Description and Details: The Antennae Galaxies are among the most spectacular objects in the deep sky. Located about 45 million light-years away in the constellation Corvus, they are the result of an ongoing collision between two spiral galaxies, known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039.

Their nickname comes from the long, luminous structures shaped like antennae that extend on either side of the system. These “antennae” are actually tidal tails, formed by the intense gravitational interaction between the two galaxies. As they draw closer, their stars, gas, and dust are violently disturbed, creating these stretched and elegant shapes.

This galactic collision does not occur in total chaos: stars rarely collide directly due to the enormous distances between them. However, clouds of gas are strongly compressed, triggering intense star formation activity. The Antennae Galaxies thus act as a true cosmic laboratory where thousands of new stars are born, often grouped into very bright stellar clusters.

Observed in detail by telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope, these galaxies provide astronomers with a valuable glimpse of what the future of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, might look like when it collides with the Andromeda Galaxy in several billion years.

Eventually, the Antennae Galaxies will fully merge to form a single large galaxy, likely elliptical in shape. This process, although violent on a cosmic scale, is actually a fundamental mechanism in the evolution of galaxies in the universe.

Thus, the Antennae Galaxies are not only a fascinating spectacle; they are also an essential key to understanding how galaxies are born, evolve, and transform over time.

To capture this photograph, I took 100 exposures of 240 seconds using a ZWO ASI 533 MC Pro camera equipped with an Astronomik L2 UV-IR Block filter, mounted on a 250/750 Newtonian telescope.

‍ ‍Name: Mathieu Geffroy

Description

Markarian’s Chain is the name of the curved chain of galaxies that arcs through this image. This chain is part of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, the centre of which is about 54 million light years away. The Virgo Cluster contains about 1,500 galaxies and is estimated to have a total mass of about 10 quadrillion times the Sun’s (1 quadrillion = 1 million billion). This image captures just a small portion of the Virgo cluster. I also imaged this chain of galaxies in a much wider fieldalmost a decade ago.

Acquisition, focusing, and control of Sky-Watcher Wave 150i mount and other equipment with N.I.N.A. and Green Swamp Server. Primalucelab 3″ ESATTO focuser, ARCO rotator, GIOTTO flat panel and ALTO cover motor. Equipment control with Primalucelab EAGLE 6 Pro computer. All pre-processing and processing in PixInsight. Acquired from my SkyShed in Guelph. Acquired under above average transparency and seeing and moderate moonlight from April 19 – 27, 2026.

Sky-Watcher Esprit 120, QHY168C camera, Optolong L-Quad Enhance filter.

115 x 5m = 9hr 35m

Image scale 0.574 arcsec per pixel (with 2X Drizzle)

Copyright: Ron Brecher

‍Description and Details:‍ ‍

The Iris Nebula is a wisp of bluish dust nestled within the dark veils of Cepheus.
Illuminated by the star HD 200775, it does not shine of its own accord; rather, it whispers the light, diffusing it like a cosmic secret.
A cold cloud shaped by the physics of grains and photons, it nonetheless appears to our eyes as a celestial flower—fragile, almost shy—suspended between science and dream.
Newtonian 250/1000, Poseidon MM camera, Astronomik Deep Sky LRGB filters—all mounted on an EQ8-R.

L : 360 x 240s
R : 71 x 120s
V : 65 x 120s
B : 65 x 120s
Soit 30 h 42 min

‍ ‍Name: Pascal FACON

Description and Details:‍ ‍

The IC 2944 nebula, commonly known as the Running Chicken Nebula, is undoubtedly one of the most captivating targets in the night sky. The Hubble Palette (SHO) remains my preferred choice for this object for good reason: it dramatically enhances the contrast of the cosmic dust, reveals exquisite details within the dark Bok globules, and even captures a faint planetary nebula tucked into the upper right field of view. This entire region is truly a rich tapestry of stunning structures.

Equipment: captured here using an Askar 80PHQ f/5.7 and an ASI2600MM camera with Optolong 7nm filters.

Total integration consisted of 10h 25m of SHO data combined with 1h 30m of RGB stars (30s sub-exposures), all acquired under Bortle 7 skies in Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil.

