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AstroKrause

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06/04/2026

The Spindle Galaxy - M102

Here’s a neat galaxy in Draco. At first it looks like just a white blob but it’s evident after processing that there’s a clear dust lane that indicates we’re potentially looking at this galaxy edge-on.

Exposure: 12 hours
145 frames x 300 sec
Constellation: Draco
Telescope: Nexstar 8SE with .63 reducer
Mount: AM3
Camera: RisingCam IMX571 OSC
Filter: No filter
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

05/23/2026

Markarian’s Chain with hydrogen bridge

This is a string of galaxies near the core of the Virgo galaxy cluster. Within the cluster, at least seven galaxies in Markarian’s Chain appear to move coherently, while others may appear to be part of the chain by chance. There’s normally a couple more galaxies included in the chain, but I couldn’t fit them in the frame.

One of my primary goals with this project was to capture the hydrogen bridge which is the faint, sweeping filament of ionized hydrogen gas connecting the giant elliptical galaxy M86 and the interacting spiral NGC 4438. Stretching across vast intergalactic space, this glowing gas bridge is physical evidence of ancient, violent galactic collisions.

I almost gave up on trying to capture the hydrogen bridge as it’s incredibly faint and required more than double the amount of hours I thought before I even started to get a glimpse of it and imaging time this year so far has been few and far between.

Exposure: 75 hours
Ha: 519 frames x 300 sec
Luminance: 368 frames x 120 sec
Red: 193 frames x 120 sec
Green: 190 frames x 120 sec
Blue: 190 frames x 120 sec
Constellation: Virgo
Telescope: AT130
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Camera: Poseidon-M Pro
Filter: Antlia HaLRGB
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

05/11/2026

Coddington’s Nebula

This is actually not a nebula but rather a small, irregular dwarf galaxy discovered by Edwin Coddington in 1898. It’s 12 million light years away and found in Ursa Major.

Exposure: 17 hours
205 frames x 300 sec
Constellation: Ursa Major
Telescope: Nexstar 8SE with .63 reducer
Mount: AM3
Camera: RisingCam IMX571 OSC
Filter: No filter
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

04/23/2026

Finally got an acceptable enough night here (weather-wise) to image a planet. Here’s Jupiter with its moon Io. Took a 90 second long video and stacked 15% of the frames. Hope for better seeing next time to bring out finer detail.

Camera: ZWO ASI482MC
Telescope: Celestron 8SE with 2x Barlow & ZWO ADC
Mount: AM3
Capture & Processing: FireCapture, AutoStakkert, Registax, Lightroom

firecapture

04/22/2026

M13 - The Great Hercules Cluster

This popular object is a massive, ancient globular star cluster in the constellation Hercules, containing hundreds of thousands of stars packed tightly together. A fun target to image as well as view through binoculars or a telescope.

Exposure: 3 hours
Luminance: 44 frames x 120 sec
Red: 25 frames x 120 sec
Green: 23 frames x 120 sec
Blue: 23 frames x 120 sec
Constellation: Hercules
Telescope: AT130
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Camera: Poseidon-M Pro
Filter: Antlia LRGB
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

02/19/2026

The Horsehead & Flame Nebula

Celebrating the Year of the Horse with the Horsehead nebula. Always fun to capture this classic nebula pair.

Exposure: 9.7 hours
Luminance: 113 frames x 120 sec
Red: 61 frames x 120 sec
Green: 58 frames x 120 sec
Blue: 59 frames x 120 sec
Constellation: Orion
Telescope: AT130
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Camera: Poseidon-M Pro
Filter: Antlia LRGB
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

01/21/2026

The Orion Nebula

Annual capture of the Orion Nebula, it never gets old!

Exposure: 8.4 hours
Luminance: 248 frames x 30 sec
Red: 135 frames x 60 sec
Green: 116 frames x 60 sec
Blue: 130 frames x 60 sec
Constellation: Orion
Telescope: AT130
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Camera: Poseidon-M Pro
Filter: Antlia LRGB
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

01/10/2026

The Embryo Nebula

In the heroic constellation Perseus lies this awesome reflection nebula and stellar nursery. It’s a pretty dusty region that contains hundreds of stars less than a millions years old. First time imaging this one.

Exposure: 21 hours
Luminance: 245 frames x 120 sec
Red: 134 frames x 120 sec
Green: 131 frames x 120 sec
Blue: 133 frames x 120 sec
Constellation: Perseus
Telescope: AT130
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Camera: Poseidon-M Pro
Filter: Antlia LRGB
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

12/21/2025

Interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas

Here is the famous alien spacecraft a.k.a. Interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas. Captured in the pre-dawn hours from Saturday morning 12/20. I think this was the day of or just after its closest approach to Earth. It’s now on the way out of our solar system.

Exposure: 2 hours
Luminance: 29 frames x 120 sec
Red: 12 frames x 120 sec
Green: 12 frames x 120 sec
Blue: 12 frames x 120 sec
Constellation: Leo
Telescope: AT130
Mount: EQ6-R Pro
Camera: Poseidon-M Pro
Filter: Antlia LRGB
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

12/09/2025

IC 342 - The Hidden Galaxy

This a fairly bright face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis, but is so named because it’s difficult to visually observe being crowded out by the Milky Way’s gas, dust, and abundant stars. Were it not obscured by so much interstellar matter, it would be one of the brightest galaxies in our sky!

Exposure: 32 hours
378 frames x 300 sec
Constellation: Camelopardalis
Telescope: Nexstar 8SE with .63 reducer
Mount: AM3
Camera: RisingCam IMX571 OSC
Filter: No filter
Capture & Processing: N.I.N.A./APP/Pixinsight/Lightroom

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