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Rich Wilbourn

@astrorich.bsky.social
536 followers 110 following 142 posts

Retired project manager living in Houston, Texas. Nature photographer, amateur astronomer, birder, music lover, movie fan, animal lover, Progressive in a Red State, happily married, grandfather. All photos are my own unless otherwise stated.

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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Jupiter and the Great Red Spot, a centuries old storm with 180mph winds twice the size of Earth. #astronomy #sky #jupiter #nightsky
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
I’m a big believer in taking the extra step to print your images. I use an Epson P900 printer that can take paper sizes up to 17”x20”. It really makes the image come alive. #stars #photography #astronomy
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
The Bubble Nebula 10,000 light years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. #stars #nebula #astrophotography
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Scenes From a Day of Mass Protests www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
nytimes.com
Scenes From a Day of Mass Protests
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Mauna Kea Milky Way Got to visit the iconic Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii recently and had to take some Milky Way shots from high altitude. This is a stack of 3 minutes total integration time. The MW was more clearly defined to the unaided eye. #stars #milkyway #maunakea
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Kilauea eruption. We booked a room at the Volcano House in the Volcano National Park in Hawaii and lucked out when this happened. #volcanos #Hawaii #Kilauea
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Can you see it?
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Announcing the discovery of the Possum Nebula tucked in between the North America and Pelican nebula. The search is on for the Raccoon Nebula. #stars #humor #milkyway #funny #astronomy
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
publuu.com/flip-book/75...
publuu.com
AstroMag July 2025
Welcome to interactive presentation, created with Publuu. Enjoy the reading!
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Well, it’s on Fox so …
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Thanks. That was two full nights of imaging on just a single target.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
The Iris Nebula A blue reflection nebula surrounded by dark nebula in the northern Milky Way. I shot 80 five minute exposures over two nights under dark skies to capture this beautiful portion of our galaxy. #stars #space #nebula #astrophotography
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
The Eastern Veil Nebula. Part of a supernova that exploded thousands of years ago in the constellation Cygnus. In this false-color image, red shows hydrogen gas and green/blue shows oxygen. #stars #astrophotography #nebula #veilnebula #space
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
“The Cygnus Wall” Part of the rich nebula of the Milky Way in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. This is a false-color image captured with special filters. I love the stormy looking tendrils like a scene from Star Trek. #stars #nebula #milkyway #nightsky
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Rho Ophiuchi This region of the summer Milky Way has it all - red emission nebula, blue reflection nebula, dark nebula and a globular cluster. 2 1/2 hours of total integration time. Five minute exposures. #stars #nebula #astrophotography #milkyway #rhoophiuchi
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Storm A few more dramatic images of storm clouds from my astrophotography trip to the Texas Hill Country a while back. Sometimes the most beautiful “nebula” are closer to Earth. #photography #storms #clouds #nature #thumderstorms
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Hill Country Storm An astrophotography trip last year began with a spectacular thunderstorm. We even spotted a small tornado that formed briefly. #photography #nature #storms #lightening
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
New Wings Here’s one of the great blue heron chicks from earlier this year testing out his new wings. #birds #photography #greatblueheron #nature
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
The Needle Galaxy NGC4565 A dramatic and beautiful edge-on galaxy at roughly 40 million light years distance. Note the other galaxies nearby. #stars #astrophotography #galaxies
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Another approach is the SeeStar computerized telescope. They’re really amazing and easy to use.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
I don’t know of any. Sorry. The model I was using actually came from the factory modified. That’s why the call it the Ra (a for astrophotography). They’re great for wide field astro images. Be sure to stop down your lens a couple of stops too.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
You’re fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. This was with a Canon Ra mirrorless camera that’s modified for astrophotography attached to a Redcat51 250mm telescope, on an IOptron GEM28 mount. Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop. The image was cropped significantly.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Well, don’t give up. I shot this back in 2021 and have since got better at post-processing. Went back and reprocessed this one. And you got to see the eclipse. I got clouded out.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
