On Feb 16th, I went to a darker site with a Bortle rating of about 5/6. It borders on Bortle 4 in the south-southwest. I got the comet again, M45 and some more tests with the Milky Way mode camera, as the Seestar refers to it.
The Deep Sky image for this night was the Pleiades. I let it run for only 25 minutes, since it looked like dew was forming on the lens.
For the wide angle lens, I went back to the Orion area and was able to point it much more south to include Canis Major with Sirius dominating towards the bottom left. Very dark part of the sky at this location, so it was a good test.
Orion and Canis Major area. 60 x 30 sec, Seestar S30 Pro.
Another try of the Pleiades area:
Taurus and Perseus area, featuring the Pleiades and the California Nebula. 20×30 sec.
Finally, this last one was nothern Orion and parts of Gemini.
Northern Orion, Gemini, featuring Jupiter to the left. 25 x 60 sec, Seestar S30 Pro.
My first chance to get out of the city and into the country (Bortle 6/7 skies) with the new smart telescope was Feb 15th, 2026. My first target was Comet C/2024 E3 (Wierzchos). I managed to get 50 frames of 20 sec each, even though the comet was very low to the horizon in the southwest. I generated a star-freeze and star-streaks set of images with that data. Those are below:
Next, I switched out of comet imaging mode and into Deep Sky mode. I picked the Horse Head Nebula as my next target and let it run for 30 minutes. It did fairly well, as you can see:
For the next step in my testing of this new scope, I switched to the wide-angle lens and took some images of a large swath of sky. It was my first time using this camera. I left the scope pointing where it was (the Horse Head) and did another 30 minute run:
Not too bad of a night for Bortle 5/7 skies and it being a short imaging session before a work day.
Well, here it is, the interstellar comet everyone was so worked up about. I didn’t see it as anything too special. It was small, dim and what I term, “a runt comet.” lol
Anyway, it was conveniently placed in the sky, so I took a look the day after it’s, “closest approach to Earth,” (nearly 180 million miles away.) Yes, it’s not too impressive at this scale. The guys with 10 inch or larger scopes had better luck with this little runt of a comet.
Here’s a collection of images taken of Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) in October 2025 through November 2025 . Most were taken with a new ZWO ASI2600MC Air Smart Camera, which I purchased right before Comet Lemmon was at its best. I hooked it to my Astro-Tech AT60EDP at F/5 . Two were taken with my Seestar S50 (third from the bottom and the bottom image.) One was with a Canon T3 and a 180mm F/4.5 Askar Astrograph lens (second from the bottom.)
This was perhaps the best comet since the 2024 apparition of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in October of 2024.
Some of the best images I took of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) during its apparition in Sep 2024 through Nov 2024. Cameras used included my Canon T3, a QHY294C and a Seestar S50 and various lenses and my Astro-Tech AT60EDP F/5 telescope.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks,. 6 x 2 minutes, QHY294C, Astro-Tech AT60EDP at F/5, UV/IR filter.Canon T3 and Sigma 28-70 Zoom F2.8/4 set at 70mm, F/4, 20 x 30 seconds, ISO 3200.
Great transparency for this session, but very, very poor seeing. The guiding failed because it was so bad. Star were literally jumping from place to place in the guide camera view. So, I went unguided and had to dump more subs than I could afford. The comet was now setting over a more intense light dome than before at this location, too, which didn’t help. And then there’s all the darn satellites! Thanks a lot, Elon!
Since this was just about the end of the northern hemisphere’s time to catch the comet without twilight interference, I put together a montage of the best 12P images I managed to take while it was visible:
Too bad the weather didn’t cooperate in early March for me when the comet was higher in the sky. But, I’m glad it finally did clear up enough for me to get these before it was too late.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on March 29, 2024, 01:32 UT. 22×120 sec, QHY294C, AT60EDP at F/5.Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on March 29, 2024, 01:32 UT. 22×120 sec, QHY294C, AT60EDP at F/5. Original.Close-UpAnother Close-Up
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on March 29, 2024, 01:32 UT (8:32 PM local time.) 4 x 2 minutes, QHY294C, AT60EDP at F/5. SharpCap 4.1 for acquisition and Live-stacking. Exported as displayed and color corrected in PSCS3.
