Event Photography

09/07/2026

Various dark nebulae in the constellation Cepheus. Most prominent, and what called me to this region, is Barnard 174 (B174: Lynds Dark Nebulae 1164 & 1165) in the upper right of this image. Other LDNs are also visible (see labelled image in comments). These dark nebulae are composed of cold dust and gas, so dense that they block the light coming from stars behind them. In this very (VERY) starry region of the Milky way (see the comments for an image with more stars) the result can be stunning.

An accurate estimate of the distance to B174 is hard to come by; most suggest 1,300 to 2,450 light-years away from us. If correct, that means the darkness of B 174 started toward me anytime between the birth of Plato and when Japanese Emperor Tenmu abolished serfdom and began the practice of providing food for the poor.

83 x 300-sec exposures (plus 20 darks, 30 flats & bias frames)
6 hr 55 min total exposure
Bortle 4 sky
Waning crescent Moon, 24% illuminated
ZWO ASI533mc Pro camera (gain 101, offset 70, -5°C)
Baader UV/IR filter
Williams Optics Redcat 51 telescope (250 mm focal length)
HEQ5 pro mount (guided)
stacked and processed in Siril
Denoising in GraXpert
tweaked in Raw Therapee and GIMP

08/31/2026

SH2-114, the Flying Dragon Nebula, is a filamentous hydrogen emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This is a very dim nebula -- the dragon was not visible in any of the individual images; only after I combined 61 5-min exposures (a total of 5 hr 5 min of data) was this image achieved.

The dragon is estimated to be about 3,850 light-years, so I captured photons that were emitted at about the time that the earliest known Egyptian medical text, a papyrus addressing fertility, pregnancy, and gynecological health, was written.

61 x 300-sec exposures (plus 20 darks, 30 flats & bias frames)
5 hr 5 min total exposure
Bortle 4 sky
Full Moon, 100% illuminated
ZWO ASI533mc Pro camera (gain 101, offset 70, -5°C)
Optolong L-eNhance filter
Williams Optics Redcat 51 telescope (250 mm focal length)
HEQ5 pro mount (guided)
stacked and processed in Siril
background extraction and denoising in GraXpert
tweaked in Raw Therapee and GIMP

08/30/2026

Composite of the lunar eclipse, Aug 27-28, 2006. Images start about 15% into the partial phase, then about 75%, then close to peak, then 75%, then 15%.

08/27/2026

08/19/2026

Wolf-Rayet 134 is a large, bright star in the constellation Cygnus. Although it is not especially visible, the bubble of oxygen gas excited into a blue glow by the intense radiation from this star is the most salient feature of this image. Only one side of the bubble is obvious in my 3+ - hour exposure; a longer exposure could reveal the much dimmer remainder.

WR 134 is about 5,700 light-years from us. The photons from this bubble set out when horses were first domesticated in what is not Kazakhstan, and when the first Neolithic settlers appeared on the Greek island of Santorini.

Also present in this image are two open star clusters (NGC 6883 and 6871) but they are not distinct against the dense background of Milky Way stars.

40 x 300-sec exposures (plus 20 darks, 30 flats & bias frames)
3 hr 20 min total exposure
Bortle 4 sky
Waxing crescent Moon, 27% illuminated
ZWO ASI533mc Pro camera (gain 101, offset 70, -5°C)
Optolong L-eNhance filter
Williams Optics Redcat 51 telescope (250 mm focal length)
HEQ5 pro mount (guided)
stacked and processed in Siril
background extraction and denoising in GraXpert
tweaked in Raw Therapee and GIMP

08/15/2026

Great Escape Stage Company Gala is TODAY! Don't miss it!

08/10/2026

Melotte 15 is a group of young, hot stars at the center of IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, in the constellation Cassiopeia. With my long focal length telescope this group dominates the view, surrounded by the much larger heart-shaped shell of hydrogen that is glowing due to the energy of these stars.

Melotte 15 is 7,500 light-years from our Sun, so I captured photons that left these stars at the time of the earliest archaeological evidence of cheese-making (in Poland), and of the earliest copper smelting (in Russia).

43 x 300-sec exposures (plus 20 darks, 30 flats & bias frames)
3 hr 35 min total exposure
Bortle 4 sky
Waning crescent Moon, 21% illuminated
ZWO ASI533mc Pro camera (gain 101, offset 70, -5°C)
Optolong L-eNhance filter
Apertura CarbonStar 6 telescope (1377 mm focal length)
HEQ5 pro mount (guided)
stacked and processed in Siril
background extraction and denoising in GraXpert
tweaked in Raw Therapee and GIMP

08/08/2026