Top Row: Gabi, Will, Kevin, Taylor, Ethan, Bernard

Front Row: Adler, Jordan, Sandy, Rick, Ava, Joaquin.

Bernard had every possible size possibly needed.

Isolated one of the problems...

Giving it the "hum test" (not to be confused with the "Hmmmm test"). It certainly sounded better, if not quite as perfect as before the accident.

Bernard and Jordan, at Bernard's computer.

A friendly lizard hopped on my shoulder, appreciating the warmth as November's chill settles in.

Bernard and Jordan, excited for Bernard's successful recording at high speed 0.03s integrations on this asteroid occultation.

I'm 12 feet away, getting a second independent data set for the event

Bernard, using software OCCULT4 to generate occultation predictions for the new starlet of the Kuiper Belt as "Most Intriguing Object" - Quaoar. Intriguing for it's recent discover by the Big Scopes in Hawaii of two rings beyond the Roche Limit where rings should not be, and followed by my own discovery of a new moon orbiting Quaoar in June of this year.

Jordan and I anxiously monitor the incoming video images to see if we can visually detect the momentary passage of the asteroid over the bright star. Yes! We saw it, and it's now been reduced and submitted to the International Occultation Timing Association for review and inclusion in a future paper, and the databases for asteroids.

Celebrating our success, from the rooftops even!

Our outstanding student Will Glass earned recognition in the Cabrillo Foundation's Annual Report! Thanks to a Faculty Grant, we got equipment he helped us select and is putting to great use.

Jordan: M51: The picture was taken on a semi-dark night with some moon but no clouds. Taken from Cabrillo. Taken with a Williams Optics Askar 60mm. Taken with an exposure of 30 seconds. Took 82 images. -20.42 degrees Celsius. 10/29/2025. 9:29 pm. Deep Sky Stacker—65% for detected stars. The 82 images were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with advanced commands: default for each option except light: kappa sigma clipping, kappa of 2, light iterations of 5 (rejects pixels that are outliers = no satellites), cosmetic check; detect and clean both hot and cold pixels, result mosaic mode (takes overlapping images of the main object and stitches them together), output: append a number to avoid file override (doesn't delete old files). Image, Adjustments, Curves—adjusted to keep the galaxy dimmer. Image, Adjustments, Hue/Saturation—adjusted saturation up to bring more color, got rid of the green saturation. Filter, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask—tightened up the stars. Filter, Noise, Reduce Noise—got rid of noise.

Jordan: M31: 11 photos. Taken at 30-second exposure. Taken at Stanislaus River. Taken on a completely dark night. Taken with a Williams Optics GTF81 on a Losmandy GM8 mount. Taken with a Nikon D7000. Temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Deep Sky Stacker—set to 97% for detected stars. The 11 images were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with advanced commands: default for each option except light: kappa sigma clipping, kappa of 2, light iterations of 5 (rejects pixels that are outliers = no satellites); cosmetic: detect and clean both hot and cold pixels; result mosaic mode (takes overlapping images of the main object and stitches them together); output: append a number to avoid file override (doesn’t delete old files). Photoshop—cropped. Curves—adjusted to darken the sky but bring up the brightness to the outer spiral arms of the galaxy. Image, Adjustments, Hue/Saturation—tones the blue saturation up, the yellow saturation down, tones the red saturation down to get rid of the red sky, attempted to turn the greens down. Image, HDR Toning—turned up the strength. Image, Adjustments, Curves—re-darkened the sky. Unable to remove green shading but decided this was the best possible picture.

Jordan: Pleiades: 9 photos. Taken at 30-second exposure. Taken at Stanislaus River. Taken on a completely dark night. Taken with a Williams Optics GTF81 on a Losmandy GM8 mount. Taken with a Nikon D7000. Temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Deep Sky Stacker—set to 96% for detected stars (130). The 9 images were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with advanced commands: default for each option except light: kappa sigma clipping, kappa of 2, light iterations of 5 (rejects pixels that are outliers = no satellites); cosmetic: detect and clean both hot and cold pixels; result mosaic mode (takes overlapping images of the main object and stitches them together); output: append a number to avoid file override (doesn’t delete old files). Edited on Photo Director 365. Used Curves to brighten the cluster but slightly darken the sky. Brought up the saturation. Cropped the photo to center. Re-toned the blue saturation. Brought up clarity to 100%. Made stars smaller by bringing the brightest contrast down.

