iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

NGC 7331 with SN 2026aaiv captured from my patio this week 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 4.5 hours in LRGB using a QHY294M cam. The supernova SN 2026aaiv was discovered on 1st Sept 2026 #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

NGC 7331 is a beautiful spiral galaxy in the constellation Pegasus. It’s located in the constellation of Pegasus at a distance of about 46 million light years. On 1st Sept 2026 a new Supernova SN 2026aaiv was discovered in this galaxy.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

IC 5076 captured from my patio on four nights in August 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 24 hours in mono using a QHY294M cam and combining LRGB and Ha narrowband data to enhance the background. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

IC 5076 is a beautiful blueish reflection nebula which is illuminated by the hot blue supergiant star V2140 Cygni. It’s located in the constellation of Cygnus at an estimated distance of about 5,700 light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

MWP 1 - The Methuselah Nebula captured from my patio on eleven short summer nights in July and August 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 40 hours in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and combined with RGB stars. #Astrophotography

The Methuselah Nebula is an exceptionally large ancient bipolar planetary nebula and therefore it’s very faint. Despite the long integration time the signal was very weak and noisy so processing this object was quite challenging!

MWP1 is located in the constellation of Cygnus at an estimated distance of about 4,500 light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

LoTr5 captured from my dark site in southern France on four nights in May 🇫🇷😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of 14 hours using a QHY183C cam with the Baader UHCL filter. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

LoTr 5 is a faint planetary nebula located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It’s about 1,650 light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

This is a tight crop of an unprocessed single 60 sec sub, just debayered and standard unlinked STF stretching to make it visible here. Yes it’s rather faint but you can already see there’s something there! 😅 I’ve done fainter targets where absolutely nothing was visible in a single sub 🤷‍♂️

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

NGC 4236 captured from my dark site in southern France on three nights in April 🇫🇷😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of 11.5 hours in RGB+Ha using a QHY183C cam. The Ha data was applied to enhance the star forming regions. #Astrophotography

NGC 4236 is a barred spiral galaxies located in the constellation Draco. It’s about 11 million light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Abell 1656 - The Coma Cluster captured from my dark site in southern France in April 🇫🇷😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of 4 hours using a QHY183C cam without any filter. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ how many galaxies do you see?

Abell 1656 is a large cluster of galaxies located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It’s about 300 million light years away from Earth and contains over 1,000 galaxies!

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

NGC 4631 & NGC 4656/7 - The Whale Galaxy and Hockey Stick Galaxy captured last month from my dark site in southern France 🇫🇷😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of 4 hours using a QHY183C cam without any filter. #Astrophotography

This group of galaxies is about 30 million light years away from Earth and located in the constellation of Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs).

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

NGC 4244 - The Silver Needle Galaxy captured from my patio on three nights in April 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 12 hours in LRGB using a QHY294M cam. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

NGC 4244 is a spiral galaxy seen edge-on from us. It’s about 14 million light years away from Earth and is located in the constellation of Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs)

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

NGC 3486 captured from my patio on seven nights from mid March to early April 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of 34 hours in LRGB and Ha to enhance the star forming regions. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

NGC 3486 is a beautiful intermediate barred spiral Galaxy about 27 million light years away from Earth. It is located in the constellation of Leo Minor.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

NGC 3344 - The Sliced Onion Galaxy captured from my patio on seven nights this month 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 46 hours in LRGB and Ha to reveal the star forming regions. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

NGC 3344 is about 24 million light years away from Earth and is located in the constellation of Leo Minor. It’s a beautiful barred spiral galaxy seen almost face on.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

I think my new pastime is drawing little figures with guiding glitches 😂🔭 #Astrophotography

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

NGC 2841 - The Tiger’s Eye Galaxy captured from my patio on five nights in February and March 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of 40 hours in LRGB and Ha to reveal the star forming regions. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

NGC 2841 is a beautiful unbarred spiral galaxy about 46 million light years away from Earth. It’s located in the constellation of Ursa Major.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

