iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 08/08/2026

Finally got a chance to do some quick work with the SeeStarS50. About 1 hour of exposure on M 20, post processed in PixInsight.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 21/04/2026

First light on my new ZWO FF 80 Astrograph. M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. A galaxy rich in dust and star formation. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 04/03/2026

M97, M108 and a gaggle of other galaxies. I’ve recently been concentrating on framing multiple principal objects in the same image… I’ve also been working on cataloging my work in a more organized fashion on my website…check it out! sweetmanastrophoto.com/m97-m108/ #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 21/02/2026

NGC 2805, the most prominent spiral galaxy in the image, is likely deformed by interactions with the nearby galaxies. This is image is full of galaxies, many of which are visible with careful inspection. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 12/12/2025

Had some spare time waiting for other targets to rise, so I returned to Andromeda, about 7 hours total captured over 3 nights in late November. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 07/11/2025

The Triangulum Galaxy, M33 is the 3rd largest galaxy in our local group. It is a spiral galaxy and is approximately 3 million light years from earth, and approximately 60,000 light years across. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 25/08/2025

I haven’t finished processing yet, but after 3 nights of collecting data on the Cygnus Loop I think I’ve got enough. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 08/08/2025

NCG 7331. This is a spiral galaxy about 40 million light years away from earth. On July 14th a supernova was observed in this galaxy. It is the blueish star just to the lower right of the galaxy core. The second photo is a zoom in on NCG 7331 #astrophotography

Wide-field view of the night sky showing numerous stars and galaxies. On the right side is the spiral galaxy NGC 7331, which hosts a newly discovered supernova. On the left side is Stephan’s Quintet, a group of five galaxies.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 06/08/2025

Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, capture a supernova. There is a recently discovered supernova in nearby galaxy NGC 7331, and I finally got an enough of a break in the weather an wildfire smoke. Below is single 3 minute subframe, stacking in process. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 31/07/2025

The Crescent Nebula and some of the surrounding nebulosity. Capture details: Celestron AVX mount, Apertura 60mm FPL-53 doublet with flattener, Optolong L-enhance filter, ZWO ASI2600mc pro, and ZWO ASI120mm mini guide camera. #astrophotography

A vivid image of the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) in deep space, surrounded by swirling clouds of red, pink, and purple interstellar gas against a dark starry background. The nebula appears as a bright, glowing, shell-like structure near the center-right, with filamentary textures and intricate patterns of light.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 23/07/2025

Starless and star-filled version of the North American Nebula. This is a first quick cut a processing in the Foraxx Palette. Weather looks promising for later in the week, I plan to collect more data, and include the nearby Pelican Nebula #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 17/07/2025

Reworked some data from over a month ago, fought through a thick smoke cover. About 3 hours on the Elephant Trunk Nebula. I’ve been experimenting with the Foraxx Palette, I feel I really struggle to get stuff not looking like washed out goo…reasonably happy with this. #astrophotography

False-color image of the Elephant Trunk Nebula in the Foraxx palette. The scene shows a dense, pillar-like formation of gas and dust stretching from the lower right toward the center, surrounded by wisps of interstellar clouds. Deep browns and vivid blues dominate the palette, with glowing yellow-orange highlights tracing the edges of the structure. The colors enhance contrast and detail, emphasizing the nebula’s complex texture and star-forming regions within the larger IC 1396 emission nebula.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 28/06/2025

The weather has been very uncooperative, and I'm also struggling with backfocus, but I finally managed to collect for about 3 hours on the Tulip Nebula. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 06/06/2025

Here is my (likely) final shot for galaxy season, NGC 4565, the Needle Galaxy. This is about 3 hours with the ZWO ASI 2600mc and Apertura 60mm FPL-53. The Needle Galaxy is an edge-on spiral galaxy, between 30 and 50 million light years away. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 17/05/2025

Another one for galaxy season. M94 is a spiral galaxy about 16 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. #astrophotography

A deep space photograph of the spiral galaxy Messier 94 (M94), showing a bright core surrounded by faint circular rings and numerous stars scattered across the dark night sky.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 12/05/2025

It’s been really tough getting clear skies lately. Managed about 4 hours on M101. Will have to return to this target but I like how it’s looking so far. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 04/05/2025

New camera! The Leo Triplet, a group of three interacting galaxies approximately 30-35 million light years from earth. This was an early target of mine for visual observation, all three just barely visible to me through a 12 inch Dob. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 12/04/2025

NGC 7635 - The Bubble Nebula The Bubble Nebula is 7 light-years across – and about 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 25/03/2025

NGC 3359, a barred spiral galaxy approximately 59 million lightyears from earth. This was a tough shot, with a more than 50% moon and some clouds, but for the conditions it didn't come out too bad. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 21/03/2025