Jordan: Lexington Dam: Taken at Lexington Dam on 09/15/25. Taken at 11:16 pm. Taken on a clear night with a waning crescent moon. Taken during an occultation of asteroid “MPC” over an 11.05 magnitude star (for .8 seconds) with the 8SE. Video recording properties—brightness 7.5, contrast 6.5, hue 6, saturation 6, sharpness 2. Temperature was 58 degrees Fahrenheit. Picture of Jordan Brown and Rick Nolthenius. Edited on Photo Director 365. Adjust, Curves—adjusted the curve to brighten the bright stars but tone down the overall sky. Cropped some of Rick’s car. Adjust, Curves, Red—toned down red. Brought clarity up to 100%. Brought saturation up slightly. Bright brought to 82% and Brightest to 48%.

Jordan: Orion Nebula M42: 4 photos. Taken at 30-second exposure. Taken at Stanislaus River. Taken on a completely dark night. Taken with a Williams Optics GTF81 on a Losmandy GM8 mount. Taken with a Nikon D7000. Temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Deep Sky Stacker—set to 81% for detected stars. Camera Raw Filter—adjusted sharpening and noise reduction. Image, Adjustments, Hue/Saturation—brought saturation up, brought red saturation up, brought blue saturation up. Camera Raw Filter—further adjusted sharpening and noise reduction. Image, Adjustments, Curves, Red—brought up red saturation further but de-emphasized the middle of the nebula. AstroTools—Make Stars Brighter. AstroTools—Make Stars Smaller.

Lagoon Nebula (M8). Adler Blackmun. 12” LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain, ST2000XCM, 1x5min, Cabrillo Observatory, 9/10/2025 ~20:30-20:35 PST. CCDOPS: Dark subtract (-25C), Flat field (Date UNKN), Color process sRBG+gamma. No stacking, 1 photo because of clouds. Adobe Photoshop 25.9: Light curves (darken background), Saturation +30, Contrast +15, Astro tools (shrink stars), Spot heal brush (plane), Crop for print and Gallery.

Messier 2, Star cluster. Adler Blackmun. 12” LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain, ST2000XCM, 3x30sec, Cabrillo Observatory, 11/26/2025 20:50-20:58 PST. CCDOPS: Dark subtract (-28C, 10/30/2024), Flat field (11/06/2024), Color process sRBG+gamma. DeepSkyStacker: Stack 3 frames. Adobe Photoshop 25.9: Light curves (darken background), Green saturation -100, Strong unsharp mask (tighten stars), Crop for gallery.

Telescope. Adler Blackmun. Canon EOS REBEL T5, EF-S 18-55mm, f/4, 1x13sec, ISO-3200, Cabrillo Observatory, 11/26/2025 ~21:45 PST. No subtracting or stacking. Adobe Photoshop 25.9: Light curves (darken sky), Red saturation -15, Spot heal brush (plane and branches), Strong unsharp mask (tighten stars), Crop for gallery.

Pleiades, Star Cluster. Adler Blackmun. Raw photos provided by Dr. Rick Nolthenius, NIKON D7000, 8x30 sec, ISO-2500, Location UNKN, Est. 11/18/2025 20:45-20:55 PST. DeepSkyStacker: Stack 4 best frames. Adobe Photoshop 25.9: Light curves (darken background), Strong unsharp mask (tighten stars), Noise reduction, Crop for gallery.

Moon. Adler Blackmun. QHY585 camera, 8SE telescope, 2.5000ms exposure, 60sec video (avoiding atmospheric interference), Cabrillo Observatory, 11/5/2025 19:33-19:34 PST.No subtracting or stacking, Picked best frame. Adobe Photoshop 25.9: Light curves (pop bright side), Contrast +15, Minimal editing, Crop for print and gallery.

