Comet ZTF Near Hyades (Feb 14, 2023)

A portrait of green Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in Taurus beside Aldebaran and the Hyades on February 14, 2023. The star cluster NGC 1647 is at upper left. This is a stack of 8 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon RF 70-200mm lens at f/5 on the Canon R5 at ISO 1600. Star glows with MagicLight extension in Luminar Neo.

Comet ZTF in Taurus (Feb 14, 2023)

A portrait of green Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in Taurus beside Aldebaran and the Hyades on February 14, 2023, with Mars at upper left, and the Pleiades at upper right. This frames some of the other NGC star clusters in Taurus. This is a stack of 12 x 2-minute exposures with the Rokinon RF85mm lens at f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. Star glows added with MagicLight extension in Luminar Neo.

Green Comet and Red Planet (Feb 11, 2023)

The infamous "Green" Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passing by reddish Mars with both in the constellation of Taurus on the night of Feb 11, 2023. The comet was 2° south of Mars this night. Mars was embedded in some of the dark obscuring dust clouds in Taurus, creating the dark patchy appearance to the background sky. The comet's coma glows cyan due to emission from diatomic carbon molecules, a common trait of comets. The dust tail and faint ion tail are just visible. This is a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with filter-modified Canon R and with the SharpStar 94mm EDPH refractor at f/4.5. On the AP Mach1 mount, and autoguided with the ASIAir Mini and 30mm ZWO guidecope. In the 8 minutes of exposure the comet didn't move enough to significantly blur its image at this scale (420mm focal length). Taken from home as part of testing the Mini. A mild diffusion effect added with Radiant Photo plug-in. The comet tails brought out with luminosity masked curves from Lumenzia and with a Lighten DSO action from AstronomyTools.

Comet ZTF and Taurus Clusters (Feb 10, 2023)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the constellation of Taurus on the night of Feb 10, 2023. The comet is the cyan-coloured glow above bright orange Mars at upper left. The framing takes in the major star clusters in Taurus: At upper right is the Pleiades star cluster, while the Hyades star cluster with reddish Aldebaran is at bottom. Other NGC catalogue star clusters are in this framing: NGC 1647 to the left of the Hyades and NGC 1746 to the left of the comet and Mars. Mars appears to be at the tip of a dark lane of interstellar dust in the Taurus Dark Clouds. This is a stack of 10 x 2-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with Canon R5 and with the RF70-200mm lens at f/4 and 89mm. Tracked but unguided on the AP Mach1 mount, and taken from home. A mild diffusion effect added with Radiant Photo plug-in. Faint nebulosity brought out with luminosity masked curves from Lumenzia.

Comet ZTF and Mars (Feb 10, 2023)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passing Mars in the constellation of Taurus on the night of Feb 10, 2023. Mars appears to be at the tip of a dark lane of interstellar dust in the Taurus Dark Clouds. The comet is showing its whitish dust tail and blue ion tail, as well as its cyan coma from diatomic carbon emission. The star cluster at left is NGC 1746. This is a stack of 6 x 2-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with Canon R5 and with the RF70-200mm lens at f/4 and 179mm. Tracked but unguided on the AP Mach1 mount, and taken from home. A mild diffusion effect added with Radiant Photo plug-in. Faint nebulosity brought out with luminosity masked curves from Lumenzia.

Comet ZTF in Taurus (Feb 10, 2023)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the constellation of Taurus on the night of Feb 10, 2023. The comet is the cyan-coloured glow above bright orange Mars. At right is the Pleiades star cluster, while the Hyades star cluster with reddish Aldebaran is below. Other NGC catalogue star clusters are in this framing: NGC 1647 below centre, NGC 1746 below right of the comet and Mars, and NGC 1817 at lower left. Mars appears to be at the tip of a dark lane of interstellar dust in the Taurus Dark Clouds. This is a stack of 8 x 2-minute exposures at ISO 800 with Canon R5 and with the RF28-70mm lens at f/2.8 and 65mm. The lens was stopped down from f/2 so the iris blades added the diffraction spikes. Tracked but unguided on the AP Mach1 mount, and taken from home. A mild diffusion effect added with Radiant Photo plug-in.

