AHSP and Milky Way Image Featured in National Geographic

About 2 weeks ago I received an email requesting use of any images I may have for 10 star parties to be featured in an upcoming story on the National Geographic website.

Of the star parties being featured, I had only attended 1…the ALMOST HEAVEN STAR PARTY! My local star party being featured by National Geographic as one of the best places in North America to see the Milky Way! The other star parties being mentioned were Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Bryce Canyon, Nebraska, Oregon, Alberta, Glacier, Starfest (Ontario), Maine, and Fundy (New Brunswick).

Here is a link to the article (you may have to work around some pop ups and sign up for Nat Geo newsletter to see the article)

These Summer Star Parties off the best views of the Milky Way this summer

I submitted about 10 images from the AHSP and the writing team selected the image below the for story. The images selected for the story is below…Milky Way Tree 2025.

Herschel 400 Electronic Observing Program now over 50% complete!

As of today (June 6, 2026) I have 226 Herschel Objects Observed and I have posted images on the webpage linked below of 152 objects. I updated my image catalogue to include noise reduction and plate solving within Pixinsight. This takes a bit more time to prepare the images for posting to the webpage. But the images look great this way! Nearly all of my observations are being live streamed on YouTube. I am now using my backyard setup as a supplement to the Texas remote telescope. The setups are covered extensively in the videos. Both feature Astro-Physics refractors. The backyard setup is being prepared for deployment to a remote observatory. Here is the link to the Herschel 400 webpage for more information.

Herschel 400 Electronic Observation

Milky Way Rising over Seneca Rocks, WV

During the May New Moon, I was able to visit one of my favorite Spring locations, Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. I have been visiting this location for 10 years trying to capture the rising Milky Way. This year was the best weather I have had for my opportunity. It wasn’t perfect, but it was really nice. I was able to use 3 cameras and 2 new lenses. The new lenses were the Sigma 14mm f1.8 ART and a new fisheye 6mm strHori f2.8.

Astrobin links for images

20mm Seneca Milky Way

14mm Seneca Milky Way

I spent less than 48 hours in the region, but was able to put together my favorite images and videos together for a portfolio. I visited Bear Rocks in Dolly Sods two mornings for sunrise. IMHO, the best sunrise location outside of Maine in the eastern U.S.

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https://www.astroleague.org//wp-content/uploads/2022/02/h400lstc.pdf

For details on how to earn the observing award via remote telescope observing, please see this link

https://www.astroleague.org/herschel-400-observing-program/

I am not sure how long the project may take. I really don't want to knock it off too quickly. We will take our time in observing and learning about the objects as we to. I would expect all observing sessions to be 1-2 hours in duration. Mostly closer to one hour. So, please stop by the channel and join me as we earn our Astronomical League Remote Telescope Herschel 400 list.

To join observing sessions LIVE on my YouTube channel, please subscribe at this link today.

Jeff Ball YouTube Channel

The skies of the past two months were graced with two comets in my initial weeks and that became the imaging focus for the start of most evening sessions. It had been a while since I captured a comet with a telescope. Most of my comet outings have been with comets in the landscape with DSLR and lens.

So, I had to learn all of the latest imaging techniques for telescopic capture of comets with a monochrome camera and RGB filters. I spent many hours with Adam Block’s “Comet Academy” and improved my image capture and image processing techniques for monochrome RGB photography of these two comets.

The highlight for the first comet was a visual conjunction with the Eagle Nebula (M16) by C/2025 R2 SWAN on October 17, 2025. For me, the striking colors of the nebula and the comet were critical to a delicious composition. The video below highlights the orbital path of the comet through the inner solar system with some other information.

While R2 was a nice comet treat, the real star of the fall season was C/2025 A6 (LEMMON). The comet’s ion tail proved to be totally entertaining with variations visible from minute to minute and evening to evening. The video below presents one evening where I captured the solar wind impacting the ion tail in a disruptive manner that can be seen over the course of just a few minutes.

The video posted below pays tribute to C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and C/2025 R2 (SWAN)

There are so many advantages to imaging from Starfront. I mentioned the restricted southern sky in Part 1 of the Starfront Obervatories Series. So, my focus at Starfront is on southern objects I have never had a chance to image in my entire 20+ year career.

The Helix nebula was the first southern object that was accessible.

Join me for a live stream from Storefront Observatories where we will discuss the equipment and techniques used to capture images from the beautiful skies of central Texas.

I did leave on Monday and I believe the forecast was going to be pretty decent for Monday night. I will let others share that story. But for me, it ended up being a landscape photography trip. A great exercise in landscape compositions that always gets the brain cells burning. The summit of Spruce Knob always provides a stunning setting with weather nearly always playing a role in determining the character of the moment. Gandy Creek is a drainage to the west of the summit and provides endless compositions for the landscape photographer. Here is the video and still images from the 3 days on the mountain. I had a conversation with Jackie about having a landscape photography outing during Almost Heaven Star Party next year. We will see if this happens. Drop me a line if you are interested in such an outing. Here is the next edition of my “Almost Heaven” video series from Spruce Knob. Clear skies.

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The comet is in the northeast in the mornings right now. I believe it will be transitioning to the evening sky as October progresses. I really need to get outside and take a look through my binoculars at this thing. It is really putting on a nice show.

So, I began capturing a sequence of 130 images to give approximately 4 seconds of video movement of the comet and follow this clump/break/disruptive event. I can’t imagine that the actual cause of the clump in the tail would have happened much earlier than when I started imaging around 5:00 a.m. CDT. I waited for the Moon to set for best conditions.

I have now been operational at Starfront Observatories for about 3 weeks and it has been incredible. I would never have imaged this comet from West Virginia. I would have to travel to a site with low horizons and that can be a challenge around here. To have my equipment setup 24/7 and so easy to operate, well, I have been imaging this comet every morning. I simply haven’t had time to process the still images yet. But I wanted to get this time-lapse out ASAP because I thought it had some interesting impact that may even be able to be seen visually.

Stay tuned for much more to come on this comet and about 6 deep sky projects in various stages of completion. Thanks for stopping by and clear skies.

Below are my images and videos that try to capture the splendor of God’s Creation on display.

For more information and a technical presentation on the gear and techniques, please view my YouTube video below.

You can see from the gallery below, whether you are looking for classic deep sky objects or off-the-wall objects like the Monkey Head, the eQuinox delivers some pretty cool images in just a few minutes. So, please put this wonderful instrument to use under your clear skies!

Price $1,000 = $50 for shipping. Includes eQuinox eVscope (version 2.5), rugged custom made backpack, and original shipping box.

Thanks for looking.

The West Virginia Astrophotogrphy Association was holding a star-party at Calhoun that weekend as well. If you are looking to learn more about astrophotography, this is a wonderful group to seek out and become an active member.

Please enjoy the new images and video where I update the developmental progress at the park. We are very blessed to have this facility in West Virginia. Clear skies.

Please see links to my Astrobin page for details on image acquisition. Link on my contact page.