Meade 8" ACF on Sergey's Astrophotography

NGC 5395 & NGC 5394: The Heron Galaxy (Arp 84)

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 14:17:00 +0000

This image captures Arp 84, an interacting galaxy pair commonly known as the Heron Galaxy. The larger, face-on spiral is NGC 5395, which exhibits a bright core and tightly wound dusty spiral arms. It is gravitationally interacting with its smaller companion, NGC 5394, which features prominent tidal tail structures extending away from the main pair. This galactic dance, located approximately 160 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, triggers intense star formation visible as blue-tinted regions along the outer spiral arms. Several distant background galaxies are also visible scattered across the field. This image was acquired in collaboration with Federico Palaia, who contributed about 4 hours of integration using his ASI294MC Pro on a C11 telescope (which in turn was kindly lent by Davide Minotti). NGC 5395 is about 140,000 light-years across, while the barred spiral NGC 5394 measures about 90,000 light-years. William Herschel discovered both galaxies on 16 May 1787. Arp 84 is the 84th entry of Halton Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.

M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy

Sat, 24 May 2025 12:32:00 +0000

This deep image captures M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, locked in an ongoing gravitational dance with its smaller companion, NGC 5195. M51’s classic grand-design spiral arms are clearly defined by dark, sweeping dust lanes and are heavily dotted with bright clusters of young blue stars and pink star-forming regions.

The intense gravitational interaction with NGC 5195 is responsible for triggering this starburst activity and warping the structure of both galaxies. Notably, the depth of this exposure reveals the faint, expansive tidal streams and halos of gas and stars that surround the entire system, providing striking evidence of their cosmic collision.

M106: Spiral Galaxy in Canes Venatici

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 12:52:00 +0000

This deep exposure captures M106 (NGC 4258), a prominent and bright intermediate spiral galaxy located roughly 23 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. The image highlights the galaxy’s intensely bright, active core—powered by a supermassive black hole—surrounded by a warm, yellowish central bulge.

Sweeping outward from the center are distinct, tightly wound spiral arms defined by thick, dark dust lanes. The outer fringes of the galaxy are heavily studded with bright blue star clusters and pinkish regions of active star formation. Visible in the lower left of the frame is the small galaxy NGC 4248, a possible satellite of M106, adding depth to the rich background field.

NGC 3718: Peculiar Spiral Galaxy

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 12:11:00 +0000

This deep exposure features NGC 3718 (Arp 214), a highly peculiar spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. Its most striking feature is the thick, dark dust lane that violently twists across its bright central core, a result of strong gravitational interactions. These same tidal forces have drawn out faint, sweeping gaseous tails that give the galaxy its distinct “S” shape.

To the upper left is its spiral companion, NGC 3729, the likely gravitational culprit behind this severe distortion. Adding extraordinary depth to the background, the tight, interacting galaxy cluster Hickson 56 (Arp 322) is clearly visible near the bottom edge of the frame.

Jupiter: Late-Apparition Detail

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 21:05:00 +0000

Captured near the end of Jupiter’s 2024-2025 apparition as the planet climbs lower and shrinks in apparent size, this image still resolves fine turbulent structure in the equatorial belts, along with a couple of small dark polar spots. The Great Red Spot is not in view this rotation.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Late-Season Detail

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 23:36:00 +0000

Nearly seven weeks past opposition, Mars has shrunk to the smallest disk of the sequence, and a faint gibbous phase softens its eastern edge. Despite the reduced size, the bright polar cap and a subtle dark marking are still resolved, bookending the site’s coverage of the 2025 apparition.

Captured as a luminance video sequence, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Razor-Thin Crescent

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Just three days later and even closer to inferior conjunction, Venus has thinned to a razor-sharp crescent, its largest apparent size of the entire apparition. The cusps extend further than half the disk’s circumference, a striking geometry unique to the inferior planets.

Captured as a luminance video sequence, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon's South Pole Region

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:35:00 +0000

Extreme grazing sunlight along the Moon’s southern limb throws this rugged polar terrain into dramatic relief, with countless overlapping crater rims catching the light in a landscape of near-constant shadow — a region of particular interest for its permanently shadowed craters thought to harbor water ice.

Captured as a single video through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Mare Nectaris

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:34:00 +0000

Mare Nectaris, one of the Moon’s older lava-filled impact basins, sits along the terminator in this capture, its relatively smooth floor bordered by a dense ring of ancient, heavily degraded craters.

Captured as a two-pane mosaic through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Vallis Rheita

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:33:00 +0000

Vallis Rheita, a roughly 500-kilometer chain of overlapping craters thought to be secondary impacts from the Mare Nectaris basin-forming event, cuts diagonally across this densely cratered stretch of the southeastern highlands.

