What? Unprocessed data?? Can’t have that!
Near the end of the month of my January 2026 mono imaging extravaganza (described in the blog: https://beersastrophotography.com/photography-journals/january-2026-mono-imaging-and-equipment-fix/), I felt like I’d gathered enough data on IC434 Horsehead Nebula. I also had the ZWO Dev Team’s new firmware and FPGA software loaded into my mono camera, meant to address my data download issues. With the clear skies (albeit during January’s Blue Moon (second full moon in the same month)), I decided to check out the fix and go back and collect a bit more data on M42 Orion and CTB1 Garlic Nebulae to combine with the data I’d gathered earlier. I successfully collected the data, transferred it to my processing computer and then promptly forgot about it as I started my trip planning for Chile (astrophotography trip, 13-24Mar2026). That trip was almost immediately followed by a work trip to Australia (work trip, 24Apr-8May2026). So, the data processing was lost off my to-do list until recently when I was updating my journal with the late May 2026 image processing of SH2-129 Flying Bat / Ou4 Giant Squid. Luckily, the data didn’t go anywhere and was patiently waiting for my returned attention…which happened starting last weekend (while I was gathering more data on SH2-129/Ou4 and waiting until I ran out of clear nights during the June 2026 New Moon period before I began processing a new version of the Flying Bat & Giant Squid!). This blog describes the late January 2026 data collection and multi-session mono processing of the M42 Orion and CTB1 Garlic Nebulae and provides pointers to their gallery pages where you can see the evolution of each objects’ images.
It’s Back… Flying Bat & Giant Squid visible again!
Back from Chile (astrophotography trip, 13-24Mar2026) and back from Australia (work trip, 24Apr-8May2026), the May 2026 New Moon weekend, partially clear at home, allowed me to dust off the mono imaging camera and take the new version of Sequence Generator Pro (SGP v4.5.0.1638 (released 24 Apr 2026)) for a test drive. This started a month’s long visit back to my “OCD” target – SH2-129 Flying Bat / Ou4 Giant Squid. This image, definitely a work in progress (likely all throughout the summer and early fall while it’s visible) is comprised of data collected with the mono camera from the front patio on: 15, 16, 23, 29, and 30 May 2026. The mono data are combined with data captured with the same telescope/reducer and my one-shot color camera in July 2025 at Powderhorn, Colorado.
Sequence Generator Pro CSASTRO presentation
Our Colorado Springs Astronomical Society (CSASTRO) club has a monthly Imaging Group meeting. The organizer and host, Brian Clary, started an image capture series last month with his presentation on N.I.N.A. At the end of that meeting, he asked if anyone could give a similar presentation on Sequence Generator Pro. Since that’s the software that I use, I volunteered to give May’s presentation. The meeting was on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, at Brian’s house in Black Forest and on-line through GoMeeting. Brian shared the link to the GoMeeting recording with us, so I thought I’d share it with you…for any of you who are (really bored) or interested in learning a bit about how the capture process works.
Frankenmosaic of the Vela Supernova Remnant
I mentioned when I posted the Chile trip images, I had an issue while capturing the Vela SNR 4-tile mosaic (the camera angle was 90° off-plan) that precluded those 4 tiles from mosaicking together (there was no overlap between tiles#1-2 and #3-4). Once I got the rest of the trip’s processing and posting done, I planned to revisit the data to see what could be done with it. I ended up mosaicking those 4 tiles with the tiles created from the data the other three nights’ data from the Vela SNR region. It’s a Frankenmosaic for sure, but as I’ve done before (and since you’ve signed up for the ride on this journey!), I’m sharing the good, bad, and UGLY with you!
Southern Hemisphere’s glorious view of the Milky Way
I imaged the Milky Way on two separate nights during the 2026 Chile AP trip. First, on the night of 17 March 2026, with Victoria. Second, on my last night in San Pedro – ironically, just like 2025, I debated with myself about doing DSO imaging on the last night and decided (wisely) to pack up my DSO equipment during the day and spend my last night imaging the Milky Way to facilitate an on-time departure for the Calama airport.
Total Lunar Eclipse – 3 March 2026
Just like everything you do infrequently – once every three to five years – you retain no muscle memory. Compound that with: 1) deciding to try imaging the eclipse with a dedicated astrophotography camera (at least it was the one-shot color and not the mono!!); and 2) doing the capture planning at absolutely the last minute (after getting home from work on Monday, when the eclipse started at 01:45MST on Tuesday morning). Recipe for disaster? Maybe not a complete disaster, but one for a very long, cold, and initially frustrating night!
3rd Annual Most Amazing Astrophotography Trip to the Atacama Desert!
The third annual Atacama Desert astrophotography trip was just as amazing as the previous two! Even though Victoria and I did everything in our our power (i.e., 8+ hour layover in Houston), the travel was again FUBAR – including losing my battery along the way (thank goodness for the nightmare I’d had prior to departure that had provisioned a Plan B). Once we finally arrived the skies, the sites, the warm people of San Pedro de Atacama, and the Pisco Sours did not disappoint!
January 2026 mono imaging and equipment “fix”
The mono imaging that I started in December 2025 continued into January 2026 – including more processing learning, equipment troubleshooting, and new lessons learned about the limits of mono image capture during a full moon! Through all this, I’ve reinforced my initial impression of the down-side of mono imaging…while I continue to see the potential for processing creativity. I am nowhere near the point of capitalizing upon that positive…but I’ve never shied from a challenge, especially when it comes to this hobby!
My 2025 Astrophotography Year in Review
2025 was a year filled with new equipment adventures (ultimately overcome but challenging at the time); dark skies travel – another fabulous trip to the Atacama Desert and an amazing birthday dark skies trip to Utah; three one-night stands in the Beast; and the taking away and giving back of my front patio imaging location.
One last image from our birthday Dark Skies Trip to Utah
My 65th birthday trip (YES, in October 2025!) was to explore possible camping venues on Utah BLM land, look for Milky Way foreground sights, and to capture DSO data from the dark skies of Bryce Park Place in Cannondale, Utah. As you read back in October – the trip was a complete success! What I alluded to, but never got back around to, was processing the images I captured of the Milky Way, Orionids Meteor Shower, and Comet C-2025 Lemmon. As I was closing out my 2025 AP Journal last weekend – I realized my negligence with those images…so I made that right today (17Jan2026) – better late than never!