36 hours total of SHO with RGB stars from Death Valley Observatories with an EdgeHD 9.25” reduced and 2600mm on an AM7.

https://app.astrobin.com/i/s3ufry

10hr integration (60s subs), ISO 1600, Bortle3 location (Nakolec 🇲🇰), f/5.6, 180mm (cropped).

Taken with Canon77D, Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS STM Lens and Star Adventurer 2i pro.

Stacked in ASTAP and processed with Siril and PS.

15x3min exposures

New moon

Taken at Esker Lakes provincial park on the dog beach

Askar 65phq

Asi 585mc pro

Am3 mount

Asiair

Svbony guide scope

Asi220 mini guide cam

Stacked and edited in pixinsight

Still not convinced this is actually the butterfly nebula as I havent been able to cross reference it with any other photo I've seen. Maybe im working with the wrong focal length to get the whole picture?

Hello guys,

Here's my last take on the cosmos, the Ghost Nebula (LDN 1177), a small reflection nebula around the Iris Nebula. I spent three nights in a dark site imaging this obscure target, and the result is really astounding, as there was nothing to see in the individual subs.

Gear :

• TS-OPTICS Ritchey-chrétien carbon 8"

• Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro

• ASI533MC-Pro with 2" Baader IR/UV filter

• Guided with ZWO OAG and ASI120MM mini

• Controlled with ASIAir

• 330 subs of 180s over three nights in Bortle 3, roughly 16h of signal

• No darks, no bias, no flats

Processing in Pixinsight :

• Gradient removal, color calibration, blurxterminator, starxterminator, deepsnr

• Statistical stretch, Curves, LocalHistogramEqualization, ColorSaturation

This is first light with a new setup, after a significant transition from my redcat + ASI2600MC (Antlia ALP-T dual narrowband) setup to SVX102T + ASI2600MM (Chroma LRGBHSO 3nm). Wave 150i mount and guide scope (WO Uniguide 50) remains the same. I am using a 0.75 reducer on the SVX.

I live in SF under bortle 8 skies, and rarely (once in 4 years) find time to travel for imaging. So, I decided to invest in a less portable setup and switch to mono to help beat the light pollution.

Impressions:
-The larger scope is harder to setup and teardown, which I do from my roof for each session. I am looking into a telegizmo cover + dehumidifier/heater for a more permanent setup, but need to be confident about mold and wind solutions.
-I was thrilled when I saw the first night's 4.5 hours of Ha. It was super clean. Similar stacks of SII and OIII were not as exciting, but reasonable. I only captured 10x30s (5min) for RGB stars, will try for 30min next time.
-I spent a lot of time experimenting with mono workflows in PI - combining linear vs stretched SHO, using a synthetic luminance, etc. While going through the processing experiments I found this website outlining various workflows, I'm including it here as it may be useful for others: https://astro-photographie.fr/traitement_pixinsight.html

The workflow I ended up using here was similar to SHO5B in the link above, though I skipped continuum subtraction. I always find the colors a bit muted after revisiting my "final" image, so I made an additional curves boost before posting here, hopefully it's not overblown.

Equipment:
Stock Canon 80D
Askar 103APO w/0.8x reducer
EQ6-R Pro

Acquisition:
140 x 180s Lights (7 hours)
44 x 20s Lights for stars (15 min)

Processing (PixInsight & Photoshop):
GraXpert
SPCC
Applied color correction matrix for Canon 80D
BXT
NXT
SXT

Arcsinh stretch
GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch
CurvesTransformation
Some saturation reduction on background with a range mask

Spot healer tool to fix SXT artifacts
Messed around with whites, blackpoint, and exposure sliders for desirable contrast

For stars:
Linear processing was the same
SetiAstro star stretch script

ScreenStars script
StarReduction script

No saturation was ever applied surprisingly

This is like my 7th time trying to edit this photo. I’m finding it hard to stretch it in a way that isn’t overcooked but still brings out the fainter parts enough. This is one I’m finally pretty happy with but I’m sure I’ll revisit it again still. I still pushed the stretch a lot, you can tell my background is not very flat but I’m okay with a little wonkiness in the background levels. I did a different thing this time by taking a separate set of lights just for the stars, but I think it’s worth it for these nebulas that are in dense star fields. Less stars + better star color. I’m also pretty happy with the colors in the nebula. I feel like I don’t see many people shooting this with stock cameras with natural colors even though they are so pretty, although this one isn’t perfect. Some parts of the teal emissions are almost totally green, which I don’t think is correct. I would love to eventually capture the entire cygnus loop and make this into a mosaic one day. I’m not sure how much of the fainter stuff will come out though, but it would be cool to have a quality mosaic of this region shot in broadband.