PuWe 1 captured from my dark site in southern France 🇫🇷 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of about 6.5 hours using an OSC cam with the Baader UHCL filter. PuWe 1 is one of the largest and faintest planetary nebula known! #Astrophotography

PuWe 1 is one of the largest and faintest planetary nebula known. Its apparent size almost reaches that of a full moon! It lies in the constellation of Lynx at a distance of about 1200 light years.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Sh2-234 (IC 417) The Spider Nebula captured from my patio on six nights in December 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 50 hours in mono using Ha, SII and OIII narrowband filters and combined with RGB stars. #Astrophotography

The Spider Nebula is an emission nebula with an embedded open star cluster.

Sh2-234 is located in the constellation of Auriga (Charioteer) at an estimated distance of about 7,500 light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

I just finished reading this amazing book 🙂 After enjoying “Under Alien Skies” so much this is another book written by Philip Plait that I can highly recommend! Don’t get fooled by its cover: It’s serious and scientific stuff! I’ve read lots of books about space but learned lots of new things here.

Book cover of the book “Death from the skies” written by Philip Plait

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Sh2-200 The Bearclaw Nebula captured from my patio on six nights last month 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 55 hours in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and combined with RGB stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

Sh2-200 is an old and large planetary nebula and therefore it’s very faint. Its shape and streak like structures resemble a bear claw hence the name Bearclaw Nebula is quite fitting. Sh2-200 is located in the constellation of Cassiopeia at an estimated distance of about 3,600 light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

VdB 14 and VdB 15 captured from my dark site in southern France end of September 🇫🇷 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of about 5.5 hours using an OSC cam with just the UV/IR-Cut filter. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

VdB 14 and VdB 15 are a pair of beautiful reflection nebulae in the constellation Camelopardalis. They are about 2600 light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Wolf’s Cave Nebula (LDN 1217 / vdB 152) captured on two nights a couple of weeks ago 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of about 8.5 hours. I combined OSC and mono Ha data for this image. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

Wolf’s Cave Nebula is a peculiar target:
A reflection nebula at the tip of dark nebula. And this strange combo is even accompanied by an ancient planetary nebula and some supernova remnant filaments. All in one frame!

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

I just finished reading this book and can highly recommend it 🙂 It’s a good read and I really enjoyed it!

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

LDN 1165 captured on two nights a couple of weeks ago 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of 7 hours in OSC and Mono. I used the mono Ha data to enhance the red and the luminance details. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

LDN 1165 is a dark nebula which really appears to be pitch black. Processing this image was more challenging than I expected. LDN 1165 is located in the constellation of Cepheus and it lies at a distance of about 1000 light years from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

LBN 437 The Gecko Nebula captured from my dark site in southern France last month 🇫🇷 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of 8 hours in OSC and Mono. The red nebulosity was enhanced with Ha data. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

The Gecko Nebula LBN 437 is a dark nebula embedded in the red emission nebula SH2-126. It lies at a distance of about 1.200 light years from Earth in the constellation of Lacerta. Its shape resembles a Gecko hence the name 🦎

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

LDN 1251 The Rotten Fish Nebula captured from my dark site in southern France this month 🇫🇷 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of about 4 hours using an OSC cam with just the UV/IR-Cut filter. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

LDN 1251 is a dark nebula in the constellation of Cepheus. It consists of cosmic molecular clouds and dust blocking the stars. Its form resembles a fish hence the name. But I doubt that anyone verified its smell yet 😅

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

SH2-114 The Flying Dragon Nebula captured from my dark site in southern France this month 🇫🇷 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a total integration time of about 11 hours in mono using Ha and SII filters and combined with OSC stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬

Image of the emission nebula SH2-114 in the constellation of Cygnus. Its structure resembles a dragon hence it’s named the Flying Dragon Nebula. The image was processed in a SHH palette with reddish copper colours.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Yesterday’s Total Lunar Eclipse captured from southern France at 20:47 PM just about 5 minutes before totality ended 🇫🇷 😊🔭 This is a stack of 60 x 1 sec frames taken on the EdgedHD 8 with Hyperstar using a QHY294C cam. #LunarEclipse #Astrophotography

