My first Winter Star Party delivered a week of clear, cool Florida Keys skies and 10 hours on M101. Captured in HaLRGB at f/3.8, this Pinwheel Galaxy image blends fast optics with careful PixInsight processing.

Captured during the Winter Solstice event at Big Cypress National Park, this image of M45—the Pleiades, was created from 75 two-minute exposures using a fast f/3.6 imaging setup. More than 2,450 attendees shared the night as live-stacked images revealed this iconic star cluster in real time, blending public outreach with a deep-space target that first sparked my astrophotography journey nearly 20 years ago.

The Soul Nebula sits about 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, paired with its more famous neighbor, the Heart Nebula.

A vivid portrait of the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex, blending reflection, emission, and dark nebulae captured in 2.5 hours from the Starry Night Ranch in Florida.

A swirling sea of gas and dust surrounds the bright star Sadr in this deep narrowband image captured from Deep Gap, NC.

Imaging M3 is more than just an exercise in precision — it’s a quiet confrontation with scale, time, and the staggering probability that life might be far more common than we once imagined.

Captured with the CarbonStar f/4 Newt and ZWO 2600MM Duo under dark Florida skies. Framing wasn’t ideal, but the detail came through beautifully.
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Messier 63 – The Sunflower Galaxy
First Attempt | Captured Under Bortle 2–3 Skies, April 2025

I set my sights on one of the great face-on spiral galaxies in our night sky—Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy.

While sky conditions were not as pristine as during my Leo Triplet session, the dual-scope approach again proved invaluable, allowing for a detailed, high-contrast representation of this stunning galaxy.

Under the dark skies of the Florida Everglades, I captured the stunning reflection nebula M78 using a dual-scope setup.

The Dolphin Nebula captured in stunning detail. This first image of 2025 a star-forming region in the constellation Cetus.

IC 410 is a stunning emission nebula located about 12,000 light-years away in the constellation Auriga.

The Sculptor Galaxy is often overshadowed by more famous spirals like Andromeda or the Triangulum Galaxy, but it’s a fascinating target in its own right.

This is the Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76), captured using my new Carbon Star Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, paired with the QHY533 mono camera and mounted on my trusty AM5.

I captured 10.5 hours of data with 5-minute subs. Using an Apertura Carbon Star Fast Newtonian and my ZWO 2600 Duo OSC camera, I focused on pulling out the rich detail hidden within this iconic spiral galaxy.

The anti-tail is now clearly visible! This shot consists of 9 stacked images, each with a 30-second exposure, aligned with the comet for better detail.