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Andy Potter

@aap53.bsky.social
463 followers 293 following 84 posts

Retired (sort of) microbiologist/Vaccinologist, refugee from Twitter. Interests include astrophotography & travel. Living in Saskatchewan, Canada.

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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Beautiful Moon tonight. Unfortunately I can’t move my scope outside due to major surgery in August which has me learning to walk, breathe and think all over again. They say 6-10 months recovery and I am guessing it is going to be closer to 10.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Found this cute spider between the sheds. It is humongous! Cat-faced spider according to Google
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Starless narrowband shot of M16, the Eagle Nebula. H@, Oiii and Sii images combined and processed in Pixinsight. The Pillars of Creation show up nicely on the first image but my editing skills need some work.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Been gone for a while but hopefully can catch up on some of the past couple of months work. This represents 12 hours integration time on M63, the Sunflower Galaxy.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
In like a lamb, out like a lion - so true
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Northern Lights out again tonight. I thought it was springtime
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
A slightly wider field of view than the last post of the Rosette Nebula. This is only 35 minutes of exposure time so the detail and colours are not as good but I like it.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
A hearty greeting to Galaxy season with the M81 group - Bode’s Galaxy, the Cigar Galaxy, NGC3077 (bottom right) and PGC28225 (the smudge on the upper left of the starless shot). This was ~2.5 hours exposure time on a Vespera Pro.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
As Nebula season is quickly coming to an end, what better way to say goodbye than a quick capture of M42, the Orion Nebula.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Chillin’ behind the shed.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Wednesday evening’s Moon.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
An hour and a half on the Rosette Nebula in between clouds.
Rosette Nebula
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
45 minutes on the Horsehead and Flames Nebulas last night. With nebula season rapidly drawing to a close there won’t be much opportunity for anything in the Orion region until autumn.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
As the cold weather has dissipated, so have the clear skies. This is IC 417, the Spider Nebula, captured over the last week (4 hour’s exposure) while the temperature was below -30 degrees C.
Spider Nebula
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
February 11 99% Moon. Close enough to full for me.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Last night’s ~75% waxing gibbous Moon. A quick shot since neither I nor the scope do well at -40 degree windchills
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
I have taken many photos of the Andromeda Galaxy over the years but this has always been a fav. Canon DSLR with a 135mm Rokinon lens - nothing fancy but it captured it well.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
January 12th full Moon before the clouds rolled in.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Last night’s Moon, ~95%.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Thursday’s 80% waxing gibbous moon shot in both B&W and colour. The blue regions are rich in Titanium while the browns are iron-rich.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, shot on Christmas Eve. The Fish Head Nebula is also tagging along at the lower right. Next up - its partner, the Soul Nebula.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
The Flaming Star Nebula captured over the past two nights – due to the rather cold temperature (below minus 30), the telescope did not stay outside very long! The bright star with spikes in this capture, AE Aurigae, originated in the Orion Nebula but became a runaway star after a collision.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
M81 and M82, Bode’s and the Cigar galaxies, respectively. Imaging was done in December 2024
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Star cluster NGC 2169 shot last night on a lark. If you look at the inset on the left and the image on the right it is obvious why it is aka the “37” cluster.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
A quick 30 minutes on the Andromeda Galaxy from November.
Andromeda Galaxy
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
2024 was a relatively good year for astrophotography, with 281 observation sessions for 73 different targets and 76,899 images captured & processed.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
RIP Jimmy Carter. I was in the garden at the Carter Center years ago and out of the blue he came over to talk just for the heck of it. A truly great man, the likes of which we are not likely to see for a very long time.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
Globular Cluster M3 from yesterday AM.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
This morning’s 33% Waning Moon shot through trees and ice fog, hence the cruddy quality.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
A beautiful day in YXE
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
A beautiful clear night for some astrophotography but I am waffling due to the temperature. Maybe just an hour or so.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
The Crescent Nebula, aka NGC 6888, shot a couple of months ago before it got cold.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Last night’s ~98% Waxing Moon - two versions from. 2 scopes, one B&W and the second in colour to bring out the blue Titanium-rich and brown Iron-rich regions.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Last night’s ~78% Waxing Gibbous Moon
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
The Beehive Cluster, M44, in the constellation Cancer. The name is derived from its resemblance to a swarm of bees. This was shot a few mornings ago before it turned cold.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
A year ago we were in Hawaii - nothing better than sitting on the beach with a cup of coffee looking at the skies as the sun comes up. These are iPhone shots but it is amazing what one can see in the absence of light pollution.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
A quick shot (5 min exposure) of the star cluster M15 last night in between waves of clouds
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Grandchildren can be a wonderful blessing but they are also sacks of RSV, Flu, PI2, COVID, etc and they do love to share it. The latest gift to me feels a lot like RSV.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) moving towards NGC6756 and NGC6755 in Aquila last night. A short series (40) of 10 second exposures comet-aligned.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Getting to be like a second home….
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Reposted by Andy Potter
Comfortably Boo @numb.comfortab.ly · 24/11/2024
“All the academics have suddenly migrated to Bluesky” www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘A place of joy’: why scientists are joining the rush to Bluesky
Researchers say the social-media platform — an alternative to X — offers more control over the content they see and the people they engage with.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
I hate snow soooo much!
Snow
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Double star clusters NGC 884 and 869 in the constellation Perseus. A rather bright moon nearby made it a bit harder to keep focus.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Star cluster NGC 7789 aka Caroline’s Rose shot with the Vespera Pro.
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Reposted by Andy Potter
Bluesky @bsky.app · 14/11/2024
apparently one of our internet providers' fiber cable got cut this morning, and it has become our problem too. a very "dog ate my homework" excuse but it's real 🥲 thanks for your patience!
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Last evening’s 95% Moon
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 09/11/2024
Northern Lights putting on a show, close to Orion in the first two shots.
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
M16 (Eagle Nebula) with the Pillars of Creation, shot with a Vaonis Vespera Pro. About 90 minutes exposure time, processed in Pixinsight.
M16 Nebula
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Andy Potter @aap53.bsky.social · 14/01/2024
Minus 35 degrees last night but the Seestar was able to capture this image of the Jellyfish Nebula before it froze up. 25 min integration, processed in Siril and Pixinsight.
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