The reddish Blood Moon during the Total Lunar Eclipse on 7 September 2025

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

WR 134 captured from my patio on 14 nights in July & August 😊🔭 This nebula around the star WR 134 was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of 58 h in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and merged with RGB stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

WR 134 is a dying Wolf-Rayet star about 6000 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus. The surrounding structure is formed by WR 134 blowing off massive amounts of its shell and its intense radiation. WR 134 is the second from right of the four lined up stars in the centre.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Abell 39 captured from my patio on seven nights in June 😊🔭 This bubble like planetary nebula was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of 27 hours in mono using Ha and OIII narrowband filters and RGB filters for the stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

Abell 39 is a faint planetary nebula about 3800 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Hercules. Its shell has a radius of about 1.4 light years and has a nearly perfect spherical shape. It looks like a bubble in space!

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

NGC 6543 The Cat’s Eye Nebula captured from my patio on seven nights 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 27 hours in mono. It’s a combination of Ha and OIII narrowband data with LRGB data for the core and the stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬

NGC 6543 is a planetary nebula about 3300 light years away from Earth in the constellation Draco. There’s a dying Wolf-Rayet star in its centre. The bright core is surrounded with a faint cobweb like structure.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

M97 The Owl Nebula captured from my patio on several nights in May 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 22 hours in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and combined with OSC data for the stars. @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see? #Astrophotography

M97 is a planetary nebula about 2000 light years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Il y avait même celle-là en bas à droite avant que j’ai coupé l’image 🤩

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

M94 The Croc’s Eye Galaxy captured from my dark site in southern France on two nights in early May 😊🔭🇫🇷 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of 5 hours using a QHY183C cam without any filter. @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see? #Astrophotography

M94 is a spiral galaxy with two unique ring structures. It is about 16 million light years away from Earth and located in the constellation of Canes Venatici

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

The Leo Triplet captured from my dark site in southern France last week 😊🔭🇫🇷 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 on a moonless night under Bortle 4 skies. The total integration time is just 2 hours using a QHY183C cam without any filter. @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ #Astrophotography

Image of the Leo Triplet a group of three galaxies in the constellation of Leo. The Leo Triplet consists of M66, M65 and NGC 3628 and is also referred to as the M66 group. This small group of galaxies is about 35 million light years away from Earth.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

@kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ what do you see?

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

IC 2574 Coddington’s Nebula captured from my patio on four nights in early March 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 18 hours in LRGB and 10 hours in Ha to enhance the star forming regions. Processing this irregular dwarf galaxy was challenging! #Astrophotography

Image of the irregular dwarf galaxy IC 2574. It’s located in the constellation of Ursa Major and is about 11 million light years away from Earth. The star forming regions were enhanced using a Ha narrowband filter and are visible as reddish areas in this image.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

The waxing gibbous Moon captured on 8th of April from southern France 🇫🇷😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 and is a stack of the best 1.000 frames of a 2 minute sequence with 15 ms exposure time per frame. #Astrophotography

Image of the waxing gibbous Moon. The colour saturation was slightly enhanced in image processing to reveal the mineral colours.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Messier 81 Bode’s Galaxy captured from my patio on six nights in early March 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 19 hours in LRGB and 12 hours in Ha to enhance the star forming regions. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬

M81 is a beautiful and large Galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. It’s about 12 million light years away from Earth. The star forming regions in the vast spiral arms were enhanced with Ha narrowband data in this image and reveals them as reddish glowing patches.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Jones-Emberson 1 captured from my patio on 5 nights last month 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 34 hours in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and LRGB filters for the stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬

Jones-Emberson 1 is a large and rather faint planetary nebula. It’s also dubbed the headphone nebula because the circular shape has two symmetrical notches resembling a headphone. The central star is a noticeable blueish white dwarf. JnEr1 is about 1.600 light years away from Earth and is located in the constellation of Lynx.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