Ring Nebula (M57), Gabi Szymczyk. Taken 21:57 PST, 10/22/2025, Cabrillo Observatory Dome, skies cleared up. Changed scope from East to West. 12” LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain, ST2000XCM, 4x5min, 18.53.35 RA, 33.1.45 DEC, Back: 1197, Range: 4091, Declination: 33, Magnitude: 22. CCDOPS, DeepSkyStacker: delta sigma, stacked 4 frames, default to mosaic, cropped image. Adobe: Image: adjustment, levels and curves, Filter: Unsharpen mask. Medium resolution, space noise reduction. Adjusted saturation for white dwarf, enhanced blue.

Casseopia, Gabi Szymczyk. Taken 21:35 PST, 9/10/25, Cabrillo Observatory, Casseopia shifted in the night sky, there was a shooting star five minutes prior photo. Canon EOS REBEL T5. No stacking due to interruptions with atmosphere.  Adobe: Image: high curve, Filter: Unsharpen mask, space noise reduction. Medium to high resolution.

Pleiades, Gabi Szymczyk. Taken by Dr. Rick Nolthenius, 20:45 - 20:55 PST, 11/18/2025, UNKN.  Nikon D7000, 30sec exposures, DeepSkyStacker: delta sigma, stacked 3 frames, default to mosaic, cropped image. Canva: Temperature: 29, Tint: 37, Brightness: 35, Contrast -20, Highlights: -25, Shadows; 44, Whites: 29, Vibrance: 19, Saturation: 9, Sharpness: 39, Clarity: 13.

Moon on a telescope, Gabi Szymczyk. Taken 19:38 PST, 10/29/2025, low exposure using IPhone 13 Pro. Cabrillo Observatory. Bernard set up 8SE telescope. No stacking, capturing image screen of telescope view. Canva: Temperature: -61, Tint: 8, Brightness; -48, Contrast: 8, Highlights: -37, Shadows: -21, Whites: -13, Blacks: 30, Vibrance: -36, Saturation: 13, Clarity: 10.

Moon. Joaquin Fitzsimmons. 12” LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain, ST2000XCM, 1x2500ms. Cabrillo Observatory. November 26, 2025. 20:26 PST. Weather: 58 degrees Fahrenheit, 84% Humidity, dew point 53 degrees. Clear. Ccdops v5.66: Dark subtract (-28C), Flat field (November 6, 2024), Color process DDP. Photoshop v5.12.8: Brightness/Contrast (brightness +75 and contrast +59 to sharpen surface and lessen effects of dew on lens), Hue/Saturation (saturation of Global Colors adjusted to –44; saturation of Greens adjusted to -100; lightness of Greens adjusted to -100), Blur tool (removed scan line effect in overexposed left side caused by changes in saturation and lightness in Greens), resized and cropped for export.

Takahashi & Sky 90. Joaquin Fitzsimmons. Apple iPhone 13 mini, Wide Camera —
26mm, f1.6, 12MP, ISO5000, 1.1ev, 1x10sec. Cabrillo Observatory. August
27, 2025. 22:02 PDT. Weather: 58 degrees Fahrenheit, 84% humidity, dew
point 53 degrees. Clear. Photoshop v5.12.8: Curves (RGB base input set to
31 to darken sky), Clone Stamp (removed overexposed lights on telescope),
resized and cropped for export.

Pacman Nebula (NGC281). Joaquin Fitzsimmons.

12” LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain, ST2000XCM, 3x5min. Cabrillo Observatory. October 29, 2025. 21:30-21:49 PDT. Weather: 63 degrees Fahrenheit, 72% Humidity, dew point 54 degrees. Clear. Moon: First quarter 55% illumination. Ccdops v5.66: Dark subtract (-20C), Flat field (November 6, 2024), Color process sRBG+gamma. DeepSkyStacker v4.2.6: stack three frames, compute offset. Photoshop v5.12.8: Hue/Saturation (saturation of Greens adjusted to -100), Camera Raw Filter (Sharpening set to 55; Noise Reduction set to 81; Color Noise reduction set to 37), Color Balance (Levels set to [0,-5,0]), Curves (RGB base input set to 40 to darken sky), Vibrance (Vibrance +20; Saturation +5), Brightness/Contrast (Brightness +20; Contrast +18), resized and cropped for export.

