Bernhard Schaefer

The Eastern Veil Nebula (NGC 6992), a massive supernova remnant located 2,500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The supernova exploded just 8,000 years ago - a blink of an eye by cosmic standards... Dwarf3, duoband, 90 min, gain 60. SIRIL, GraXpert, Starnet, Veralux, GIMP 🔭 #astrophoto

Finally made the step towards smart telescopes, mainly for travelling, owning now a Dwarf 3. This is my first image - the North America Nebula (left) accompanied by the Pelican Nebula (right). 25 min (50x30s) only. Processed with SIRIL, GraXpert, Starnet, Veralux and GIMP #astronomy #astrophoto

A visit to the history of physics and astronomy: Leiden’s Ehrenfest House and the old Observatory. Einstein visited here and interacted with Paul Ehrenfest and Willem de Sitter, discussing ideas about relativity and cosmology. #astronomy #physics

From @qwasistellar.bsky.social: Telescopes. Science Funding Cuts. The Commercialization of the night sky and what we can do to change it. ⚛️ 🔭 ☄️ 🧪 astrobites.org/2026/08/13/the-dying-of-the-light/

Today's partial #solar #eclipse was a wonderful event! Image taken in Essen, Germany at 8:06 pm. Skymax 102, Panasonic S5, ISO 640, 1/1000 sec, 5 images stacked. AutoStakkert, Registax, GIMP. 🔭 #astrophoto

The #MilkyWay in constellation #Cygnus as seen last night from the Black Forest. Most prominent is the North America nebula, but for example also the faint Veil Nebula can be seen. Panasonic S5 mod on SA GTi, 200 x 30 sec, ISO 640, rather simple lens with f = 60 mm, F5.6, no filters. 🔭 #astrophoto

Today's #sun seen through a 15 cm refractor (f = 130 cm) with Baader sun foil on front lens. Image taken with a mobile phone 🫣 positioned over an 18 mm eyepiece. 🔭 #astrophoto

In Cancer lies an old, distant galaxy group - NGC 2563 being the brightest cluster galaxy. The 30-60 cluster members seem mostly lenticular plus some spirals. Distance 200m ly. Galaxy #27 (UGC 4332) is obviously distorted. Some faint galaxies behind cluster seem to be ~1,4bn ly away! 🔭 #astrophoto

Though it is leaving the current solar cycle's maximum behind, the sun today exhibited quite a number of active regions again. Skymax102, Panasonic S5 (total view), ASI220 (partial views) 🔭 #astrophoto

As part of yesterday's "Astronomy Day" in Germany, we did some necessary 😉 spring cleaning at the Walter-Hohmann Observatory. In the evening there were lectures, inter alia about ARTEMIS II, and observations especially of the moon and Jupiter. Thanks to everbody who actively contributed! #astronomy

Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula - a wide field image of the beautiful emission region in constellation Orion. Panasonic S5 mod, TS 70/474, dualband Ha/OIII, 93 x 1 min, ISO 640. Siril, GraXpert, Starnet, GIMP. 🔭 #astrophoto

The California Nebula is only 1000 ly away and the closest HII region to us. Because it's so near, the nebula appears quite large in the sky. It is likely illuminated by the nearby star ξ Persei Panasonic S5 mod, TS 70/474, dualband, 93 x 60 s, ISO 640, SIRIL, Starnet, GraXpert, GIMP 🔭 #astrophoto

Wizard and Lion Nebula. North of the image's center is Delta Cephei, the prototype of the Cepheid variables. Its actually a quadruple star - here, two stars of the system can be seen. Panasonic S5 mod, RedCat 51/250, dualband filter, ISO 640, 30x1 min. SIRIL, GraXpert, Starnet, GIMP. 🔭 #astrophoto

Northern Lights in the middle of Germany, a rare spectacle tonight! 🔭 #astrophoto

The "Lower's Nebula". A relatively unknown emission nebula in Orion. The star at its center also illuminates a small, triangular reflection nebula. Panasonic S5 mod, 30 cm Newtonian, dualband filter, ISO 640, 150 x 30 sec. SIRIL, GraXpert, Starnet, GIMP. 🔭 #astrophoto

Rework: The Eagle Nebula (Messier 16) with the famous Pillars of Creation. Panasonic S5 mod, Skymax 102, GTi, ISO 1000, 10 sec/sub, 75 min total. Siril, Starnet, GraXpert, GIMP The Skymax is not optimal for deep sky imaging (and we had a full moon, by the way), but GraXpert helps. 🙂 🔭 #astrophoto

