@rick-wayne.bsky.social
Astrophotographer, Ski Patrol instructor, paddler. Husband, Dad. Rabid progressive. Member of Madison Astronomical Society. See (and buy!) my work: redwolfastro.com.
Reposted
when i say that i yelped in shock at this kid’s sign
October 18, 2025 at 9:54 PM
when i say that i yelped in shock at this kid’s sign
IDS! IDS! IDS!
Thanks, Boilermakers. And it's nice to know that my first newspaper still has a spine.
Thanks, Boilermakers. And it's nice to know that my first newspaper still has a spine.
October 19, 2025 at 4:27 AM
IDS! IDS! IDS!
Thanks, Boilermakers. And it's nice to know that my first newspaper still has a spine.
Thanks, Boilermakers. And it's nice to know that my first newspaper still has a spine.
I will have a ton of #NoKings pics from Madison, but for now here's just one, which may be my favorite. Funny, gentle, peaceful, but perfectly captures the contempt we have for people who would make peasants of American citizens.
October 19, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I will have a ton of #NoKings pics from Madison, but for now here's just one, which may be my favorite. Funny, gentle, peaceful, but perfectly captures the contempt we have for people who would make peasants of American citizens.
Got our signs. I've got my photojournalist gear.
NO KINGS!
Maybe I'll send video of tens of thousands of people protesting peacefully to Kimmel's (hashtag)showusyourhellhole!
NO KINGS!
Maybe I'll send video of tens of thousands of people protesting peacefully to Kimmel's (hashtag)showusyourhellhole!
October 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Got our signs. I've got my photojournalist gear.
NO KINGS!
Maybe I'll send video of tens of thousands of people protesting peacefully to Kimmel's (hashtag)showusyourhellhole!
NO KINGS!
Maybe I'll send video of tens of thousands of people protesting peacefully to Kimmel's (hashtag)showusyourhellhole!
BTW the Madison Astronomical Society's big community star party was a HUGE success. Thanks to the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center for hosting Moon Over Monona Terrace again this year. 1300+ attendees! Free event, over a dozen telescopes, electronic astronomy, kid activities, talks.
October 9, 2025 at 6:06 PM
BTW the Madison Astronomical Society's big community star party was a HUGE success. Thanks to the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center for hosting Moon Over Monona Terrace again this year. 1300+ attendees! Free event, over a dozen telescopes, electronic astronomy, kid activities, talks.
1st go at last night's data. Think I can do better. Best 40% of 18,000 frames, AutoStakkert2!, sharpened (maybe too much!) in WaveSharp. Acquired with SharpCap with a 12" Richey-Chrétien, 2.5X PowerMate, and Uranus-C camera.
Will follow up if I manage better!
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Will follow up if I manage better!
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
October 9, 2025 at 6:04 PM
1st go at last night's data. Think I can do better. Best 40% of 18,000 frames, AutoStakkert2!, sharpened (maybe too much!) in WaveSharp. Acquired with SharpCap with a 12" Richey-Chrétien, 2.5X PowerMate, and Uranus-C camera.
Will follow up if I manage better!
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Will follow up if I manage better!
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Some more data on this field -- it's really shaping up! I like this orientation better. Also, I just noticed the "hobbit door" toroid in the lower left. What's up with that? Star Rucba, reflection neb VDB 134, and "bubble" planetary PK86+5.1.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
October 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Some more data on this field -- it's really shaping up! I like this orientation better. Also, I just noticed the "hobbit door" toroid in the lower left. What's up with that? Star Rucba, reflection neb VDB 134, and "bubble" planetary PK86+5.1.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
My pal Bonnie just got a Photoline APO, my scope's little brother. Found an Astrobin pic of this field and suggested a two-scope collab. This is a quick 'n dirty of my first 2 nights' data, I think it's gonna be spectacular! Stars RGB, H-alpha is red. Note spherical planetary nebula PK86+5.1.
September 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
My pal Bonnie just got a Photoline APO, my scope's little brother. Found an Astrobin pic of this field and suggested a two-scope collab. This is a quick 'n dirty of my first 2 nights' data, I think it's gonna be spectacular! Stars RGB, H-alpha is red. Note spherical planetary nebula PK86+5.1.
I probably should! Then again that 300-character limit is a challenge for me even when I'm writing telegraphically.
September 3, 2025 at 12:12 AM
I probably should! Then again that 300-character limit is a challenge for me even when I'm writing telegraphically.
Oh, you think you're *so clever*, don't you?
Fortunately you appear to be perfectly correct. Good one.
Fortunately you appear to be perfectly correct. Good one.
September 3, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Oh, you think you're *so clever*, don't you?
Fortunately you appear to be perfectly correct. Good one.
Fortunately you appear to be perfectly correct. Good one.
And ANOTHER one! One night's worth of Ha data with that gorgeous, reliable 130 APO. What a rock star! This is the hydrogen data (Crescent Nebula) with the stars removed, and cropped off-center to give the impression of motion. Very much in-progress. More soon.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
September 3, 2025 at 12:07 AM
And ANOTHER one! One night's worth of Ha data with that gorgeous, reliable 130 APO. What a rock star! This is the hydrogen data (Crescent Nebula) with the stars removed, and cropped off-center to give the impression of motion. Very much in-progress. More soon.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
I find that BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, and StarXTerminator really make the PixInsight purchase worthwhile. I love Astro Pixel Processor but I'm using it less and less as PI acquires new features.
September 2, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I find that BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, and StarXTerminator really make the PixInsight purchase worthwhile. I love Astro Pixel Processor but I'm using it less and less as PI acquires new features.
I used to use the free standalone Python script Starnet++, and got good results. But I switched to PixInsight for almost all of my processing early this year, so I tried out Russell Cronan's StarXTerminator. Same idea, a machine-learning program trained on astrophotos, but visibly better results.
