Messier 85 is a lenticular galaxy (S0) located in the Virgo Cluster, approximately 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. Discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and later cataloged by Charles Messier, M85 is one of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster.

Messier 89 is an elliptical galaxy located in the Virgo Cluster, within the constellation Virgo. M89 is approximately 50 to 55 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of about 9.8 to 10.73. The galaxy contains around 100 billion stars and over 2,000 globular clusters.

Messier 87 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is notable for its prominent jet of energetic plasma that originates from its core and extends at least 5,000 light-years. M87 is approximately 53.5 million light-years away from Earth.

Sharpless 2-261, also known as Lower's Nebula, is a faint emission nebula located in the constellation Orion. Sh2-261 is an ionised hydrogen (HII) region energised by the ultraviolet radiation of nearby hot stars. This nebula lies roughly 3,300 light-years from Earth and spans about 50 light-years in diameter.

The Virgo cluster is a large area in the sky, packed with galaxies. The famous Markarian Chain may be the best known part of it, but there are many more pretty well visible galaxies around in the area. Explore this very wide-field recording of this exciting part of the night-sky.

Messier 53 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is one of the most distant globular clusters associated with the Milky Way, lying approximately 58,000 light-years from Earth. M53 is often observed alongside its neighbouring globular cluster, NGC 5053, which lies nearby in the sky.

A tricky target to image. The super bright star Gamma Cassiopeia, surrounded by the hydrogen-rich but faint nebulae IC59 and IC63. A combination of broadband and narrowband images allowed capturing both aspects.

NGC1499 (California Nebula), an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus is a very large and colourful target when photographed in narrow-band. Here an SHO image of long exposure to bring out some of the very faint blue OIII signal.

The beautiful Jellyfish nebula (IC443) in the constellation Gemini. Here in a wide-field shot together with reflection nebula IC444. The narrow-band images are processed in the SHO Hubble palette.

In the constellation Cepheus this large area of nebulosity can be found with a massive star, 100,000 times bigger than our Sun, in the center that lights up the whole cloud. The nebula is registered as NGC7822.

Sh2-240, also known as the Spaghetti Nebula is a very large and faint object that requires long exposures with a wide-field telescope. A reducer on the FSQ-106 in combination with full-frame camera and > 17h of exposure resulted in the following image.

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.

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.

The Veil Nebula in HOO was chosen as the first object to photograph using the new RST-135E mount. This ultra-portable mount is super-easy to setup and can be used without counterweights or balancing. First light and lessons learned on a beautiful target.

A new reducer for the FSQ-106 turned the scope into a 380mm at f/3,6 astrograph. Together with the ASI6200MM a perfect combination to photograph the beautiful Heart and Soul Nebulae in narrowband.

Recently (2011) the Flying Squid Nebula has been discovered right within the Flying Bat Nebula (Sh2-129). The very weak OIII object is hard to image and with almost 30h of total exposure this has been one of the most challenging objects so far.

In the middle of a crowded area of galaxies, known as the Virgo Cluster, one can find a string of Galaxies, commonly known as Markarian’s Chain. Eight galaxies, including the rather bright elliptical galaxies M84 and M86 make up this remarkable object.

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.

A large emission nebula in the constellation of Perseus catalogued as IC1805, but mostly known as Heart Nebula, due to its characteristic shape. Processed using the Hubble palette. This is the first image taken with the ASI6200, 62MP full-frame camera.