FINALLY! I managed to get out of town on the first clear night in quite some time and bag Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. It was only a few minutes worth before the comet sunk too low in the west soon after twilight ended. But, it was enough.
The February Full “Snow” Moon of 2024. AT60EDP, QHY294C, Antlia Triband filter. The best 20 frames of 45, stacked in AutoStakkert. 1.5x enlarged crop.
I normally don’t image during a full moon, but the weather was beautiful and I had a new telescope to do more testing with. Plus, there was a comet just begging me to take it’s picture. I couldn’t pass up the chance.
I ended up taking images both Saturday and Sunday nights. I tried to give lots of time to single objects and not jump around so much, for a change.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on Feb 25, 2024 (Feb 26 UT.) 17×60 sec, QHY294C, AT60EDP at F/5, Antlia Triband filter. Full field.Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on Feb 25, 2024 (Feb 26 UT.) 17×60 sec, QHY294C, AT60EDP at F/5, Antlia Triband filter. Star Freeze cropped version.Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on Feb 25, 2024 (Feb 26 UT.) 17×60 sec, QHY294C, AT60EDP at F/5, Antlia Triband filter. Star Streaks cropped version.
The comet was very low in the west at dusk. I had to quickly get shots and didn’t notice a building’s awning was in the shot along with street lights casting reflections from that direction. Clouds coming and going didn’t help, either.
But! This comet is bright enough to show up (with a tail!) that low in the muck of a Bortle 8-9 zone! That’s quite bright, by most comet imaging standards!
IC 446. 79×180 sec, QHY294C, Antlia Triband filter, AT60EDP at F/5.Cone Nebula area. (IC446 is on the right.) This is only 12 x 3 minute sub-mages. AT60EDP, QHY294C, Antlia Triband filter.
The Cone and the IC 446 Nebula area. It was well placed and I shot 4 hours for IC446 on one night and did a short run on the Cone next door the following night.
I always enjoy seeing M13 again after it emerges in the late winter morning skies high enough to get imagery. The colors got washed out with all the moonlight, unfortunately. I created a darker version with more color enhancement, but the washed out look remains:
The Orion Nebula on 2/20/24. 68×180 sec, QHY294C at -10C, Antlia Triband filter, Astro-Tech AT60EDP at F/5. Full Field.The Orion Nebula on 2/20/24. 68×180 sec, QHY294C at -10C, Antlia Triband filter, Astro-Tech AT60EDP at F/5. Cropped.
Here’s the very first stacked image taken with my new Astro-Tech AT60EDP. It’s a 60mm, F/5 Petzval telescope with 300mm focal length. This was 64×180 sec using the new scope. Location was a Bortle 8-9 zone with a bright moon out, 48F, clear and above average transparency. The second version is the full field.
Comet 62P/Tsuchinschan in the Virgo Cluster. 68 x 180 sec, QHY294C at -10C, Astro-Tech AT60EDP at F/5, Antlia Triband RGB Ultra filter.
Comet 62P/Tsuchinschan near the galaxies NGC 4608, NGC 4596. Also included are M58, M59, M60 and other faint galaxy fuzzies in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
M4 Globular Cluster. 11 x 3 minutes with a QHY294C, Antlia Triband RGB Ultra filter from a Bortle 8-9 zone.
M4 Globular Cluster, Antares and friends in Scorpio. It was still the 1st light night for my new AT60EDP, but at 5:00 AM the next morning. This is 11 x 3 minutes with a QHY294C, Antlia Triband RGB Ultra filter from a Bortle 8-9 zone. Still noisy with only 33 minutes and there was some twilight, but I’m sure I’ll be able to add to it in time.
Images of Comets, Nebulae, Galaxies and Star Clusters