The Pleiades. Longer exposures bring out the faint dust structures through which this young star cluster is currently moving. Close to the bright stars, the gas and dust clouds strongly reflect the blue star light. S5, Redcat 51/250, ISO 640, 2 h. SIRIL, GraXpert, Starnet, GIMP 🔭 #astrophoto

In addition, here is an oversight of the region around IC 1396. A very fine target (especially for longer focal lengths) is the Lion Nebula (Sh2-132) to the east of IC 1396 (left side of image). 🔭 #astrophoto

My favorite 2025 image: IC 1396 in Cepheus with the famous Elephant's Trunk Nebula to the right of its center, a stellar nursery, its very young stars being visible only in infrared. Panasonic S5, Redcat 51/250, dualband filter, 60 min, ISO 640. SIRIL, Graxpert, Starnet, GIMP. 🔭 #astrophoto

In constellation Cygnus, the North America Nebula (left) and the Pelican Nebula (right) belong to the most prominent emission nebulae. Panasonic S5, TS 70/474, Star Adventurer GTi, ISO 640, no filters, 2 h, 30 sec subs. Siril, Graxpert, Starnet, Gimp. 🔭 #astrophoto

A very large group of sunspots is currently rotating into view. Mobile phone photo through Skymax102. 🔭 #astrophoto

8000 years ago, a supernova exploded and left a so-called supernova remnant - the large Veil Nebula in constellation Cygnus. app.astrobin.com/u/bernhard.s... Panasonic S5, Redcat 51/250, dualband filter, 65x1min, ISO 800. 🔭 #astrophoto

My favourite region on the #moon, Mare Imbrum, with adjacent craters Sinus Iridum, Plato and Copernicus. In this moon phase, special tectonic features, so-called wrinkles are visible on the floor of Mare Imbrum, inter alia Dorsum Heim and Dorsum Zirkel Skymax102, ASI 220 Mini Mono 🔭 #astrophoto

When imaging the constellation #Orion long enough, the faint "Barnard's Loop" becomes visible, an emission region measuring some 300 light years across. Panasonic S5, 22mm focal length, 1 hour stack (800 x 5 sec, as I had no tracking available), ISO 800, Crete. 🔭 #astrophoto

Another example of a gas cloud that is both ionized and at the same time dissolved by intense stellar winds. Here, it is the star Gamma Cassiopeia that shapes the nebula IC 63, also known as the 'Ghost of Cassiopeia'. Newton 300/1350, Panasonic S5 mod, 30 min Ha/OIII, ISO 800. 🔭 #astrophoto

Our #sun, which currently displays numerous spots and a particular large, complex group of sun spots. It's great that the peak of solar activity seems to persist for a while longer! Panasonic S5 mod, Skymax102/1300, 5% of 260 frames, 1/400 sec each, ISO 100 🔭 #astrophoto

Trifid Nebula (M20), imaged 2 nights ago before it hid behind the rooftops. The red part is an emission nebula, ie hydrogen ionized by the central star cluster - while the blue part is a reflection nebula Panasonic S5 mod, Skymax102/1300, 30 min, ISO 800, Siril/Starnet/Graxpert/Gimp 🔭 #astrophoto

I added some H alpha to my recent image of the nebulae Sh2-54, Eagle, Omega, and Messier 24. The HII emission regions stand out a lot clearer. Also, the colors are a bit more realistic now. 🔭 #astrophoto

The Milky Way between the open star clusters M11 (left) and M26 (bottom). Here, no dark clouds obstruct our view into deeper regions of our galaxy. Panasonic S5 mod, Redcat51/250, 80x30sec, ISO 800, dualband filter 🔭 #astrophoto

Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, is roughly the size of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. We see it from a distance of 22 million light years. Panasonic S5, Skymax 102/1300, ISO 800, 80 min total 🔭 #astrophoto

Our former ninth planet #Pluto as seen in constellation Capricorn last night. Pluto's position against the night sky noticeably changes from night to night. Magnitude ~15.5 mag, distance 34.4 AU (AU = distance earth-sun) Panasonic S5, Skymax 102/1300, 233 x 10 sec = 40 min, ISO 800 🔭 #astrophoto

A look into the plane of our Milky Way: HII region Sh2-54, Eagle Nebula, Omega Nebula and Messier 24. Panasonic S5 mod, Redcat51, 222 x 30sec = 1h 50 min, ISO 800 Full picture: app.astrobin.com/u/bernhard.s... 🔭 #astrophoto