
Trying to make hay while the skies are clear and dark. M106, a galaxy in Canes Venatici. Shot with my 6" f/9 RC and an ASI533MM Pro camera on an iOptron GEM45 mount. Shot in LRGB + Ha. About 6.5 hours of exposures. More technical info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/q3z2l0
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Shakedown cruise for my 6" f/9 Ritchey-Chretien telescope last night. Was able to get 5.25 hours on M81 in LRGB+Ha with an ASI533MM Pro camera. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/u/PhotonPhan...
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Another recent shot--this time the Orion Nebula, shot in LRGB using my SW Esprit 80ED refractor on my Wave 150i mount. Shot with an ASI2600MM Pro camera. 3.4 hours total integration. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/lvm6s9
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Wide field shot of M81, M82, and companions. Note the wispy integrated flux nebula throughout. 26 hours of exposures in LRGB + Ha through my SW Esprit 80ED f/5 refractor. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/9qkpit
#Astrophotography
NGC 7822, an emission nebula in Cepheus. Shot in narrowband (plus RGB for stars) with my SW Esprit 80ED reduced to 260 mm FL using a Starizona Apex ED-S reducer. 11 hours total integration. Hubble palette. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/jwte1m
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The Christmas Tree Cluster, shot in narrowband using my Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED refractor. I initially processed this in HOO, and then blended in SII data as a shade of green, yielding the gold color you see.
More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/fqwgeh
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Dark nebula LDN 1452. 18 hours of data. Shot in LRGB with my SW Esprit 80ED refractor, ASI2600MM Pro camera, SW Wave 150i mount. I tried out the new Veralux Hypermetric Stretch tool on this image, and it did quite well on the nebulosity. More on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/f0ln5e
#astrophotography
This is a quick-and-dirty version of a dark nebula image I shot over the past week. This is about 18 hours of data, processed in true color. Veralux Hypermetric Stretch kept popping up on my radar, so I tried that with this image. Space is a dusty and dirty place.
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The California Nebula (NGC 1499), shot in narrowband (RGB for the stars) and processed in the Hubble pallette. About 13 hours of data shot over two evenings. Shot with my 80-mm f/5 refractor. More details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/fbhw1e
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A couple hours on the Perseus Double Cluster in LRGB last night, using my 80-mm f/5 refractor and ASI2600MM Pro camera. Not the most spectacular target, but worth a couple hours. Details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/bf4f1r
#astrophotography
Shooting astro from the middle of an RV resort around Christmas presents some extra challenges. At least we're past full moon. Trying out a Pegasus Falcon V2 rotator this evening. Shooting the Double Cluster in Perseus for a couple hours, then moving onto the California Nebula.
#astrophotography
The Seagull Nebula (IC 2177), shot at 260 mm FL in narrowband using my Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED f/5 refractor with a Starizona Apex ED-S 0.65x reducer, riding on a Sky-Watcher Wave 150i strain wave mount. More equipment and exposure details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/xtfoe5
#astrophotography
Another couple of clear nights gave me a chance to collect about 12 hours of photons on M33. Shot in LRGB + H-alpha with my SW Esprit 80ED 80-mm f/5 refractor and ASI2600MM Pro camera. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/4tmgil
#Astrophotography
Managed 5 hours on the Andromeda Galaxy last Friday (Nov 14). Shot with my 80mm f/5 refractor. LRGB + Ha. Seems I shoot this one every year. More info on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/95kz13
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A redo of my Heart and Soul Nebulae image from a few days ago. I think the color and contrast in this one is a bit better.
#astrophotography
Redo of my North American Nebula data from a few days ago. This time I used the approach that Adam Block recently published for narrowband processing. Started with SOO and then blended Ha in across mostly the R and G channels. Maybe SH-OH-O? Definitely still false color.
#astrophotography
The Heart and Soul Nebulae, shot over four nights using my Esprit 80ED refractor shortened to 260mm FL using a Starizona Apex ED-S reducer. SHO with RGB stars. More info on equipment and exposures is on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/t38a7c
#astrophotography
The North American Nebula (NGC 7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) captured in a wide field image, shot at 260mm FL with a SW Esprit 80ED f/5 refractor reduced to f/3.25 with a Starizona Apex ED-S reducer. Hubble palette with RGB stars. About 10 hours of integration total.
#astrophotography