Deep Sky Imaging Session - February 12, 2026

The sky this evening is partly clear but there are some thin haze noticeable in the sky but I proceeded to image NGC2264 , the Christmas Tree Nebula or Fox Fur Nebula which also contain the small Cone Nebula in this nebula complex. Also included in this complex is the Philippine Nebula, a dark nebula inside this complex. I use my trusty Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at Astro Mode with Duo Filter at EQ Mode. Stack of 180 images at 30 sec (1h 45m) at Gain 60 was used to capture this nebula.

Spaceweather.com Astro Image of the Day - February 4, 2026

I got surprised to see that my February 3, 2026 solar whitelight image of AR4366 Region got selected by Spaceweather.com as Astro Image of the Day for February 4, 2026!

Likewise, my February 3, 2026 solar Ha image of AR4366 Region got mentioned also by Astronomy's editor in chief David Eicher on his FB page last February 5 as well! Thank you Spaceweather.com and David Eicher!

Solar Imaging Session - February 5, 2026

The sky this morning is mostly cloudy but seeing is good. AR4366 Region is starting to decay but the main core of this group is still intact though. In Ha wavelength, AR4366 Region still show some flaring activity all around the region. There is also a huge Hedgerow prominence visible in the SE limb. Unfortunately, clouds covered up the sky thus ending my imaging session.

Solar Imaging Session - February 4, 2026

The sky this late afternoon is hazy and seeing condition is poor. I had an important errand this morning thus wasn't able to image the Sun until this late afternoon. AR4366 Region is still quite large although there is some signs of some parts of the group is starting to decay. In Ha wavelength, flaring activity continues within the group core structure as well as large prominences visible in the SE and SW limb. A small Eastern FilaProm can also be nicely seen.

Solar Imaging Session - February 3, 2026

The sky this morning is partly cloudy but seeing condition is very good. AR4366 Region continues to grow in size and also show lots of flaring activities inside its core structure. Numerous large prominences can also be seen in the NE, East and SE limb. Lots of small sunspots in different regions can also be seen on the Sun's surface.

Lunar Imaging Session - February 2, 2026

The sky this evening is clear but since its just passed Full Moon, the sky is washed out for Deep Sky imaging session and so I just use this opportunity to image the Waning Gibbous Moon using Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at Astro Mode with VIS Filter at AZ Mode. Stacked of 20 images using 1/500 sec exposure at Gain 0 .

Solar Imaging Session - February 2, 2026

The sky this afternoon is cloudy and I was only able to image the Sun in quickie mode using Dwarf 3 Smart Scope as well as a shot of large AR4366 Region in whitelight wavelength before getting totally clouded out. AR4366 Region entered the Sun 's NE limb as an inconspicuous pore group at around January 31 but our weather is very cloudy this weekend till now. Hope to get some more images of this group both in whitelight and Ha wavelength.

Lunar Imaging Session - February 2, 2026

The sky this evening is clear and I got to image the Full Moon using my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at AZ Mode with VIS Filter and AZ Mode. Stacked of 20 images using 1/1000sec exposure at Gain 0.

Lunar Imaging Session - January 31, 2026

I got to image the Waxing Gibbous Moon this evening using my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at AZ Mode with VIS Filter and AZ Mode. Stacked of 20 images using 1/500sec exposure at Gain 0.

Lunar Imaging Session- January 29, 2026

I got to image the Waxing Gibbous Moon this evening using my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at AZ Mode with VIS Filter and AZ Mode. Stacked of 20 images using 1/250sec exposure at Gain 0.

Solar Imaging Session - January 26, 2026

The sky this afternoon is very cloudy and I was only able to capture the Sun through passing clouds using my trusty Dwarf 3 Smart Scope and the Sun is pestered with small sunspot groups only. Only AR4349 Region has the largest sunspot (honestly still a small one) on the Sun's disk.

Deep Sky Imaging Session - January 24-25, 2026

The sky this afternoon is very cloudy in Manila but weather prediction in Tanay is a tad better so Joaquin and I proceeded to Tanay at Viewscape Nature Park to do some DSO imaging under a darker sky we arrive at the site, the sky is almost 75% covered but rest are blue skies so after some rest, we started to setup our gears to prepare our imaging session. We were also able to meet fellow astrophotographer Dionisio Bogtae at the site as he was already there for several nights unlike us which is just an overnight session only. At around 7:00pm, sky started to open up near Orion as well as western skies for us to start imaging beautiful M45 Pleiades star cluster which we were able to image in the city but doesnt give justice for M45 to show its majestic beauty under darker skies. For me, I use my trusty Borg 76ED Refractor with ZWO ASI294MC PRO Astro Camera mounted on ZWO AM5 mount to image M45 Pleiades star cluster. I got into some tracking problems early in the evening which was caused by the hand controller getting slightly snag on the cables so giving me erratic crazy behavior before I found out the culprit! Nevertheless, I was still able to get some decent integration time to capture her with its beauty! Afterwards, around 11:00pm, clouds started rolling in as well as some drizzle thus forcing us to coverup our setups and get some rest and at around 2:00am, sky started to open up again but with slight haze and cool 16.5 deg C so I only capture the trio galaxy pair of M81/M82 Bode's and Cigar Galaxies together with small galaxy NGC 3077 in one field of view. I'm still quite happy with the results despite the erratic weather pattern that we encountered at the site as well as the tracking gremlin that pestered me :) Also, despite strong winds, I still manage to get some decent frames from my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope on M51 Whirpool Galaxy as well. But lots of wasted frames :( We left the campsite at around 7:30am after our traditional group shot and went to Mang Vic Original Bulaluhan to have a delicious hot Bulalo meal to fill our hungry stomach before we head home and hoping to return again next month.