Messier 48 is an open star cluster in the constellation Hydra, the Water Snake. The cluster is situated approximately 1,500 light-years from Earth, making it one of the clusters closest to our solar system. M48 contains roughly 80 stars, most of which are young, hot, blue-white main-sequence stars.

M79 is a small globular cluster in the constellation of Lepus. It maximally rises only 28° above the horizon, so is on the edge of what can be imaged from the observatory in Spain. Still an overall 12h of data has been collected in December 2024 and January 2025.

M37 is the brightest open cluster in the constellation of Auriga. Many of its 500 stars are fairly young bright blue stars, but the big star in the center (HD39183) is a yellow giant. M37 is photographed here during two consecutive full moon periods in December 2024 and January 2025 respectively.

M71 is a nice globular cluster in the constellation Sagitta at about 13,000 light-years away from Earth. The object is located near the dense star fields of the Milky Way, making it an intriguing object to photograph.

M39 is an open cluster in the constellation Cygnus. It consists of young bright blue stars and thanks to their characteristic positioning it is also referred to as the Pyramid cluster. Open clusters like this appear to be great targets to shoot during full moon periods.

M56 is a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra. Clusters are always a bit challenging when it comes to resolving the stars in the center. Careful stretching of both the Luminance and RGB images was key in creating the required resolution.

M10 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. During processing special attention was directed towards fully resolving the stars, also in the center, while maintaining accurate colours.

M4 is a globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius. It is located at a distance of 50,000 light years from Earth. During processing some interesting green stars stood out which appear to be RR Lyrae variable stars, often found in clusters. The intense green colour is an artefact of the way broadband images like these are taken.

A beautiful double cluster of NGC884 and NGC869 in the constellation Perseus. These objects are pretty bright and were already discovered by the ancient Greeks. Here captured using an OSC camera.

As a globular cluster from the Messier catalogue, M9 is a bit of a tricky target to image at the Northern Hemisphere. From my location it never rises above 34° altitude. Some short bursts of shots were collected over several nights to create this image.

Globular Clusters are dense concentrations of stars within our own Milky Way galaxy. Messier 5 is a beautiful example of how dense such a cluster can be. Here an image photographed using only RGB broadband filters.

M45 is a well-known object in the night sky. The large bright blue stars and the surrounding illuminated clouds make for an attractive target. While traveling this was a perfect object to photograph with the recently assembled 60mm travel rig.

M36 is a pretty bright open cluster in the constellation Auriga. A practical target to test out a new mount that was recently installed.

NGC 7789 is an open cluster in Cassiopeia that was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783. She was the sister of the well known William Herschel. When looking at this object visually the loops of stars and dark lanes give the impression of a rose, that’s what gave it the nickname Caroline’s Rose.

The beautiful globular cluster M3, here photographed using the newly acquired Takahashi Mewlon 180c telescope and QHY268m camera. Properly using this setup will probably require some further fine-tuning, but its a good start.

M13, or the Hercules Cluster, is a relatively small, but densely packed globular cluster. A perfect target to test out a new long focal length telescope, the Takahashi Mewlon 180c, in combination with the QHY268c, an APS-C sized OSC camera.

One of the star clusters closest to Earth is M44, also known as the Beehives Cluster. Big red giants, white dwarfs and young bright blue stars make for a colourful scene. Plenty of additional galaxies and double stars can be discovered in this scene as well.

First light for a new camera, the QHY268c. Subject is M34, a very beautiful and colourful open cluster in the constellation Perseus. The cluster is pretty close-by at 1500 lightyears and rather bright at magnitude 5.5, so an ideal object to get acquainted with a new camera.

After a night of testing out guiding with the RST-135E mount, there was some time left to image a new target. M15, a globular cluster best visible in September, was just the perfect fit. One of the most dense globular clusters in our galaxy, with probably a black hole in its core.

A nice combination of two star clusters. M35, an open cluster in the constellation Gemini. Only a few hundred stars. The second cluster is NGC2158. It is much further away and therefore looks much smaller. Its old red stars make a nice contrast with the bright blue stars of M35, creating depth.