In this section of the website, I will feature an astrophotography setup with a complete breakdown of each component. These equipment profiles will include all items needed for deep-sky astrophotography including the tracking mount, imaging telescope, camera, and filters. You’ll be able to see the exact camera settings I use, and any additional accessories needed…
Backyard Astrophotography Summer would not be complete without spending a night enjoying the dazzling beauty that is the constellation Sagittarius. The “teapot” asterism just clears my fence to the south of my backyard in central St. Catharines. From my latitude, August is my last chance to image the many star clusters and nebulae that populate…
The Milky Way is one of the most popular subjects for astrophotography, but the bright galactic core isn’t visible all year long. Because of Earth’s position in its orbit around the Sun, the core only appears in the night sky during certain months. At other times of the year, it remains below the horizon at…
In this guide, I’m going to walk you through my current astrophotography processing workflow from start to finish. The biggest thing I want you to take away isn’t just what tools to use, but when to use them. If you’re looking for a PixInsight processing tutorial that is actually easy to follow, this guide will…
A good weather app can save you a lot of frustration when you’re planning a night under the stars. The best weather apps for astronomy go beyond a basic clear-or-cloudy forecast, helping you check things like cloud cover, seeing, transparency, wind, humidity, and even smoke before you drag all your gear outside. If you spend…
If you’ve already read my Milky Way Tutorial, you know the basics: dark skies help, solid technique matters, and your settings aren’t random guesses. But when it comes to making your Milky Way photos look crisp and clean, the camera lens you use can make or break the shot. I’ve been capturing wide-angle Milky Way…
If you’ve been researching telescopes lately, you’ve probably noticed something: a lot of people are skipping the classic eyepiece route and jumping straight into smart telescopes. Smart telescopes can find targets for you, track them, and build a bright, detailed image on your phone or tablet using live stacking (a technique that steadily improves the…
If you use a ZWO ASIAIR for imaging, the ASIAIR Sky Atlas feature quickly becomes one of the most powerful tools in your entire workflow. It is more than just a digital star map. It is a precision-targeting system, a framing assistant, a comet tracker, and a project-continuity tool built directly into the ASIAIR ecosystem….
Last updated: March 4, 2026. If you find this helpful and buy through my links, I may receive a small commission. A total lunar eclipse is a celestial event that anyone can appreciate. Amateur photographers and astrophotographers alike are preparing to photograph a lunar eclipse using a wide range of camera equipment. The best part?…
Is there anything better than stepping outside on a clear night and seeing the sky come alive with color? The greens, pinks, and purples that ripple across the horizon – the northern lights, or aurora borealis, are putting on a show. Auroras happen when charged particles from the Sun interact with gases in Earth’s atmosphere,…
Last updated: February 25, 2026. If you find this helpful and buy through my links, I may receive a small commission. After using the Seestar S30 Pro extensively in my backyard for more than a month, I’ve developed a solid feel for what it can and can’t do. Galaxies, Nebulae, the Sun, EQ mode, Timelapses…
I recently took on a fun backyard challenge: photographing the Fox Face Nebula (NGC 1788) using the William Optics UltraCat 76. It’s not a target you hear about very often, and that’s exactly what drew me to it. While Orion is packed with famous, high-contrast objects, this one tends to fly under the radar, especially…