Bright reddish Mars above the Hyades star cluster with yellow Aldebaran below Mars to serve as a "compare and contrast " to Mars. The blue Pleiades are at upper right. Two other NGC clusters in Taurus are in the frame: NGC 1647 to the left of the Hyades and NGC 1747 at the right edge of the frame. The small clusters NGC 1817 and 1807 are at lower left. The Taurus Dark Clouds are at upper left. Aldebaran is magnitude +1 while Mars was -0.2 this morning and getting brighter by the day as it approached its December opposition this year, 2022. I shot this on the morning of September 7, 2022 with some haze and smoke in the sky, so not the best for transparency. This is a stack of just 2 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Rokinon 85mm RF lens on the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the Star Advenrturer Mini tracker. A third exposure through the Kenko Softon A filter added the star glows for photogenic effect and to accentuate the colours.
The large, naked-eye star cluster that makes up most of the constellation of Coma Berenices, aka Mel 111. This is a wide view to simulate the field of binoculars. The galaxies NGC 4565 (left) and NGC 4559 (top left) are visible, as is NGC 4494 between the sliver-like NGC 4565 and the main star cluster. I shot this in deep twilight and retained some of the natural deep blue of the twilight from the earlier shots. The differences in star colours show up. The diffraction spikes are from the lens iris blades from being stopped down to f/4 from the maximum aperture of f/2.8. This is a stack of 7 exposures, each 4 minutes at f/4 with the 200mm Canon lens and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800, unguided on the AP Mach 1 mount.
The open star cluster Messier 50 in Monoceros with a 200mm telephoto lens to provide a field of view similar to binoculars. The star cluster NGC 2353 is at lower left, NGC 2306 is at upper right. The Seagull Nebula is barely visible at bottom in this short unfiltered exposure. This is a stack of 12 x 30-second exposures with the Canon EF 200mm lens at f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 3200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Taken from home on the morning of October 8, 2022.