The Winter Milky Way over Badlands (with Labels)

A labelled panorama of the Milky Way on a February winter night over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The panorama extends from Canis Major low on the horizon to Perseus at top near the zenith. Orion is at right of centre, with Gemini to the left and Taurus and Auriga above Orion. Mars is the bright reddish object in Taurus aboce similarly coloured but dimmer Aldebaran, itself amid the Hyades star cluster. The blue Pleiades is at upper right. Sirius is the bright star at bottom. The image takes in the complete Winter Hexagon (aka the Winter Circle) of bright stars. The Milky Way is peppered with red nebulas, notably the large curving arc of Barnard's Loop, a suspected supernova remnant in Orion. The lowest stretches of the Loop get lost in the bright red airglow. The bright Orion Nebula shines in Orion's Sword, while east (left) of Orion is the round Rosette Nebula in Monoceros. At top is the finger-like California Nebula in Perseus. Several Messier star clusters also show up along the Milky Way. The cyan-tinted Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is above centre amid the Taurus Dark Clouds. Bands of red and yellow-green airglow tint the sky toward the horizon, as well as the glows from distant towns, notably Medicine Hat at centre. Some light haze added natural star glows — I did not use a starglow diffusion filter this night. But I did shoot the sky segments though an URTH broadband light pollution reduction filter, to help make the nebulas pop out more. This is a stitch of 6 segments (using Adobe Camera Raw) for the sky with segments taken at 15° intervals, each 1 minute with the tracker motor on and at ISO 1600. The resulting sky panorama is blended with a stack of 4 untracked images for the ground, each 2 minutes at ISO 800, taken about 40 minutes after the sky segments, when the waning gibbous Moon was rising to light the landscape with a warm side lighting. So this is a time blend. But the camera was not moved between image sets. All were with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at f/2.8 and 28mm, on the filter-modified Canon R camera from AstroGear. This was on the Star Adventurer tracker with an Alyn Wallace V-plate to keep the camera level and aid framing the panorama. Orton glow effects added to the ground with Luminar Neo, and to the sky with Radiant Photo and f/64 Diffusion actions. Star spikes added with AstronomyTools actions. A clean unlabelled version is available.

The Winter Milky Way over Badlands

A panorama of the Milky Way on a February winter night over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The panorama extends from Canis Major low on the horizon to Perseus at top near the zenith. Orion is at right of centre, with Gemini to the left and Taurus and Auriga above Orion. Mars is the bright reddish object in Taurus aboce similarly coloured but dimmer Aldebaran, itself amid the Hyades star cluster. The blue Pleiades is at upper right. Sirius is the bright star at bottom. The image takes in the complete Winter Hexagon (aka the Winter Circle) of bright stars. The Milky Way is peppered with red nebulas, notably the large curving arc of Barnard's Loop, a suspected supernova remnant in Orion. The lowest stretches of the Loop get lost in the bright red airglow. The bright Orion Nebula shines in Orion's Sword, while east (left) of Orion is the round Rosette Nebula in Monoceros. At top is the finger-like California Nebula in Perseus. Several Messier star clusters also show up along the Milky Way. The cyan-tinted Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is above centre amid the Taurus Dark Clouds. Bands of red and yellow-green airglow tint the sky toward the horizon, as well as the glows from distant towns, notably Medicine Hat at centre. Some light haze added natural star glows — I did not use a starglow diffusion filter this night. But I did shoot the sky segments though an URTH broadband light pollution reduction filter, to help make the nebulas pop out more. This is a stitch of 6 segments (using Adobe Camera Raw) for the sky with segments taken at 15° intervals, each 1 minute with the tracker motor on and at ISO 1600. The resulting sky panorama is blended with a stack of 4 untracked images for the ground, each 2 minutes at ISO 800, taken about 40 minutes after the sky segments, when the waning gibbous Moon was rising to light the landscape with a warm side lighting. So this is a time blend. But the camera was not moved between image sets. All were with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at f/2.8 and 28mm, on the filter-modified Canon R camera from AstroGear. This was on the Star Adventurer tracker with an Alyn Wallace V-plate to keep the camera level and aid framing the panorama. Orton glow effects added to the ground with Luminar Neo, and to the sky with Radiant Photo and f/64 Diffusion actions. Star spikes added with AstronomyTools actions.

Comet ZTF in Auriga (Feb 8, 2023)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the constellation of Auriga on the night of Feb 8, 2023. The comet is the small cyan-coloured glow above centre. It was technically in Auriga but heading south into Taurus and in front of the Taurus Dark Clouds here at centre. Mars is the bright orange object right of centre. At right are the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters, the latter with reddish Aldebaran. Other Messier-catalogue star clusters are in the frame: M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga and M35 in Gemini. The red emission nebulas in this part of the Milky Way also stand out, notably the California Nebula, NGC 1499, at top in Perseus, and the Flaming Star Nebula, IC 405, in Auriga at centre. At bottom is the large faint nebula around Lambda Orionis, or Meissa, in Orion. Capella is at top; Castor and Pollux are at left. This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with the red-sensitive AstroGear modified Canon R and with the RF28-70mm lens at f/2.8 and 28mm. This is one segment of a Milky Way panorama taken this night, from Dinosaur Provincial Park, using the Star Adventurer tracker.

