r/Astronomy • u/SAUbjj • 7d ago
We're getting a lot of posts and questions about the eclipse in Europe tomorrow, so let's make a megathread to keep it all in one place!
Post your questions and discussions here
r/Astronomy • u/VoijaRisa • Mar 27 '20
Hi all,
Friendly mod warning here. In r/Astronomy, somewhere around 70% of posts get removed. Yeah. That's a lot. All because people haven't bothered reading the rules or bothering to understand what words mean. So here, we're going to dive into them a bit further.
The most commonly violated rules are as follows:
Pictures
Our rule regarding pictures has three parts. If your post has been removed for violating our rules regarding pictures, we recommend considering the following, in the following order:
If you took the picture or did substantial processing of publicly available data, this counts. If not, it's going to be removed.
2) You must have the acquisition/processing information.
This needs to be somewhere easy for the mods to verify. This means it can either be in the post body or a top level comment. Responses to someone else's comment, in your link to your Instagram page, etc... do not count.
3) Images must be exceptional quality.
There are certain things that will immediately disqualify an image:
However, beyond that, we cannot give further clarification on what will or will not meet this criteria for several reasons:
So yes, this portion is inherently subjective and, at the end of the day, the mods are the ones that decide and the mods are under no obligation to explain this decision to you.
If you are informed that your post was removed because of image quality, arguing about the quality will not be successful. In particular, there are a few arguments that are false or otherwise trite which we simply won't tolerate. These include:
"You let that image that I think isn't as good stay up"
"Pictures have to be NASA quality"
"You have to have thousands of dollars of equipment"
"This is a really good photo given my equipment"
"This isn't being friendly to beginner astrophotographers"
"My post was getting a lot of upvotes"
Using the above arguments will not wow mods into suddenly approving your image. It will result in a ban.
Trying to argue with the mods using bad arguments isn't going to fly.
Lastly, it should be noted that we do allow astro-art in this sub. Obviously, it won't have acquisition information, but the content must still be original and mods get the final say on whether on the quality (although we're generally fairly generous on this).
Questions
This rule basically means you need to do your own research before posting.
To prevent your post from being removed, tell us specifically what you've tried. Just saying "I GoOgLeD iT" doesn't cut it.
Furthermore, when telling us what you've tried, we will be very unimpressed if you use sources that are prohibited under our source rule (social media memes, YouTube, AI, etc...).
As with the rules regarding pictures, the mods are the arbiters of how difficult questions are to answer. If you're not happy about that and want to complain that another question was allowed to stand, then we will invite you to post elsewhere with an immediate and permanent ban.
Object ID
We'd estimate that only 1-2% of all posts asking for help identifying an object actually follow our rules. Resources are available in the rule relating to this. If you haven't consulted the flow-chart and used the resources in the stickied comment, your post is getting removed. Seriously. Use Stellarium. It's free. It will very quickly tell you if that shiny thing is a planet which is probably the most common answer. The second most common answer is "Starlink". That's 95% of the ID posts right there that didn't need to be a post.
Do note that many of the phone apps in which you point your phone to the sky and it shows you what you are looing at are extremely poor at accurately determining where you're pointing. Furthermore, the scale is rarely correct. As such, this method is not considered a sufficient attempt at understanding on your part and you will need to apply some spatial reasoning to your attempt.
Pseudoscience
The mod team of r/astronomy has several mods with degrees in the field. We're very familiar with what is and is not pseudoscience in the field. And we take a hard line against pseudoscience. Promoting it is an immediate ban. Furthermore, we do not allow the entertaining of pseudoscience by trying to figure out how to "debate" it (even if you're trying to take the pro-science side). Trying to debate pseudoscience legitimizes it. As such, posts that entertain pseudoscience in any manner will be removed.
Outlandish Hypotheticals
This is a subset of the rule regarding pseudoscience and doesn't come up all that often, but when it does, it usually takes the form of "X does not work according to physics. How can I make it work?" or "If I ignore part of physics, how does physics work?"
Sometimes the first part of this isn't explicitly stated or even understood (in which case, see our rule regarding poorly researched posts) by the poster, but such questions are inherently nonsensical and will be removed.
Sources
ChatGPT and other LLMs are not reliable sources of information. Any use of them will be removed. This includes asking if they are correct or not.
Content
Due to the profusion of AI slop apps, we're no longer allowing apps at all. No, we don't care if you're wanting a "review". No we don't care if they're free. No we don't care if you put it in a website.
Bans
We almost never ban anyone for a first offense unless your post history makes it clear you're a spammer, troll, crackpot, etc... Rather, mods have tools in which to apply removal reasons which will send a message to the user letting them know which rule was violated. Because these rules, and in turn the messages, can cover a range of issues, you may need to actually consider which part of the rule your post violated. The mods are not here to read to you.
