Jupiter, 2/6/2026 (close to midnight CST)

 

 This is the best of the night, 1250/5k with the QHYiii485C through the CFF 290 at f/20.25. I'm a dabbler in planetary thus far.

 

And here is Jupiter with Europa, best 2.5k/5k. 

Luna (Jan. 28, 2026)

Luna was 81% illuminated on the evening of Jan. 28, 2026, when I took first light with my Canon R8 through the TS 102 SD f/11. This is literally the third image taken with the camera. 
 

Saturn & Titan (11-22-2025 at 7:13 CST)

Here is Saturn with the rings edge-on. I tried to catch Titan crossing the planet's face, but by the time the sun set and the telescope and camera were set up, Titan had just slipped off.  This is best 500/2000 with the CFF 290 Classical Cassegrain at f/13.5 and QHY 5iii485c. If you look closely, another moon, Rhea, sits just to the left of the rings. Dione lurks out beyond it in the shadows.

NGC 253, Summer 2025

This is 26 hrs 40 min of LRGB data from Starbase's AFIL-40, 16" f/9.3 RC Optics, from Chile.  I've always wanted a nice color image of NGC 253, and I enjoyed working with this data. The L for this image is 85x600s, and the RGB is about equal numbers of 600s subs.  That much data on a target this bright made all the choices interesting but not terribly difficult.

M29 as a Test

I'd like to get back to imaging.  This is a second test image using my 203mm f/4.9 reflector with the Starizona Nexus 0.75x reducer. This is only 39 minutes of 180s exposures with the Player One Uranus C Pro. It's not perfect, but it's getting closer. The reddish haze from the left side of the image is not a gradient but H-alpha glow.

Titan Shadow Transit (Sept. 4, 2025)

 

Here are two finished images of Titan's shadow transiting Saturn.  These were gathered between 6 and 7 a.m. UTC (1 and 2 a.m. CDT) from my backyard.  With events like these, we take conditions as they come: the sky was a bit hazy, and seeing was not great for more than a few seconds at a time.  I'm happy to have some images.

CFF 290mm f/13.5 with a Dakin 1.5x Barlow lens; QHY5iii485c.

NGC 2903 (March 2025)

 

This not-very-deep image is just over 2.5 hours of 300-second exposures with the 203mm Synta-ONTC Newtonian at f/4.95 and the Player One Uranus C Pro.  The night was hazy, and the haze made imaging harder, I believe; this really is what the camera recorded.