r/astrophotography • • Aug 12 '24

Announcement Announcing updated rules

193 Upvotes

Recently, a few of us became new moderators and since then we have been trying to get organized primarily to update the rules to reflect what we believe are in the best interest of this sub. This has largely meant reverting to the structure prior to the protest while also adapting to current technology and tastes. While we supported the protest goals at the time, and agree with the mod decision to include this sub in that protest, we also recognize that it's time to move on and restore some process to the sub for its continuing members. We're excited to announce that these new rules are now live in the sub and in detail at our revised wiki. The changes from prior to the protest largely amount to:

  1. astrophotography images taken with cell phones were not explicitly forbidden before but we now clarify that they are permitted as long as they follow all other rules, including that acquisition and processing details are provided and are high-quality amateur OC. A star-field with no discernable astronomical object will not meet this threshold, but a stacked image of Orion that happens to have been captured using RAW images on an iPhone and further processed on that same phone will. We recognize everyone in this hobby starts somewhere and we want to encourage sharing of this work, but also need to avoid this sub devolving into low-effort cell phone pictures of an unrecognizable night sky.
  2. landscape images were forbidden before but we also recognize that there are some high-quality astrophotography images being created that happen to have a small amount of landscape in the foreground that are valued by many members. We are drawing the line here at astrophotography images where the landscape is incidental to the image and any image where the landscape is a primary focus will not be permitted. So for example, the Milky Way with a silhouette of a mountain will probably be accepted, but that same Milky Way that is in the background of well-lit (or brightened in post) barn/yard/house/etc will be removed. And as above, any post that doesn't include acquisition and processing details will still be removed.
  3. clarifications that certain types of posts are not allowed, including memes, UFO claims, questions about what image someone has captured, off-topic posts, or uncivil behavior.

We recognize not everyone will like these changes and that there are other subs that focus primarily on some of these types of images, but we feel that an "astrophotography" sub should include everyone. We are going to monitor how well this goes, so please try to be open-minded to help support these contributions from some members of the community. After some time with these changes we plan to poll you to see how they are going and what other improvements you'd like to see. In the meantime, with these rules back in place, expect to see heavier moderation if posts lack complete acquisition/processing details or otherwise violate these rules.

Lastly, we also want to thank everyone for their patience while we get organized to bring these changes to you and for the incredible work all mods on this sub have done over the years and continue to do (many from prior to the protest are still here and active, so show some love!).

Clear Skies!


r/astrophotography • • 7h ago

Nebulae M16, M17 and NGC6604 a three-panel Ha/OIII + RGB mosaic

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159 Upvotes

This one was a challenge to process in the way I wanted with narrowband adding as much as possible while preserving the natural look from RGB
After 9 years I finally managed to get a result I'm happy with :)
For more crops and starless versions see the image on Astrobin

Target
This three panel mosaic spans from NGC6604 with its Sh2-54 surroundings to M17. The middle panel contains the famous M16 - Eagle nebula.
Between and around them the field is full of dark dust lanes and globules. The brown glow is the unresolved Sagittarius–Scutum star cloud behind it, which is why I added the RGB data back as a body layer.
This was my main project for my 3rd trip to Kiripotib Astrofarm. In total it contains over 40 hours of exposure between Ha, OIII and RGB.

Acquisition

This is a mosaic of 3 panels shot with a monochrome Nikon D600 side-by-side with a modified Nikon D600.
The mono D600 was used on an APM107/700 with Riccardi reducer and modified Nikon D600 on a TS Quadruplet 480/80, mounted on Fornax 51 and guided with MGEN.

Panel I - NGC6604
Ha 29x12min ISO400
OIII 13x12min ISO400
RGB 27x12min ISO400

Panel II - M16
Ha 24x12min ISO400
OIII 16x12min ISO400
RGB 23x12min ISO400

Panel III - M17
Ha 25x12min ISO400
OIII 16x12min ISO400
RGB 35x12min ISO400

Location: Astrofarm Kiripotib, Namibia

Processing (PixInsight)

