Rich Wilbourn

I’m a big believer in taking the extra step to print your images. I use an Epson P900 printer that can take paper sizes up to 17”x20”. It really makes the image come alive.
#stars #photography #astronomy

The Bubble Nebula
10,000 light years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.
#stars #nebula #astrophotography

Scenes From a Day of Mass Protests

Scenes From a Day of Mass Protests www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...

Mauna Kea Milky Way
Got to visit the iconic Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii recently and had to take some Milky Way shots from high altitude. This is a stack of 3 minutes total integration time. The MW was more clearly defined to the unaided eye. #stars #milkyway #maunakea

Kilauea eruption. We booked a room at the Volcano House in the Volcano National Park in Hawaii and lucked out when this happened. #volcanos #Hawaii #Kilauea

Can you see it?

Announcing the discovery of the Possum Nebula tucked in between the North America and Pelican nebula. The search is on for the Raccoon Nebula. #stars #humor #milkyway #funny #astronomy

AstroMag July 2025 Welcome to interactive presentation, created with Publuu. Enjoy the reading!

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Well, it’s on Fox so …

Thanks. That was two full nights of imaging on just a single target.

The Iris Nebula

A blue reflection nebula surrounded by dark nebula in the northern Milky Way. I shot 80 five minute exposures over two nights under dark skies to capture this beautiful portion of our galaxy.

#stars #space #nebula #astrophotography

The Eastern Veil Nebula.

Part of a supernova that exploded thousands of years ago in the constellation Cygnus. In this false-color image, red shows hydrogen gas and green/blue shows oxygen.

#stars #astrophotography #nebula #veilnebula #space

“The Cygnus Wall”
Part of the rich nebula of the Milky Way in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. This is a false-color image captured with special filters. I love the stormy looking tendrils like a scene from Star Trek.
#stars #nebula #milkyway #nightsky

Rho Ophiuchi
This region of the summer Milky Way has it all - red emission nebula, blue reflection nebula, dark nebula and a globular cluster. 2 1/2 hours of total integration time. Five minute exposures.
#stars #nebula #astrophotography #milkyway #rhoophiuchi

Storm

A few more dramatic images of storm clouds from my astrophotography trip to the Texas Hill Country a while back. Sometimes the most beautiful “nebula” are closer to Earth.

#photography #storms #clouds #nature #thumderstorms

Hill Country Storm

An astrophotography trip last year began with a spectacular thunderstorm. We even spotted a small tornado that formed briefly.
#photography #nature #storms #lightening

New Wings
Here’s one of the great blue heron chicks from earlier this year testing out his new wings.
#birds #photography #greatblueheron #nature

The Needle Galaxy NGC4565

A dramatic and beautiful edge-on galaxy at roughly 40 million light years distance. Note the other galaxies nearby.
#stars #astrophotography #galaxies

Another approach is the SeeStar computerized telescope. They’re really amazing and easy to use.

I don’t know of any. Sorry. The model I was using actually came from the factory modified. That’s why the call it the Ra (a for astrophotography). They’re great for wide field astro images. Be sure to stop down your lens a couple of stops too.

You’re fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.

This was with a Canon Ra mirrorless camera that’s modified for astrophotography attached to a Redcat51 250mm telescope, on an IOptron GEM28 mount. Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop. The image was cropped significantly.

Well, don’t give up. I shot this back in 2021 and have since got better at post-processing. Went back and reprocessed this one.
And you got to see the eclipse. I got clouded out.

The Orion Nebula
I created this image from 103 ten second exposures (about 17 minutes total).
#stars #astrophotography #Orion #photography

Ancient Starlight

While processing my picture of the three galaxies in Leo, I spotted a couple of small, fuzzy objects that are other galaxies. To my surprise, the one labeled IC2729 is documented at a distance of 1.06 BILLION light years!
#stars #astrophotography #galaxies

Three Galaxies in Leo

M65, M66 and NGC3628. Approximately 35 million light years away.
#stars #astrophotography #galaxies

Snowy Egret Gaze
The herons and egrets put on a tremendous amount of showy feathers during mating season which makes them really fun to photograph. #birds #wildlifephotography #outdoor #egrets

Beautiful image. Those Seestars are amazing.

Galaxy M83
15 million light years away in the constellation Hydra. A rotating mass of 40 billion stars and billions of planets essentially quarantined from us due to sheer distance. Is anyone or anything looking back?
#stars #astrophotography #astronomy

Fascists

Flying Solo
A lone roseate spoonbill returning to its nest as a foggy twilight closes in. Taken at the Houston Audubon Smith Oaks Rookery at High Island, Texas.
#birds #photography #wildlifephotography