It’s has been a bit since I have been able to look up into a clear night sky. Last night the weather was nice. Mostly clear, just a bit of haze, with temperatures in the low 60s. I set up the SeeStar S50 in the driveway on the CG5 mount, performed the firmware update, leveled, and waited for it to get mostly dark. I started capturing my first images around 8:30 PM EDT. Nice session and I was able to EAA observe 9 more Messier objects for my SeeStar 110 Messier Objects list.

The images from this EAA session were captured using the SeeStar S50. Live stack integrations are from 5 to 20 minutes with no post processing or enhancements performed on the captured images outside of contrast, brightness, and saturation adjustments in the live stack. The images were saved just as observed on the iPad screen in the SeeStar app. Images may be cropped for size/area of interest.

My basic adjustments in the SeeStar app are: Brightness -8, Contrast 12, and Saturation -20. The Autofocus set the focus steps at 1628.

Messier 51 (M51), the Whirlpool Galaxy, located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. This is a 120 x 10 seconds capture (20 minutes) with the internal IRCUT filter.

It was not even completely dark yet, but I decided to give this one a go. Couple of satellites buzzed through.

Messier 27 (M27), the Dumbbell Nebula, a planetary nebula in the constellation of Vulpecula. This is a 42 x 10 seconds capture (7 minutes) with the internal IRCUT filter.

Really like the starfield and the Dumbbell shows a bit of structure. Had some issues with the stacking, the SeeStar was dropping about 70% of the frames so after 7 minutes I decided to move on.

Messier 101 (M101), the Pinwheel Galaxy, a face-on unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. This is a 90 x 10 second capture (15 minutes) using the internal IRCUT filter.

Again with the satellites buzzing through. A little faint but some dusty details in the arms are visible.

Messier 4 (M4) a globular cluster in the constellation on Scorpius. This is a 60 x 10 second capture (10 minutes) using the internal IRCUT filter.

M4 is very low in the Southern sky. I tried for this one first but it was behind my maple tree. Glad I was able to get a view of it, otherwise it will not be too long before you will have to wait for next Summer to catch it.

Messier 80 (M80) a globular cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. This is a 60 x 10 second capture (10 minutes) using the internal IRCUT filter.

Pretty dense little globular. Another one of the Messier objects that is low in the south sky.

Messier 2 (M2) a globular cluster in the constellation of Aquarius. This is a 30 x 10 second capture (5 minutes) using the internal IRCUT filter.

WOW! This is one of the largest known globular clusters containing around 150,000 stars. Again, WOW! The SeeStar likes catching light from this one for sure.

Messier 14 (M14) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus. This is a 30 x 10 second capture (5 minutes) using the internal IRCUT filter.

Another nice globular cluster.

Messier 15 (M15), the Great Pegasus Cluster, a globular cluster in the constellation of Pegasus. This is a 30 x 10 second capture (5 minutes) using the internal IRCUT filter.

Another WOW! I think this is probably one of my favorites of the night. This globular cluster contains over 100,000 stars.

Messier 11 (M11), the Wild Duck Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scutum. This is a 30 x 10 second capture (5 minutes) using the internal IRCUT filter.

Very nice open cluster. LOTS of nice stars.

With that I called it a night. Shutting down the SeeStar around 11:20 PM EDT. Nice time looking up for a bit and I grabbed a few to add to my SeeStar 110 Messier list.

Looks like they are predicting a few more clear skies in the coming week, so I will probably get my other rig set up in the driveway. Clear skies!