Blog - Galactic Images

Jupiter with moons Io and Europa on 11-01-2025 @ 11:10 UT.

By John Chumack|2025-11-09T21:09:10+00:00November 9th, 2025|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #jupitermoons, #JupitersAtmosphere, #natgeo, #QHYCCD, #skyatnight, #solarsystem, #universe, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Jupiter, Planets, Space|

Jupiter with moons Io and Europa on 11-01-2025 @ 11:10 UT.
Seeing was rough maybe 5/10,..so not a lot of fine details in the Jovian cloud tops.
Fun to capture the moons Europa and Io nearby, so thought i would share it anyway.

FireCapture details:
Observer=John Chumack
Location=Dayton, OH
Scope=C-11 SCT +ADC +2x Barlow
Camera=QHY5III462C
Filter=RGB
Profile=Jupiter
Diameter=40.56″
Magnitude=-2.34
CMI=341.7° CMII=321.7° CMIII=193.3° (during mid of capture)
Focal Length=6450mm (F/23)
Resolution=0.09″
Filename=2025-11-01-1111_8-JC-RGB-Jup_QHY5III462C_Gain=325_Exposure=7.0ms_Gamma=100_7.ser
Date=011125
Date(UT)=011125
Start=071105.160
Mid=071150.161
End=071235.162
Start(UT)=111105.160
Mid(UT)=111150.161
End(UT)=111235.162
Duration=90.002s
Frames captured=3159 best 47% of the 3159 frames.
FPS (avg.)=35
File type=SER
Exposure 7.032ms

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

B150-Barnard 150 The Seahorse Dark Nebula

By John Chumack|2025-11-04T17:54:25+00:00November 4th, 2025|Tags: #ASIAIR, #b150, #B150darkseahorsenebula, #barnard150, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #darknebula, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #RASA8, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Cepheus|

Barnard 150 The Seahorse Dark Nebula

The “dark seahorse nebula” is also known as LDN 1082.

Barnard 150 (B150) is a dark nebula in the constellation Cepheus.

It resembles a Seahorse, hence its nickname and it is located approximately 1,200 light-years away.

Capturing Dark nebula can be a real challenge from Urban or City Skies, but this one turned out decent.

Capture details:

RASA 8 inch diameter F2.0 Telescope, ZWO 294MC Cooled Cmos Camera, AM5 Harmonic Mount, ASI Air Via Wi-Fi to I-pad.

(20 x 300sec. Subs) or 100 minutes total exposure time.

Captured from my observatories at JBSPO in Yellow Springs, Ohio on 09-27-2025.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

IC 2118 The Witch Head Nebula

By John Chumack|2025-10-29T11:19:45+00:00October 29th, 2025|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #darknebula, #GalacticImages, #ic2118, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #witchheadnebula, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astrophotography|

IC 2118 The Witch Head Nebula

It was nicknamed the Witch Head because it looks like a facial profile of a wicked witch.

IC 2118 is an extremely faint reflection nebula believed to be an ancient supernova remnant

or gas cloud illuminated by nearby super-giant star Rigel in the constellation of Orion.

The nebula is in the Eridanus Constellation, about 900 light-years from Earth.

Capture Details:

RASA 8-inch diameter F2.0 Telescope, ZWO294MC Cooled Cmos Camera, no filters, AM5 tracking Mount,

ASI Air capture via Wi-Fi to I-pad, 65 minutes total exposure time (13 x 300sec. subs) taken at my observatories in JBSPO, Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Barnard’s Dark “E” Nebulae in Aquila

By John Chumack|2025-10-27T11:16:30+00:00October 27th, 2025|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #darknebula, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #nebula, #skyatnight, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Space|

Put this one up full screen!!!, ……..to really appreciate this incredibly dense Milky Way star field in the constellation Aquila!

B142 & B143 Barnard’s Dark ”E” Nebulae

Also known as LDN 694.

Barnard’s Dark E is a pair of dark nebulae, officially designated Barnard 142 and 143,

located in the constellation Aquila. It’s a region of dense, cold interstellar gas and dust

that appears as a dark “E” shape against the backdrop of the Milky Way.

We see it because it blocks the light from stars behind it,not because it emits or reflects its own light.

The most prominent Dark part looks like the letter C, but the fainter portion below give it that overall “E” look, especially in Binoculars.

Capture details:

RASA 8-inch F2.0 Telescope, ZWO294MC Cooled Cmos Camera, no filters, AM5 tracking Mount,

40 minutes total exposure time (8 x 300sec subs) taken at my observatories at JBSPO, Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Comet 2025 A6 Lemmon on 10-17-2025 10:01 U.T.

By John Chumack|2025-10-20T18:48:11+00:00October 20th, 2025|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #comet, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #seestar, #skyatnight, #solarsystem, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, Astronomy, Comet 2025 A6 Lemmon|

Anyone for a Game of Badminton?…This comet looks like a Birdy!

Comet 2025 A6 Lemmon on 10-17-2025 06:01 am EST.
I love seeing the Comet’s Green Coma, and Brown Dust tail, as well as the very long blue Ion Tail.

The little Seestar scope did a decent job, considering it was only a few degrees above the horizon, at the Twin Towers Metro Park, Fairborn/Enon, Ohio. The comet is shining at visual estimates ranging from 4.5 to 5.2 magnitude, depending on how high off the horizon it is, as atmospheric extinction and transparency, High moisture content in the air or haze near the horizons, light pollution, are all affecting its human eye visibility for some especially near city light pollution.
Use binoculars to spot it!