Great Pegasus Cluster (M15). Joaquin Fitzsimmons. 12” LX200 Schmidt-
Cassegrain, ST2000XCM, 3x30sec. Cabrillo Observatory. October 29, 2025. 21:15 PST. Weather: 63 degrees Fahrenheit, 72% Humidity, dew point 54
degrees. Clear. Moon: First quarter 55% illumination. Ccdops v5.66: Dark  subtract (-28C), Flat field (November 6, 2024), Color process sRGB and  Gamma. DeepSkyStacker v4.2.6: stack three frames, compute offset.
Photoshop v5.12.8: Rotated image 180 degrees, Curves (RGB base input set  to 35 to darken sky), Sharpen, Camera Raw Filter (Noise Reduction set to
100; Color Noise reduction set to 100), Hue/Saturation (saturation of  Magentas adjusted to -100; lightness of Magentas adjusted to -100;  saturation of Blues adjusted to -100; lightness of Blues adjusted to -100;
saturation of Cyans adjusted to -100; lightness of Cyans adjusted to -100;  saturation of Greens adjusted to -100; lightness of Greens adjusted to -  100; saturation of Yellows adjusted to +40; lightness of Yellows adjusted  to -70; lightness of Reds adjusted to -30), Vibrance (Vibrance +100;  Saturation +3), Brightness/Contrast (Contrast +57), resized and cropped
for export.

Orion Nebula (M42). Joaquin Fitzsimmons.

12” LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain,
ST2000XCM, 3x5min. Cabrillo Observatory. October 29, 2025. 22:46-23:03
PST. Weather: 63 degrees Fahrenheit, 72% Humidity, dew point 54 degrees.
Clear. Moon: First quarter 55% illumination. Ccdops v5.66: Dark subtract
(-28C), Flat field (November 6, 2024), Color process sRGB and Gamma.
DeepSkyStacker v4.2.6: stack three frames, compute offset. Photoshop
v5.12.8: Curves (RGB base input set to 21 to darken sky; increased blue
curve), Space Noise Reduction (1x), Make Stars Smaller (1x), Clone Stamp
(removed hotpixels), resized and cropped for export.

Taylor Hagen. NGC 7331 (The Deer Lick Group).

This image was captured on
October 29, 2025, starting at 20:33:35 local time, using the 12 inch Meade
f/10 telescope (with f/6.3 reducer) and the SBIG ST2000XCM CCD camera. The
image is a stack of 3 exposures, each lasting 5 minutes (300 seconds),  with the camera sensor cooled to -20.42 degrees Celsius to cut down on  electronic noise. Processing began in CCDOPS by cleaning the raw data, and  the three exposures were then stacked. The stacked file was first opened  in Adobe Photoshop for the initial histogram stretch and cropping. The  final and main phase of processing took place in Affinity Photo, starting
with Color Correction using HSL Adjustment Layers and masking to remove  background color casts. The Levels Adjustment Layer and Curves Adjustment  Layer were then used to set the deep gray background and maximize
contrast, making the galaxy's spiral structure "pop." Final cleanup,  including the Clone Brush tool and Sharpening, was performed entirely within Affinity Photo, followed by specialized final adjustments for  polish and detail

Taylor Hagen. The Eagle Nebula, M16.

This image was captured on September 10, 2025, starting at 21:58:01 local time. Acquisition utilized the 12" Meade f/10 telescope with an f/6.3 reducer and the SBIG ST2000XCM CCD
camera. The image is a stack of 3 exposures, each lasting 5 minutes (300  seconds), with the camera sensor cooled to -17.80 degrees Celsius to  minimize thermal noise. Conditions were optimal, featuring a very clear  sky and no visible Moon, which allowed for dark sky imaging. M16 was  positioned high in the southern sky, avoiding atmospheric turbulence.  Processing began in CCDOPS by applying Dark and Flat frames to all three  raw exposures to remove noise and correct for vignetting. The clean images  were then aligned and stacked in CCDOPS to create the master light frame.  The resulting image was opened in Adobe Photoshop for an initial histogram  stretch and cropped to remove stacking artifacts. Final  adjustments were  performed using Levels and Curves to set the sky background to a very dark  gray, preserving faint data. Color Saturation was precisely adjusted to  enhance the red hydrogen gas. The Clone Stamp tool was used to clean  residual hot pixels, followed by a subtle application of Sharpening. The  final step involved applying the Photoshop Astronomy Actions referenced in  the course materials for fine tuning of contrast and deep space detail.

