Messier 27 - the Dumbell Nebula
This was the first Planetary Nebula discovered by Charles Messier! Always a treat to view with a large telescope and UHC or O3 filter.
Imaged with a Takahashi TOA 150, QHY163m camera, and AP 1100GTO mount.
More Posts in: Astrophotography
Charles Mercier
German contemporary art museum
Just a few shots - not of the art but the building interior!
2
Last: Aug 03, 2026
Bartek M. Wojtkunski
Snowfall, Leon
A stone shepherd's cabin with an orange roof beside a high-altitude lake in the province of Leon during an unexpected late spring snowfall.
2
Last: Aug 03, 2026
Dean Wilson
The Sun and the Moon: Edited to add last photo
I wanted to see how my 50 year old Canon FD 800mm f/5.6 s.s.c. would handle photographing both the Sun and the Moon.
1 - Revealing sunspots. (Square cropped)
5
Last: Aug 02, 2026
Hector Reyes
Sterling in silhouette
I held a lighting workshop recently. Sterling was the model. I rarely shoot silhouettes but I wanted to incorporate that arch into a shot. Backlighting became an obvious choice.
2 Comments
Impressive. I'm always amazed at the images you guys get that rival some of the stuff we see from the big boys in the desert. I think it would look a little more striking with a black background, but there may be nuances there that I'm not seeing.
Yes that is nicer as it pops out more but then we loose some visibility of the outer shell. I set the levels to not clip the blacks. The sky is actually not black, it has faint signal. With enough exposure, (10-15 hours) you can see dust filaments all over the sky. AKA integrated flux nebula, or dust that is illuminated by the light from our Milky Way galaxy. Sometimes I'll post process the BG with more black like my M33 Triangulum photo. I think I'll add a bit more contrast to this one at your recommendation tho.
Thanks!
Rob