Had fun chasing the "galactic wanderer" globular cluster (Caldwell 25, NGC 2419) early Feb 2022. It is located outside our galaxy! Further away than Large/Small Magellanic Clouds.

Here it is 'next' to small galaxy NGC 2424.

Also some other images from early February.

#astronomy #astrodon #astrophotography #nlskies2022

From February and March ... improved my game with respect to processing dual-band filtered images from OSC camera. Specifically L-Extreme and separating Ha, [OIII] channels early in processing workflow.

Here is Monkey Head nebula, M53 globular cluster, Thors Helmet nebula and Croc's Eye galaxy.

Making an effort to add #AltText for all these images. Hope they are sufficient for folks who use them?

#astrophotography #astronomy #astrodon #nlskies2022

The namesake (and construction supervisor!) for Jack Dog Observatory passed on in 2021. Beginning his journey back to the stars. He is missed. 💕

There is, of course, a new sheriff in town! Louie. 🐩

#DogsOfMastodon #DogsOfAstronomy
#nlskies2022 #astrodon #astronomy

From March and early April.

Try to diversify targets when possible. In this case experimented using dual-narrowband on M97 Owl planetary nebula and nearby galaxy (M108). The galaxy looked terrible after processing (and thusly cropped out!) but the Owl came out decent.

Was particularly chuffed with the M109 barred spiral galaxy result. Moon is a single (and not particularly well focused) image.

#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022

Achievements in April:

First solar image of the year.

Capture of recently discovered super nova SN2022hrs (in NGC4647, next to M60).

Established 2 meteor cameras as part of the Global Meteor Network project.

The GMN cameras automatically capture 'transients' and forward data to a central server for processing. More info here:
https://globalmeteornetwork.org/

#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022 #GMN

Spring *is* #GalaxySeason so took another stab at Messier 51 Whirlpool. Happy with results - for a OSC camera. Next time, would like to try with a mono cam and add some Ha.

May marked the end of my "Elephant Trunk" project - this is a crop of result. Also took another stab at the Sunflower galaxy.

May 15/16 also marked a #LunarEclipse. Here is the moon as it nears full eclipse. This eclipse was noticeably darker than recent past eclipses.

#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022

As with most targets of the back yard observatory this year, 🔭 this M101 galaxy and Lion nebula were captured using Esprit 150, QHY128C and 5 minute subs. Processed in PixInsight. Have been trying for longer multi-hour total integration times, to improve signal-to-noise characteristics.

May also marks the start of camping season. Lucky this year to have had a seasonal site at my local #DarkSkyPreserve 🔭 🌃

#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022 #TerraNovaNP #ParksCanada

Short summer nights mean limited imaging time, in my neck of the woods. Especially June/July.

Disappointed w/ Cocoon nebula result - dual narrowband filter not a good match for this target, IMO. Happy w/ the 11x5 minutes on Eastern Veil nebula.

Had fun capturing meteors of "new" Tau Herculid meteor shower May 30/31, for the #GMN. Apparently I "cannot attach video to a post already containing images" so will post that in a reply shortly.

#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022

Summer is for camping ⛺ and the Milky Way 🌃 . Under darker skies when possible, so observatory 'sits on the bench' (unless I run it remotely!).

Had a good year for Milky Way shots (for me). These are single images taken with Canon 6D & 14mm lens on a tripod. Generally around 20sec exposure at 3200 or 6400iso. Processed in Lightroom.

#ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP
#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022

In addition to summer DSLR wide field, I also did some not-so-wide field imaging with my new-to-me 35mm lens. Still aiming for Milky Way, but at constellation-size field of view.

Camera was on a tracking mount and these are stacks of longer exposures (up to a minute) for total of up to 1 hour. Took some fiddling to sort out calibration frames and processing, but I think worth it.

#ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP
#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022

This past summer I also spent time testing an upgraded "mobile" rig based on 100mm refractor, monochrome cooled cmos camera and narrowband filters. First results have been promising. Particularly pleased with the North America and Heart nebulae results.

How backed up am I with processing? Well, there's unprocessed data from this rig going back to July. Just for starters. 🤪 That's what you call a 'good' problem.

#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022