The Orion Nebula I created this image from 103 ten second exposures (about 17 minutes total). #stars #astrophotography #Orion #photography
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Ancient Starlight While processing my picture of the three galaxies in Leo, I spotted a couple of small, fuzzy objects that are other galaxies. To my surprise, the one labeled IC2729 is documented at a distance of 1.06 BILLION light years! #stars #astrophotography #galaxies
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Three Galaxies in Leo M65, M66 and NGC3628. Approximately 35 million light years away. #stars #astrophotography #galaxies
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Snowy Egret Gaze The herons and egrets put on a tremendous amount of showy feathers during mating season which makes them really fun to photograph. #birds #wildlifephotography #outdoor #egrets
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Beautiful image. Those Seestars are amazing.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Galaxy M83 15 million light years away in the constellation Hydra. A rotating mass of 40 billion stars and billions of planets essentially quarantined from us due to sheer distance. Is anyone or anything looking back? #stars #astrophotography #astronomy
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Fascists
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Flying Solo A lone roseate spoonbill returning to its nest as a foggy twilight closes in. Taken at the Houston Audubon Smith Oaks Rookery at High Island, Texas. #birds #photography #wildlifephotography
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Lunar Eclipse March 14, 2025 #stars #astrophotography #moon #eclipse #lunareclipse
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Cantankerous Spoonbills There’s always a dispute among the spoonbills during nesting season. Prime locations are in short supply as are sticks and other building materials. Somehow it all works out. #birds #wildlifephotography #nature #highislandtexas
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Mating Season is Here A pair of great white egrets show off their mating feathers. Already paired up, they’re working on their nest where a couple of turquoise colored eggs will turn into a set of fuzzy dinosaur-like chicks, #birds #wildlifephotography #photography #nature
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
The Rookery One of my favorite places to see wildlife on the Texas Gulf Coast - the Houston Audubon Society’s Smith Oaks Rookery at High Island. The white ones are great egrets. There are plenty of roseate spoonbills and cormorants too. Sound ON for this one. #birds #wildlifephotography
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Love the lighting. Beautiful
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
February Issue This is created by an astronomy buddy of mine. Check it out if you love astrophotography. #astrophotography #stars #astronomy publuu.com/flip-book/75...?
publuu.com
AstroMag February 2025
Welcome to interactive presentation, created with Publuu. Enjoy the reading!
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Reposted by Rich Wilbourn
Mia Farrow @miafarrow.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
The Veil Nebula in Cygnus Part of an arc of gas that’s the remnant of an exploded star. 1500 to 2500 light years away. #stars #astrophotography #photography #milkyway #nebula #astronomy
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Looks like a very long exposure.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Reminds me of the Nixon quote “if the president does it, it’s not against the law”.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
It just started so it’s free right now. Check out the pages for sign up info.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
For the astrophotographers out there. Check out this new publication. #astrophotography #stars #photography publuu.com/flip-book/75...?
publuu.com
AstroMag January 2025
Welcome to interactive presentation, created with Publuu. Enjoy the reading!
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Maybe dial back the red Ha just a little bit.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Happy Valentines Day #birds #photography #wildlifephotography #nature #greatblueherons #herons #valentinesday
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Ah! Think I have heard that before.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Great Blue Herons Build Their Nest I’m actually following three different nests that are all close neighbors to one another. Here’s one pair trying to find the perfect fit for this new stick. #birds #wildlifephotography #photography #greatblueherons
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
No, I haven’t. Something to look forward to. Maybe I’ll try some video and sound.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Thanks. Love your page. I’ve watched this nesting site before and can attest that the chicks are ugly little dinosaurs but fun to watch. Hope to see them fledge.
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Rich Wilbourn @astrorich.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Great Blue Herons It’s only February but these two have paired up and started a nest. I hope to follow their progress and photograph the chicks. #birds #wildlifephotography #nature #greatblueherons #photography
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