Notes from a Small Observatory
The trials, tribulations and small triumphs of a Charlotte, NC astronomer imaging under Bortle 8/9 skies.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Seven hours on the Horsehead with the Seestar S50
The Horsehead Nebula never gets old. This image is a seven hour integration taken with the S50. I procesed it in Siril with RC Astro tools and tweaked the result in Affinity. I'm going to add data as the year progresses, so hopefully, this image will be much improved in a couple of months.
28.8 Hours on the Soul Nebula
The Soul Nebula is an excellent target for the D3 and its wide FOV. The nebula is a birthplance of stars. High velocity stellar winds carve the Soul's gas and dust into cavities and banks, which are clearly visible in this images, as are dark concentrations which hide developing stars.
The nebula is a tough object to image due to its relatively low surface brightness. This image has a total integration time of 28.8 hours of 60-second individual exposures. It was processed in Siril (using RC tools) and Affinity Photo.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
The Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula is one of my favorite objects. I can't image it from my home observatory as my southern horizon is mainly trees. But, thanks to the portability of the S50, I can image it when I travel. This image is a 2 hour total integration, processed in Siril using RC tools. I used a faux Hubble palette to add some drama to the image. The Lagoon is a stellar nursery and dark, collapsing clouds of gas and dust that will become stars are clearly visible in this image.
The Soul Nebula
The 'heart' of the Soul Nebula. This image was taken with the Seestar S50. Total integration time was 10.6 hours of individual 60-second exposures. The image was stacked and processed in Siril, including BlurXterminator and NoiseXterminator. Final finish was completed in Affinity Photo.
The Soul is a stellar nursery. The cavities, pillars, and bubbles sculpted by the intense stellar winds can be seen in this croppoed image.
Thursday, October 1, 2026
20 Hours of WR 134 with the Seestar S50
This image is a 20+ hour integration on WR 134, which is a highly energetic Wolf-Rayet star. The blue shockwave is oxygen ionized by the intense stellar winds produced from this object. The image was stacked and processed in Siril and Affinity.
Thursday, June 25, 2026
The Pelican Nebula with the Dwarf 3
This is a 4.5 hour integration of the Pelican Nebula, taken with a Dwarf 3 scope. Stacked and processed in Stellar Studio and Photoshop PS.
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
M 106. A 10-Hour Integration with the Seestar S50
This is a 10-hour integration if M 106 taken with the S50. Stacked and processed in Siril (VeraLux scripts and Cosmic Clarity). Tweaked in Affinity and Photoshop.
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Seven hours on the Horsehead with the Seestar S50
The Horsehead Nebula never gets old. This image is a seven hour integration taken with the S50. I procesed it in Siril with RC Astro tools a...
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I had a couple of emails asking how to defork an ETX telescope. The ETX 90 and ETX 125 were optically superb scopes, but the mounts left a...
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M17, the Omega Nebula (among other names). M17 is one of the brightest and most massive stellar nurseries in the galaxy. The open cluster o...
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The ZEQ25 doing its stuff on a cold night--imaging the Orion Nebula with an 8 inch f/4 astrograph. Note the lovely Christmas rug :) As ...





