The Iris Nebula is a reflection nebula in the northern sky's constellation Cepheus. It's roughly 6 light years across and 1400 light years from Earth. The bright nebula core is surrounded by a huge area of dark dust that I previously haven't had much luck capturing because of how faint it is. To bri…

Or the Swan Nebula...or Checkmark Nebula...or Lobster Nebula...or Horseshoe Nebula. Whatever your favorite name for it, Messier 17 is a great summer target. I shot the data for this last summer and recently processed it. This was before my CGEM OnStep and pier upgrades, so each night I had to drag m…

I just finished processing my first image after some recent astronomy upgrades. This fall, I gutted my telescope mount and rebuilt all the mechanical & electronic parts. My telescope is now permanently mounted in our back yard on a pier my brother designed & made. The new setup is tons bette…