The Winter Sky over the Badlands (with Labels)

The sparkling winter stars and constellations over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023. The waxing gibbous Moon is off frame at left providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. Captured here in a vertical panorama from below the horizon to past the zenith. Orion is below centre, with his Belt pointing down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran. Above reddish Aldebaran is Mars, as it was on Feb 4, 2023. Above Mars is the blue Pleiades cluster. At top left is the bright star Capella in Auriga. Just above Capella is the tiny cyan-coloured fuzzy spot that is Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), again where it was this night as it was heading southward into Auriga and Taurus, after its closest approach to Earth 3 days earlier. It was nearly overhead this night and an easy sighting in binoculars. I could not frame Castor and Pollux in Gemini as the Moon was too close to that area. A better night for Moon position and lighting geometry would have been a week later with the rising waning Moon, but the clouds did not allow that. I took this night and made the best of it! This is a blend of seven 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and a stitch of 6 tracked for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. The camera was oriented in landscape format and moved upward in increments of 15° per segment. The panorama segments had to be stitched with PTGui, but even then with difficulty as it required adding a lot of manual alignment points for it to successfully stitch all segments. I used the Transverse Cylindrical projection to retain the straight horizon and rectangular image format. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions for a "sparkling" effect. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind. It was just me there that night, me and the howling coyotes echoing across the valley. This version has labels. A clean version is also available.

The Winter Sky over the Badlands

The sparkling winter stars and constellations over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023. The waxing gibbous Moon is off frame at left providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. Captured here in a vertical panorama from below the horizon to past the zenith. Orion is below centre, with his Belt pointing down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran. Above reddish Aldebaran is Mars, as it was on Feb 4, 2023. Above Mars is the blue Pleiades cluster. At top left is the bright star Capella in Auriga. Just above Capella is the tiny cyan-coloured fuzzy spot that is Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), again where it was this night as it was heading southward into Auriga and Taurus, after its closest approach to Earth 3 days earlier. It was nearly overhead this night and an easy sighting in binoculars. I could not frame Castor and Pollux in Gemini as the Moon was too close to that area. A better night for Moon position and lighting geometry would have been a week later with the rising waning Moon, but the clouds did not allow that. I took this night and made the best of it! This is a blend of seven 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and a stitch of 6 tracked for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. The camera was oriented in landscape format and moved upward in increments of 15° per segment. The panorama segments had to be stitched with PTGui, but even then with difficulty as it required adding a lot of manual alignment points for it to successfully stitch all segments. I used the Transverse Cylindrical projection to retain the straight horizon and rectangular image format. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions for a "sparkling" effect. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind. It was just me there that night, me and the howling coyotes echoing across the valley.

Comet ZTF in Moonlight (Jan 28, 2023)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 28, 2023 with it between the two Dippers and near Polaris in the northern sky. It is here barely visible in moonlight as the first quarter Moon was lighting the sky a deep blue. The comet just stands out as a cyan glow. It was visible in binoculars as a grey patch with no sign of a tail. This is a stack of 9 x 30-second exposures with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 33mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker. A separate exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter blended in added the photogenic star glows to make the constellation patterns stand out better. Taken from home on a chilly -20° C night. A version with labels is also available.

Comet ZTF in Moonlight (Jan 28, 2023) with Labels

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 28, 2023 with it between the two Dippers and near Polaris in the northern sky. It is here barely visible in moonlight as the first quarter Moon was lighting the sky a deep blue. The comet just stands out as a cyan glow. It was visible in binoculars as a grey patch with no sign of a tail. This is a stack of 9 x 30-second exposures with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 33mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker. A separate exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter blended in added the photogenic star glows to make the constellation patterns stand out better. Taken from home on a chilly -20° C night. This version has labels; an unlabelled clean version is available.