‍ ‍Name: Thiago Prado

Description and Details:‍ ‍

M106 Galaxy (NGC 4258), a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici, is a breathtaking sight. With its well-defined spiral arms and bright core, M106 spans about 30,000 light-years in diameter and lies approximately 23.5 million light-years from Earth. It is a fascinating galaxy, known for its active nucleus and the presence of a supermassive black hole at its center.
But M106 is not alone in this frame: the field is dotted with countless other galaxies. Beyond the most prominent ones—such as NGC 4217, NGC 4226 (bottom right), NGC 4248, NGC 4252 (adjacent to the right of M106), and NGC 4220 (top right)—there are many more, fainter galaxies populating the background. I noticed them during the image processing. Every tiny bright dot, no matter how small, could be a distant galaxy, millions or even billions of light-years away, each with its own unique story and characteristics.

Technical Details:
• Telescope/Mount: Skywatcher 150/750 HEQ5 Pro
• Camera: ZWO ASI 294 MC Pro
• Integration & Filters:
• 210 x 300" exposures with Optolong L-QEF filter
• 77 x 300" exposures with Optolong L-PRO filter (for H-alpha regions)
• Acquisition: Asiair Mini
• Guide Scope: 60/240
• Guide Camera: ZWO ASI 224 with UV/IR cut filter
• Location: Faggiano (TA), Italy
• Date: April 19–20, 24–25, 2026
• Bortle Class: 6
• Processing Software: DSS, GraXpert, Photoshop

‍ ‍Name: Raffaele Calcagno

Description and Details:‍ ‍

This iconic duo in Ursa Major features M108, a barred spiral galaxy seen edge-on, alongside M97, the well-known Owl Nebula.

The data was captured in LRGB complemented with Ha and OIII to bring out the full richness of the planetary nebula. Its brightness particularly surprised me, as it is already clearly visible even in the LRGB data alone.

A continuum subtraction was applied to the Ha and OIII channels to better isolate the emission signal while preserving a natural look. The galaxy also reveals an interesting and different aspect in these wavelengths.

Newton Sky-watcher 200/800
ZWO asi294mm pro
Antlia filters set LRVB HO
25h exposure time

‍ ‍Name: Nicolas PUIG

Sun in H-alfa (656,3 nm) 26.04.2026

iOptron CEM70G, Lunt Solar Systems LS60THaDS60PT/B1200, Point Grey Grasshopper3 GS3-U3-28S4M

Copyright: Salvo Lauricella

The old supernova remnant SNR G179.0+2.6 in the constellation Auriga is dominated by OIII emissions. They form a mixture of diffuse and filamentary structures that together form a round closed shell with a diameter of about 70 arcmin - about two full moons to our eyes.



Imaging telescope:​ Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging camera: ASI 2600MM
Mount: JTW Trident P75
​Guiding telescope: Takahashi FS60CB
Guiding camera:  QHY 5L II M
Focal Extender / Reducer:  0.73X
Software: Sequence Generator Pro SGP (for capture) PHD 2 (guiding), Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight.
Filters:  Astrodon Ha (3nm),  Astrodon OIII (3nm), Astrodon RGB.

Accessories: Robofocus Focuser controlled by Lunatico Armadillo,  ATIK EFW 3, RB Focus Gaius, RB Focus Excalibur. 

Dates:   2nd Sept. 2025 - 22nd Feb. 2026   

Frames: (Total)
​​Astrodon  Ha             155 x 600" 
Astrodon  OIII            334 x 600"
Astrodon  RGB        3 x 114 x 60"  + 3 x 15 x 120" 

Total integration  = 88 Hours  26 Mins   (Last updated 25Apr26)

Copyright: Astro Kin

Description :

M81 (NGC 3031), also nicknamed the Bode Galaxy, is a nearby spiral galaxy located about 12 million light years in the constellation of the Great Bear. So this galaxy and its neighbor M82 are among the closest galaxies to ours.

M81 is a large-style spiral galaxy, i.e. with well-defined spiral arms. Its diameter equals about 96,000 light-years, close but smaller than that of the Milky Way (~100,000 light-years from its lowest estimate).

M81 was discovered by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774, who also discovered M82 (NGC 3034) on the same night. These two galaxies are named after the Bode Nebula. M81 was rediscovered independently by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in August 1780, who reported it to his friend Charles Messier. Messier observed M81 on 9 February 1781

 Equipment :

Gallifrey Optics CDK 400mm F/7 ZWO ASI6200MM Pro Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro Accessoires : PrimaLuceLab SESTO SENSO 2 · ZWO EFW 7 x 2″ · ZWO OAG M68

Copyright: Gaetan Maxant

Description and Details:

IC 2220 - The Toby Jug Nebula in CarinaIC 2220 is a reflection nebula located about 1,200 light years from Earth. It's made of gas and dust reflecting the light of a central red giant star nearing the end of its life. This image also features a faint shell of red hydrogen gas, for which I used a narrowband filter that isolates its light. Even after 10 hours of exposure the glowing gas was barely visible above the background sky.