IC 1805 The Heart Nebula captured from my patio on two nights last month 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of about 10 hours in Mono using narrowband filters and combined with OSC data for the stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬

Image of the bright emission nebula IC 1805 which is commonly named the Heart Nebula due to its shape resembling a heart. The inner core looks like a blue lake here because the OIII emission is rendered blue in the SHO colour palette. In its centre there is a prominent open star cluster with a peculiar pillar of dust. This area has the designation Melotte 15.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

NGC 1491 The Fossil Footprint Nebula captured from my patio in November last year 😊🔭 It was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 20 hours in mono with Ha and OIII narrowband filters and LRGB filters for the stars. #Astrophotography @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬

Image of the emission nebula NGC 1491 processed in a HOO palette with yellowish brown hues. This target has a very bright but rather small core.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

The waxing gibbous moon captured from my patio on February 8th 😊🔭 I had setup my EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar for a deep sky session but the clouds had other plans. So I stubbornly tried a bit of planetary imaging at f/2 with this gear and got creative in processing the mess 😅 #Astrophotography

The Moon with subtle mineral colours composed on a background of dramatic glowing clouds.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

LBN 782 and LBN 785 captured from my dark site in southern France on December 30th 2024 😊🔭🇫🇷 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of about 4.5 hours using a QHY294C cam and the Baader UHCL filter. @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ #Astrophotography

A beautiful set of reflection nebula targets embedded in the Taurus molecular cloud. The main target LBN 782 features blueish hues next to a reddish glow around a bright star.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

LBN 777 The Baby Eagle Nebula captured from my dark site in southern France end of December 😊🔭🇫🇷 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of about 4 hours using a QHY294C cam and the Baader UHCL filter. @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social‬ #Astrophotography

Image of LBN 777 in the constellation of Taurus. This molecular cloud looks like the head of a vulture.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

NGC 7822 close-up captured from my patio on 5 nights last month 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 26 hours in Mono using Baader Ha, SII and OIII narrowband filters and processed in the classic SHO palette with PixInsight. #Astrophotography

Close-Up image of NGC 7822 with pillar like structures in the lower part and blueish OIII emission and dark dust areas in the background.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

🥲 maybe the FOV has to be a bit wider for objects to be found? What about the Draco Triplet? @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Okay, maybe this was a bit too dark (pun intended 😅). @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social what about the Little Rosette Nebula?

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Checking out @kat-astro-bot.bsky.social with this repost of my Seahorse Nebula shot. Let’s see if @quantumkat.bsky.social did a good job 😃

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

SH2-112 captured from my patio on seven nights in September 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 31 hours in Mono using Baader Ha and SII narrowband filters and an OSC cam for the RGB sky background and the stars. #Astrophotography

Image of the emissions nebula SH2-112 in the constellation Cygnus. The blend of Ha and SII data gives it a glowing look like embers in the sky

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

SH2-270 The Little Rosette Nebula in SHO palette captured from my patio on nine nights since last year 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 39 hours in Mono using narrowband filters and an OSC cam for the stars. #Astrophotography

Image of the emission nebula
SH2-170 which is also dubbed The Little Rosette Nebula due to its striking likeness to its big brother NGC 2237

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

DWB 111 The Propeller Nebula captured from my patio on nine nights between August and September 😊🔭 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 45 hours in Mono using narrowband filters and an OSC cam for the stars. #Astrophotography

Image of DWB 111 an emissions nebula in the constellation Cygnus. It’s also dubbed the Propeller Nebula because of its shape similar to a propeller with two blades.

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Bernd Flachsbart @bflachsbart.bsky.social · 27/10/2024

LDN 1235 The Shark Nebula captured from my dark site in southern France in early October 😊🔭🇫🇷 This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 with Hyperstar at f/2 for a total integration time of about 4 hours using a QHY294C cam and the Baader UHCL filter #Astrophotography

Dark nebula with two embedded blueish reflection nebulae. Its shape strongly resembles a shark, hence the apt name!

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