Comet ZTF Between the Dippers (Jan 24, 2023)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) here as a small green fuzzy star between the Big and Little Dippers on January 24, 2023. Polaris is in the top left corner. The comet was easy in binoculars but barely naked eye. And only the camera picks up its green colour. The short tail, just visible here, showed up visually in large 70mm binoculars This is a single 15-second untracked exposure with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2 on the Canon Ra at ISO 3200. Noise reduction with Noise XTerminator. Taken from home in southern Alberta, latitude 51° N.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on January 24, 2023

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 24, 2023. This was the night Earth crossed the plane of the comet's orbit. The dust tail of the comet showed a slight anti-tail spike ahead of the comet's greenish coma, but not as prominently as it had appeared two nights earlier. What was much more visible this night (at least to the camera) was the long thin and bluish ion tail stretching directly back from the comet away from the Sun. The coma of the comet is strongly cyan or green from glowing diatomic carbon molecules, common for comets. The comet was discovered in March 2022 at the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope, thus the ZTF name. This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures through the William Optics 51mm RedCat astrograph at f/4.9 (so 250mm focal length) and with the stock Canon R5 camera at ISO 3200. The mount was guided on the stars — in stacking just 4 exposures taken over 4 minutes the comet didn't move enough to significantly blur details at this short focal length. I made no attempt to separately align the comet and the stars. The field is 8° by 5.5°, so similar to a binocular field of view. The comet was easy to see in binoculars as a grey glow, and it was barely naked eye but only if you knew exactly where to look.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on January 22, 2023

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 22/23, 2023 when it was in Draco, with it near the reddish star Edasich (aka Iota Draconis) at top, and the edge-on galaxy NGC 5907 below the comet. To the right of that galaxy is NGC 5866, aka M102. The dust tail of the comet was showing a strong anti-tail spike ahead of the comet's greenish coma, as this was two days before we crossed the plane of the comet's orbit when we would see its dust tail "edge-on." The coma of the comet is strongly cyan or green from glowing diatomic carbon molecules, common for comets. There was little sign of the blue ion tail in my exposures this night. The comet was discovered in March 2022 at the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope, thus the ZTF name. This is a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures through the William Optics 51mm RedCat astrograph at f/4.9 (so 250mm focal length) and with the filter-modified Canon R camera at ISO 1600. The mount was guided on the stars — in stacking just 4 exposures taken over 8 minutes the comet didn't move enough to significantly blur details at this short focal length. The field is 8° by 5.5°, so similar to a binocular field of view. The comet was easy to see in binoculars as a grey glow, and it was barely naked eye but only if you knew exactly where to look.

Comet in the Northern Crown

Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF) at top, as the green fuzzy star above the semi-circle of stars marking the constellation of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. The comet was approaching the Sun and Earth at this time (January 3, 2023) and was brightening, but even here was visible in binoculars and sporting a short dust tail and cyan-colored coma. ZTF = Zwicky Transient Facility, the telescope used to discover the comet in early 2022. The bright star at bottom is Alphecca, or Alpha Coronae Borealis. The field of view is 15° by 10°, so larger than a binocular field. This is a stack of 8 x 1-minute exposures with the Canon EF 135mm lens at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra at ISO 1600, all on the Star Adventurer 2I tracker. Shot from home just after 6 am on January 3 during a brief hour of darkness between moonset and the onset of dawn twilight. Star glows added in post with the Luminar Neo Magic Light AI filter.

The Tau Herculids Meteor Shower (15mm)

The rare Tau Herculids meteor shower predicted for May 30/31, 2022 as a possible meteor storm, but produced a modest "normal" meteor shower. The meteors appeared yellowish (as in the bright meteor) and were slow-moving, and often had a sparkling effect as they moved, again as per the irregular brightness of the bright meteor streak. The meteors are from remnants of the Comet 73P/Schawassmann-Wachmann 3 which broke apart in 1995. This is a blend of exposures taken over 90 minutes from 11:24 pm MDT to 12:52 am MDT, capturing 15 meteors, including a very bright one, the best of the night, which left an orange ionization "smoke" trail expanding away from the meteor over the next few minutes. Another fainter meteor below centre also left a short "smoke trail." This shows the radiant point of the Tau Herculids, actually located in Boötes above the bright star Arcturus below centre. The Coma Berenices star cluster is below the bright meteor. Corona Borealis and Hercules are left of Arcturus, while bright Vega in Lyra is at far left. The Big Dipper is at top. This is a blend of 29 exposures for the meteors and smoke trails, stacked onto the sky background taken just before the very bright meteor occured earlier in the night when the sky was still blue from lingering twilight. All were with the Canon R6 for 15 seconds each but at ISOs from 800 to 3200, increased through the night as the sky darkened, and with the 15mm Venus Optics lens wide open at f/2. The camera was on a tracking mount to keep the stars stationary over the sequence to aid in aligning and stacking the images, so the meteors appear in their correct positions relative to the background stars. Shot from home in Alberta on a very clear and fine night, a pleasant change for a celestial event!