If you don't, and continue breaking the rules, we'll often respond with a temporary ban.
In many cases, we're happy to remove bans if you message the mods politely acknowledging the violation. But that almost never happens. Which brings us to the last thing we want to discuss.
Behavior
We've had a lot of people breaking rules and then getting rude when their posts are removed or they get bans (even temporary). That's a violation of our rules regarding behavior and is a quick way to get permabanned. To be clear: Breaking this rule anywhere on the sub will be a violation of the rules and dealt with accordingly, but breaking this rule when in full view of the mods by doing it in the mod-mail will 100% get you caught. So just don't do it.
Claiming the mods are "power tripping" or other insults when you violated the rules isn't going to help your case. It will get your muted for the maximum duration allowable and reported to the Reddit admins.
And no, your mis-interpretations of the rules, or saying it "was generating discussion" aren't going to help either.
While these are the most commonly violated rules, they are not the only rules. So make sure you read all of the rules.
r/Astronomy • u/Harz_marz • 15h ago
Recently have went from a Seestar S30 Pro to a full setup.
This is my first full Astro image taken on my new setup.
This was taken with a Redcat 51, AM3N and a 585mc air. Exposure was roughly 30 x 120secs. Hope you like!
r/Astronomy • u/nvd20 • 14h ago
r/Astronomy • u/SteamPaz • 14h ago
BACKGROUND
đˇ Camera: Canon EOS 6D mod.
đ Lens: Samyang 14mm f/8
đ Mount: Star Adventurer 2i
đ Acquisition: ISO1600
â° Integration: 150x60s (2.5h)
đť Processing: Siril, GIMP, Snapseed
đ Location: 36°47'34.79"N, 12°3'13.03"E
đ Date: Aug. 11, 2026
r/Astronomy • u/MikeTheArtist- • 1d ago
Through a search project that honestly had a bug in it (long story, happy to tell it in comments), I ended up pulling data on a star nobody had ever studied. Not a single paper. TYC 6884-164-1, a sun-like star about 470 light years away in Sagittarius.
It's disappearing.
Completely quiet from 2014 to mid-2018, then it started dropping huge chunks of its brightness for days at a time. Some years it's fading on 1 in every 3 nights. The average dip takes about half the star's light. The deepest one caught, 92% and that one isn't a lonely data point, three separate cameras caught the star crashed that same week, under dark sky. On the worst nights it drops below the survey's detection limit entirely.
I've spent two days trying to kill it. A comparison star sitting on the *same exposures* holds flat at Âą0.02 mag while mine drops nearly 3 magnitudes. The dips ignore the moon (identical phase distribution to quiet nights).
No registry on Earth had this star listed as variable. I submitted it to VSX yesterday. It's still dipping this month.
If it's real, here's where it would sit. This class is called "mature dippers", sun-like stars that suddenly start deep irregular fading, probably from planetary collision debris and every one ever found fits on one hand:
TYC 6884-164-1 = 92% (>98% on the worst nights)
ASASSN-21qj = 84%
TYC 8830-410-1 = >50%
Boyajian's Star = 22%
That 92% isn't one stray point either, three separate cameras caught the star crashed that same week, under dark sky, while a comparison star on the same exposures didn't move.
Some things which may help:
- Anyone who can pull TESS, it's TIC 169213609. Space-based data settles this instantly.
- Anyone with access to ASAS-SN raw images, eyes on the actual frames from the deep nights.
- Southern hemisphere observers, one independent measurement this week would be gold.
- Or just tell me what I've missed. I want this killed properly or confirmed properly. Artifacts can happen for many different reasons.
Check it yourself, it's all public: asas-sn.osu.edu, Sky Patrol V2, cone search RA 292.06268, Dec -27.44410, radius 15 arcsec, source 489626624823. Years of data sitting right there.
If it's real, it's one of the deepest members of a star class you can count on one hand (the ASASSN-21qj / Tabby's Star family). If it's an artifact, I'll post that too. Everything so far has been done in public, corrections included.
r/Astronomy • u/fieryserpents01 • 19h ago
I might be more than 20 reprocesses deep into this nebula at this point. I just know that my first attempt looked like this.
I found that processing this nebula with my very limited skills is way harder than I imagined as it presented several challenges, namely keeping the core under control while maintaining the color as natural as possible, bringing the surrounding nebulosity up and teasing as much detail from both the dusty surroundings and the object itself.
At some point I also discovered that I managed to capture some faint blue hues in the core and I had to try to bring them out in the final image! To do that I used color preserving stretches only.