Equipment:

PlaneWave CDK17 17" f/6.8 Astrograph

10Micron GM4000 mount

Moravian C3-61000 Pro CMOS Camera

Total exposure: LHaRGB 27 hours

Deep Space Remote Observatories - South at ObsTech El Sauce Observatory in Chile

Data acquisition by Bob Fera and Steve Mandel

Image processing by Bob Fera

Description and Details: These molecular clouds in the Chamaeleon constellation have long held my gaze, quietly pulling me back to them once more.

For this journey, I reunited with my beloved SkyWatcher 150 Quattro, though I had to take a step back—setting aside the 2600 and embracing the humble 1600 instead.

It was a bitterly cold night in the desert, beneath the silent skies at the foot of La Silla Observatory in the Atacama Desert—but for me, every moment was worth it.


Antlia H-alpha 7nm 36 mm: 112×300,″(9h 20′)
Optolong Blue 36 mm: 30×180,″(1h 30′) (gain: 139.00) f/3.45 -20°C
Optolong Green 36 mm: 27×180,″(1h 21′) (gain: 139.00) f/3.45 -20°C
Optolong Luminance 36 mm: 89×180,″(4h 27′) (gain: 139.00) f/3.45 -20°C bin 1×1
Optolong Red 36 mm: 27×180,″(1h 21′) (gain: 139.00) f/3.45 -20°C
Camera: ASI1600MM
Mount: ieQ30pro

‍ ‍Name: Alejandro Navarro-Martínez

Description and Details: I present Rho Opiuchi, Blue Horshead nebula and surroundings.

The image is composed of 2 panels, 1h exposure per panel each from Bortle 2/3 skies.
I used:
-canon 6d mod, samyang 135 at f/2
-star adventurer gti, asiair plus
-AstropixelProcessor, Siril, Photoshop

‍ ‍Name: Wojciech Więcław

‍ ‍Data Acquisition Method: Personal Telescope Setup

‍ ‍Description and Details: Sunspot 4419 imaged from Rome Italy on April 18 2026 using a refractor TMB 13 cm under really good seeing and steady sky. Filter continuum and camera Ceres 462 M including extension tube or barlow 2x. Interesting features of this AR 4419 of our Sun.

‍ ‍Name: Raffaello Lena

‍ ‍Description and Details: M 104, The Sombrero galaxy. 7.5 hours of total exp. RGB 1.5 hours for each channel. 3 hours Luminance.
Telescope : Officina Stellare RC400 f/8.7
Camera. : QHY600M grade k sensor
Mount : Parallax HD200 Astrophysics electronics.

From my privet Observatory, Celenia

‍ ‍Name: Lefteris Velissaratos

A luminous disk split by shadow, with a disturbed spiral companion caught in a close gravitational encounter

NGC 5078 is an edge-on spiral galaxy classified as SA(s)a? edge-on in the constellation Virgo. Its bright central bulge shines through a prominent dust lane that is notably uneven and asymmetric, hinting at a disk that is no longer in perfect equilibrium. Subtle warping and flaring are visible along the outer edges of the disk, and the surrounding halo shows a slight imbalance in brightness—signatures of gravitational disturbance rather than a pristine, isolated structure

At a distance of approximately 118.7 million light-years, NGC 5078 spans about 4.0 × 1.9 arcminutes, corresponding to a physical size of roughly 138,000 × 66,000 light-years. While its overall form resembles a classic edge-on spiral, the irregularities in its dust lane and outer disk reveal the effects of tidal forces acting over time.

Just below it lies IC 879, a barred spiral galaxy classified as SB(s)ab pec, whose structure is clearly disturbed. Located at about 129.2 million light-years, it measures approximately 1.4 × 1.2 arcminutes, or about 53,000 × 45,000 light-years. Its spiral pattern is loose and asymmetric, with an uneven light distribution and enhanced star-forming regions that give it a slightly bluer appearance. These features point to tidal stretching and interaction-driven activity rather than a stable, symmetric spiral

Together, NGC 5078 and IC 879 form an interacting pair in an early to intermediate stage of gravitational encounter. The distortions in NGC 5078—its asymmetric dust lane, warped disk, and uneven halo—align with the position of IC 879, suggesting a three-dimensional interaction rather than a simple planar pass. Although no prominent tidal bridge or extended tails are visible, both galaxies already show clear structural responses to each other’s gravitational influence, offering a detailed view of galactic evolution in progress

Imaged in LRGB on the ASA Astrosysteme AZ 1500 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Acquisition and Processing: Mike Selby

NGC 4244 is a loose edge-on spiral galaxy. It is also catalogued as Caldwell 26 and nickanamed the Silver Needle Galaxy. It lies a little more than 14 million light years away from us in the constellation of Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), and is a member of a nearby galaxy cluster called the M94 Galaxy Group. 