September 2, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I used to use the free standalone Python script Starnet++, and got good results. But I switched to PixInsight for almost all of my processing early this year, so I tried out Russell Cronan's StarXTerminator. Same idea, a machine-learning program trained on astrophotos, but visibly better results.
Finished this one just today: The Cygnus Wall portion of the North America Nebula. Liked the starless version so well I decided to keep it too. 4.5 hours NB, 1.5 RGB. PixInsight, then combined channels with Astro Pixel Processor's HSORGB preset.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
September 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Finished this one just today: The Cygnus Wall portion of the North America Nebula. Liked the starless version so well I decided to keep it too. 4.5 hours NB, 1.5 RGB. PixInsight, then combined channels with Astro Pixel Processor's HSORGB preset.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
The Dark Shark is another dim one that the 130 just casually brought to life. "No big".
I kept stretching until I was amused by the result. 2 hours of LRGB. Love the eyeliner.
Someone beat me to APOD with their Dark Shark, or else I would have submitted this.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
I kept stretching until I was amused by the result. 2 hours of LRGB. Love the eyeliner.
Someone beat me to APOD with their Dark Shark, or else I would have submitted this.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
September 2, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The Dark Shark is another dim one that the 130 just casually brought to life. "No big".
I kept stretching until I was amused by the result. 2 hours of LRGB. Love the eyeliner.
Someone beat me to APOD with their Dark Shark, or else I would have submitted this.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
I kept stretching until I was amused by the result. 2 hours of LRGB. Love the eyeliner.
Someone beat me to APOD with their Dark Shark, or else I would have submitted this.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
The 130 APO continues to just keep cranking gorgeous data. Here's the Phantom of The Opera Mask, very dim but the 5" pulls it out. My own synthetic color for hydrogen, stars are catalog-calibrated. 4.5 hours of H-alpha, 1.5 of RGB for stars.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
September 2, 2025 at 2:54 AM
The 130 APO continues to just keep cranking gorgeous data. Here's the Phantom of The Opera Mask, very dim but the 5" pulls it out. My own synthetic color for hydrogen, stars are catalog-calibrated. 4.5 hours of H-alpha, 1.5 of RGB for stars.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Up next: Titan, with its shadow transiting Saturn. There are a handful of these transits, visible for a few weeks only every 15 years.
12" Richey-Chrétien with 2X Televue compressor, color planetary camera, couple hundred frames from several minutes of video.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
12" Richey-Chrétien with 2X Televue compressor, color planetary camera, couple hundred frames from several minutes of video.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
September 2, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Up next: Titan, with its shadow transiting Saturn. There are a handful of these transits, visible for a few weeks only every 15 years.
12" Richey-Chrétien with 2X Televue compressor, color planetary camera, couple hundred frames from several minutes of video.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
12" Richey-Chrétien with 2X Televue compressor, color planetary camera, couple hundred frames from several minutes of video.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Boy, I've gotten behind in my posting! This pair of interacting galaxies is one of the closest such to us, at 85M LY. The Cocoon Galaxy and its companion have passed by each other with stellar stream trailing between them. Uncooled color planetary cam and the 8" RC.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
September 2, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Boy, I've gotten behind in my posting! This pair of interacting galaxies is one of the closest such to us, at 85M LY. The Cocoon Galaxy and its companion have passed by each other with stellar stream trailing between them. Uncooled color planetary cam and the 8" RC.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Details in the alt-text. It turned out that the hydrogen-alpha filter really made the supernova pop, so the inset is 25 minutes of that.
July 29, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Details in the alt-text. It turned out that the hydrogen-alpha filter really made the supernova pop, so the inset is 25 minutes of that.
Here's the latest one-night wonder. From 40M LY away, NGC 7331 featuring supernova 2025rbs, here for a limited time! This imaging session was going great even with encroaching clouds till it started RAINING ON MY TELESCOPE. That was a charlie-foxtrot of car-stuffing.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
July 29, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Here's the latest one-night wonder. From 40M LY away, NGC 7331 featuring supernova 2025rbs, here for a limited time! This imaging session was going great even with encroaching clouds till it started RAINING ON MY TELESCOPE. That was a charlie-foxtrot of car-stuffing.
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Welp, several clear nights around the new moon and nothing is broken. I'm pretty amazed how productive the new scope and camera make me. Actually I've imaged a dozen targets so far in 2025, but quite a few just didn't pass the so-what test so I've actually finished and published half of that.
July 29, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Welp, several clear nights around the new moon and nothing is broken. I'm pretty amazed how productive the new scope and camera make me. Actually I've imaged a dozen targets so far in 2025, but quite a few just didn't pass the so-what test so I've actually finished and published half of that.
Hey, we're all learning, here. Pretty amazing what a cell can do, eh?
July 29, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Hey, we're all learning, here. Pretty amazing what a cell can do, eh?
New scope won't quite frame both Trifid and Lagoon. So here's M20 (Trifid) & M21 star cluster. Couldn't stop looking at the starless image so finish-processed that too. Neighbor's comment ruined it forever, though: "South end of a northbound baboon?" Dammit Sue!
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
July 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
New scope won't quite frame both Trifid and Lagoon. So here's M20 (Trifid) & M21 star cluster. Couldn't stop looking at the starless image so finish-processed that too. Neighbor's comment ruined it forever, though: "South end of a northbound baboon?" Dammit Sue!
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
#redwolfastro #astrophotography
Thanks. I should have mentioned BlurXTerminator in the original post, but I promise the original was pretty sharp to start with.
July 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Thanks. I should have mentioned BlurXTerminator in the original post, but I promise the original was pretty sharp to start with.