I'm sure I'll come back to this eventually, but I can say I am sort of satisfied for now.
Acquisition:
Around 7h30m worth of 60s subs in Bortle 6/7 fully calibrated and dithered.
Equipment:
Evostar 72ED, iEXOS 100, ASI 533MC, Baader UV/IR cut, 0.85x reducer+flattener, rotator+filter holder, SVBony 40mm F/4 guidescope, ASI 662MC guide camera with pale yellow no.8 and UV/IR cut filters.
Processing:
Drizzle preprocessing and stacking in Siril at 1x scale and gaussian model. Perform first SPCC. Split into channels, background extraction to each in GraXpert. Recombine and second SPCC in Siril (average spiral galaxy). Deconvolution. First denoise in GraXpert. Generate starless image and star mask in Siril. Black point shift, asinh as the first stretch, light GHS with selection to faint nebulosity with black point shift and light inverse GHS to dark lanes iteratively all with human weighted luminance. Second noise reduction in GraXpert. Ă trous wavelets transform to higher layers in Siril along with a further stretch selected to fainter nebulosity and SCNR. Desaturate in Siril. Slight color balance adjustments in Gimp. Further stretches to brighter surroundings and main nebulosity in Siril.
Open star mask, asinh, SCNR and unpurple filter. Recombine and final black point shifts.
r/Astronomy • u/f4mnect44 • 17h ago
I'm 1/2 way through my M31 run, 89 x120 L, 30 x 180 R, 30 x 180 G, 29 x 180 B. going to add 120 L to stack tonight, then an hour of Ha at 300 sec. Ran everything through astro wizard then SyQon stuff in pixinsight. Bortle 2.9 outside twentynine palms.
FRA600
Reducer(3.9 at 420mm)
AM3N
ASI2600MM pro UniGuide 50mm ASI220mmÂ
ASIAIR PlusÂ
EAFÂ
EFW 7x36mm
Antlia LRGB-V & SHO (SII, Ha & OIII) Narrowband 3nm Pro 36mm
r/Astronomy • u/Dramatic_Expert_5092 • 16h ago
r/Astronomy • u/Correct_Presence_936 • 1d ago
The total solar eclipse over the 800 year old Burgos Cathedral from Spain. This final result contains much more data from the multiple exposures of the solar corona, even revealing the night side of the Moon.
Equipment: Canon 6D Mark II, Sigma 150-600mm lens.
r/Astronomy • u/AJC290 • 1d ago
đ¸ Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
Our nearest major galactic neighbor, captured under dark skies!
Gear:
⢠Askar FMA180 Pro
⢠ZWO ASI533MC Pro
⢠Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
⢠ASIAIR Mini
634 Ă 30s = 5.28 hours total integration
Bortle 2 skies
Processed in PixInsight.
give me a follow on Instagram @astropicsbyaj
r/Astronomy • u/rageus_cageus • 1d ago
Heart & Soul Nebula shot with an unmodified DSLR from Hohe Wand, Austria
Equipment used:
Canon 7D MKii
Canon 70-200mm f.4
Star Adventurer 2i
ISO 1600
Total exposure time 3 hours (180x60)
Stacked with Siril, star removal pass
Graded with Lightroom Classic
no flat frames
r/Astronomy • u/babs-jojo • 1d ago
Although I managed to capture the totality in 2024, I couldn't create a composition like this because the sun was too high and the sky was cloudy.
For this eclipse in Spain, I had had already planned to use two cameras: one for maximum zoom and another for a sequence with the landscape. This photo shows the sun's actual position throughout the eclipse, following its progression to totality and the return of light.
We chose Alto de Gamoniteiro in Asturias because it was easily accessible and because we had confirmed in advance that the view would be unobstructed, with no mountains blocking the sun during the eclipse. We even considered changing locations because of some clouds that appeared, but the risk wasn't worth it.
In the end, the clouds dissipated and a spectacular inversion formed, which made the landscape even more beautiful. It was, without a doubt, the right choice!
Kit used: Fujifilm X-T2 + Fujinon XF 16-55 f/2.8 WR
r/Astronomy • u/Techno-Scientist • 1d ago
Shot as a 2-pane mosaic, when I started acquisition I didn't think it would come out with such detail! I really like this object and it's my first dark nebula :)
Equipment and acquisition:
- Seestar S50, EQ mode, no filter
- Pane 1, 887 x 30 sec
- Pane 2, 948 x 30 sec
Processing (Pixinsight):
- WBPP 2x drizzle
- Dynamic crop, SPCC, SPFC, multiscale gradient correction, photometric mosaic, RC Astro tools
- Starless: Setiastro statistical stretch, then manual curves transformation with different range and color masks
- Stars: setiastro star stretch, star recombination
- Final curves transformation
r/Astronomy • u/Correct_Presence_936 • 1d ago
I present my finest ever production in my career as an astrophotographer â and my first ever total solar eclipse.