Captured as a single video through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Thin Crescent

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:52:00 +0000

As Venus swings between Earth and the Sun ahead of its March 2025 inferior conjunction, its illuminated crescent thins dramatically while its apparent disk grows larger. Only a sliver of the dayside remains lit in this capture.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: A Shrinking Disk

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 22:53:00 +0000

More than a month past opposition, Mars’s apparent size has noticeably shrunk as Earth pulls ahead in its faster orbit. A distinct bluish haze wraps the limb, and dark markings remain visible across the disk’s center on a clean, low-noise background.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: A Broad Dark Region

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 01:15:00 +0000

A wide, diffuse dark region covers much of the lower half of the disk in this capture, contrasting against the pale orange upper latitudes and a small bright cap at the northern limb.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: Turbulent Festoons and a Bright Oval

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 20:56:00 +0000

This capture shows Jupiter’s cloud bands in a particularly turbulent mood: fine, wave-like festoons stretch across the North and South Equatorial Belts, and a small bright white oval sits within the southern belt. No major storm systems are in view this rotation, but the fine-scale turbulence gives the disk a busy, dynamic texture.

The video above shows the raw derotated capture from the same night, before final stacking and color balancing — a rare look at the process behind the finished image, which appears further down the page.

Mars: Softening Detail Post-Opposition

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:40:00 +0000

Three weeks past opposition, Mars is visibly smaller and softer than at its peak. A bluish-white haze still lingers over the polar hood, while faint dark markings trail along the disk’s southern limb.

The video above is the same session’s raw IR-pass footage, shown here as captured — infrared light cuts through atmospheric haze that visible-light imaging struggles with, giving a cleaner look at the surface markings even as the disk shrinks. The finished LRGB composite appears further down the page.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot Near the Limb

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 21:29:00 +0000

Here the Great Red Spot has rotated close to Jupiter’s western limb, still showing clear turbulent structure in the surrounding South Equatorial Belt. The planet’s characteristic banding remains sharply resolved, with a low-noise background typical of a steady night of seeing.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Polar Cap in Sharp Relief

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:38:00 +0000

Less than two weeks past opposition, the disk has only just begun to shrink. The north polar cap stands out here in vivid blue-white contrast against the orange disk, with a compact dark marking still sharply resolved nearby.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: A Different Rotational Face

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 01:47:00 +0000

Just two days after the previous capture, Mars’s roughly 24.6-hour rotation period — only slightly longer than Earth’s — has turned a different hemisphere into view, with a distinct dark feature near the center of the disk and a pale polar hood above.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars Near Opposition

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 00:51:00 +0000

Captured right around Mars’s January 2025 opposition, when Earth passed between Mars and the Sun and the planet reached its largest apparent size and peak brightness for this apparition. A broad dark marking spans the disk, bordered by a soft polar hood — the best size-to-detail trade-off of the whole sequence.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot at Central Meridian

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 23:31:00 +0000

The Great Red Spot sits almost exactly on Jupiter’s central meridian in this capture, compact and sharply defined against the surrounding cream-and-rust equatorial belts. Fine structure is visible throughout the cloud bands despite the planet’s modest apparent size this late in the apparition.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars with a Bright Polar Hood

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 03:28:00 +0000

The north polar hood dominates this capture, a bright blue-white band curving over the pole while the rest of the warm orange disk carries only a faint, diffuse dark patch. Mars was now less than three weeks from opposition.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot in Sharp Detail

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 23:28:00 +0000

This is one of the sharpest Jupiter captures in the collection: the Great Red Spot appears in vivid orange with a turbulent, churning structure trailing behind it, set against finely detailed, braided cloud bands. Three of the Galilean moons are visible in the same frame as small points near the disk.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Mare Crisium

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 04:24:00 +0000

Mare Crisium, a roughly 550-kilometer lava plain isolated from the Moon’s other major maria, sits along the terminator in this capture, its smooth floor contrasting sharply with the dense, ancient cratering of the surrounding highlands.

