SITREPS ASTRONOMY

A field journal of the night sky.

Captured from a backyard in Lakeway, Texas with a $500 telescope. One target at a time.

The Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) photographed from Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California with a ZWO Seestar S50 in an 11-minute exposure — a face-on spiral galaxy with multiple clearly resolved arms in the upper-left of the frame, with a faint companion smudge visible in the lower section.

M101 — The Pinwheel, Revisited

Same target, 11 minutes, a different sky

ZWO Seestar S5011 minBahía de los Ángeles, Baja California, MexicoJun 17, 2026

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M100 photographed from Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a face-on spiral galaxy in the center of the frame with resolved arm structure, accompanied by an edge-on companion galaxy in the lower-left and several other faint Virgo Cluster members scattered through the field.

M100 — Face-On Spiral in the Virgo Cluster

A near-twin of the Milky Way, 55 million light years away

ZWO Seestar S5026 minBahía de los Ángeles, Baja California, MexicoJun 17, 2026

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M92 photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a dense, compact globular cluster of resolved stars with a bright concentrated core, set against a starfield in the constellation Hercules.

M92 — The Other Hercules Globular

Among the oldest objects in the universe, 26,700 light years away

ZWO Seestar S5067 minLakeway, TXJun 14, 2026

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The Ring Nebula (M57) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a small but unmistakable elliptical ring with a cyan center and pinkish-white rim, set against a dense field of stars in the constellation Lyra.

M57 — The Ring Nebula

A perfect smoke ring around a dying star, 2,300 light years away

ZWO Seestar S5051 minLakeway, TXJun 14, 2026

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The Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a large face-on spiral galaxy with multiple resolved arms and star-forming regions, set against a dense starfield. A faint satellite trail cuts across the upper right of the frame.

M101 — The Pinwheel Galaxy

A face-on spiral 70% larger than the Milky Way, 21 million light years away

ZWO Seestar S5048 minLakeway, TXJun 13, 2026

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Jupiter and its four largest moons photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — Jupiter overexposed as a bright central point with three or four small bright dots (the Galilean moons) arranged around it against a black sky.

Jupiter and the Galilean Moons

What Galileo saw in January 1610 that changed everything

ZWO Seestar S50Lakeway, TXJan 26, 2026

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Jupiter photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 in Solar System mode — a small tan-and-cream disk with visible parallel equatorial cloud bands, centered in a wide black field.

Jupiter — Cloud Bands

The closest gas giant, captured as it actually looks through a small telescope

ZWO Seestar S50 (Solar System mode, video stacking)Lakeway, TXFeb 9, 2026

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M88 photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a face-on spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, with several smaller background galaxies scattered across the frame.

M88 — Spiral Galaxy in the Virgo Cluster

One of thousands, 47 million light years away

ZWO Seestar S5051 minLakeway, TXJun 12, 2026

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The Trifid Nebula (M20) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a small pink emission nebula divided into three lobes by dark dust lanes, with a bright young star at its center.

M20 — The Trifid Nebula

Three kinds of nebula in one frame, 5,200 light years away

ZWO Seestar S5025 minLakeway, TXJun 13, 2026

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The Omega (Swan) Nebula (M17) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a bright pink emission nebula with a swan-shaped central bar and surrounding nebulosity.

M17 — The Omega (Swan) Nebula

A bright emission nebula in Sagittarius, 5,500 light years away

ZWO Seestar S5039 minLakeway, TXJun 13, 2026

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The Lagoon Nebula (M8) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a large pink emission nebula with dark dust lanes cutting through and a bright central knot known as the Hourglass Nebula.

M8 — The Lagoon Nebula

A stellar nursery in Sagittarius, 5,000 light years away

ZWO Seestar S5036 minLakeway, TXJun 13, 2026

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The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a small but unmistakable edge-on spiral galaxy with a bright central bulge and a dark dust lane cutting horizontally across it, set in a wide starfield.

M104 — The Sombrero Galaxy

An edge-on spiral with a dust lane, 29 million light years away

ZWO Seestar S506 minLakeway, TXJun 13, 2026

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The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a small planetary nebula with a cyan core and pink/red outer lobes shaped like an apple core, against a dense starfield.

M27 — The Dumbbell Nebula

A dying star, 1,360 light years away

ZWO Seestar S5022 minLakeway, TXJun 13, 2026

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The Hercules Globular Cluster (M13) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a dense, resolved ball of hundreds of thousands of stars with a faint background galaxy (NGC 6207) visible in the lower-left corner.

M13 — The Hercules Globular Cluster

300,000 stars in a 22,200-light-year ball, older than the Earth

ZWO Seestar S5058 minLakeway, TXJun 13, 2026

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The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) photographed from Lakeway, Texas with a ZWO Seestar S50 — a face-on spiral galaxy with its companion galaxy NGC 5195 attached below.

M51 — The Whirlpool Galaxy

A merger in progress, 23 million light years away

ZWO Seestar S5073 minLakeway, TXJun 10, 2026

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Coming soon

The Veil Nebula

A supernova remnant 10,000 years in the making. Targeting the new moon at the end of June.