Scotia Astro

12/07/2026

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08/07/2026

Which Solar Filter WINS?! | SeeStar S30 Pro 🔭📱☀️

I tested the NEW Astro Essentials Baader Solar Filter from First Light Optics against the native ZWO Solar Filter, that came with my SeeStar S30 Pro!

Which one wins?! Come and have a look and let us know what you think in the comments! 🔭📱☀️

⚠️ Only view and image the Sun with proper solar gear! 🙏🏻

First Light Optics ZWO Astrophotography Baader Planetarium Seestar

08/07/2026

SeeStarin’ it in sunny Scotland (for once! 😜)☀️🔭📸

⚠️ Only view and image the Sun with proper solar gear! 🙏🏻

🔭 SeeStar S30 Pro
📱 iPhone 16
🔭 Benro Mach 3

ZWO Astrophotography Seestar Apple

05/07/2026

I’m continuing to have great fun with my remote scope in South Africa, even when the Moon is up! 😉

While awaiting more favourable conditions, I couldn’t let a clear night go to waste, so I started to scout Sagittarius for some brighter objects.

M22 (aka The Great Sagittarius Cluster) fit the bill nicely and I spent some time collecting photons from the beautiful Globular Cluster.

Located around 10,000 light years from Earth, M22 was ‘discovered’ in the mid 17th century and was one of the first globulars detected in the night sky.

As it sits (from our perspective) in the dense star fields of the Milky Way around the Galactic Bulge, its actually true brilliance is somewhat dimmed, as its light has to fight through the copious amounts of gas and dust between us.

Thanks for looking and clear skies to you all! 🔭📸✨

📍 Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory
⏱️ 3h
🎯 M8 ‘Lagoon Nebula’
🔭 Askar FRA300 Pro
📸 ZWO 533MM Pro
🔭 ZWO AM5
⭕️ Antlia 31mm RGB
💻 ZWO ASIAIR Plus

AstroCapetown Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve ZWO Astrophotography Antlia Astronomy Filter Sharpstar Optics

01/07/2026

Here’s the result of a quick wee project that I recently completed with my remote scope in the southern hemisphere!

While scouring the Milky Way, I took some time to pay a visit to LDN66, aka The Snake Nebula in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is located close by (in cosmic terms) at around 650 light years from Earth.

The dark dust lanes of this deep sky object act as a shroud for some of the background stars, which it so aptly obscures.

Its a striking contrast to the surrounding dense star fields of our home galaxy and I’ll certainly be paying this area another visit and trying for a larger mosaic, to take in the many dark dusty areas of this portion of the souther skies!

Clear skies to you all! 🔭📸🐍

📍 Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory
⏱️ 5h
🎯 LDN66 ‘The Snake Nebula’
🔭 Askar FRA300 Pro
📸 ZWO 533MM Pro
🔭 ZWO AM5
⭕️ Antlia 31mm RGB
💻 ZWO ASIAIR Plus

AstroCapetown Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve ZWO Astrophotography Antlia Astronomy Filter Sharpstar Optics

26/06/2026

Does this budget SV535 APO from
Svbony ASTRO come up with the goods?! 🤔

Come and find out in my latest video here 👉🏻 https://youtu.be/joYgYKRLt3k?si=EsGW4KYAAUvZI6-W

22/06/2026

I don’t know why, but I’ve always been really drawn to images of Centaurus A.

From my location here in Scotland at 56 degrees North, there was no way to image it…until now.

Using a remote scope in South Africa, I’ve finally ticked another box on my astro imaging bucket list!

Centaurus A (or Caldwell 77) is an awesome elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus and lies around 11 million light years from Earth.

Its unique shape is thought to be the result of an ancient collision between two galaxies which left a trail of glorious star clusters and stunning dark dust lanes in its wake.

As if this isn’t cool enough, Centaurus A goes one further as it’s also home to a supermassive black hole, located at its centre.

This is just a quick study with LRGB filters, but I’ve seen other excellent images with a good amount of H-alpha in the core and in the galaxy’s environs, so I’ll certainly be paying Centaurus A another visit!

For now though, thanks for looking and clear skies! 🔭📸

📍 Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory
⏱️ 7h 30’
🎯 M20 ‘Trifid Nebula’
🔭 Askar FRA300 Pro
📸 ZWO 533MM Pro
🔭 ZWO AM5
⭕️ Antlia 31mm RGB
💻 ZWO ASIAIR Plus

Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve AstroCapetown ZWO Astrophotography Antlia Astronomy Filter Sharpstar Optics

20/06/2026

My Southern studies of Sagittarius continues with a short wee visit to M20 aka The Trifid Nebula.

This whole area is a nice mix of open star clusters and emission nebulae both within and surrounding the Trifid.

Located ‘just’ 5,000 light years away, it’s relatively close by cosmic standards.

I shot this in straight RGB with a mono camera to bring out the bright pinks and blues of M20, but my camera also picked up a nice amount of Hydrogen emissions in the environs…will need to revisit with a nice dose of SHO to combine with this first set.

This is my first attempt at the Trifid and as it’s nowhere near high enough from my home location in the UK, I took this image with a remote scope in South Africa.

Thanks for looking and clear skies to you all! 🔭📸✨

📍 Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory
⏱️ 7h 30’
🎯 M20 ‘Trifid Nebula’
🔭 Askar FRA300 Pro
📸 ZWO 533MM Pro
🔭 ZWO AM5
⭕️ Antlia 31mm RGB
💻 ZWO ASIAIR Plus

AstroCapetown Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve Sharpstar Optics ZWO Astrophotography

17/06/2026

I’m super excited to be operating another remote scope beneath my cloud covered skies in Scotland!

Here’s a (very) quick first light image from the Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve Remote Observatory in South Africa, which will be the first of many over the coming months…I’m renting a nice wee wide-field refractor with a great mono setup, so I’ll be traversing as much of the southern skies as I can! 🇿🇦

A big shout out to AstroCapetown and Gerhard for their help, advice and super friendly service in getting me up and running from over 6,000 miles away.

I’ve always wanted to image the lovely Lagoon Nebula, but it’s waaaay too low from my vantage point here in the UK.

This giant star forming region is rich with interstellar gas, bright emissions and dark dust lanes making it a place of contrasts and I’m so thrilled to finally have a go at it.

This image is a short integration test of pure RGB and I’m keen to go back and go deeper with my SHO filters on this wee rig.

The Lagoon (classified at M8) is located in the constellation of Sagittarius and lies some 5,000 light years away from Earth.

Thanks for looking and clear skies to you all! 🔭📸✨

📍 Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory
⏱️ 3h
🎯 M8 ‘Lagoon Nebula’
🔭 Askar FRA300 Pro
📸 ZWO 533MM Pro
🔭 ZWO AM5
⭕️ Antlia 31mm RGB
💻 ZWO ASIAIR Plus

ZWO Astrophotography Sharpstar Optics Antlia Astronomy Filter

16/06/2026

Scanning Centaurus from Scotland to South Africa with a remote telescope at Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve 🔭📸✨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇿🇦

🔭 Askar FRA300 Pro
📸 ZWO 533MM Pro
🔭 ZWO AM5
⭕️ Antlia 31mm LRGBSHO
💻 ZWO ASIAIR Plus

AstroCapetown ZWO Astrophotography Antlia Astronomy Filter Sharpstar Optics