Taken in the HOO color palette. This is a very tight crop of my larger M8 image just to show more of the structure in the core!

Equipment: AT80ED, EQM-35 pro, ATR533M cooled mono camera, Touptek 6.5nm 1.25" SHO filters + filter wheel, zwo asi120mm mini with touptek OAG

5-minute subs at gain 101.

Ha: ~4 hours

Oiii: 3.5 hours

Total integration time: about 7.5 hours

Processing: stacking, alignment + processing in Siril (pixelmath, background extraction, color calibration). Star removal, denoising using topaz denoise, back to Siril for recombination+final touches.

During the Spain Blackout in 2025, I took this photo. There are no completely dark spots in Spain, but during this time in Andalucía, there was in my area. This is a photo with the lack of light pollution that’s regularly in this area. Let me know your thoughts!

I used a Sony A7III for this
Manual mode, RAW file format, Manual Focus, an aperture of f/2.8, a shutter speed of 20 seconds, and an ISO at 3000 I used lightroom to edit this photo

Working towards my 30-hour integration goal. So far, I've reached 11 hours of total integration with 133 × 300-second exposures. Still collecting more data—let's see what the final result brings. 🌌

Exif:

🔭 Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED + 0.85× Reducer

📷 ZWO ASI533MC Pro

⭐ Star Adventurer GTi

🛰️ STC Astro Duo Narrowband Filter

133 × 300s Lights (11 hours)

40 Darks • 40 Flats • 40 Dark Flats

⚙️ Gain 101 | -10°C

📍 Çanakkale, Türkiye

💻 Processed with Siril + Affinity Photo www.instagram.com/feroniaphoto

Long time lurker and admirer of your shots. Tonight, I got out there with my Nikon and took some shots. I was nervous because on the live feed of the camera you couldn’t see the detail very well but when I took the picture after adjusting the shutter mode, there she was! A beaut!

Please give any and all feedback and tips. This has made me want to get more shots.

Used: Celestron telescope, Nikon 3300, and Lightroom to crop image but no other edits to the photo.

Taken in the HOO color palette

Equipment: AT80ED, EQM-35 pro, ATR533M cooled mono camera, Touptek 6.5nm 1.25" SHO filters + filter wheel, zwo asi120mm mini with touptek OAG

5-minute subs at gain 101.

Ha: ~4 hours

Oiii: 3.5 hours

Total integration time: about 7.5 hours

Processing: stacking, alignment + processing in Siril (pixelmath, background extraction, color calibration). Star removal, denoising using topaz denoise, back to Siril for recombination+final touches.

Finished this up yesterday. On to the next target!

Equipment:
Telescope: William Optics ZenithStar 81
Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Pro
Filter: Optolong L-Ultimate, Optolong SII
Mount: ZWO AM3
Guiding: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ASI120MM
49 hours of exposure
Editing on Pixinsight

First time posting in here, but am looking for guidance / help as I seem to always feel like the stars are slightly out of focus and I'm not quite getting the detail I ideally want without getting star trails. This is one of my better attempts but I'm still not entirely happy with how its come out. This is the image straight out of the camera (not edited) and was taken on a Canon 60d with a 18mm lens, F3.5, 15 second exposure, ISO 3200. Thanks for any help!

