Last year I attempted to image the Fish Head Nebula (IC1795) but the weather didn’t cooperate and I subsequently moved on to other targets. Last night I had another go at it, this time using my new refractor, which gives a much wider field of view. The weather was close to perfect too!
This is a stack of 85 x 3 minute exposures. I’m really liking the new scope!
And so are we!
It’s going to be clear again tonight, and the scope is still set up…so I’m thinking the Veil Nebula (either the Eastern or Western Veil) would be good, or the Iris Nebula.
Western Veil, also sometimes called ‘The Witch’s Broomstick’. The Veil Nebula complex is a super-nova remnant that cooked off somewhere between 5000-8000 years ago. The Western Veil is just a small part of the whole nebula, forming one part of a huge celestial smoke ring. Cygnus Loop
This image is 100 x 3 minute exposures stacked/averaged. Did I mention I am loving the new scope? 
A couple of slightly darker versions that look better on my iPad:
I would be interested in hearing which looks better on your screens. There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between what looks good on my iPad vs the laptop I am using to process the image.
On my phone the last image looks the best to me. (Phone: Nokia C2 Tava)
Wheels
Last one looks best on all my Monitors and devices. That’s on a Fairphone 5, an AOC CU34G2X/BK 34’’ 3440x1440p OLED and an iiyama 27’’ 2560x1440p IPS
Thank you for confirming. I guess I need to calibrate my laptop’s display.
I concur with Derby & Wheels.
The bottom image has the best ‘contrast’ and the top looks like the Gamma is cranked up too high. With the middle image … umm, somewhere in the middle.
I think the problem is that I made some adjustments to the laptop display settings after the image I sent off to be printed came back a little darker than I would have liked.
Understandable. My pictures aren’t generally astrophotography but I usually bump the exposure on dark images by 1/3 of a stop before printing (mostly night time long exposures). For regular images a little extra sharpening is enough before ordering a print.
Definitely the last one …but that is on a phone screen …
I had another clear night and I decided to get more data on the Western Veil with the hope of pulling out more of the subtle details… This is now 9.5 hours worth of exposure time…
I also refined my processing technique a little.
The Horsehead Nebula taken during the early morning hours today. 80 x 3 minute exposures stacked. This one needs some more time. Hopefully I will be able to add to it this week, assuming the weather holds.
Beautiful shots…
The Eastern Veil Nebula. 5 hours worth of exposure time (more to follow tonight with any luck).
I wonder if LV426 is in there somewhere…
That horsehead shot is mesmerizing! Of course ALL the shot’s you have shared are. But that shot, specifically the star at the horse’s 7 o’clock that is illuminating some gas between us and it, is breaking my brain.
You said “80 x 3 minute exposures”. Why not 4 hours or 2x2 hours or some other combo?
Now I can’t unsee it.
As usual, stunnung photos. 
Here’s something that we can all get a photo of …. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
Both taken this evening with my iPhone using its night mode set to 10 seconds of exposure. You can easily see it naked eye. I believe it will be visible for the rest of the month,
Eric, sorry, I guess I missed your question. You break the time up for a few reasons. With my old mount, using 3 minute exposures meant that I could expect to throw away some frames due to mechanical issues. By breaking the imaging run up, you get to keep the ‘good’ exposure time and discard any problem frames from the final stack. Breaking up the image run also allows you to average out noise, satellite trails, airplanes lights etc. If I take one 4 hour exposure for example, then anything like that is probably going to show up in the final image along with any thermal noise. I use three minutes more out of habit than anything else. With modern equipment shorter exposures give about the same results if you stack enough frames.
I hope that makes sense… probably a good thing I never got my CFI ticket 
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