  1. Calibration, stacking and registration. WBPP per panel and filter. The RGB panels were stacked with Local Normalization and PSF weights. RGB and OIII were registered onto the Ha grid of each panel with surface splines.
  2. Mosaic. PhotometricMosaic with M16 as reference, then NGC 6604, then M17. Applied to Ha, OIII and RGB separately One SPCC (Gaia DR3/SP) on the finished RGB mosaic, not per panel.
  3. Deconvolution and star removal. BXT on all three mosaics, then SXT to split stars and starless.
  4. Nebula layer. OIII was continuum-subtracted (OIII − 0.34·B). Ha was not continuum-subtracted, and I decided that after measuring it. In the star-cloud zones most of the “Ha” is actually star-cloud continuum, so subtracting it gained nothing. NXT on the narrowband was used, gated so it does not add noise in the empty sky. I combined Ha and OIII into an HOO palette with PixelMath.
  5. RGB body layer Starless RGB with a linked stretch, with its colour taken from the stars-included RGB. It is screened into the nebula at weight 0.45. Outside the emission regions (a smoothed Ha/OIII mask), the colour is taken from the RGB only. That keeps the gold-brown star clouds and the dust lanes, while the nebulae stay in HOO colour.
  6. Stars. RGB stars were stretched separately and screened back on. A per-channel black-point correction (about 0.06–0.07) was applied to the base before the stars went in.

For more crops and starless versions see the image on Astrobin


r/astrophotography • • 8h ago

Nebulae Core of Pacman Nebula

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125 Upvotes

r/astrophotography • • 2h ago

Nebulae The Cygnus Loop

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39 Upvotes

✨ Target: Sh2-103 (Cygnus Loop)

🔭 Mount: Star Adventurer 2i

📷 Camera: ASI 294 MC Pro Color

🔎 Scope: Askar FMA180 Pro

🕶️ Filter: Dualband Svbony SV220

🎯 Guide Camera: ASI 120mm Mini Mono

🦮 Guide Scope: Svbony SV165

🔬 Sampling: 5.32"/px

❄️ Cooling: -10°C

🔴 Acquisition: Gain 120

⏰ Integration: 110x120s (3h 40min)

📊 Calibration: 40 dark, 40 flat, 40 dark-flat

💻 Processing: PixInsight, RawTherapee

📍 Location: Saint-Barthélemy (Italy)

📅 Date: Sept. 11, 2026

🌌 Sky: Bortle 3


r/astrophotography • • 2h ago

Astrophotography Luna & Saturnus 10/24/26 GBC

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34 Upvotes

I photographed the Moon and Saturn using my Modified 1998 Nintendo Game Boy Camera on a Celestron C14 Edge HD telescope! 🌙🪐

For those unfamiliar, the Game Boy Camera uses a tiny 128 × 112 pixel CMOS sensor and captures images in just four shades of gray! The C14 EdgeHD has a 14-inch (356 mm) aperture and a 3,910 mm focal length, making for a pretty unusual but outstanding astrophotography setup!

A HUGE shoutout and thank you to everyone at the Adirondack Sky Center in Tupper Lake, NY, for seeing my original post and inviting me out to experiment with all of their amazing equipment!

Everyone there, from the volunteers to the visitors, was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable! If you’re ever in the Adirondacks, I highly recommend checking out one of their public viewing nights!

This was another exciting step toward my ultimate goal of photographing the night sky through some of the world’s largest optical telescopes using this little camera!


r/astrophotography • • 7h ago

Lunar full moon last night

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43 Upvotes

taken with sony camera and no editing done yet


r/astrophotography • • 2h ago

Nebulae The Pacman Nebula, in Hubble Palette

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14 Upvotes

I captured NGC 281 with my Seestar S50 for 5 hours using 20sec EQ subs in bortle 5 skies, stacked in Stacking Wizard and processed in Astrowizard! I love using the Hubble Palette to show off different areas of a nebula


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

DSOs Garlic nebula

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583 Upvotes

I started this object last month and so far have 52 hours and it needs much much more.

Imaged using my skywatcher 200P setup, 533MMPro and starizona .75 reducer.

Also imaged using my SHO Altair 3nm filters and all of this resting on my AM5 mount.

It was processed in AstroStakr and Photoshop.


r/astrophotography • • 4h ago

Lunar Tonight's moon

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8 Upvotes

Taken on mobile phone


r/astrophotography • • 19h ago

Galaxies M81 Bode's Galaxy

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128 Upvotes

This was taken over 2 nights in Bortle 2 skies camping in central Oregon with my Orion 16" Goto Dobsonian. I started this astrophotography habit in August. This was the last image on the last trip of the year and I'm quite happy with it. I can't wait for my first galaxy season!