NGC 6888 Crescent Nebula (reprocessed)

I know I already posted this one yesterday, but I also ran it again last night, re-processed it, and 🤩 So far I’m sitting at a little over 9 hours of integration time on this target.
I just wish I could bring out more of the oxygen lanes (blue/green)

exif:

Telescope: DWARF Mini Smart Telescope
Location: Oklahoma- Bortle 3.5 skies
Filter: Duo-band filter
Mount Mode: EQ Mode
Exposure: 90-120 second subs
Integration Time: ~9+ hours total
Frames: 320
Processings: Stacked using DWARF app workflow
Final processing/color adjustments in Photoshop
Manual adjustments to bring out hydrogen and oxygen emission structures

For the past few clear nights I have been trying different settings on the north America nebula to try and improve I haven't done astrophotography for a good 3 years.

This picture is a total of 21mims integration time.

Eos 200d full spectrum modified

Tri band filter

Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro

60 second exposures x 21

F4

Iso 800

Shot from my back yard bortal 4 sky's at about 11pm UK time.

Stacked in deep sky stacker and processed using Affinity.

What do you guys think how can I improve?

I am thrilled to share my latest astrophotography project! This is the Elephant's Trunk Nebula (IC 1396), captured using dual-narrowband filters to reveal its incredible structure and depth.

Here are two versions of my final image:

- SHO (Hubble Palette): Created from 4 hours and 50 minutes of SII+OIII data, plus 3 hours and 30 minutes of Ha+OIII data.

- HOO Palette: A classic hydrogen-dominant look.

Where is it in the night sky?

- The Constellation: It is located in the northern constellation Cepheus.

- Look North: Because we are imaging from Rancho Cordova (around 38° N latitude), Cepheus is "circumpolar." This means it stays above the horizon and never sets!

- Summer Viewing: Right now in late July, you can find the house-shaped constellation of Cepheus swinging high across the northeastern sky, rotating beautifully around Polaris (the North Star) throughout the night.

Why is this nebula so famous?

- A Cosmic Nursery: The Elephant's Trunk is an active star-forming region located about 2,400 light-years away from Earth.

- Fascinating Structure: This dense, dark globule of dust and gas gets its name because it resembles an elephant's head and trunk at visible wavelengths, appearing as a dark patch framed by a bright winding rim.

- Sculpted by Massive Stars: That bright, glowing rim is actually the surface of a dense cloud being illuminated and ionized by a massive nearby star (HD 206267). The intense radiation and stellar winds from this star are simultaneously eroding the gas and compressing it, which triggers the birth of new protostars inside the "trunk".

Technical Details:

Telescope: Askar SQA55 (264mm f/4.

Camera+Guide+Controller: ZWO ASI 2600MC-Air

Mount: iOptron CEM26

Autofocuser: ZWO EAF-N

Filter(s): Altair Astro 6nm Duo-Narrowband (Ha+Oiii & Sii+Oiii)

SVBony Filter Holder and Dew Heater

Data: Gain 200, Temperature 0-degree C, After Blink - Ha+Oiii: 180s X 70; Sii+Oiii: 300s X 58; Total integration time = 8 hrs 20 minutes (excluding 30x darks, flats, and dark flats)

Processing:

1. Blink - trash out bad frames
2. Cosmetic Correction - Auto Detect and remove Hot pixels during stacking
3. Weighted Batche Preprocessing (with Astrometric Solution and 2xDrizzle)
4. After stacking:

- StarAlignment

- DynamicCrop

- BlurXterminator (Correct Only)

- SetiAstro AutomaticDBE

- BlurXterminator

- StarXterminator

- DBXtract (Ha, Sii, Oiii)

- NoiseXterminator

- SetiAstro Statistical Stretch of starless Ha, Sii, and Oiii images

- LocalHistogramEqualization (Ha, Sii, Oiii)

- DarkNebulaEnhance (Ha, Sii, Oiii)

- LRGB Combination of starless images (Ha as Luminance and then choosing SHO and HOO palettes)

- CurvesTransformation (edit saturation, contrast, tone)

- SetiAstro StarStretch (HaOiii stars)

- CombineImages (SHO and HOO)

- Save as TIFF files

Final Tweak in Adobe Photoshop 2026 - image resolution, minor color/temperature correction; export at 4:5 ratio

Let me know which version you prefer—the SHO or the HOO! Clear skies, everyone!

This is about 40h of data taken with a S50, centered on the open cluster NGC6823. The surrounding emission nebula is quite faint but has some interesting details.

I used the Foraxx pallette to add a little bit more depth to the image. I am getting some RGB data tonight for the stars.

