u/FrancoisDolphins

This is a brand new version of the Pleiades (M45) from my backyard in Aveyron, France.

I actually captured over 10 hours of data on this target. However, since M45 is extremely bright and my telescope is very fast (f/3.4), I decided to try a ruthless culling approach. I threw away 85% of my subs and only stacked the absolute best ones with perfect seeing/FWHM. I ended up with only 106 frames of 60 seconds (1h 46m total).

The sacrifice in signal-to-noise ratio was completely worth it for the massive gain in sharpness and resolution in the blue reflection dust. What do you guys think? Are you strict with frame culling on bright objects, or do you stack everything?

Equipment:

• Telescope: TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (with 0.85x reducer, f/3.4)
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC DUO (-15°C)
• Mount: SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro

Acquisition & Processing:

• Exposure: 106 x 60s (1.7 hours total integration).
• Software: N.I.N.A, PixInsight (SubframeSelector is the hero here, DBE, SPCC, BlurX, NoiseX, stretching).

Full HD image on my website: see First comment

This is Sh2-115, a large HII emission nebula located just northwest of the bright star Deneb. Captured from Aveyron, France, over multiple sessions from May to June 2026.

I didn't know this target very well before shooting it, but I absolutely love the result. My favorite part is the tiny, incredibly colorful bubble called Sh2-116 (also known as Abell 71). It definitely deserves its own close-up with a much longer focal length someday!

Equipment:

• Telescope: TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (with 0.85x reducer, f/3.4)
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC DUO (-15°C)
• Mount: SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro
• Filter: Optolong L-Extreme (2")

Acquisition & Processing:

• Exposure: 347 x 180s (Approx. 17.3 hours total integration)
• Conditions: Excellent average seeing (8/10).
• Software: N.I.N.A, PixInsight, Affinity Photo.

I also made a short 9:16 vertical video walkthrough of the nebula on my website. I'm curious: do you guys enjoy video walkthroughs of high-res images, or do you prefer just exploring the static HD image yourself? Let me know!

Voici une animation 4K de l'ensemble de la séquence de l'éclipse solaire du 12 août 2026, capturée depuis l'Aveyron, France.

Lors de cette séance, j'ai eu une chance incroyable de capturer deux passages d'avion à travers le disque solaire (un exactement 1 minute avant C1, et le deuxième juste avant le coucher de soleil). Pour créer cette animation fluide et haute résolution, mon ordinateur a dû traiter 1,3 To de fichiers vidéo bruts .SER. L'atmosphère durant le maximum était absolument irréelle.

🎬 Regardez l'animation complète en 4K avec les passages ici :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Mq_XbEzik

Équipement :

• Télescope : Acuter Elite Phoenix 40mm H-Alpha (longueur focale de 400mm, f/5)
• Caméra : ZWO ASI676MM (Monochrome) - Les pixels de 2µm sont un parfait complément pour ce télescope.
• Monture : StarAdventurer GTi

Acquisition & Traitement :

• Emplacement : Aveyron, France (12 août 2026)
• Données : 1,3 To de fichiers bruts .AVI capturés via ASICAP.
• Traitement : Meilleures images empilées dans AutoStakkert!. Ondelettes et netteté réalisées. Le plus grand défi était d'aligner le disque durant l'ensemble de l'événement de 2 heures et d'égaliser les énormes variations d'exposition entre les phases partielles et la totalité. Assemblage et rendu final en 4K.

Vous pouvez lire l'analyse technique complète et mon expérience de la totalité sur mon site Web : https://doffinastrophoto.com/astrophotography-solar-eclipse-2026/

Détails de l'acquisition :

• Cible : Le Soleil (Chromosphère H-Alpha)
• Date : 7 août 2026
• Lieu : Aveyron, France
• Conditions : Bonne visibilité, environ 7/10
• Intégration : Vidéo SER de 45 secondes à 42 fps.

Équipement :

• Télescope : Acuter Elite Phoenix 40 H-Alpha (longueur focale de 400mm)
• Caméra : ZWO ASI676MM (Monochrome)
• Monture : SkyWatcher Star Adventurer GTI

Traitement : Empilé dans AutoStakkert ! 4. C'était une avancée majeure pour mon flux de travail de traitement ! J'ai récemment découvert le script "Solar Toolbox" dans PixInsight (par CosmicPhotons). Il gère l'inversion du disque, les améliorations de contraste, le mélange des bords entre le disque et les protubérances, et le mappage final des couleurs fausses à la perfection.

Notes : C'est la première lumière pour ma nouvelle ASI676MM. Je pense que c'est l'association parfaite pour l'Acuter 40. Les petits pixels de 2µm permettent un échantillonnage optimal sans avoir besoin d'une lentille Barlow, capturant le disque entier avec une grande netteté. J'ai inclus plusieurs versions (Standard N&B, N&B inversé et Colorisé).

