Alex Nackenoff
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anackenoff.bsky.social
Alex Nackenoff
@anackenoff.bsky.social
160 followers 600 following 13 posts
Recovering academic bench scientist. Neuropharm PhD (Vanderbilt). Experience in Alzheimer's, Depression, & Pain. Now I try to predict clinical trial outcomes. Opinions are my own. Astrophotography, brewing, tech, & metal. (He/Him/His)
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Reposted by Alex Nackenoff
emilylwehby.bsky.social
We started photographing the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae fairly late in the Milky Way season, but I'm still pleased with how the final images turned out.
This image is a a photograph of the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae, located in the dense core of the Milky Way. Both celestial bodies appear as bright, gaseous forms rendered in shades of red, pink, and blue.
October 7, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Alex Nackenoff
emilylwehby.bsky.social
Proof of life! @anackenoff.bsky.social and I spent the summer imaging M17 a.k.a the Omega (or Swan) Nebula.

Imaged by Alex: NYC-Bortle 9 / 458 x 300s subs / Poseidon-C Pro / Z61 (f5.9, 360 mm) /AM5 /ZWO asi120mm mini / Anti-Halo PRO Dual-Band Filter

Processed by me in Pixinsight and Photoshop
This is a photograph of the Swan or Omega Nebula, which is comprised of luminous dust and stars. The image has been colored using the Foraxx Palette, which causes much of the nebula's structure to be rendered in golden tones.
September 8, 2025 at 12:35 AM
anackenoff.bsky.social
Part of the difficulty of shooting unfiltered (mostly broadband targets) with a slow telescope from NYC. But that's how I can justify fancy server parts.....to permit @emilylwehby.bsky.social brute force signal processing of 24 nights of data
emilylwehby.bsky.social E.L. Wehby @emilylwehby.bsky.social · Nov 24
It took twenty-four clear nights and more Pixelmath than I anticipated to generate this image of the Triangulum Galaxy. Fortunately, I had enough narrowband data to isolate and combine the HA signal with the stacked RGB subs.
This image is a photograph of the Triangulum Galaxy, which appears as a luminous spiral punctuated with globules of dense red matter.
November 24, 2024 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Alex Nackenoff
emilylwehby.bsky.social
Here's our latest astrophotography project as an apology for disappearing for the last four months.
This image is a photograph of the Veil Nebula, which is the result of a violent supernova. The nebula's main structure is comprised of several distinct strands of luminous gas and dust.
November 7, 2024 at 11:08 PM
Reposted by Alex Nackenoff
emilylwehby.bsky.social
Galaxie seson is icumen in.

The Leo Triplet imaged by @anackenoff.bsky.social 
NYC-Bortle 9 / 154 x 300s subs / Poseidon-C Pro / Z61 (f5.9, 360 mm) /AM5 /ZWO asi120mm mini / UVI IR-CUT filter

My process: #Pixinsight
This image is a photograph of the Leo Triplet, which is comprised of three galaxies grouped together.
March 20, 2024 at 10:09 PM
Reposted by Alex Nackenoff
emilylwehby.bsky.social
The Horsehead and Flame Nebulae
For my final edits, I selected a "natural" palette, as we would have needed significantly more imaging time to gather enough blue/green data to create a synthetic HOO channel required for the Foraxx Palette.
This image is a photograph of the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae, which appear as luminous bursts of red and orange light.
February 28, 2024 at 9:27 PM
Reposted by Alex Nackenoff
emilylwehby.bsky.social
To process our Rosette Nebula images, I opted to use the Foraxx Palette. Its dynamic color range highlights the Rosette’s regions of dark nebulosity.

Imaging by @anackenoff.bsky.social | My edits
This image is a photograph of the Rosette Nebula, which appears as a luminous cloud of gold and pale blue against a starry sky.
February 28, 2024 at 12:56 AM
anackenoff.bsky.social
I feel like more astrophotographers should report their average Richter scale as well. Should be some bonus points for our old images captured over a subway induced shaky fire escape
emilylwehby.bsky.social E.L. Wehby @emilylwehby.bsky.social · Nov 25
I spent this weekend working with our images of the Orion Nebula. While this image is a work in progress, it notably marks my first attempt at employing the HDR technique to enhance the details in the nebula's luminous core. It also demonstrates how much progress we have made over the past year.
This is a photograph of the Orion Nebula. The nebula is comprised of several wispy clouds of pink and blue cosmic dust surrounded by bright stars of varying sizes. This is an older photograph of the Orion Nebula. In this image, the nebula appears as a glowing pink amorphous shape surrounded by stars.
November 25, 2023 at 10:18 PM
anackenoff.bsky.social
Always a good day when you can close 1,200 Firefox tabs
November 10, 2023 at 6:08 PM
anackenoff.bsky.social
Always fun replicating the way film photography used to demand non-instant gratification. Both the image acquisition (multiple nights, almost ~24hrs) and processing to pull it off. At least the new AM5 lets me get some sleep for the acquisition part
emilylwehby.bsky.social E.L. Wehby @emilylwehby.bsky.social · Oct 26
Frustratingly, I'm dealing with a health flare, but I managed to edit our images of the Pleaides this afternoon. It's astonishing to see how much progress we've made since last October.
This is a photograph of the Pleaides star cluster, which appears as a group of bright blue stars surrounded by cosmic dust and wisps of nebulosity. This is a photograph of the Pleaides star cluster, which appears as several bright stars in the vast expanse of space.
October 26, 2023 at 7:46 PM
anackenoff.bsky.social
Hard mode Bortle 9000 astrophotography is my version of the phrase "it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow"
emilylwehby.bsky.social E.L. Wehby @emilylwehby.bsky.social · Oct 6
We wrapped up our imaging sessions for the Veil Nebula this week.

Imaging by @anackenoff.bsky.social: NYC - Bortle 9 / 473 x 180s subs, Sony a6300 (ISO 400) / Z61 (f5.9, 360 mm) /AM5 /ZWO asi120mm mini

My editing process: SIRILC, SIRIL, Photoshop
This is a photograph of the Veil Nebula, which appear as three luminous wisps surrounded by bright cosmic dust and stars.
October 6, 2023 at 11:05 PM
anackenoff.bsky.social
Bortle 9000 astrophotography from our light polluted NYC balcony. Always blows my mind that this is even possible.
emilylwehby.bsky.social E.L. Wehby @emilylwehby.bsky.social · Sep 9
We finally wrapped up a few of our longer-term astrophotography projects during the past week. This photograph is the final result of five nights of imaging the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) from our balcony.

Imaging by @anackenoff.bsky.social / My processing
This is a photograph of a spiral galaxy surrounded by several stars, which appear as tiny, colorful pinpricks of light.
September 9, 2023 at 8:06 PM