Captured as a two-pane mosaic through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Surface Detail Sharpens

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 03:50:00 +0000

Five nights after the previous capture, Mars presents a noticeably larger disk with crisper detail: a sharp, dark marking spans much of the visible hemisphere, and a small blue-tinted polar hood sits at the northern limb.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: Scalloped Cloud Bands

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:51:00 +0000

Jupiter’s cloud bands take on a strongly scalloped, wave-like form in this capture, especially along the boundary between the South Equatorial Belt and the Equatorial Zone. Rich rust and cream coloring contrasts against the pale polar regions, with no major storms in view this rotation.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Uranus

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:45:00 +0000

At over 2.8 billion kilometers away, Uranus resolves as little more than a small, softly glowing teal-green disk even at high magnification — its faint cloud bands and rings lie well beyond the reach of amateur equipment. The distinct color comes from methane in its atmosphere absorbing red sunlight while reflecting blue-green.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Early Approach to Opposition

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 04:01:00 +0000

Captured about five weeks before Mars reached opposition in January 2025, this image shows a still-modest disk with a broad dark surface marking and a bright blue-white hood over the north pole. The first of a series tracking Mars as it grew larger and brighter approaching its closest point to Earth.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: Fine Detail in the Equatorial Belts

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 02:02:00 +0000

This capture resolves Jupiter’s belts in fine detail: a braided, wave-like boundary runs along the North Equatorial Belt, several small white ovals sit in the temperate latitudes, and a faint dark barge threads through the South Equatorial Belt. Multiple captures spanning about three minutes were derotated in WinJUPOS to counteract Jupiter’s fast rotation before stacking, preserving sharp detail despite the longer total integration.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Montes Apenninus

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:18:00 +0000

The Apennine Mountains (Montes Apenninus), a roughly 600-kilometer arc marking part of the rim of the Imbrium impact basin, cast dramatic shadows across this capture, with a prominent crater visible at the range’s edge.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon's Polar Region

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:13:00 +0000

This capture looks toward one of the Moon’s polar regions, where ancient, heavily overlapping craters create a rugged terrain quite different from the smoother mare regions elsewhere on the near side.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Copernicus

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:12:00 +0000

Copernicus, a roughly 93-kilometer crater with a complex terraced rim and central peaks, sits in deep shadow near the terminator in this capture, its full depth thrown into relief by the low sun angle.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon: A Cratered Terminator

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:08:00 +0000

Low sun angle along the terminator throws long shadows across this dense cluster of craters, exaggerating their depth and revealing fine detail in their walls and floors.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Clavius

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:06:00 +0000

This capture looks toward the Moon’s southern limb, where the enormous crater Clavius and its chain of smaller interior craterlets sit alongside dramatic shadow relief along the terminator.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Rupes Recta

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:00:00 +0000

This close-up resolves the Straight Wall — Rupes Recta — a roughly 110-kilometer fault scarp that appears as a dark line near the terminator, along with a dense field of surrounding craters in fine detail.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

A Mineral Moon at Waning Gibbous

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 21:48:00 +0000

Captured about four months after the previous mineral-color image, this waning gibbous view again reveals the Moon’s subtle surface chemistry: blue-toned mare basalts rich in titanium contrast against warmer, iron-poor highland material. The differing libration and lighting angle bring out a slightly different color balance than the earlier capture, particularly around Mare Tranquillitatis.

Assembled as a multi-pane mosaic, color-calibrated and processed in PixInsight.

vdB 142: The Elephant Trunk Nebula

Sat, 07 Sep 2024 11:02:00 +0000

This deep image features vdB 142, popularly known as the Elephant Trunk Nebula, located in the constellation Cepheus. It is a concentration of dense interstellar gas and dust embedded within the much larger ionized emission region IC 1396. The dark, meandering column is an active star-forming region, shielding newly born stars inside from the harsh surrounding environment.

The edges of the “trunk” are brightly illuminated and ionized by the intense ultraviolet radiation from a massive nearby star, creating the glowing bright rim that outlines the structure against the rich, red hydrogen background.

IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 15:10:00 +0000

IC 5146, widely known as the Cocoon Nebula, is a striking star-forming region located roughly 2,500 to 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This image beautifully captures the glowing red emission of ionized hydrogen, illuminated by a newly formed central cluster of young, hot stars.

The bright core is intricately laced with dark, obscuring dust lanes that surround the nebula and stretch outward. Off to the side, a delicate blue reflection nebula is visible, created by starlight scattering off the surrounding interstellar dust particles.

M16: The Eagle Nebula and The Pillars of Creation

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 13:37:00 +0000

This image showcases M16, the Eagle Nebula, a vast emission nebula and H II region located in the constellation Serpens. At the heart of the nebula lie the famous “Pillars of Creation,” towering columns of interstellar dust and gas that serve as active star-forming nurseries. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the open cluster of young, massive stars illuminates the surrounding hydrogen gas, carving out the cavity and creating the vibrant red glow.

NGC 6946: The Fireworks Galaxy

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 12:32:00 +0000

This deep exposure captures NGC 6946, a spectacular face-on intermediate spiral galaxy situated on the border of the constellations Cepheus and Cygnus. Popularly known as the “Fireworks Galaxy” due to the unusually high number of supernovae observed within it, the galaxy is characterized by a bright, golden central core and intricate dark dust lanes.

