Total Lunar Eclipse Imaging Session - March 3, 2026

The sky this early evening was very cloudy and we miss Moonrise which occurred at around 5:58pm PST. The Moon started to play hide and seek with the clouds till around 6:45pm PST before it started to show some clearing through thin clouds thus allowing us to get some decent shot of the Moon almost nearing totality phase already. My son and I setup our imaging rig at the roofdeck of my buddy friend Charles Tiu who generously allowed us to setup on his roofdeck. I setup 2 imaging rigs with ZWO ASI294MC Pro on Borg 76ED Refractor on ZWO AM5 mount as well as Dwarf 3 Smart Scope on sturdy tripod. We stayed up until the Moon exits penumbra at around 10:23pm PST. KC on the other hand setup using Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera on Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/8. Lots of data to process but I will post an initial image of the Moon at Maximum Totality phase which occurred at around 7:34pm PST using the ZWO ASI294MC PRO camera on Borg 76ED Refractor with 1x Flattener and SVBony UV-IR Filter on ZWO AM5 mount. Stack of 50 images at 100msec at Gain 475 as well as a composite image of this eclipse. Another one was also at Maximum Totality phase using Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at Astro Mode with VIS Filter at AZ Mode with stack of 20 images at 2 sec exposure at Gain 0 as well as another composite image from the Dwarf 3 compilations.

Solar Imaging Session - March 3, 2026

The sky this afternoon is partly cloudy and seeing condition is fair. AR4378 as well as incoming AR4384 Region are the larger groups that are visible on the Sun's disk now. No large prominences are visible on the solar limb as well.

Lunar Imaging Session - March 2, 2026

The sky this early evening is clear so I use this opportunity to do a dry run of my 2 setups to image tomorrow's March 3, 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse. One setup uses the Dwarf 3 Smart Scope and the other one is using ZWO ASI294MC PRO camera on Borg 76ED Refractor. Images comes out decent IMHO. Clear skies to all!

Lunar Imaging Session - March 2, 2026

The sky this late evening till past midnight was very cloudy and got to get a quickie shot of the Waxing Gibbous Moon through passing clouds using my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at Astro Mode with VIS Filter at AZ Mode. Stack of 20 images at 1/125sec exposure at Gain 0. Got to test also KC setup for the upcoming lunar eclipse this Tuesday early evening March 3, 2026. Here again is the March 3, 2026 total lunar eclipse time and circumstances for the event.

Solar Imaging Session - February 28, 2026

The sky this afternoon is clear but seeing condition is poor. The Sun is alive again after 4 days of spotless Sun. There are 4 active groups on the Sun's disk with AR4378 Region as the largest group.

Lunar Imaging Session - February 27, 2026

The sky this evening is slightly hazy but clear. I test my planned lunar eclipse setup using ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera this time instead of my usual Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera with Canon EF100-400mm L lens which will be use by my son for the event. So far looking good and will be testing some more before the event which will happen on March 3, 2026. I use my ZWO ASI294MC Pro on Borg 76ED Refractor with 1x Flattener on ZWO AM5 mount. Exposure of 1/200 sec exposure at Gain 120 was used on the image.

Lunar and Deep Sky Imaging Session - February 25, 2026

The sky this evening is clear and I use my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at Astro Mode with VIS Filter and AZ Mode to capture the Quarter Moon as well as IC2169 Dreyer's Nebula in Monoceros using Dwarf 3 at Astro Mode and Astro Filter at EQ Mode. Stack of 240 images at 30 sec exposure and Gain 60. I also use my ZWO ASI294 MC Pro Camera on Borg 76ED Refractor with 1x Flattener and SVBony SV220 7nm Duo Filter to capture SH2-284 Portal Nebula in Monoceros. Total exposure of 158 minutes (79 x 120 sec) at -5 deg C .

Solar Imaging Session- February 25, 2026

The sky this afternoon is partly cloudy and seeing condition is fair. The Sun is spotless for the 4th day :( Image taken using Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at Astro Mode with Solar Filter at AZ Mode. Stacked 20 images at 1/2000sec at Gain 0.

March 3, 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse

On the early evening of March 3, 2026, there will be a total lunar eclipse that will be visible in the Philippines as well as Asia, Australia , Pacific and most of the American continent. The Moon will enter the Earth's light shadow (penumbra) at around 4:44pm (PST) and Earth's dark shadow (umbra) at around 5:50pm (PST) when the moon is still below horizon. Moonrise will be around 5:58pm (PST) when a small part of the Moon is already eclipsed. The umbral phase will continue to progress until 07:05pm (PST) when it enters totality phase with the Moon situated 15 deg above the eastern horizon. Maximum totality phase will occur at around 7:34pm (PST) with the Moon 22 deg high. Totality phase ends at around 8:03pm (PST) with the Moon rising above 29 deg above the eastern horizon already. Afterwards, Moon will start to slowly exits the Earth's dark shadow at around 9:17pm (PST). Moon will finally exits the umbral shadow at 10:23pm (PST) with the Moon 61 deg high above the eastern horizon ending the lunar eclipse.

Below is my maximum totality image taken last September 7, 2025

Solar Imaging Session- February 23, 2026

The sky this morning is partly cloudy and seeing condition is good. The Sun is spotless for the 2nd day so I capture it today for posterity :) LOL Image taken using Dwarf 3 Smart Scope at Astro Mode with Solar Filter at AZ Mode. Stacked 20 images at 1/2500sec at Gain 0.

HOO Hubble Palette on my February 17, 2026 IC405 Flaming Star Nebula / IC410 Tadpole Nebula

With cloudy skies these past few days, I converted my February 17, 2026 IC405 Flaming Star Nebula / IC410 Tadpole Nebula into HOO Hubble Palette using Narrowband Normalization method.

Deep Sky Imaging Session - February 17, 2026

Happy Chinese New Year! The sky this evening is clear so I use this opportunity to image IC405 Flaming Star Nebula together with IC410 Tadpole Nebula in the constellation of Auriga together in one frame using ZWO ASI294MC PRO Camera on Borg 76ED Refractor with 0.8x Reducer and SVBony SV220 7nm Duo Filter. Total Exposure of 122 minutes (120 sec x 61) at -5 deg C. I also use my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope to image IC443 Jellyfish Nebula in the constellation of Gemini using Astro Mode with Duo Filter at EQ Mode. Total Exposure of 121 minutes (30 sec x 242) at Gain 60.

Deep Sky Imaging Session - February 17, 2026

Happy Chinese New Year 2026! The sky this evening is clear but slightly hazy. I just use my Dwarf 3 Smart Scope to image simple NGC2233 galactic star cluster in Monoceros using Astro Mode with Astro Filter at EQ Mode. Total exposure of 45 minutes (30sec x 90) at Gain 60.

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!