Messier 97, the Owl Nebula, is a planetary nebula (supernova remnant) approximately 2300 light years away from earth. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 16/03/2025

M108 - the Surfboard Galaxy. This is a barred spiral galaxy, the same type as the Milky Way, located approximately 46 Million light years from earth. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 25/02/2025

What I Did Last Week: Since 5 bullet points without context seem to the most efficient way to communicate these days, here goes: -Carried my telescope outside -Pointed it at M106 -Collected data for 6 hours -Packed everything back up -Post-processed the data in PixInsight #Astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 23/02/2025

The Medusa Nebula, a planetary nebula. Photographed over two nights in January. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 04/02/2025

I spent some time reprocessing my data on Andromeda from last year. I followed lukmatico’s tutorial, and I’m really happy with how it came out. 1st photo is the reprocess, 2nd is my original. youtu.be/B8UXjefiuQM?... #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 26/01/2025

The Flaming Star Nebula. I'm still playing with the different views and color combinations, so I'll likely have a different take on this data in a few weeks, but for now, here's a few I'm happy with. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 15/01/2025

Here’s a timelapse i captured last night of the lunar occultation of Mars. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 07/01/2025

M1 - the Crab Nebula. I’m really excited with how this one came out. After a near complete equipment fail on the first night, the weather unexpectedly cleared and I got some good time in on this image. Pulled out the 8 inch SCT for this one for the long focal length. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 06/01/2025

The Tadpole Nebula, designated NGC 1893 and the Flaming Star Nebula, designated IC 405. Although they appear close together, they are entirely separate structures and are superimposed by chance. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 03/01/2025

Another reprocess of an older shot of the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) with some of the newer PixInsight tools. I really had fun transforming this one into the HSO pallette. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 31/12/2024

I tried a new technique for post processing and noise reduction on my B33 image. I think it improved quite a bit. In a nutshell, the idea is to remove the luminance and do noise reduction there. It helps bring out finer detail. New image-luminance-Original. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 24/12/2024

I'm really loving the Multiscale Gradient correction in PixInsight v1.9. This is a reprocess of data from last month, but it really did a flawless job removing the gradient, and it made it easy to make the dark nebula areas of this image pop without overcooking the rest. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 20/12/2024

A reprocess of some earlier data. M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules, a great example of a fascinating stellar structure. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 18/12/2024

Markarian's Chain. This area has always fascinated me because it is a good illustration of how unbelievably large space is. This small slice of sky contains a couple dozen easily visible galaxies, each containing a trillion stars....give or take. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 12/12/2024

I was reprocessing some old data, and I went down a rabbit hole finding all the galaxies and their distances. I wasn’t able to find all of them, but it’s just mind-blowing to me that I was able to look 1.6 Billion years back in time with a backyard telescope and a Canon camera. #astrophotography

A pair of interacting galaxies, known as the Whirlpool Galaxy due to their shape.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 05/12/2024

After 4 nights I'm calling a lid. I wanted to bring out the texture in the dark gasses, not just the bright portions of this nebula complex. The Horsehead was one of the things I remember seeing as a kid at the Hayden Planetarium and was one of the things that drew me to astronomy. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 30/11/2024

I started on the Horsehead and Flame Nebula last night. About 6 hours done, definitely will collect a few more nights, I want to get a lot more definition in the wall behind the horsehead. #astrophotography

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 25/11/2024

I use an Apertura 61, cheaper but still good. 300-400mm focal length is good, will work well for nebula and large galaxies. You’d probably want closer to 1000mm or higher for most galaxies and globular clusters. I’ll post some photos with my apertura.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 22/11/2024

The Elephant Trunk Nebula. This is special one for me because I remember learning about it at the Hayden Planetarium as a young child. I did not get enough time on it, and will come back to it next year. First view is standard color, 2nd is starless, and 3rd is a false color. #astrophotography

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust that appears reddish in tint and has a column extending upwards resembling an Elephant's trunk.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 20/11/2024

Thanks here's the details: 360 Lights @ 120 seconds with IR/Cut filter, 20 Darks, 10 Flats, and 100 bias frames. Celestron AVX mount, Apertura 60mm FPL-53 doublet with flattener, ZWO ASI294mc pro, and ZWO ASI120mm mini guide camera. Processing was done with Siril and GraXpert.

A setup for astrophotography, consisting of a black equatorial mount on a tripod, with a white telescope, and a red camera attached. Also mounted to the top of the telescope is a second, smaller white telescope with a guide camera.

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Sweetman Astrophoto @sweetmanastrophoto.com · 19/11/2024

Going to give this bsky thing a try too…I’m learning astrophotography and trying to document my process to help others along as well. Here’s some of my photos from this year. #astrophotography

Bode’s Nebula (Cigar Galaxy and Bode’s Galaxy)

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