Sweeping outward from the center, its sprawling spiral arms are richly decorated with brilliant blue star clusters and prominent pinkish HII regions, indicating areas of intense and active star formation. These vibrant details are beautifully captured here, despite the galaxy being heavily obscured by the interstellar dust of our own Milky Way, given its position near the galactic plane.

NGC 6781: The Snowglobe Nebula

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 11:05:00 +0000

This image captures NGC 6781, widely known as the Snowglobe Nebula, a beautiful planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquila. The bubble-like structure is formed by the outer layers of a dying sun-like star being cast off into space. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the exposed white dwarf core illuminates the expanding gas, creating the distinct color separation seen here: a hot, glowing blue center dominated by ionized oxygen (OIII) and a cooler, delicate red outer shell composed primarily of hydrogen (H-alpha).

M5: Globular Cluster in Serpens

Sun, 26 May 2024 18:19:00 +0000

This image presents M5, a spectacular globular cluster in the constellation Serpens, located roughly 24,500 light-years away. Spanning about 160 light-years, it is one of the larger globular clusters known, and with an estimated age of more than 10 billion years, it is also one of the oldest objects in our galaxy. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1702.

The image shows the cluster’s intensely concentrated, brilliant core surrounded by a wide halo of resolved stars. The natural star colors are well preserved, with numerous orange red giants standing out against the bluish-white glow of the dense stellar population, offering a vivid glimpse into one of the Milky Way’s most ancient stellar systems.

A Mineral Moon

Thu, 23 May 2024 23:50:00 +0000

This “mineral Moon” image pushes the subtle natural color differences across the lunar surface far beyond what the eye can see, revealing mineral composition hidden in the regolith: the blue-grey maria are rich in titanium-bearing ilmenite, while the golden-tan highlands and crater rays — especially the bright system radiating from Tycho at the bottom — are more iron-poor and aluminum-rich. These color differences are real but extremely faint in ordinary images; strong saturation boosting during processing is what makes them visible.

The Moon, Montes Apenninus and Eratosthenes

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:17:00 +0000

Montes Apenninus, a roughly 600-kilometer arc marking part of the Imbrium basin’s rim, stretches across the upper part of this capture, its peaks catching the low sun while the lowlands below remain in shadow. At its western foot sits Eratosthenes, a 58-kilometer crater with terraced walls and no ray system of its own, its rays long since eroded away by billions of years of micrometeorite impacts.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon, Plato and Montes Alpes

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:13:00 +0000

The 101-kilometer walled plain Plato sits at upper left in this capture, its floor a smooth expanse of dark basalt in contrast to its rugged, terraced rim. Below it, the Montes Alpes range rises sharply from the shore of Mare Imbrium, its jagged peaks and ridgelines carved by the same impact that formed the Imbrium basin.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Gassendi

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:10:00 +0000

Gassendi, a 110-kilometer crater sitting on the northern rim of Mare Humorum, shows off its complex, fractured floor in this capture: a network of fine rilles cuts across the crater interior around a cluster of central peaks, the result of lava welling up and cracking the floor after the impact.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon: Copernicus and Its Ejecta

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:09:00 +0000

Copernicus, the 93-kilometer crater with terraced walls and a cluster of central peaks, sits at upper left in this capture, its full depth thrown into relief by the low sun. To the southeast, the rugged, hummocky terrain and chains of secondary craters mark the crater’s ejecta blanket, debris thrown out and sculpted by the impact that formed it.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Sinus Iridum

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:08:00 +0000

A closer view of Sinus Iridum, the roughly 236-kilometer bay left by an ancient impact basin later flooded by Mare Imbrium’s lava. Its arcing rim, anchored by the promontories of Heraclides and Laplace at either end, is thrown into sharp relief by the low sun, while the smooth mare floor within contrasts against the rugged terrain to the south.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon, Sinus Iridum and Plato

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 23:46:00 +0000

Sinus Iridum, the roughly 236-kilometer “Bay of Rainbows,” opens onto Mare Imbrium in the lower left of this capture, its arcing rim the remnant of an ancient impact basin later flooded by mare lava. To the upper right, the 101-kilometer walled plain Plato sits with its smooth, dark floor, both features rendered in fine detail by steady seeing.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

The Moon: A Long Terminator Mosaic

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 23:41:00 +0000

Assembled from several stacked panes, this tall mosaic follows the terminator across a long stretch of the Moon’s near side, from the walled plain Plato and the bay of Sinus Iridum in the north, down through the Apennine highlands, to the bright rays of Copernicus in the south. The low sun angle throws every crater rim and mountain range into sharp relief along the entire length of the strip.

Captured as a multi-pane mosaic, with each pane stacked in AutoStakkert!3, aligned and blended together, then processed in PixInsight.