The Dark Side Observatory
Tom Wildoner is a retired Environmental Specialist for the U.S. Army who now operates a personal backyard observatory in mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania that focuses on astrophotography. His images have been shared on EarthSky.org, Sky and Telescope
- #NGC5466 is a class XII (Shapley–Sawyer - almost no concentration towards the center) globular cluster in Boötes. Tech Specs: #Meade 12” LX-90 SCT, #ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 65 x 60 second exposures, #Celestron CGX-L, #PixInsight. Image Date: April 23, 2025. #astrophotography
- Messier 3 also known as #M3 or #NGC5272 is a globular cluster found in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. Tech Specs: #Meade 12” LX-90 SCT, Antares Focal Reducer, #ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 81 x 60 second exposures, #Celestron CGX-L pier mounted, #PixInsight. #astrophotography
- Messier 99 or #M99 ( #NGC4254 ) in the constellation Coma Berenices is a spiral galaxy approximately 56 million light-years away from Earth. Tech Specs: #Meade 12” LX-90 SCT, ZWO #ASI2600MC camera, 73 minute exposures, processed in #PixInsight. Image Date: April 1, 2025. #astrophotography
- Galaxy season is here! This is the Black Eye Galaxy and designated as Messier 64 or NGC 4826. Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90 SCT, ASI2600MC, 76 x 60 second exposure, Celestron CGX-L, PixInsight. Date: April 1, 2025. #m64 #messier #blackeyegalaxy #astrophotography
- Here is a view of the #Sunflower #Galaxy, Messier 63 #M63 #NGC5055 found in the constellation Canes Venatici. Tech Specs: #Meade 12” LX-90 SCT Telescope, ASI2600MC, 81m exposure, #Celestron CGX-L, #PixInsight. Date: April 1, 2025. The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA. #astrophotography
- This is a supernova designated as 2025fvw discovered by Koichi Itagaki on March 26, 2025. It is located in the galaxy NGC 5957 in the constellation Serpens. The current estimated magnitude from my observation is 14.5V. #astrophotography #sn2025fvw #supernova
- Moon and Pleaides (M45) Conjunction - Here is a view of a conjunction of last night’s crescent moon and the Pleiades Cluster (M45). Canon 6D, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens, Canon Extender EF 2xIII, ISO 2500, 0.5 second, f/5.6 at 400mm. #astrophotography #conjunction #moon #M45 #Pleiades #Canon
- NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula. Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro, Optolong L-eXtreme filter, 5 hours 30 minutes, processed using PixInsight and DSS. Image Date: October 18, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA. #astrophotography
- #Jupiter and moon #Io from last evening. This is stacking the best 20% from 10k frames captured. Tech Specs: Meade 12" LX-90, ASI462MC camera, SharpCap Pro, Registax, best 20% of 10k frames. Image Date: March 3, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
- Messier 93 (M93, NGC 2447) is a nice open star cluster in constellation Puppis. William Optics REDCAT 51 Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera, 43 x 60 seconds, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, PixInsight. Image Date: February 6, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA. #astrophotography
- #NGC2174 #MonkeyHeadNebula is located in the constellation #Orion and is associated with the open star cluster #NGC2175 Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, #ASI2600MC camera, 50 x 300 second exposures, #Optolong #L-eXtreme 2” filter, #PixInsight. Image Date: February 1, 2025. #DarkSideObservatory
- Here is another rather sparce open star cluster in the constellation Perseus and cataloged as NGC1245. Tech: Orion 8” RC Telescope and ASI2600MC, 41 x 60 seconds. Image Date: 12/26/2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA. #ngc1245 #astrophotography #perseus #zwo #astronomy
- IC410 is a faint and dusty emission nebula of more than 100 light-years across in the northern constellation of Auriga. Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope and ZWO ASI2600MC camera. The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA. #astrophotography #ic410 #tadpolenebula
- Here is a pretty little open star cluster in the constellation Perseus and cataloged as NGC1193. Orion 8” RC, ZWO ASI2600MC camera, 59 min exposure. Image Date: December 26, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4). #astrophotography #ngc1193 #astronomy
- IC 443 (also known as the Jellyfish Nebula and Sharpless 248 (Sh2-248)) is a galactic supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Gemini. Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO ASI2600MC, 48 x 300 second exposures. Date: January 20, 2025. The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA #astrophotography
- Mars and Jupiter taken on February 1, 2025. Mars on the left and Jupiter upper right (brighter stars highlighted and planets with added diffraction spikes). Tech Specs: Canon 6D, Samyang Lens. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA. #astrophotography #mars #jupiter
- Moon and Venus from the backyard.
- Quick stacked image of the planet Jupiter from last night. You can see the GRS, the moon Ganymede passing in front of Jupiter. Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO ASI2600MC. Image Date: January 27, 2025. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA. #astrophotography #jupiter #ganymede