Taylor Hagen. The Moon (Monochrome). This image was captured on 11/27/2025
starting at 20:27:46 local time, using the 12 inch Meade f/10 telescope
(with 100.00 Inches Focal Length) and the SBIG ST-2K Color Dual CCD
Camera. The image is a single shot, lasting 0.020 seconds, with the camera
sensor cooled to -27.77°C. Processing began in Affinity Photo by applying
a Black and White Adjustment Layer to eliminate the color cast and provide
a stable tonal foundation for enhancement. Image was merged and duplicated
into two layers for non-destructive editing. The Motion Blur filter was
applied to the top layer (Angle 90∘, increased Distance) to eliminate the
stubborn horizontal banding. Blending was achieved by setting the top
layer to Luminosity Blend Mode and using the Eraser Tool to clean the
blurred background space. The Levels Adjustment Layer was then used to set
the Input Black Point (pure black space) and maximize lunar contrast.
Sharpening was performed entirely within Affinity Photo using the Clarity
Live Filter aggressively to recover detail, followed by final adjustments
for crop and size for the Gallery and Master File. Conditions for this
session were not optimal; poor atmospheric seeing caused blurring, and the
data contained severe horizontal banding and a color cast.

Taylor Hagen. Deep Sky Star Field, Rural Kentucky. This photograph was
captured on October 18, 2025, from a remote location within a pea farm field in rural Kentucky, a site chosen to mitigate local light pollution. The image is a single long exposure lasting 20 seconds at a maximum sensitivity of ISO 6400. This capture technique was utilized to record faint stellar and gas structures in a single frame using a Canon Rebel SL3
camera with a Canon EF-S 10-18mm wide angle lens. The ambient temperature of 38 degrees F minimized thermal noise on the sensor during the exposure. Processing began with aggressive noise reduction in Affinity Photo to reduce digital grain inherent to the high ISO setting. The histogram was
then stretched to enhance contrast and reveal the subtle deep sky details. Highlights and Shadows were adjusted to balance stellar intensity against the dark foreground, which included the pea field and surrounding trees.
Final steps involved correcting for chromatic aberration introduced by the  wide angle lens and boosting the natural color saturation.

Taylor Hagen. Steamer's Lane Lighthouse, Santa Cruz, CA. This night landscape was taken on November 12, 2025, using a Nikon Z6 III mirrorless camera with the NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8 S lens, mounted on a stable tripod. The exposure was a single, long 5-second shot at an aperture of f/8 and an ISO setting of ISO 200. The long shutter speed was selected to minimize noise while gathering enough light to illuminate the dark foreground and emphasize the Holiday lights on the Surfing Museum. The aperture of f/8 was used to ensure maximum depth of field, keeping both the nearby coastline and the lighthouse sharp. Processing began in Affinity Photo/Photoshop with a careful White Balance adjustment to harmonize the mixed light sources. Exposure adjustments then used the Shadows and Highlights tools to recover detail in the darker foreground without blowing out the bright light. A critical step was using the Clone Stamp and inpainting brush tools to clean the background by removing blurred people who walked through the scene during the 5-second exposure. Finally, clarity and color saturation were carefully boosted to enhance the textures and the vibrant glow of passing cars and city lights.

Helix Nebula. Will Glass 11-3-2025 Helix Nebula.
Pineridge BD. Airtemp 55F low dew. No moon. 1.5 Hours with L S H O filters. Sensor temp -20c Gain 100 Taken with ZWO ASI 183MM, Williams Optics Z61 and .8x Flattener/Reducer. AM3 Tracking head. Processed in Pixinsight using WBPP, then edited with masks using Curves and Histogram  Transformation. Noise cleanup with NoiseXterminator. Final Stretch and touchups in curves, Export as Tiff.

