Year Recap

Astrophotography 2023 Recap

The first year I went all in on astrophotography has come to a close. Below is a compilation of each season's best (but not all) images, as well as some fun facts, my favorite image for each category, and the most notable failures of the year.

Fast Facts

Favorite Nebula of the Year:

Nebulae of Orion's Belt and Sword Region

Home to M42, NGC2024, and B33, the Orion Belt region of the constellation Orion has some of my favorite nebulae in the night sky. This image, taken from a dark sky site in Canada, is my favorite of the year in terms of nebula because of the awesome detail, relatively low noise, and the subjects.

Favorite Galaxy of the Year:

Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy

These sister galaxies (M81/M82) are another personal favorite and one of the first objects I imaged when I purchased my first star tracker. Similar to the nebulae above, I had the chance to take this picture from a Canadian dark sky site so I pulled some great details and low noise.

Favorite Cluster of the Year:

Great Hercules Cluster

The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13) is one of the most famous globular clusters and one of my favorites not only for how it looks but also the small galaxy near it in the sky. 

Favorite Landscape of the Year:

Milky Way over Lake

This image is one of my first Milky Way photos ever and combines one of my favorite places in the world with my favorite hobby. Although it could be improved, I really enjoy this image.

Honorable Mentions for Landscape Photos

The Most Notable Failures of the Year

IC1805/1848 - Heart and Soul Nebulae

The Heart and Soul Nebulae are sister Nebulae in the Milky Way near Cassiopeia. They are somewhat faint and made from Hydrogen, which my Sony camera struggles to pick up. Although you can kind of see the outlines, I consider this a failure due to the extreme noise and barely any signal which makes it ugly when viewed close up.

Image Details

November 2, 2023

65 x 90 seconds (1.63 hours)

Sony a7II/Williams Optics Z61II/Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI/ASIair Plus

Bortle 7.4 /SQM 19.0

IC1396 - Elephants Trunk Nebula

See anything? No? Thats why this image is a failure. The Elephants Trunk Nebula is very faint but I tried to image it anyway and got no signal, even after almost 3 hours. I guess the stars are cool. 

Image Details

December 13, 2023

314 x 30 seconds (2.62 hours)

Sony a7II/Williams Optics Z61II/Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI/ASIair Plus

Bortle 7.4 /SQM 19.0


NGC2244 - Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula is a famous winter nebula and I tried to image it from my light polluted skies. To make it even worse, this object passes low in the southern sky right through the NYC light pollution dome. You can see an outline of the nebula, and some shading, but absolutly no color or detail. This is my second attempt this year, and although its better it still is not good.

Image Details

December 15, 2023

284 x 30 seconds (2.36 hours)

Sony a7II/Williams Optics Z61II/Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI/ASIair Plus

Bortle 7.4 /SQM 19.0