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.
The rest of the story (and images!) of my 12 Days of Christmas mono imaging extravaganza
I spent my 12 Nights of Christmas imaging from our front patio with Big Bertha and the latest addition to my astrophotography arsenal – the ZWO ASI6200MM mono camera and 7×2″ filter wheel. There were a lot of equipment, software, and processing hurdles to overcome…but, when it was all said and done, there are images to show for the effort! I’ll let you be the judge (and ask you to share your opinion) of whether you prefer the dark skies color camera images or their mono counterparts.
Dialing in my Mono Data Collection and Processing
Second light with the ZWO ASI6200MM mono camera and filter wheel came in mid-December giving me the opportunity to work through issues and learn a few key aspects of mono data collection and processing. I still have a LOT to learn and data to process, but for now enjoy the continuing saga of my step into the mono imaging world.
The plunge into mono imaging – second time’s a charm!
Between my unsuccessful attempts at capturing the faint OIII transmissions of the OU-4 Giant Squid within the SH2-129 Flying Bat Nebula and my curiosity with learning a new technology (imaging with a monochrome camera)…I suggested a birthday present idea to Paul…a QHYCCD MiniCAM8 monochrome camera with a built in filter wheel and the seven astrophotography filters (LRGB and SHO). He jumped right on it, ordering the new camera in mid-August, so it arrived in time to be an anniversary present.
It turned out that while the idea of an integrated camera/filter wheel seemed like a good idea, QHYCCD’s implementation caused it to now turn out so well for me. I could never get the filter wheel driver to function properly and consistently. So, I ended up returning it. Then Paul jumped right on it again, ordering a new ZWO ASI6200 full frame mono camera and a ZWO EFW 7×2″ filter wheel – pushing me head first into the deep end of mono image capture (and processing!)
Second time was a charm (…or was it the push into the deep end? After all, I am a good swimmer!). On 15 November, I had a chance at first light with the ZWO camera and filter wheel from the newly opened HCH front patio – and successfully captured OIII data on OU-4! As an added bonus, I spent the rest of the night after SH2-129/OU-4 set capturing Ha, SII, and OIII data on SH2-240 Spaghetti Nebula. So, not only had I captured mono data with the camera and filter wheel, but I had two disparate data sets to put my (very nascent) mono image processing skills to the test.
Latest tool in the quiver – Baye-Aire remote controller
A couple of nights imaging in the cold New Mexico nights over New Years Eve weekend had me wishing for a remote control set-up that would allow me to sit inside the Beast to operate the equipment and check on sequence status throughout the night. Describing that latest “need” for the BeersAP equipment to Paul had him making it happen!
My 2024 Astrophotography Year in Review
2024 was a good AP year! It included eight nights in dark Colorado or New Mexico skies spread across four Beast trips, six nights of glorious Southern Hemisphere skies at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile’s Atacama Lodge, and a total solar eclipse viewed and imaged from San Saba, Texas. As I was tidying up my 2024 astrophotography journal, creating the Year in Review summary that I always put at the front of that (even more verbose than these blogs (444 pages!)) document, I thought it might make a good blog, so here it is!
New Years Eve dark skies
On 2025’s New Years Eve weekend (29-31Dec2024), we were able to get out for a final hoorah of dark skies with a couple of clear, albeit very windy, nights at the Mills Canyon rim in New Mexico’s Kiowa National Grassland. We got to the site, easily situated and leveled the Beast, and made quick work of setting up camp. I set up both Big Bertha and the Southern Cross to take maximum advantage of the waning nebula “season” and our two nights in dark skies.
Thanksgiving Plan-B and December’s month-long laptop struggles
We cancelled our planned Thanksgiving trip to Cincinnati because of Zeus – he had been bitten by a horsefly who, apparently, had deposited a worm into his paw. On Monday afternoon (25Nov2024), before our Tuesday departure, he started limping, by Monday night he could barely walk, and when I got up early on Tuesday morning to take him for a trail walk before leaving for DEN, we discovered the bloody paw – and he would not walk more than a few feet before sitting or laying down. Our amazing vet discovered and removed it – and he was back to his normal self by Wednesday, but by then it was too late to make the trip. After cancelling the Cincinnati trip, we briefly thought about driving to Albuquerque or going on our planned dark skies trip over the long weekend. But we ultimately decided that since it was still a holiday weekend it would be better to just stay home away from the maddening crowds on the roads. So, I decided to set up Big Bertha and capture some data from the front patio, so as not to completely forego the clear nights of and surrounding the New Moon. That move started a month-long struggle with my HP laptop that I use to control Big Bertha…this blog is that story and the images that I was able to capture in spite of it!
The Final Puzzle Piece in the Auto-Focuser Saga Falls into Place!
Since returning from my March 2024 Atacama Desert imaging trip, I’ve been struggling with hardware and software issues. The GPS card in my Rainbow Astro RST-135 mount seems to have been the final malfunctioning piece of hardware to be identified, diagnosed, and fixed in early June. Mid-June provided the first clear skies to give the full set-up a test run. …and it seems apropos that I would chose to image M8 Lagoon Nebula!
Exercising and experimenting with the focuser and auto-focuser
I spent from mid-August through early September working to overcome the issues I’ve encountered with the ZWO EAF autofocuser. Running (inside) in/out movement experiments to determine the various telescope’s movement in response to the EAF’s commands and (outside in clear skies) exercises with the SGP EAF algorithm. I don’t yet have a full data set across all my telescopes and filters – but I can say – I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel and I have prevailed over that pesky little red box!!