Posted inAstronomy Astrophotography

M42 The Orion Nebula

https://flic.kr/p/2qNqRRw

I’m pretty amazed how nice this one came out. I started the image really late in the season so by 9pm I would already be doing a meridian flip. Plus weather and mount issues (tracking on the west side), made this one a challenge.

I have a post that shows the internals and disassembly of this camera and filter wheel here:
https://www.astroturtle.com/2025/12/sbig-st-8300m/

  • Taken from a Bortle 5 suburban back yard.
  • Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 at f/3.6 with the CR Reducer 0.73x.
  • SBIG ST-8300M at 1×1 binning, with the FW5-8300 5 position filter wheel. (The halos around brighter stars are due to the camera)
  • IDAS LPS-D3 36mm unmounted filter for luminance and Astronomik Deep-Sky 36mm unmounted RGB filters.
  • Losmady G11 Gemini 2, guided with a piggybacked AstroTech 65EDQ and an Orion StarShoot autoguider.
  • Software included PHD2 for guiding, Sequence Generator Pro for acquisition, and PixInsight for image processing.
  • 70 x 300s luminance integrations (IDAS LPS-D3)
  • 70 x 300s each red, green and blue filters

Total exposure time of just over 23 hours

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Posted inAstronomy Astrophotography

M33 Triangulum Galaxy

https://flic.kr/p/2qqnCQH


A small break in the weather finally allowed me to complete my M33. The difference from my first attempt with only 15 RGB frames [https://flic.kr/p/2qqnCQH] is really amazing.

I have a post that shows the internals and disassembly of this camera and filter wheel here:
https://www.astroturtle.com/2025/12/sbig-st-8300m/

  • Taken from a Bortle 5 suburban back yard.
  • Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 at f/5.
  • SBIG ST-8300M at 1×1 binning, with the FW5-8300 5 position filter wheel.
  • IDAS LPS-D3 36mm unmounted filter for luminance and Astronomik Deep-Sky 36mm unmounted RGB filters.
  • Losmady G11 Gemini 2, guided with a piggybacked AstroTech 65EDQ and an Orion StarShoot autoguider.
  • Software included PHD2 for guiding, Sequence Generator Pro for acquisition, and PixInsight for image processing.
  • 70 x 600s luminance integrations (IDAS LPS-D3)
  • 45 x 600s each red, green and blue filters

Total exposure time of 34 hours.

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Posted inAstronomy Astrophotography

M31 The Andromeda Galaxy

https://flic.kr/p/2qmBPdK


It’s Andromeda season! My latest attempt at m31, with a nearly 15-year-old SBIG ST-8300M camera. I’m amazed at how this camera is still ticking along, but I think it may be time for an upgrade soon. lol!

I have a post that shows the internals and disassembly of this camera and filter wheel here:
https://www.astroturtle.com/2025/12/sbig-st-8300m/

  • Taken from a Bortle 5 suburban back yard.
  • Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 at f/3.6 with the 0.73x CR Reducer.
  • SBIG ST-8300M at 1×1 binning, with the FW5-8300 5 position filter wheel.
  • IDAS LPS-D3 36mm unmounted filter for luminance and Astronomik Deep-Sky 36mm unmounted RGB filters.
  • Losmady G11 Gemini 2, guided with a piggybacked AstroTech 65EDQ and an Orion StarShoot autoguider.
  • Software included PHD2 for guiding, Sequence Generator Pro for acquisition and PixInsight for image processing.
  • 66 x 600s luminance integrations (IDAS LPS-D3)
  • 30 x 600s red channel integrations
  • 30 x 600s green channel integrations
  • 30 x 600s blue channel integrations

26 hours total exposure time

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Posted inAstronomy Astrophotography

IC434 Horsehead and Flame Nebulas in Hydrogen Alpha

https://flic.kr/p/PdHqC1


I revisited an old favorite for my first quick test with my new Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4.

23 x 600 second integrations, Baader Hydrogen-Alpha filter, FSQ-106EDX4 @ f/5, SBIG ST-8300 with FW5 filter wheel, processed with PixInsight.

I have a post that shows the internals and disassembly of this camera and filter wheel here:
https://www.astroturtle.com/2025/12/sbig-st-8300m/

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