The Comet is moving into the evening sky as well over the next week, crossing Boötes constellation and should be visible just after sunset,…but the comet sinks low to the west quickly starting at dusk. You maybe have 30 minutes to see it, before it sinks below the northwestern Horizon. Remember you need a good low horizon and use Binoculars to find it first. Comet Lemmon is closest to Earth on the 21st of October. It is shining near 4^th magnitude now, even cell phone cameras can record it.

BTW, tonight is the peak of the Orionid’s meteor shower as well,….They will be emanating from the Constellation of Orion, so be on the lookout for the Orionid Meteors between midnight and dawn.

Capture details:
Seestar 50s Telescope, with built in 462 Cmos Color Camera,

Equatorial Mode, 10 second subs exposures stacked,
3 x 3 minutes stacked
A 9-minute exposure stack total.
Seestar Capture and Stack Software, Pix-Insight, and Adobe Raw CC 2025.

Date; & Time of Capture 10-17-2025 10:01 U.T. from Fairborn-Enon, Ohio at Twin Towers Metro Park.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

C/2025 A6 Lemmon with Insane Satellite Traffic on 09-27-2025

By John Chumack|2025-09-29T12:13:16+00:00September 29th, 2025|Tags: #ASIAIR, #ChumackObservatories, #comet, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #skyatnight, #solarsystem, #universe, #Universetoday, #ZWO, #ZWO294MC, C/2025 A6 Lemmon, Comet Nucleus, Comet Tails, Orbital satellites, Space|

Comet A6 Lemmon

Insane Satellite traffic while imaging this Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon Early Saturday Morning,

I had to wait a hour longer just for it to clear the trees in the Northeast.

I was finally able to image it around 6:00am, with dawn rising Fast, and the Satellite traffic was crazy,

the stars are trailing because I’m tracking the Comet’s Nucleus / motion through the background stars.

Note: out of the 44 separate 60 second images taken on that morning only 6 did not have satellites trails in them.

Honestly was a bit frustrating…..

But I was able to save some of these images for a nice comet shot without the long satellite trails, but I will post that later,

I can always use Sigma reject to remove the lines in post capture processing to be able to use many of them.

I thought I would share with you this crazy unfiltered stacked shot to show the Satellite traffic.

I included a negative image to help you see the fainter Satellite trails as well.

Zoom in and see the fainter lines as well I count at least 30 + trails.

I captured this with my 8″ RASA scope, AM5 Mount, ASI 294mc Camera, ASI Air in Auto-run, 44 x 60 seconds, plus calibration frames taken on 09-27-2025, at my observatories at JBSPO in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Aurora Crew in Alaska on March 2025

By John Chumack|2025-05-01T11:27:58+00:00May 1st, 2025|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #SolarActivity, #solarsystem, #universe, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Space|

Here are some of our 2025 Crew(Group A) under the Aurora in Alaska….
We head into the Interior for more Fantastic scenery!!! May be a few days before we get Internet and cell again….more to come later!

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Aurora after Sunset during twilight “Blue Hour” with bright Meteor

By John Chumack|2025-04-30T11:42:24+00:00April 30th, 2025|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #SolarActivity, #solarsystem, #universe, #Universetoday, Alaska, Astronomy, Space|

One of my favorite shots from this year!
Aurora after Sunset during twilight “Blue Hour” with bright Meteor(left) and the constellation of Cassiopeia covered by the Aurora.
Some of the prettiest images can be captured of the Aurora just after Sunset, during twilight as can be seen in this shot from outside of Fairbanks, Alaska on 03-22-2025.
Canon DSLR, 16-35mm lens set to 28mm, F2.8, 10 seconds, ISO 3200

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

8mm Fish-eye view of the Aurora covering the entire sky in Alaska March 2025

By John Chumack|2025-04-19T19:07:13+00:00April 19th, 2025|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #SolarActivity, #solarsystem, #universe, #Universetoday, Alaska, Astronomy|

Another nice 8mm Fish-eye view of the Aurora in Alaska this past March, The colors were super subtle to the eye, but under these darker skies I could easily see the Green and Reds, the Blues and purples were more difficult to see visually. The DSLR cameras being much more sensitive than the human eye easily picked up the other subtle colors. The Aurora Borealis covers most of the sky in Alaska as you are directly underneath the typical Aurora oval. I have some incredible Fish-eye time lapse sequences, I have yet to put together, but will try to post them to my YouTube channel when I get more time to work on them. They may be too large or long for Facebook reels. I wish you all could experience this with me someday!!!!
The best Natural light show on the Planet!!!

Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Aurora Bird walking the horizon in Alaska – 03-22-2025

By John Chumack|2025-04-15T12:51:12+00:00April 15th, 2025|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #cosmos, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #SolarActivity, #solarsystem, #sunspot, #universe, #Universetoday, Alaska|

I was excited for our new 2025 Alaska Aurora (Group A) crew to arrive on that Sunday, while I was prepping and scouting/hiking one of our sites in Alaska, the Aurora was very active at Sunset and really kicked up crazy good by 10pm that night! It was a KP 5.6 and really put on a show of bright Super nice colors, a lot of purples too! Looking straight over my head…Here is a quick Canon DSLR, 8mm Fish-Eye Lens shot captured on 03-22-2025!

Reminds me of a profile of an Owl or bird walking on the horizon with its wings held up over its head.

Another flare just left the sun and was heading our way ….so more spectaculars Aurora views to come!

Best Regards,
John Chumack