Astro Nick

Astro Nick Following a childhood dream, I’m an amateur astrophotographer taking deep space images in Phoenixville Pennsylvania, mostly from my sidewalk.

Join me as we explore the beauty of our universe!

Right now, deep-space observing is in what’s known as “galaxy season.” This is the time of year when most of the galaxie...
04/27/2026

Right now, deep-space observing is in what’s known as “galaxy season.” This is the time of year when most of the galaxies in our night sky are visible. They are extremely challenging targets (they’re millions upon millions of light-years away and require a lot of time to capture).

That’s why I’ve switched back to the Moon for my last few viewing sessions. Here are some close-ups of the Moon’s surface I captured 4/26. I used my planetary camera and a Barlow lens to zoom in!

Nebula season returns in the next few weeks, so deep space targets will be back in the mix soon. Stay tuned

First time in over a year capturing the Moon, and it felt like starting fresh. I paired my 130 STL Celestron with my Sky...
04/24/2026

First time in over a year capturing the Moon, and it felt like starting fresh. I paired my 130 STL Celestron with my SkyWatcher mount and put the ASIAIR into the mix… and wow, everything just clicked. Smooth setup, clean tracking, and the video data came in beautifully.

There’s something special about returning to a target you know so well and seeing it with new gear. Being my first target in the hobby, it will always have a special place with me.

Definitely won’t be waiting another year for this again.

03/17/2026

Do you ever wonder how astrophotographers capture those incredible images of the night sky? I’ll briefly walk you through how the entire system works and what goes into creating these detailed views of the universe!

Please leave questions below! Thanks for coming along as we explore the universe together.

03/17/2026

It all started in Ohio. Hi my name is Nick, and this is your fair warning you’re about to watch too long of an intro about me and how I started this hobby.

I think the main thing I left out in the video is how supportive the astrophotography community really is. I’ve made so many friends and learned so much, and I truly appreciate these human connections.

Clear skies everyone and thanks for tagging along! More to come soon!

NGC 2264 — Christmas Tree Cluster / Cone NebulaI captured this on 3/1 from my sidewalk during what is forecasted to be t...
03/02/2026

NGC 2264 — Christmas Tree Cluster / Cone Nebula

I captured this on 3/1 from my sidewalk during what is forecasted to be the last clear night for the next seven days. This is only three hours of three-minute exposures.

It’s roughly 2,300–2,700 light-years away and is one of the more challenging targets I’ve captured, since it’s on the fainter side.

I think for my little telescope on my light-polluted sidewalk, this isn’t too shabby. On the right is NASA’s Hubble Spac...
03/01/2026

I think for my little telescope on my light-polluted sidewalk, this isn’t too shabby. On the right is NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope’s image of the Rosette Nebula, and on the left is mine.

Really proud of this one.

The Rosette Nebula, approximately 5,200 light-years away, is one of the largest star-forming regions in our Milky Way ga...
02/28/2026

The Rosette Nebula, approximately 5,200 light-years away, is one of the largest star-forming regions in our Milky Way galaxy. It is about 130 light-years in diameter.

I captured this just last night (2/27) with about four hours of three-minute exposures.

02/20/2026

Since the clouds continue to plague eastern Pennsylvania, I figured I’d put the downtime to good use and share another comparison post. Below is a breakdown of images of Jupiter taken with three different telescopes. The first image was captured in 2024, and the last two were captured in 2025.

Each setup produced a noticeably different result in terms of detail, sharpness, and color rendition. It’s always interesting to see how changes in equipment, conditions, and processing techniques can impact the final image. Comparing them side by side really highlights the improvements in resolution and overall image quality from one year to the next.

New year, new processing workflow. Last summer, I captured data on the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), and with the rec...
02/17/2026

New year, new processing workflow. Last summer, I captured data on the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), and with the recent stretch of poor weather, I decided to reprocess the original dataset to improve the signal extraction and overall image quality. Here is the updated result.

The North America Nebula is an emission nebula located approximately 2,000–3,000 light‑years away in the constellation Cygnus. Its designation comes from the nebula’s large‑scale morphology, which resembles the outline of the North American continent. I collected the data for this capture on my sidewalk in Phoenixville.

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