S-O Double Cluster and Comet PanSTARRS C/2017 K2

A portrait of a dim comet, PanSTARRS C/2017 K2, passing above the Serpens-Ophiuchus (S-O) Double Cluster at bottom, consisting of IC 4756 at lower left and NGC 6633 at lower right. This was the night of May 25-26, 2022. The comet is at top as a fuzzy green star, very small with a stubby tail. It was about 8th magnitude. This is a stack of ten 5-minute exposures with the William Optics RedCat 51 at f/4.9 and the Canon R5 at ISO 800.

Comet Leonard on December 10 with Telephoto Lens

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) on the morning of December 10, 2021, with a 200mm telephoto lens for a field of view of 10° x 6.8°. The tail appears to be about 3.5° long here. Taken about 6:30 am MST with the comet as high as it would be, though the sky is already beginning to brighten with the blue of dawn twilight. The distinctive cyan tint of a comet's coma is prominent. The comet was in Serpens at the time, with the magnitude 2.6 star Alpha Sepentis (aka Unukalhai) at far right (I framed the image to include the star). The reddish double star 47 Serpentis is below the comet. This is a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 (wide open) with the 200mm Canon EF lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. The comet has trailed a bit over the 4 minutes of exposure time as it was just past its closest to Earth and moving quite quickly eastward toward the Sun at this time. Taken from home in southern Alberta.

Comet Leonard on December 10 With Zodiacal Light

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) on the morning of December 10, 2021, with a 28mm wide-angle lens for a field of view of 65° x 46°. The comet is at far left, in the east, to the left of the bluish band of Zodiacal Light in the southeast in the pre-dawn sky. The Light was fairly obvious to the eye but is partly lost here in the skyglow from the lights of the town of Bassano and with some bands of red airglow as well lighting the sky. Arcturus is at top; Spica is at far right. The Zodiacal Light follows the ecliptic, so with the comet north of the Zodiacal Light, it shows how its orbit was inclined steeply to the ecliptic. The comet was closest to Earth and crossing the ecliptic plane heading south 2 days after the date of this image. Taken about 6:00 am MST. The distinctive cyan tint of a comet's coma is prominent. The comet was in Serpens at the time. This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 28-70mm Canon RF lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. The ground comes from a single exposure to minimize blurring. The rest of the sky stacked with a Median stack mode to help eliminate satellite trails. Taken from home in southern Alberta.

Comet Leonard on December 10 Above Horizon

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) on the morning of December 10, 2021, with a 135mm telephoto lens for a field of view of 10° x 15°. The tail appears to be about 4° long here. Taken about 5:45 am MST. The distinctive cyan tint of a comet's coma is prominent. The comet was in Serpens at the time. This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 135mm Canon EF lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600. The ground and area of sky closest to the ground comes from a single exposure to minimize blurring and the trailing of stacked stars from atmospheric refraction. The rest of the sky stacked with a Median stack mode to help eliminate satellite trails. Taken from home in southern Alberta.

Comet Leonard on December 10 Wide View

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) on the morning of December 10, 2021, with a 70mm telephoto lens for a field of view of 29° x 20°. The tail appears to be about 5° long here. Taken about 5:30 am MST. The distinctive cyan tint of a comet's coma is prominent. The comet was in Serpens at the time. This is a stack of 3 x 1-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 28-70mm Canon RF lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600. The ground and area of sky closest to the ground comes from a single exposure to minimize blurring and the trailing of stacked stars from atmospheric refraction. The rest of the sky stacked with a Median stack mode to help eliminate satellite trails. Taken from home in southern Alberta. The bright blue horizon LED glow is from the Crowfoot Plastics plant to the east of me, on Highway 56.

Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Nov 2-3, 2021

Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it appeared on the night of November 2-3, 2021 in a good return near Earth, after its previous return in 2014-2015 when it was visited by the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe and Philae lander. The comet was faint — about 10th magnitude at this time, but did show a small tail on the photo and a typical cyan glow to its coma. The comet was in Gemini at this time. This is a Jupiter-family comet with a period of 6.45 years. This is stack of 4 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with the Canon Ra on the SharpStar 94mm EDPH refractor at f/4.5 and through an Optolong L-Pro filter.