RN: converted to jpg for the gallery.

Soul Nebula IC1848

Cabrillo Observatory, Air temp 50f with high dew. No moon present, 45 mins across L S H O filters, Sensor temp -20c Gain 100 Taken with ZWO ASI 183MM, Williams Optics Z61 and .8x Flattener/Reducer. AM3 Tracking head. Processed in Pixinsight using WBPP, then edited with masks using Curves and Histogram  transformation. Noise cleanup with NoiseXterminator. Final Stretch and touchups in curves, Export as Tiff. 

RN: It looks like a "sole", not a "soul". I'm just sayin'...

Will Glass. 10-23-25 Comet SWAN and Eagle Nebula

Pineridge BD.   Airtemp 60f low dew. Low moon opposite horizon. 2 Hours L R G B Sensor temp -20c Gain 100 Taken with  ZWO ASI 183MM, Williams Optics Z61 and .8x Flattener/Reducer.  AM3 Tracking head. Processed in Pixinsight using WBPP, then edited. with masks using Curves and Histogram Transformation. Comet and Nebula plus stars started as separate images stacked and aligned for targets then combined with pixelmath. Noise cleanup with NoiseXterminator. Final Stretch and touchups in curves, Export as Tiff.

NGC 7497: Bernard Huynh

Gear used: Celestron 8SE with a f/6.3 reducer deforked on a Celestron AVX mount. SVBony SV605MC camera cooled to -20c and ZWO LRGB filters. 122 x 180s (6.1 Hours) of Lumanance 37 x 180s (1.85 Hours) of Red 35 x 180s (1.75 Hours) of Green32 x 180s (1.6 Hours) of Blue Images taken over a very nice clear spell from Aug 15 - Sep 15, 2025. Each channel stacked separately in Deep Sky stacker. Sharpest 60% images selected. 50 180s Median combined dark frames. 50 Median combined flats per night, total of 6 nights, 1 for each channel. All stacked and aligned to the ref frame. Each channel separately background extracted in SiriL. RGB channels combined in SiriL. Photometric color correction applied for accurate color. GraXpert for noise removal. Strength 0.5 L channel imported into Gimp. L channel stretched with levels. RGB channel imported as a separate layer. L channel set to Luminance mode. Colors edited via saturation and curves. Added saturation. Many dust donuts remained. Manually brighted dust donuts by brightening areas by 0.5%

NGC 1961: Bernard Huynh.

Gear used: Celestron 8SE with a f/6.3 reducer deforked on a Celestron AVX mount. SVBony SV605MC camera cooled to -20c and ZWO LRGB
filters. 414 x 180s of Lumanace 20.7 hours 346 x 180s (17.3 Hours) of H-alpha  21 x 180s of Blue 20 x 180s of Green 19 x 180s of Red. Images taken over a  very long clear spell from Nov 1 - Dec 9, 2025. Each channel stacked separately in Deep Sky stacker. Sharpest 80% images selected. 50 180s  Median combined dark frames. 50 Median combined flats per night, total of  9 nights, 1 for each channel. All stacked and aligned to the ref frame..  Each channel separately background extracted in SiriL. R and Ha channels  combined 30% Ha. RGB channels combined in SiriL. Photometric color  correction applied for accurate color. GraXpert for noise removal.  Strength 0.5 GraXpert Deconvolution (complex process to make image less  blurry by figuring out how the atmosphere distorted the stars) used for
the first time. I am very happy with it! FIrst did object only, saved,  then did stars only to get the full image decon’ed L channel imported into  Gimp. L channel stretched with levels. RGB channel imported as a separate  layer. L channel set to Luminance mode. Colors edited via   saturation and  curves. Added saturation.