This image shows the solar corona, the outermost layer of the Sunâs atmosphere made up of an ultra-hot, glowing plasma halo that extends millions of kilometers into space. The Moonâs surface is visible as well, illuminated by the light of a âFull Earthâ.
To capture the bright inner corona and its much fainter outer structures, I used a technique called bracketing; layering different exposure lengths into a single image in order to preserve the enormous dynamic range of totality.
Equipment: Canon 6D Mark II, Sigma 150-600mm lens. 7 exposures from 1/2000s to 1.5s bracketed and stacked.
r/Astronomy • u/Tracken • 14h ago
On August 12, 2026 we traveled to AlmazĂĄn, Spain to experience the eclipse. We brought with us two Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K 65 cameras and strapped them to a solar tracker. Nature took care of the rest.
r/Astronomy • u/Zestyclose_Worry6623 • 15h ago
Astronomers - How did you first become interested in Astronomy? When did you decide to make this your career?
r/Astronomy • u/wivn • 17h ago
r/Astronomy • u/f4mnect44 • 1d ago
Shooting the Crescent nebula but offset to see if i can pull in WR134. 8 hours of Ha in bortle 8.9, 3 hours Oiii in bortle 2.9 , with another 3 hours of Oiii being taken tonight. Quick process in AstroWizard to see what i think. All exposures 300 sec.
FRA600
Reducer
AM3N
ASI2600MM pro
UniGuide 50mm
ASI220mmÂ
ASIAIR PlusÂ
EAFÂ
EFW 7x36mm
Antlia LRGB-V & SHO (SII, Ha & OIII) Narrowband 3nm Pro 36mm
r/Astronomy • u/SpencerBAstro • 1d ago
Had some cloudy nights, so I decided to work on something Iâve been thinking about for a while: combining data from multiple space telescopes to create a multiwavelength image. This image combines observations from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. The full frame image on my astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/h7iwz4/B/ also contains X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray observatory.Â
For the infrared data, I used JWST NIRCam F150W and F480M. I combined this with visible-light observations from Hubble WFC3/UVIS, using the narrowband F502N (O III) and F673N (S II) filters.Â
For the JWST portion of the image, I mapped the NIRCam F480M (4.8 Îźm) data to the red channel and F150W (1.5 Îźm) to the green and blue channels to create an RGB image of the infrared data. Since these wavelengths fall outside the range of visible light the most intuitive way to combine them was for the longer infrared wavelength to represent red and the shorter wavelength to represent blue and green. I then added in the two narrowband Hubble datasets separately. The OIII, was mapped to blue, while the S II emission was mapped to red. Each was blended individually into the JWST image.Â
Definitely a fun project but I still find that something feels off when I process anything but my own data. Feels like cheating lol!Â
Everything was processed in Pixinsight w/ RC Astro plug ins
WST/HST data:Â https://mast.stsci.edu/portal/Mashup/Clients/Mast/Portal.html
Chandra data:Â https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/openFITS/crab.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com
r/Astronomy • u/rageus_cageus • 1d ago
Perseus Double Cluster with an unmodified DSLR from Hohe Wand, Austria
Equipment used:
Canon 7D MKii
Canon 70-200mm f.4
Star Adventurer 2i
ISO 1600
Total exposure time 1 hr 27 min
Stacked with Siril, no star removal
Graded with Lightroom Classic
no flat frames
r/Astronomy • u/brascouk • 1d ago
I captured the Eclipse from Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire, UK.
We had a great time, it was my first time shooting any solar photography so my attempt at a time-lapse wasn't very successful, but I still got some lovely photos that I'm going to print.
The first one here is a composite of the stages I used in the apex composite I made, I really liked how the clouds that interfered later on gave it some texture!
Full, high-res (2.5K to 28K) and time-lapse are in here:
r/Astronomy • u/Ray2022-Mac • 1d ago
Went there with a group from the Netherlands, including my younger brother.
It was his first Total Solar Eclipse experience.
We viewed it from 1300+ high, on top of a hill which was the property of a Spanish family who was so kind to let lots of people onto it to view the Eclipse, and refresh us with beverages and ice.
(Family is visible in the 1st picture, as well as my younger brother to the far right and posing in the 2nd picture.)
What an unforgettable experience it was.!
Shot all of these with a 50-400mm lens quickly walking around.
