Stockton Astronomical Society

06/15/2026

Here is the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) in the constellation Canes Venatici about 28 million light-years away and Globular Cluster (M13) in the constellation Hercules about 23 thousand light-years away. The galaxy was imaged for 82 minutes and the cluster for 38 minutes. Equipment was the Svbony 127mm Maksutov telescope, ZWO ASI585MC camera, and ZWO AM5 mount. Location was Peddler Hill in Eldorado National Forest east of Sacramento California Saturday 6/13/26.

06/03/2026

Bode’s Galaxy about 12 million light-years away taken with Svbony Maksutov 127mm aperture telescope. It was shot with 0.65x reducer for 975mm fl at f/7.68. M81 was only 40 minutes of integration time stacked with 10 bias, 10 flat, and 10 dark calibration frames. Camera was uncooled ASI385MC on AM5 mount.

05/31/2026

Cigar Galaxy taken with a new small lightweight Svbony Maksutov telescope. It has 127mm aperture, 1500mm fl at f/11.8. M82 was only 20 minutes of integration stacked with 10 bias, 10 flat, and 10 dark calibration frames. Camera was uncooled ASI385MC on AM5 mount.

05/31/2026

Copernicus crater taken with a new small lightweight Svbony Maksutov telescope. It has 127mm aperture, 1500mm fl at f/11.8 but shot with a 0.65x reducer for 975mm fl at f/7.6. This Moon image is 75% of stacked frames from a 2 minute video. Camera was uncooled ASI385MC on AM5 mount.

05/11/2026

Two photos taken yesterday near Valley Springs, CA. First is the Heart & Soul Nebulas. It has about 50 minutes of integration time. Second is the Elephant Trunk Nebula. It has about 90 minutes of integration time. Both had 90s subframes and shot with Rokinon 135mm F/2 lens and ZWO ASI 2600MC Duo camera.

05/04/2026

May the Fourth (Force) be with you! Happy Star Wars Day from the Stockton Astronomical Society! Darth Vader was eyeing our Sun through our club solar telescope. Taken on April 19th 2026 at Victory Park during Stockton Earth Day.

04/26/2026

Due to clouds and poor seeing conditions, our plans to view the evening sky tonight at Oak Grove Regional Park have been cancelled. We will try again next month on May 23.

04/18/2026

Stockton Astronomical Society will be at Victory Park tomorrow Sunday 4/19 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm with our solar telescopes looking at the Sun for Earth Day. Please stop by if interested. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and not be too cloudy.

03/04/2026

Photos of the lunar eclipse March 3, 2026 from my backyard in Stockton.

Sequence of lunar eclipse photos March 3, 2026

03/03/2026

An image of the lunar eclipse today 3/3/26 taken around 3:25 am from Lodi CA using the Seestar S50 smart telescope.