Jon's astrophotography

Jon's astrophotography hello, my name is Jonathan, i Explore the cosmos from my home in Malta and share it with you!

A mosaic of the moon i captured 2 years ago, it was 4 panels stitched together from a celestron 5 inch SCT, you can see ...
08/09/2026

A mosaic of the moon i captured 2 years ago, it was 4 panels stitched together from a celestron 5 inch SCT, you can see alot more details and resolution than a single stacked image

This is one of my favourite phases of the moon because the shadows off the mountains and craters really brings the crisp lunar details out unlike a full moon where the moon's surface looks flat

✨ Pickering’s Triangle & The Filamentary Nebula ​Deep in the constellation Cygnus lies one of the most stunning remnants...
08/09/2026

✨ Pickering’s Triangle & The Filamentary Nebula

​Deep in the constellation Cygnus lies one of the most stunning remnants of a cataclysmic stellar explosion that occurred thousands of years ago.

This shot features Pickering’s Triangle and the delicate, glowing filaments of the Veil Nebula complex.
​Captured from my backyard setup, teasing out these faint, ethereal gas wisps against the starry background took a lot of patience and integration time, but seeing the intricate details emerge from the data was entirely worth it!

​⚙️ Imaging Rig & Equipment Details
​OTA: Sky-Watcher Evoguide 50ED
​Imaging Camera: SVBONY SV405CC (Cooled)
​Filter: SVBONY SV220 Dual-Band Narrowband Filter
​Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTI
​Guiding: SVBONY SV165 Guide Scope + ZWO ASI178MC Guide Camera

​⏱️ Capture Stats
​Sub-exposure length: 3 minutes
​Total Integration Time: 10 hours

​Clear skies and happy imaging, everyone! 🌌🔭

​
​What target are you planning to image next under the next clear moonless night?

This is what we call smart telescope vs astrophotography Rig, i like to make these comparisions, because its interesting...
07/09/2026

This is what we call smart telescope vs astrophotography Rig, i like to make these comparisions, because its interesting to see how aperture really improves the resolution and light gathering power.

I have to say though the dwarf mini did remarkably well for a 35mm aperture and planetary camera sensor!

The integration times were 3.75 hours for the 4.5 inch newtonian and 5 hours for the dwarf, so the smart telescope had a bit more exposure time overall

I like the dwarf mini, it works flawlessly and have nothing bad to say against it, it compliments all my other telescopes well!

Astrophotography RIG

4.5 inch newtonian
Svbony sv405cc camera
Baader MPCC corrector
Skywatcher adventurer GTI mount

Smart telescope

Dwarf lab mini

This is Just how faint the seahorse nebula is from bortle 7 skies and a small 35mm smart telescope, obviously bigger ape...
06/09/2026

This is Just how faint the seahorse nebula is from bortle 7 skies and a small 35mm smart telescope, obviously bigger apertures/darker skies the result will be much different, light pollution really affects deepsky images particularly dark nebula like these ones, and it makes them very challenging to process aswell

It was practiy invisible at 60 seconds, at 8 hours you could see the nebula but the image was still lacking signal and very noisy, at 32 hours the data got smoother and was also much easier to stretch too

Dwarf lab mini
Astro filter
Star spike mask

Processed on Siril and Photoshop

Here is a shot of the seahorse nebula, this was quite tricky to get right and frankly talking im not satisfied with the ...
05/09/2026

Here is a shot of the seahorse nebula, this was quite tricky to get right and frankly talking im not satisfied with the processed image i managed to get, maybe i will process it later

The data was captured with the dwarflab mini smart telescope over the course of 4 nights last week, the exposure time is a total of 32 hours, but since i am in bortle 7 skies it is a challenge! It is a dark nebula which are notoriously difficult in light polluted skies since they don't emit light and are blocking the starlight behind them from reaching us

The Seahorse Nebula, cataloged as Barnard 150 (or LDN 1082), is a striking dark absorption nebula located in the northern constellation Cepheus.

​Distance: Situated approximately 1,200 light-years away from Earth.

The majestic sombrero galaxy 🤠This shot is actually from a while ago, taken with my 5 inch Celestron schmidt cassegrain ...
03/09/2026

The majestic sombrero galaxy 🤠

This shot is actually from a while ago, taken with my 5 inch Celestron schmidt cassegrain telescope

Located roughly 28 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, this stunning cosmic wonder earned its iconic nickname because its bright nucleus and sweeping dust lanes give it the uncanny appearance of a traditional Mexican sombrero hat.

​🌌 Did you know? Even with a modest backyard telescope, you can spot the Sombrero Galaxy as a hazy, oval patch of light, though you'll need a larger scope or space-based imagery to see that famous dark dust lane cutting across it!

Equipment

Celestron C5
Svbony sv705c camera
Skywatcher adventurer GTI mount
Bortle 7 sky

​What is your favorite deep-space object to look at? Let us know in the comments below! 👇

the planetary nebula NGC 3242, famously known as the Ghost of Jupiter, captured right from a bortle 7 sky using a 5-inch...
31/08/2026

the planetary nebula NGC 3242, famously known as the Ghost of Jupiter, captured right from a bortle 7 sky using a 5-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT)

​Despite its small aperture, the SCT’s long focal length allows you to get a better reach for small targets like this.

Located roughly 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Hydra, this ghostly apparition is actually a shell of glowing gas cast off by a Sun-like star as it reached the end of its life, leaving behind a hot white dwarf at its core.

​🔭 Setup & Capture Details:
​Telescope: 5-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT)
​Target: NGC 3242 (Ghost of Jupiter Planetary Nebula)
​Constellation: Hydra
Camera: zwo178mc

​Clear skies, and keep looking up! Let me know what cosmic target you'd like to see next in the comments below. ✨

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