I've been revisiting some of my work from some years back. Clamping my smartphone to the eyepiece and hoping the clock drive doesn't slip. Then set the time for 4 minutes. Back in '22 this whole thing blew my mind since I had no idea what to expect. Here's some samples of the progression up to this year.
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| Orion Nebula in January of 2022 |
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| Orion Nebula in December of '23 |
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| Orion Nebula in December 2025 |
It's amazing the difference in these few years. Having the right equipment helps, but I am no less proud of the older pictures. The top one hung in my office until I left in '24. Here's another example with the Messier 80 & 81 pair.
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| February of 2023 |
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| August 2025 |
One target that is on most astronomer's mind is Barnard 33, the Horsehead Nebula. But it is a dark nebula not easily sighted in a backyard astronomer's scope. One night I did sight the adjacent Flame Nebula. A long exposure and some post-processing teased out a little color. But we'll compare and contrast results.
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| January 2023. The nebula is just visible to the left of Alnitak |
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| December 2025. Alnitak is left of the Horsehead. The Flame is just below |
On to M17, the Omega or Swan Nebula. Another very stark difference between the years.
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| April 2023 |
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| August 2025 |
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| M57 the Ring Nebula, Summer 2024 |
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| M57, taken in the spring of 2025 |
This is a rabbit hole I could probably fall into indefinitely. On the newer shots I keep the imperfections. Sometimes they look too much like a NASA picture and the satellite streaks which make their way in make the shots look more like something done in the wild. I'll wrap this up with M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
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| January of '22 |
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| A year later, January of '23 |
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| August of '25 |
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