Total integration: 5h 20m

Integration per filter:

- No filter: 5h 20m (3200 × 6s)

Equipment:

- Telescope: Orion SkyQuest XX16g GoTo Truss Tube Dobsonian Telescope

- Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

- Accessory: Starizona Nexus 0.75x Newtonian Focal Reducer/Coma Corrector (NEXUS-075)

- Software: Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP), Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)


r/astrophotography • • 20h ago

Nebulae Sh2-114, flying dragon nebula

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142 Upvotes

142 hours of exposure over the last 4 months.

Mount- ZWO AM3
Telescope- William Optics ZenithStar81
Guide Scope- ZWO OAG
Camera- ZWO ASI183mc Pro
Guide Camera- ZWO ASI120mm
Imaging Filter- Optolong L-Ultimate, SII, OIII
Other accessories- ZWO EAF, ZWO filter wheel, ZWO ASIair Plus, 6aiii reducer/field flattener


r/astrophotography • • 18h ago

DSOs M45 — The Pleiades

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67 Upvotes

M45 — The Pleiades

This is my first time processing this Pleiades image outside the Seestar, using PixInsight and Photoshop to bring out the blue reflection nebulosity in the captured data.

Captured with my Seestar S50 from my backyard in Round Rock, Texas, on August 12, September 24, and September 28, 2025. IR-cut filter, gain 80.

This is a mosaic combining 685 exposures: 671 × 20 seconds and 14 × 30 seconds, for 3 hours, 50 minutes, and 40 seconds of total capture time. Exposure coverage varies across the mosaic, so each part of the image received a different amount of integration.

August 12: 7 minutes September 24: 2 hours, 27 minutes September 28: 1 hour, 16 minutes, 40 seconds

Processed with separate star and nebulosity stretches, background correction, color balance, and noise reduction.


r/astrophotography • • 14h ago

Lunar The Moon, Oct 26

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21 Upvotes

First time trying Lunar photography. I didn't use a video to get the frames, used photos instead and very less integration(about 45 frames) using my a6400 and the kit 50-210 lens. I'm gonna try using a video next time. Stacked in Autostakkert! And processed a little bit in lightroom.


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Galaxies M31-The Andromeda Galaxy, in Ha, Oiii & LRGB

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303 Upvotes

r/astrophotography • • 21h ago

Lunar Hunter's Moon

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57 Upvotes

​

Hunter's Moon from Tennessee on 10-26-26

Equipment: Canon EOS 90D and Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary lens at 600mm

Exposure: 731 x 1/250 at f8 and ISO 100

Processing:

Centered/cropped in PIPP

Stacked in Autostakkert!

Sharpened in Registax

Final edit in Photoshop


r/astrophotography • • 21h ago

DSOs NGC 6914 - The Eyes

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40 Upvotes

r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Nebulae Orion Nebula & Running Man Nebula

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63 Upvotes

The great Orion Nebula and Running Man Nebula! This majestic stellar nursery is about 1400 light-years away and is one of the brightest deep sky objects in the night sky!

A very nostalgic target for me. This was the first deep sky object I captured 10 months back when I was just getting started in this hobby. Visited this back again now that the orion constellation is back up again! 🙂

Telescope: Seestar S50
Data: 4.5 hours
Tools used: GraXpert, Siril, GIMP
Script mentions: DeepSNR, CosmicClarity Sharpen, VeraLux (Revela & Curves), HDR_multiscale
Bortle 8-9


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Nebulae SH2-171, Teddy Bear Nebula

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119 Upvotes

Taken from my bortle 9 balcony in Paris, this was didn't have such a strong gradient as I normally get here, so I enjoyed the processing a lot! I'd like to revisit this object with my wider FOV rig next year, I think it looks pretty cool

Equipment and acquisition:

- Askar 71F + 0.75X reducer

- Asi585MC Air

- Teseek 17

- SvBony + asi120mm guide camera

- ZWO EAF, ZWO EFW

- L-Ultimate filter: 216 x 180 sec

- Antlia ALP-T SII-OIII 3nm: 233 x 180 sec

(approx. 22.5 hours in total)

- 30 darks, 30 flats per filter, 30 bias

Processing (PI)

WBPP 2x drizzle, SetiAstro AutoDBE, SPCC, blurX correct only, starX

On starless images: DBXtract, linear fit to Ha, then channel combination. Extract L component. SetiAstro statistical stretch (soft), then manual curves transformations with different color and range masks, selective color correction script, noiseX. For luminance, stretch and masked curves to bring up details, noiseX. LRGB combination, dark structure enhance script.

