This is 40 -3 min subs stacked in DSS with 15 dark frames. Processed with Affinity Photo. Taken with the 8" Orion Astrograph from my back yard in Gig Harbor WA. I also used a 2" Ultra High Contrast filter. I pushed my scope almost to the hard stops going past the meridan. I finished before midnight 👍 Enjoy! I used my Nikon D5200 and Backyard Nikon.

This is just a very small part inside the North American Nebula which is huge! I may try to add OIII to it if we get better weather, and I figure out how 😁

No tracking, just good polar alignment. 

I found this image the other day ... It's a photo I took of my very first telescope! I remember how proud I was of this fine instrument. It's a vintage Sears 60mm refractor telescope, and that's about all I know ... Close to model number #6343 but I haven't been able to narrow it down any more. I owned this scope for several years and totally loved it. My favorite use was to project the sun on that solar screen that extends beneath the eyepiece. Maybe that's why to this day I am so fond of solar observing!

Another very small target, the Cocoon Nebula. This is 28-3 min subs stacked in DSS and Sequator. Colored in Affinity Photo and Gimp. I also used a Optolong L-eNhance filter on this target. CGEM mount, Orion Astrograph scope and a Nikon D-5200 DSLR, taken from my back yard in Gig Harbor WA..

Well, this is my first try on this target, I didn't know it was so small. I took 3 min subs and stacked 30 of them in DSS also in Sequator, I actually think Sequator might have done a better job. Remember I'm a rookie when it comes to processing so this is what you get 😁 Colored in Gimp and Affinity Photo. I also used an Optolong L-eNhance filter on this target. 

Taken from my back yard in Gig Harbor WA. 

Yes, with temperatures nearing 100 degrees (or more) over the entire western Washington area,   I thought it would be fun to see what the sun looked like today. Interesting, there are no sun spots, no visible prominences and no areas of interest. Of course, we are at the tail end of a solar minimum so that's to be expected, but just last week there were sunspots and active prominences. I guess today we just get skunked. And baked. Photo taken from a local Port Orchard solar observatory.

Here's a 20 second photo (ISO 1600, f1.8 - Samyang) of the Milky Way galaxy over Port Orchard, Washington at about 11 p.m. Saturday night. Enjoy!

I've also come back and added a stacked image - four darks, 40 light frames, stacked with DSS. 

Did you see the spectacular conjunction of Venus and the moon this morning? From the Port Orchard, Washington area, it's magical - with clear summer skies and great views all around!

When choosing astronomical targets to photograph, I tend to favor distant comets and the sun. I enjoy photographing distant comets due to the many challenges involved in capturing a tiny, moving point of light many lightyears away. Though the Sun is only light-minutes away (as opposed to light-years), it still poses many challenges and the fact that its face is always changing makes it a fascinating target. Add in planetary and man-made satellite transits, and  there's rarely a dull moment.

This is another very small part of the North American Nebula, again, it's huge and I can't fit it in my scope. Not sure how many pic's were stacked here, not a whole lot though. These were 2 min subs, darks taken in camera. Stacked with DSS and colored with Affinity Photo and Gimp. Taken from my back yard in Gig Harbor WA, Enjoy!

This is the eastern Veil Nebula, only a small part of it I should say. My scope can't get the whole image, it's huge! This is about 8 -2.5 min subs, I had 40 but DSS only stacked 8, don't know why. Bad tracking I expect. Wish I knew how to work the Affinity program a little better. Practice, practice! Taken from my back yard in Gig Harbor WA...