Best of Year 5: My Highlight Gallery from 2016

What an incredible hobby! After 5 years of learning first-hand just how painstaking it can be to get decent images of the night sky with novice equipment, I haven't given up. These are my best / favorite / most memorable photos of the year.

Last year I predicted that I had just about reached the upper limit of what I could do with my current setup, but this year I stuck it out and saved money by continuing to click away. I also tried out my first rental from BorrowLenses, and I finally picked out my next step dream scope and mount. Deciding is the first step toward buying after all!

Last year is hard to top with its two lunar eclipses, comets, and clear November nights. But, looking back, a few images definitely rise to the top and stand out as my favorites worth mentioning again in this yearly wrap up.

If I had to summarize this year, I'd say it is the year of prime focus. I got some decent practice with my camera at prime focus, especially on the moon. This comparison is one of my favorites from the year, and quite possibly my best (highest resolution) moon photo to date. 

This images takes me back to my fuzzy gray blob days. I rented a lens during a time of the year when not many targets were within reach. It was my first image of the Whirlpool Galaxy and the fact that it's recognizable makes me smile. I gave it my best shot using the full treatment of techniques available to me. 

This might not seem like much, but it's the Milky Way visible from my own back patio. The fact that I can see it at all from my own backyard is amazing. Facing south (toward the downtown) I would have thought it was impossible. Not the best image, but a great memory of the realization and excitement. 

This composite was an extremely fun image to make. Using one of my favorite techniques from previous years, I took photos of all of the Winter Hexagon stars out of focus on purpose to spread the light out over a larger area on the image sensor in an attempt to get a true color representation of the light. I arranged them in their hexagon pattern, and kept the exposure settings constant to show true variation in color and brightness. 

Probably my best ever image of the Milky Way showing some color this time from a dark location in north central Indiana. I remember this night vividly, it was extremely humid and the lens kept fogging up in less than a minute. I had to wipe it off, focus and shoot quickly. Considering the atmosphere and the heat, not a bad image. Still learning. 

The Hunter's Moon, nothing too special about this image, but one of my favorites of the year just because it captured the mood and the feel of the full(ish) moon hovering over the rooftops like a bright beacon. 

Solar observing at prime focus, totally cool. I modified my solar filter to fit over my telescope and I think the results are actually a tiny bit better than just using the DSLR lens. A lot more work though! Once again, the year of prime focus. 

Another one of my favorite comparisons of the year. This image reminded me of the excitement I felt the first time I stacked moon photos in Registax. It's like night and day (pun). It's these kinds of images that make me giddy. Just a simple trick, and the effect is dramatic. I never get tired of seeing these before and afters. 

I didn't do a lot of deep sky observing this year, but I took some time to work on my favorite target, the Orion Nebula. Adding subs to my stack from last time, I didn't see a whole lot of improvement. I'm probably rusty from hardly ever taking the time to give deep sky objects the full treatment. Still, pretty amazed what I can do with just a DSLR and basic zoom lens. 

Finally, one of the most unexpected surprises of the year was my first photo of the Flame Nebula and my long awaited first glimpse of the Horsehead Nebula. From my own backyard! Mind blown. I know it's just a blob, but this is one of my favorite iconic deep sky targets, and the fact that I can see it at all is just unreal.