iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

NGC 7023 (Iris Nebula) shot from my suburban yard over a few recent nights. ~500x60s (8.25 hrs), Bortle 7, Redcat 51/AM3N/ASI 2600 MC Pro. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Eastern Veil or "Bat" Nebula, captured last week before the smoke rolled in and ruined my remaining plans for the summer. :( Redcat 51/L-Enhance/ASI 2600 MC Pro, 8 hours total. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Sadr and the Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318), shot from my deck over a few evenings this week. I had fun playing with this one - love all those little dust lanes, Bok globules and other whatsits. :) Redcat 51/ASI 2600MC Pro/AM3N/L-Enhance, 5 hours total. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I made it to my favourite dark place this week to try out a few ideas. Heart of Cygnus, Nikon 50mm 1.8G/D5600a/SGPro. 74 minutes total. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

M13 - first test with the shiny new astronomy camera! I was blown away by how close I could crop and still get a decent result. This is just 11% of the original image. 😀 Redcat 51/ASI 2600MC Pro/AM3N/3+ hours integration. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex - I'd been itching to try out the old macro lens on this target for a while & finally got out to my favourite dark site this weekend. Happy with how the lens performed! :) (Nikon 105mm f/2.8G @f/4, D5600a, 2.5 hours) #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

A look into the Virgo Cluster (including Markarian's Chain), taken from my front deck over three evenings. There are more than 500 galaxies visible in this image! Redcat 51/Nikon D5600/7.5 hrs. #astrophotography

Markarian's Chain is in the upper right portion of the image; below it lies Messier 87, one of the largest galaxies in the local universe.

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Reposted by zwestfall 🇨🇦

Jordan Maples @maples-astro.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

With all the downtime I had this winter, I was starting to think I’d fully miss out on the Orion targets. Either way, after 2 months of hardware problems here’s the Horsehead! I’ve always wanted to shoot this one but just never had a good opportunity in the pnw. #astrophotography #photography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Flaming Star (IC 405) and Tadpoles (IC 410) nebulae in the Auriga constellation, shot from my front deck over a few recent evenings. Redcat 51/L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 10 hours total exposure. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Hey, a clear night in November! Managed to get about 90 minutes on the Double Cluster in Perseus last night. Redcat 51/Nikon D5600a 🔭

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) in constellation Boötes, Oct 21, 2025. (Redcat 51, 1 hour stacked) #astrophotography #comets

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

IC 1396 (w/ Elephant's Trunk Nebula) in HOO palette. The dead street lamp outside my house really helped... hope they never fix it! 12.5 hours, Redcat 51, L-Enhance, Nikon D5600a. #astrophotography

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Reposted by zwestfall 🇨🇦

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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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

North America and Pelican Nebulae, captured from my front deck (Bortle 7) over several nights last week. 8 hours with dual narrowband filter + 1 hour without (for stars). Redcat 51, L-Enhance, Nikon D5600a. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

A bit of ‘low hanging fruit’ from a recent trip into the North Cascades, BC, Canada. M8 & 20 (Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae), 90 minutes with Redcat 51 + Nikon D5600a. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Just over one hour on the Rho Ophiuchi region using a 'nifty fifty' lens. :) Taken last week from a very dark beach on Vancouver Island. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Made it to my favourite dark site for the first time in a while! My intended target was behind puffy clouds, so I changed plans and pointed north. Milky Way from Cassiopeia to Aquila, 1 hour stack @11mm. #astrophotography #MilkyWay

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Life has been really getting in the way of hobbies this year, but I'm finally finding some free time again. Here is a neat little waterfall I discovered last week on Vancouver Island! I took this using a neutral density filter and a 4 second long exposure. #nature #waterfalls

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

The Rosette Nebula in Monoceros - giant cedars in my neighbour's yard always make this one a challenge, but I got a few more hours on it this year. Redcat 51/L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 7 hours narrowband + 1 hour broadband. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

NGC 1499 (California Nebula) - January has been kind to us this year on BC’s ‘wet coast’; I managed to get 11 imaging nights in total! Happy for the opportunity to dig in to a bonus winter project. :D Redcat 51/L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 14 hours integration #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