Milky Way at Urlike Occultation site.
Nikon Z50 30s with ISO800 and 7artians 4mm 220 degree f2.8 fisheye. Image taken on Oct 11th, 2025 at the occultation site of Ulrike 1 hour south of Salinas. Z50 camera was placed  in the middle of highway 25 when no cars were driving by. .Nef File taken  into rawthereppe for debayering. Default settings used. Image imported  into Gimp. Curves edited to bring out the milkway. Slightly desaturated to
remove some strange color noise. Levels edited slightly. The image looked  really good out of camera so very little editing was needed.

Interstellar comet 3I/Atlas.

ASI533MC Color camera cooled to -20c, SVBony  L filter. Astrotech 8” with f/3 Nexus corrector. Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ5  Rebrand). 10 x 180s (30 minutes) OSC - Color. Images taken on November  23rd, 2025, though high clouds. . 180s exposures with a gain of 100, offset of 4. Comet was stacked in Deep sky stacker with median combined Darks, median combined flats. I used comet mode and selected the comet for both the start and end of the recording. Image taken into siril to then be background extracted. Brought into gimp after. In gimp I used levels to stretch the image. I then messed with saturation to get the comet to look better. I then made a second layer with a mask and slightly desaturated the background. I tried my best to get around the slight variations in
background brightness due to high clouds coming through.

NGC 972. Telescope 1: ATR2600M monochrome Camera cooled to -20c, SVBony L
and SVBony 5nm Ha filter. Skywatcher Quattro 10” With Meyon Corrector.
EQ6-r Pro. Telescope 2: ASI533MC Color camera cooled to -20c, SVBony L filter. Astrotech 8” with f/3 Nexus corrector. Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ5 Rebrand) 265 x 180s (13.25 Hours) Luminance - Monochrome 165 x 180s (8.25
Hours) OSC - Color 152 x 180s (7.6 Hours) Ha - Monochrome. Images taken over a very long clear spell from Nov 1 - Dec 9, 2025. Each channel stacked separately in Deep Sky Stacker. Sharpest 80% images selected. 50
180s Median combined dark frames. 50 Median combined flats per night, total of 11 nights, 1 for each channel. All stacked and aligned to the ref frame. I tried GraXpert Background extraction for the first time. I highly recommend this program after trying it. Managed to remove a strange moon
reflection by spamming points in the GraXpert BE tab. The image now looks amazing. RGB images stacked and DBE in the same way, DSS, then GraXpert.
And after SiriL PCC photometric correction. GraXpert  deconvolution used  for the second time. I am very happy with it! First did object only,  saved, then did stars only to get the full image decon’ed. L channel
imported into Gimp. L channel stretched with levels. RGB channel imported  as a separate layer. I manually aligned the stars from the color to the  Monochrome. L channel set to Luminance mode. Colors edited via saturation
and curves. Added saturation. Add ed Ha last. Not much ha despite the
effort I put in sadly

M27 Dumbell nebula

October 15, 2025 Time 21:51 PST, Exposure: 300s  Temp: -26.34 C, Altitude: 56°,
Location, Cabrillo Observatory. Equipment: 12" Meade f/10 (w/ f/6.3 reducer) SBIG  T2000XCM CCD camera.  Processing: Color correction with CCDOPs, stacked with Deepsky stacker, processed with GIMP, used G'MIC filter add on to clean photo with the repair > remove hot pixel function. Adjusted color levels to bring out nebula, adjusted saturation curves to maintain structure of nebula.

(RN: submitted wrong size, caption not plain text , and .png not jpg, no thumbnail)

M57 Ring Nebula:

Oct 22, 2025
Time: 21:56 PST  Exposure: 300s  Temp: -25.40 C  Altitude: 23° Location, Cabrillo Observatory  Equipment: 12" Meade f/10 (w/ f/6.3 reducer) SBIG ST2000XCM CCD camera  Processing: Color correction with CCDOPs, stacked with Deepsky stacker, processed with GIMP, used G'MIC filter add on to clean photo with the repair > remove hot pixel function. Adjusted color levels to bring out nebula, adjusted saturation curves to maintain structure of nebula.