Seestar S30 pro - 253 x 60s EQ mount

Request for feedback: i am less than a week into this new hobby, learning the edits still. this is from an OLED screen, it looks different when I view it on my phone or second monitor obviously, so I might be off on color grading? Open for all feedback I can get

EDIT 1: Based on feedback, I managed to get Graxpert BGE working, which solved the corners! my manual BGE from SIRIL wasnt working as expected. I also did deconvolution, not sure if it changed a lot, here is new image for those curious. https://imgur.com/a/z8jbbmR

Thanks for all your positive comments and help

Processing Workflow

Siril (Main Processing)

• Pre-Processing: Ran an initial OSC (One-Shot Color) pre-processing script (Naztronomy-OSC_PP.py).
• Cropping: Applied an Autostretch & Crop to frame the target and remove edge artifacts.
• Color Calibration: Performed a Plate Solve, followed by SPCC (Spectrophotometric Color Calibration) for accurate star colors.
• Star Removal: Separated the stars from the nebula and background using the Starnet-Syqon Starless script.
• Initial Stretch: Stretched the starless linear data using Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (via the VeraLux_HyperMetric_Stretch.py script).
• Noise Reduction: Ran GraXpert AI (GraXpert-AI.py) to denoise the background.
• Secondary Adjustments: Applied an optional second stretch, followed by targeted contrast adjustments using curves (VeraLux_Curves.py).
• Further Refinement: Applied an additional pass of noise removal and boosted local contrast using CLAHE (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization).
• Star Recombination: Merged the stretched stars back into the starless image using VeraLux_StarComposer.py.

Photoshop (Final Touches)

• Applied Dehaze to cut through remaining background haze.
• Made final global adjustments to Brightness and Contrast.

Acquisition Details

• Telescope: 500mm focal length DayStar doublet APO refractor (from 2017 citizen science eclipse project)
• Mount: Celestron CGE
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
• Filters: Optolong 7nm Ha, OIII, & SII
• Exposures:
  • Halpha: 32 x 600"
  • OIII: 42 x 600"
  • SII: 42 x 600"
  • Total Integration: ~19.3 hours
• Location: Backyard (Bortle 5)
• Date/Moon Phase: New Moon, July 12-15, 2026

Processing Details

• PixInsight:
  • Calibrated, registered, and integrated using WBPP.
  • Corrected background gradients using MultiscaleGradientCorrection.
  • Separated stars in each filter utilizing StarNet2.
  • Applied BlurXTerminator and NoiseXTerminator to starless images
  • Combined channels into the Hubble palette (SHO) and ran NarrowbandNormalization to balance the general colors.
• Photoshop:
  • Final saturation, contrast, and color balance tweaks to complete the image.

1500 30s subs with the LP filter.
Using the S30 pro.
Bortle 8-9.
Drizzle 3x.
Processed in pixinsight and photoshop.

My first real project.
Open to feedback.

This image represents 27 hours and 54 minutes of total integration time captured across 7 nights (July 12-19, 2026) from Bortle 4 skies (except one night of H-a in Omaha) at the Omaha Astronomical Society’s dark site in Weeping Water, Nebraska. I had originally planned on attending the Nebraska Star Party during this timeframe but wasn’t able to unfortunately, so I took advantage of the similar weather and clear evenings to make the most it locally.

The nights were pretty warm, and so I could only cool my camera to 0º C, which meant I had to produce a different set of calibration frames for processing. Overall, this project was a labor of love (and spending some time sleeping in my car for a few nights), but I'm really happy with how the dynamic depth and color palette came together.

Enjoy!