Celestron 14″ EDGE HD telescope at f/11 (3,931 mm focal length)  and QHY600M-SBFL camera binned 2×2 with Optolong filters.

38 x 5m Red = 3hr 10m
39 x 5m Green = 3hr 15m
37 x 5m Blue = 3hr 05m
29 x 5m Ha = 2hr 25m

Total: 11hr 55m

Copyright: Ron Brecher

Description and Details:‍ ‍

A vast cloud of gas and dust in Orion where new stars are forming. The glow comes from hot young stars within the nebula that energize the gas, giving us red from hydrogen and bluish tones from oxygen. Its shape looks like a monkey’s face, which is why it is called the Monkey Head.



EQUIPMENT USED

Skywatcher 200 PDS F5 (200/1000) Telescope

ZWO ASI2600MM Pro Camera

Skywatcher EQ-6R Pro Mount

Antlia 36mm LRGB-V Pro series and 3nm H & O Pro series

ZWO OAG-L

ZWO ASI220MM Guide-camera

ZWO Electronic Auto Focuser

ZWO 7x36 Electronic Filter Wheel

Skull Saints Carbon Mini-PC

Pegasus Powerbox Micro

CAPTURE DETAILS

Hydrogen: 5 min × 89 frames (7 hrs 25 mins)

Oxygen III: 5 min × 77 frames (6 hrs 25 mins)

Luminance: 3 min × 63 frames (3 hrs 9 mins)

Red: 2 min × 35 frames (70 mins)

Green: 2 min × 30 frames (60 mins)

Blue: 2 min × 30 frames (60 mins)

20 Darks for each exposure

20 Flats for each filter

Flat-Darks for each Flat set

Gain: 0

Total integration time:

Ha + OIII + L + RGB = 1206 min

= 20 hr 6 min total integration

Sensor Temperature: 0 Degrees

Location: Mandal, Gujarat

Sky Bortle Scale: 5

Weather Condition: Slightly Hazy



SOFTWARE USED

Image Acquisition: N.I.N.A

Guiding: PHD2

Planetarium: N.I.N.A

Polar Alignment: Polemaster

Mount Control: EQMOD

Pre-processing: Pixinsight

Post-processing: Pixinsight and Photoshop



ACCESSORIES USED

Polemaster Camera for Polar Alignment

Lenovo P-12 Tablet

Portronics Keyboard and Mouse

A3 Illuminated drawing board for capturing Flats

‍ ‍Name: Naiteek Vikamsey

Description and Details: Hi! I’d like to present my version of comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) captured from Poland.

The object was very low above the horizon around 8–10 degrees.
The Moon didn’t help, as it was 60% illuminated and about 5 degrees above the horizon.

It was getting bright very quickly, so I had to use 10 out of the 15 frames I captured that morning.
It deserves respect, as it’s not an easy comet to capture from Poland due to the timing and its low altitude.

Was 03:55 am

I used:
Canon RP
TTartisan 500mm 6.3 (and used 6.3)
Swsa Gti with Asiair Mini

10×120sek
ISO 1600
Flats,Darkflats,Darks

‍ ‍Name: Bartłomiej Grzywacz

Description and Details: Created during a session of Milkyway Saga, this frame captures the silent motion of the night sky through star trails, with a moment of creative expression on Earth.

While the stars traced their endless circles, we explored light painting techniques — blending science, motion, and art into a single frame. Star trails above, fire below… and a night full of learning in between.

Gears Used

Sony A7IV

Sony FE 14mm GM F1.8 Lens

Leofoto LS-365 C Tripod

Aodelan Intervalometer

Capture Details

163 Frames x 30 Seconds

ISO 800 | F2

Steel-wool

Single Shot

20 Seconds | ISO 400 | F5.6

Processing Details

Star-Trails created in StarStax

Post Processing in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop

‍ ‍Name: Naiteek Vikamsey