La résolution complète et le tutoriel YouTube qui m'a aidé à apprendre le Solar Toolbox sont sur mon site web : https://doffinastrophoto.com/astrophotography-sun-20260807-asi676mm/

Acquisition Details:

• Target: The Sun (H-Alpha)
• Date: August 1, 2026
• Location: Aveyron, France

Equipment:

• Telescope: Acuter Elite Phoenix 40 H-Alpha
• Camera: ZWO ASI585MC (Color)
• Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi

Processing & The Mistake: The Sun was incredibly active! But I'm still learning the ropes of solar processing. I stacked my files in AutoStakkert! 3 but made a huge mistake: I deleted my raw .SER video files to clear up hard drive space before fully inspecting the output. I later noticed some weird blurry artifacts on the solar limb! To salvage the image and mitigate the blur, I stacked 3 different frames derived from batches of 2000 frames (keeping the best 150 in each).

https://doffinastrophoto.com/astrophotography-sun-acuter-02082026/

Acquisition Details:

• Target: M16 (Eagle Nebula) in Serpens
• Dates: July 2024 to July 2026
• Location: Aveyron, France
• Frames: 272x120s & 224x180s (L-eXtreme) + 43x300s (Askar C2 for SII). Total ~23.8 hours.

Equipment:

• Telescope: TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (f/3.4)
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC DUO (Color camera)
• Mount: SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro

Processing & Thoughts: Processed in PixInsight. I had a previous version using just the L-eXtreme, and I spent a lot of time recently gathering SII data with the Askar C2 filter to attempt a pseudo-SHO palette. Honestly? I'm almost disappointed. The addition of the SII layer didn't bring the incredible gain I was hoping for, and aesthetically, I think I preferred my older HOO/Ha image. Extracting pure SHO from a color camera on this target was a bit frustrating.

On my website, I included a zoomed-in comparison of my Pillars of Creation next to the JWST image. From afar, my 10" scope looks honorable. But the moment you zoom in... you completely understand why NASA spent $20 Billion more than my setup cost! 😂

Full res and the Ha-only version on my site: https://doffinastrophoto.com/astrophotography-m16-sho/

Acquisition Details:

• Target: LDN 43 (Cosmic Bat) in Ophiuchus
• Dates: June 11 - 15, 2026
• Location: Aveyron, France
• Frames: 172 x 180s (Optolong Clear filter) - Total ~8.6 hours.
• Conditions: Outstanding 9/10 seeing on night 1, settling to 6/10 for the rest.

Equipment:

• Telescope: TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (f/3.4)
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC DUO
• Mount: SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro

Processing: Stacked and processed in PixInsight, with final touches in Affinity. LDN 43 is usually processed with very deep blacks to make the bat shape look dramatic and spooky. I wanted to go a different route and lightened the background to bring out the very faint Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) and surrounding dust clouds. Bringing up the shadows took a toll on the SNR, but a careful pass of NoiseXTerminator really helped smooth it out while keeping the dust textures intact. It makes the bat look a lot less scary, but I really like this softer perspective.

Full resolution on my website: https://doffinastrophoto.com/astrophotography-ldn43/

Acquisition Details:

• Targets: M97 & M108
• Dates: March 15 - 17, 2026
• Location: Aveyron, France (Bortle 4)
• Conditions: Outstanding seeing (8/10 consistently)
• Frames: 193 x 140s (Optolong Clear filter) - roughly 7.5 hours total.

Equipment:

• Telescope: TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (f/3.4 with 0.85x reducer)
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC DUO
• Mount: SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro

Processing: Stacked and processed in PixInsight. The seeing was so good that the details in M108's dust lanes popped incredibly well. I am particularly happy with the beautiful blue OIII signal of the Owl Nebula and being able to pull out its faint pinkish outer collar using just broadband data. If you zoom in, the background is loaded with distant galaxies!

https://doffinastrophoto.com/astrophotography-m97-m108/

Acquisition Details:

• Object: M81 (Bode's Galaxy), M82 & IFN
• Dates: March 3 - April 20, 2026
• Location: Aveyron, France
• Frames: 394x180s (Clear Filter) + 147x180s (L-Extreme Filter) = ~27 Hours total.

Hardware:

• TS-ONTC Hypergraph 10″ (f/3.4)
• ZWO ASI2600MC DUO
• SkyWatcher EQ8R-Pro

Processing: Stacked and processed entirely in PixInsight. I really wanted to go deep to reveal the Integrated Flux Nebula (dust from our own Milky Way acting as a foreground veil) rather than just the galaxies. I blended the L-Extreme data to highlight the starburst jets in M82 and the Ha regions within M81. The signal-to-noise ratio after 27h at f/3.4 is fantastic, and I love zooming in to spot the tiny background galaxies scattered everywhere!

More details on my website: https://doffinastrophoto.com/astrophotography-m81-m82-bodegalaxy/