For stars: setiastro NB to RGB star stretch, pixelmath to recombine with starless


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Planetary Saturn

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28 Upvotes

Finally got my Barlow x2 lens and this was my first time trying it.

Used 10 inch Sky-Watcher 254/1200 with s24 ultra 4K 120FPS with Barlow x2 and 6mm planetary eyepiece.

Processed with PIPP then Autostakkert! and then Astrosurface.

This was my second time trying planetary imaging so any advice will be welcomed.


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Lunar Luna, October 25th

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27 Upvotes

It’s a $20 telescope this is my first time, saving up for a better one. Let me know if yalls favorites


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

DSOs M95 — Barred Spiral Galaxy

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133 Upvotes

This is my first time processing this M95 data, captured from my backyard in Round Rock, Texas, on March 12–13, 2026.

M95 is a barred spiral galaxy about 33 million light-years away in Leo. Its central bar and tightly wound spiral arms give it that distinctive ringlike appearance.

The finished image combines 56 two-minute exposures—1 hour and 52 minutes—captured with my ASI2600MC Air and no added filter.

Processing included calibration and stacking in PixInsight, photometric color calibration, and separate treatment of the galaxy and stars. The final adjustments bring out the bar and surrounding ring while keeping the bright center controlled. A tighter crop gives M95 more presence in the frame.

Acquisition and processing details: ASI2600MC Air, 56 × 120 seconds, gain 200, offset 50, approximately −10°C, no added filter. Headers record an AM3 mount and 387 mm focal length; the telescope model is unconfirmed. Calibrated with a matching 28-frame 120-second dark master and a candidate flat; flat calibration is approximate because its bias pedestal was assumed. PixInsight VNG debayering, registration, PSF-weighted integration with Winsorized sigma rejection. Compared all 56 on-target frames with the sharpest 40 and retained 56. ABE background correction, plate solving and Gaia DR3 SPCC color calibration, mild BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, and masked NoiseXTerminator. Luminance-preserving stretch, separate star recombination, masked galaxy contrast and sharpening with core protection, and a native-resolution crop. No generative image processing.


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Planetary Saturn

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42 Upvotes

Believe it or not, the image in the eyepiece was even better than the video!

12" DOB + Astral Fields EQ Platform

SVBony 705C + ADC + Barlow 2x

Firecapture + PiPP+ Autostakkert + Registax + Fast Stone Image Viewer


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

DSOs The Soul Nebula (IC 1848) in SHO

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274 Upvotes

Target: IC 1848, the Soul Nebula

Location: Bortle 6, South Carolina

Gear:
Askar 103APO (700mm f/6.8)
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
ZWO AM3N on iOptron LiteRoc tripod
ZWO ASIAir
Antlia 3nm Ha, OIII, SII and Antlia V-Pro RGB

Integration (about 22h 23m):
Ha: 44 × 500s (6h 07m)
OIII: 59 × 500s (8h 12m)
SII: 51 × 500s (7h 05m)
RGB (stars): 20 × 60s each
Calibration: darks, flats, bias


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Nebulae Orion Belt along with Orion Nebula Captured with Smartphone

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38 Upvotes

Device= Realme 15 Pro, ISO = 1000, Shutter speed = 15sec, White Balance = 4200-4500K, Max Focus, Number of Exposures = 70


r/astrophotography • • 1d ago

Nebulae North America nebula, untracked

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23 Upvotes

A couple of months ago I posted a pic of the North America nebula and its surroundings. Today I tried some more editing and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

- Canon M50, 50mm F1.8 but shot at 2.8. 75*4 seconds. Bortle 4.5. No tracker

- Post-processing: AstroWizard (stack, denoise using GraXpert, stretch and star removal using StarNet), Seti Astro Suite (sharpen), Photoshop (curves, stars reduction, contrast, etc).