(RN: submitted wrong size, caption not plain text, and .png not jpg, no thumbnail)

Big Dipper

Aut 27, 8:50pm Asus zenphone 9
Asus AI2202 f/1.9 1/4 5.53mm ISO6400 Tripod and mount, Waxing crescent moon. Clear night. Took picture, used gimp to clean artifacts using Gmic'd bilateral smoothing.

Name: NGC 7331 Milky Way's Twin 
Oct 29, 2025 Time: 20:33 PST
Exposure: 300s Temp: -20.42 C
Altitude: 82° Location, Cabrillo Observatory  Equipment: 12" Meade f/10 (w/ f/6.3 reducer) SBIG ST2000XCM CCD camera

Processing: Color correction with CCDOPs, stacked with Deepsky stacker, processed with GIMP, used G'MIC filter add on to clean photo with the repair > remove hot pixel function. Adjusted color levels to bring out galaxy, adjusted saturation curves to maintain structure of galaxy.

NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) Oct 29, 2025
Time: 21:30 PST 
Exposure: 300s
Temp: -20.42 C  Altitude: 70° 
Location, Cabrillo Observatory

Equipment: 12" Meade f/10 (w/ f/6.3 reducer) SBIG  ST2000XCM CCD camera

Processing: Color correction with CCDOPs, stacked with Deepsky stacker, processed with GIMP, used G'MIC filter add on to clean photo with the repair > remove hot pixel function. Adjusted color levels to bring out nebula, adjusted saturation curves to maintain structure of nebula.

Dumbbell Nebula (M27), Ava Storm.

Raw photos by Dr. Rick Nolthenius, NIKON D7000. ISO 4000, 11x30 sec. Est 11/8/2025, 20:03:00 PST, Location Unknown. Deepskystacker: stack 11 frames. Adobe Photoshop: Version 10. curves (lower right RBG/add blue), unsharp mask, low brightness, reduce blue, add contrast, add saturation (general & magenta), reduce RGB, add saturation (magenta), curves (brighten nebula), curves (darken darks), saturation (desaturate stars), contrast up, levels, hue & saturation (add magenta).

Bode’s Galaxy & Cigar Galaxy (M81 & M82), Ava Storm.

Raw photos by Dr. Rick Nolthenius, NIKON D7000. ISO-2500, 16x30 sec. Est 11/8/2025, Time Unknown, Location Unknown. Deepskystacker: stack 16 frames. Adobe Photoshop: Version 10. Crop image, curves (+blue, -green), curves (-green/red, +blue), add contrast & brightness, fade auto color 2%, hue/saturation (-green/red), reduce contrast, curves (-green, +blue/red), curves (brighten galaxies), curves (darken darks), curves (+blue), desaturate red, build saturation, crop image.

(photo not readable but print version looked OK)

Moon, Ava Storm. First quarter phase, clear sky. 8se telescope, QHY585
camera, 2.5000ms exposure, 60 seconds of video & selected one frame (steer
clear of interfering atmosphere), 11/5/2025 19:50 PST, Cabrillo
Observatory. No dark subtract nor stacking. Adobe Photoshop: Version 10.
Sharpen, levels, contrast, curves to balance darks and lights.

Constellation Lyra, Ava Storm.

Canon EOS REBEL T5, f/4, 1x10 sec. 10/29/2025 21:50, Cabrillo Observatory. No dark subtract nor stacking. Adobe Photoshop: Version 10. Sharpen, sharpen edges, despeckle, reduce
noises, unsharp mask 80%, curves darken sky, levels make stars brighter.

NGC1600, Ava Storm.

12” LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain, ST2000XCM, 5x300 sec.
11/22/2025 21:38:00, Cabrillo Observatory. WinOPS Ver 5.57 Build 3-NT. CCDOPS: Dark subtract (-20.42C), Color Process sRBG+gamma. Deepskystacker:
stack 5 frames. Adobe Photoshop: Version 10. Crop image, curves (darken  shadows, +lights, hue/saturation (-180 magentas hue -100 saturation +100
lightness), curves (+midtones), Gaussian blur, camera raw filter (color  noise reduction 80%, noise reduction 20%), Gaussian blur, smart sharpen,  hue/saturation (+10 reds +32 yellows), curves (darken sky), crop image.