BSAS - Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society of Nashville

10/24/2026

Andromeda M31 Galaxy

Meet our closest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), located over 2.5 million light-years away. This shot represents 23.5 hours of total exposure through an Astro-Tech 115EDT refractor at a 644mm focal length. By blending 8.5 hours of standard color data with 15 hours of Hydrogen-Alpha emissions, the blue outer spiral arms are brought to life while revealing the vibrant red star-forming regions scattered throughout the galaxy.

Spencer Waugh

10/24/2026

Andromeda M31 Galaxy

Meet our closest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), located over 2.5 million light-years away. This shot represents 23.5 hours of total exposure through an Astro-Tech 115EDT refractor at a 644mm focal length. By blending 8.5 hours of standard color data with 15 hours of Hydrogen-Alpha emissions, the blue outer spiral arms are brought to life while revealing the vibrant red star-forming regions scattered throughout the galaxy.

Spencer Waugh

10/20/2026

Ghost of Cassiopeia:
Captured from Bortle 6 skies. The composition combines 74 five-minute Ha/OIII frames for the nebula's faint structure, 90 two-minute RGB frames for color, and 30 thirty-second RGB frames to maintain tight, natural stars. Blending the strong H-alpha signal with the RGB data seamlessly brings out the nebula's striking red details.

Spencer Waugh

10/13/2026

This is the Witch Head Nebula (IC 2118), a faint reflection nebula illuminated by the intense light of the supergiant star Rigel. The biggest challenge with this target is pulling out that incredibly dim, wispy blue dust without letting Rigel's massive glare completely overwhelm the image.

​To handle the extreme dynamic range, I shot deep 5-minute exposures to capture the background dust, and then carefully blended in short 30-second exposures specifically to preserve the star colors and keep the halos under control.

​Capture Details:
​Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51
​Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC
​Integration: 4h 10m total (50 x 300s for the ne@bula + 30 x 30s for RGB stars)
​Processing: PixInsight

Spencer Waugh

10/13/2026

SpaceX launch over Tims Ford State Park at 5:33am this morning.

10/13/2026

Spencer Waugh

10/13/2026

10/11/2026

Check out BSAS member Theo Wellington’s YouTube channel! Explore her content, learn something new, and enjoy expanding your astronomy knowledge. You never know what you might discover!

The Magdalena Astronomical Society hosts the Enchanted Skies Star P...

10/11/2026

NGC7000 (North American Nebula)

REDCAT51
ASI2600MC Air
11.16 hrs of integration from a bortle 3 and bortle 4 location over 2 nights.

HaOIII
SIIOIII
and broadband for RGB stars

Spencer Waugh