IC 1805 (Heart Nebula) - this "preschooler’s valentine" made for a fun January project, and I ended up spending quite a bit more time on it than I'd planned. 😉 Redcat 51/Optolong L-Enhance/Nikon D5600a, 14.5 hours integration #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

There's a large amount of stuff in this one. 😀 Cygnus to Scutum, taken from my favourite Bortle 2 mountain perch (summertime). #astrophotography #MilkyWay

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

M45, the pretty Pleiades ✨ Imaged January 2024 and reprocessed recently with PixInsight. Nikon 300mm f/4D with step-down filter ring, D7200, 5.5 hours integration. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

I’ve been having a bit of fun this week going back to some old datasets and reprocessing them with newer & better tools. It’s a wonderful time to be getting into this hobby! 😀 Nikon 300mm f/4D + D7200, 6 hours integration #astrophotography #Andromeda #galaxies

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Cygnus Loop (aka Veil Nebula) - this was my most ambitious #astrophotography project of 2024. I spent a total of 9 summer evenings absorbing these faint photons... :) Redcat 51/L-Enhance Filter/Nikon D5600a, 16 hours integration. 🔭

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Kemble’s Cascade and the Golden Harp Cluster (NGC 1502) - this neat and colourful asterism can be found in the northern constellation Camelopardalis. 🔭 Redcat 51 + Nikon D5600. #astrophotography

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Planet Mercury rising above Boundary Bay, BC, early Monday morning. Have a peaceful holiday! 🎄🔭

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

A wide field view of IC 434, Flame and Horsehead Nebula. This is one of my favourite 'backyard projects' to date! Redcat 51 + Nikon D5600a, 7 hours integration. #astrophotography #deepspace

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Star trails over the Coast Mountains, Dec 11, 2024. #nightscapes #stars #nature

Polaris, our North Star, is currently about two-thirds of a degree from the North Celestial Pole (the center of the vortex). At the bottom below it lies the Big Dipper; the bright cluster at top right is constellation Auriga.

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) - I’ve been itching to get to this one for a while, and I was finally able to give it a try earlier this week. Redcat 51 with L-Enhance dual narrowband filter, Nikon D5600a, 3 hours total. #astrophotography #deepspace

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

A look at Mars from each morning as it swings by the Beehive Cluster, Dec 1-6 (top). Would love to keep going with this for a few more days, but it seems our streak of good weather has come to an end! 🔭

The changing position of Mars over 6 days as it shifts into apparent retrograde motion.

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

I look forward to being able to do stuff like this again (we are now into week 6 of nothing but clouds!) Sagittarius and the Dark Horse Nebula, summer 2024 #astrophotography #milkyway

Looking towards the center of our galaxy.

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula) spots something tasty and pounces… Southwest BC, Canada (2019) #birds #birdphotography #wildlifephotography #owls

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

This is the result of a project I unwittingly started in early 2023 and finished this summer. It was a blast! Most (~80%) of these objects I was able to capture from my yard; the remaining ones entailed a short drive to a spot with an unobstructed view to the south. #astronomy #astrophotography

The Messier Catalog is a set of 110 astronomical objects documented by French astronomer Charles Messier in the late 1700s. It was originally intended to be used as a list of ‘things to ignore’ while searching for comets!

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Unquestionably innocent and trustworthy, this raccoon would never dream of tipping over your garbage can! #raccoons #wildlife #nature

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) - Oct 22 2024, Richmond, BC, Canada. I brought my Redcat scope plus 50mm and 18mm lenses along with me 'just in case' - and ended up using all of them! We haven't had a clear night since. ☹️ #astronomy #astrophotography #comets

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) takes a brief time out from vole hunting. Southwest BC, Canada. #owls #birds #nature

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

On October 10, 2024 we were blessed with some of the nicest #Aurora I've seen. Will 2025 give us a little more? 😀 - Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada. #NorthernLights #AuroraBorealis

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zwestfall 🇨🇦 @zwestfall.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Hello Bluesky! Yucatan spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis) finishing a huge yawn. Atelinae have inhabited South/Central America for millions of years but are now endangered due to human activity. Taken with a telephoto lens in Quintana Roo, Mexico, 2024. #wildlife #animals #primates

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