A total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024. If you are hoping to take a picture of the event with your phone camera, you will need to protect your camera just like you need to protect your eyes. The easiest way to do this is to place a pair of certified... The post How To Safely Photograph the Solar Eclipse with Your Phone appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

If you are like me, you spend most of your time photographing deep-sky objects from your backyard. While I love a good dark sky trip, the backyard is where the majority of my astrophotography projects take place. The backyard is a convenient option for an impulsive night of astrophotography, but what are we missing out... The post Astrophotography from the City vs Dark Sky appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

After rejection a year ago, the Scientific and Technical subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) has agreed to add the issue of satellite constellations as an agenda item for further discussion. It will be addressed as ‘Dark and Quiet Skies, astronomy and large constellations: addressing emerging issues... The post UN to Address Impact of Satellite Constellations on Astronomy appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

Astrophotographer Yannick Akar has stunned the amateur astrophotography community with one of the most detailed photos of the Andromeda Galaxy you will ever see. The image was created by capturing a staggering amount of data, spanning the course of two seasons. The final image includes a whopping 146 hours of total integration.  Since posting the... The post Photographer Captures Epic Portrait of the Andromeda Galaxy appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

Every amateur astrophotographer knows that the key to a sensational image is to capture as much exposure time on your target as possible. Reddit user ColorsOfCosmos took that idea to the extreme by collecting a staggering 68 hours of total exposure time on Wolf-Rayet 134.  The resulting portrait of this cosmic bubble in Cygnus is... The post Astrophotographer Captures 68 Hour-Long Exposure on a Single Target appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

As an astrophotographer myself, I am constantly learning new image-processing tips and tricks from the astrophotography community. My absolute favorite way to learn is by watching YouTube videos created by knowledgeable people willing to share what they have learned. I have recently discovered Paulyman Astro, who is a fantastic resource for all things PixInsight. He... The post OSC Narrowband Image Processing in PixInsight appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

Have you ever wondered how big a certain nebula or galaxy is compared to another object? To help visualize this, Reddit user Nicolas Large has created this incredible deep-sky object size comparison chart using actual images he has taken through his telescope. Titled ‘A Very Rich Night Sky‘, the photographer managed to include a whopping... The post Astrophotographer Spends 4 Years Creating Deep-Sky Object Size Comparison Chart appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

In this post, I’ll break down how to photograph the Orion Nebula, one of the most spectacular deep-sky objects in the night sky. While it may just look like a smudge to the naked eye, Orion is the nearest, large star-forming region to Earth at just 1,500 light years away. When you take a picture... The post How to Photograph the Orion Nebula appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

 I’ve been enjoying Russ Crowman’s (RC Astro) astrophotography processing tools since his release of GradientXTerminator many years ago. Now, one of his most popular astrophotography image processing tools has received an impressive upgrade: BlurXTerminator 2.0 AI Version 4. While I am excited to use and share my experiences with this handy new tool myself,... The post BlurXTerminator 2.0 AI Version 4 Released appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more

The SeeStar S50 is an all-in-one smart telescope that makes astrophotography easy. While its main goal is to deliver electronically assisted views of objects in space, the pictures it takes are pretty darn good. If you thought that smart telescopes were just “expensive toys”, I think you’d be surprised to see some of the incredible... The post Seestar S50 Review appeared first on AstroBackyard ..read more