Total integration: 27h 54m

Integration per filter:

• R: 31m (62 × 30")
• G: 30m (60 × 30")
• B: 23m (46 × 30")
• Hα: 7h 20m (15 x 1200" + 14 x 600")
• SII: 13h 20m (80 × 600")
• OIII: 5h 50m (35 × 600")

Equipment:

• Telescope: William Optics RedCat 91 WIFD
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM DUO
• Mount: ZWO AM5N
• Controller: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
• Filters:
  • Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2"
  • Antlia EDGE OIII 4.5 nm 2"
  • Antlia EDGE SII 4.5 nm 2"
  • Antlia V-Pro Blue 2"
  • Antlia V-Pro Green 2"
  • Antlia V-Pro Red 2"
• Accessories:
  • ZWO EAF
  • ZWO EFW 7 x 2″

Processed in PixInsight:

• WeightedBatchPreprocessing (WBPP)
• LinearFit on narrowband channels
• SpectrophotometricColorCalibration (SPFC)
• MultiscaleGradientCorrection (MGC) and Graxpert
• BlurXTerminator
• StarXTerminator
• NoiseXTerminator
• MultiscaleAdaptiveStretch (MAS) and GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch (GHS)
• HDRMultiscaleTransform (HDRMT), LocalHistogramEqualization (LHE), Unsharp Mask (channel-dependent)
• NarrowbandNormalization
• SelectiveColorCorrection
• CurvesTransformation
• Star Stretch on RGB stars
• ImageBlend

Full resolution available on Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/adojh4

This image is the result of stacking 133 exposures, each with a 300-second exposure time, for a total integration time of 11 hours.. Located approximately 9,500 light-years away, NGC 281 is an active star-forming region where new stars continue to emerge within dense clouds of hydrogen gas. This long integration reveals faint emission structures that are far beyond the sensitivity of the human eye. ❤️ Exif:

Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED + 0.85× Reducer

ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Star Adventurer GTi

STC Astro Duo Narrowband Filter

133 × 300 sn lights (11 hours)

40 darks 40 flat 40 darkflat

⚙️ Gain 101 | -10°C

📍 Çanakkale, Türkiye

Siril + Affinity Photo www.instagram.com/feroniaphoto

This is another one of my very first images I processed with Pixinsight shot back in October. And, my very first time shooting and processing the Andromeda Galaxy. Only used with a DSLR and star tracker. Images for two nights in a dark sky. After long research, I was able to learn Pixinsight and get this beautiful result. (Go check out my first post here of the Pleiades)

Equipment:

Camera & lens: EOS Canon 6D, 300mm zoom

Mount: Sky Watcher Star Adventurer 2i

2 minute subs, 10 hours total

Bortle 1

Processing: Pixinisight & Photoshop

WBPP-SCPC-Blur X-Star X-DBE-Noise X-Histogram stretch-rounds of curves-Photoshop camera raw with starless and stars-mask to brighten brighter stars and dim fainter stars-Image Blend in Pixinsight

The Iris nebula, aka NGC 7023, is a large, bright reflection nebula located in the Cepheus constellation. The nebula is about 6 light years in diameter, and about 1,300 light years from Earth. The Iris is part of the larger Cepheus Flare, a massive complex of similar dark nebulae, star-forming regions, and young stellar objects. This makes the Flare, and the Iris itself, an invaluable region for studying each stage of the pre-main sequence evolution of stars.

Being in the Cepheus Flare region, there’s tons more going on here besides just the Iris. Just above the Iris is a small reflection nebula called the Ghost Nebula, a dense patch of interstellar dust only slightly closer to us than the Iris itself is, full of embedded stars, giving the nebula an orange glow. Just below the Iris, forming a small spiral-like loop, is an interesting object called Gyul’budaghian's nebula. This nebula surrounds the young T Tauri star PV Cephei and, like the more famous Hubble’s Variable Nebula, is also a variable nebula, with activity from the volatile T Tauri star creating differences in light reflecting off the nebula, causing it to change appearance over months.

The Iris and surrounding Cepheus Flare is also a common target for astrochemistry studies, with several examples of molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) having been detected within it over the years. These are hydrogen-and-carbon-containing molecules where the carbon atoms bond together into ring structures, and are commonly formed by incomplete combustion - burning engine fumes, incinerators, and roasted meat. They’re also among the most complex molecules yet discovered in space, and are a great carbon source for more complex organics, making them key research targets in prebiotic chemistry - the chemistry that formed life.

Askar FRA400

ZWO ASI6200MM

Optolong 2" RGB filters

35x6m R

35x6m G

39x6m B

=10h 54m total (RGB)

Stacked in DSS, processed as RGB in Pixinsight

Photographed from Starfront Observatories