Hi everyone!

I'm a high school student who's REALLY interested in doing some astrophysics research. I don't mind whether it's mostly data crunching or more theoretical/hardcore physics. I've had some experience with both, and I'd love the chance to work on a real research project.

For some context, here are a few things that might give you an idea of my background:

1. I'm on the US IOAA Team for 2026.
2. I'm reasonably experienced in CS (USACO Platinum), and I've spent a good amount of time working with Python and data analysis.
3. I'm reasonably strong in math (AIME score of 13, around the top 5% of AIME participants).
4. I'll also be representing the USA at the IAPhO in Indonesia this year.

I genuinely want to experience astrophysics research before I start college so I can figure out whether it's something I'd like to pursue as a major. More than anything, I just want to spend more time working on a subject I genuinely love.

I may not have the specialized knowledge to make major contributions immediately, but TRUST me when I say that I can learn quickly, and I'm willing to put in the work. I really believe I'd become a net positive for any project after getting up to speed.

If anyone here is involved in astrophysics or physics research, I'd really appreciate hearing from you! Feel free to DM me or leave a comment. Any advice, opportunities, or pointers would mean a lot.

And if any academics are reading this, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how a high school student can move beyond olympiads and get involved in real research. If you happen to have a project that you think I could contribute to, that would honestly be amazing.

Thanks so much for reading! :))

I find it real funny that these two weirdly shaped moons of mars were named deimos (the greek god of terror) and phobos. Like which astronomer looks at these (irregular-shaped!) moons and thinks "oh yeah, these are terrifying. deimos, phobos." 🙏🏻😭

Praying this doesn’t get removed! I checked the flow chart! This is looking toward the East in Sequim, WA. Girlfriend’s dad took this picture and thought it was Jupiter sitting beside the sun, but I thought it was likely an effect of the camera and glass on the window. Probably won’t mention anything to him either way, but would love to know!

Hi I’m a beginner and there’s a partial solar eclipse(80% at most) coming up soon I’d like to view for the first time through my telescope

This is the basic reflector I have, and I’m wondering if this Baader Solar film covering the opening of the reflector (not the eyepiece) is the correct type and everything I need?

I’ve googled and some film seems to be okay for looking with the naked eye but not for telescopes? So I’m not sure. Mainly wondering though if there’s more I need than just the solar film to be looking directly at the sun like also a specific eyepiece or something? Just with it being dangerous I want to be 100% sure I’m doing it correctly, thanks :)

Hi,

I was working on a study where I use VLMs for proper identification and describing celestial bodies from images. Issues with models like these is that they tend to hallucinate and produce incorrect results. I was seeking help from people who are experienced or have studied astronomy to collaborate with me to judge how good the predictions are and rate them based on the ground truth.

If you are willing to collaborate or know someone who can help with this task, please do let me know. Cheers!

NGC 6888 – The Crescent Nebula 🌙✨
This is NGC 6888, the stunning Crescent Nebula, an emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus, approximately 5,000 light-years from Earth.
Its distinctive crescent shape is the result of a dramatic cosmic interaction. At its center lies WR 136, a rare and extremely powerful Wolf-Rayet star nearing the end of its life.
Powerful stellar winds, traveling at more than 1,500 km/s, are sweeping up material expelled during an earlier evolutionary stage, compressing and heating the surrounding gas until it glows.
🔴 Red: Ionized Hydrogen (Hα)
🔵🟢 Blue/Green: Doubly ionized Oxygen (OIII)
These emissions create the intricate filaments and chaotic structures that make NGC 6888 one of the most fascinating deep-sky objects of the northern summer sky.
In a few hundred thousand years, WR 136 is expected to end its life in a spectacular supernova explosion, enriching interstellar space with heavy elements that will eventually become part of new stars and planetary systems.
📍 Object: NGC 6888 – Crescent Nebula
🌌 Constellation: Cygnus
📏 Distance: ~5,000 light-years
⭐ Central Star: WR 136 (Wolf-Rayet)
The universe is a continuous cycle of birth, transformation, and death. This image captures one of the most spectacular moments of that cycle.
📸 Imaging Details
235 × 300-second exposures
Total integration: 19h 35m
Captured: July 17–20, 2026
Location: Corato, Apulia, Italy (Bortle 6)
Telescope: Askar 91F APO
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Camera: ToupTek ATR533C
Filter: SVBONY SV220 Dual Band (Hα/OIII)
Processing: PixInsight
Clear skies! ✨

I finally captured the Tiangong Spsce Station! 78 degree pass and was able to get around 40 frames and had just caught it as it got to zenith thankfully. Very happy with my first attempt on it.

Nexstar 9.25” evolution

asi662mc

zwo uv/ir cut

I took and edited this photo via remote imaging with MicroObservatory.

I

Scope: WO Redcat 51

Main Camera: ASI2600MC Pro (Gain 100, Offset 25, -10 °C)

Mount: Star Adventurer GTi

Guide Scope: SvBony 165 (120mm F4)

Guide Camera: ASI120MM Mini

Filter: Ha and OIII Dual Narrowband (SVBony 220)

Acquisition: 136x 120", 4h32min total integration over two nights in May from a Bortle 6 Balcony, 31 % moon (I discarded approx. 10 % of my images)

Acquisition software: N.I.N.A. and PHD2.

Calibration Frames: 51 Bias Frames, 50 Dark Frames, 20 Flats per session

Pre-Processing in Siril: Drizzle, and manual image calibration and stacking

Processing in Siril: Cropped,AutoBGE for background extraction, RC Astro BlurX, NoiseX, StarX for Siril, Veralux Alchemy for narrowband normalisation. Veralux Hypermetric Stretch for stretching. Veralux Vectra for hue and saturation adjustment. Curve Adjustments and image recombination in Photoshop.

This is a 6 panel mosaic of the Veil Nebula.

Acquisition

• AT115EDT w/ FF/FR
• L-extreme filter
• 40 hours total

Processing

• Calibration, stacked, and stitched in Siril
• Deblur and denoise with CosmicClarity
• Pixel math for HOO bicolor image
• Starnet++ for star removal
• GHS for each channel
• Star recomposition
• Final curves and colors adjustments

Here's the data if you want to try it yourself: https://nyxaion.com/public.php?slug=1d227b0500ce09ced2cef7a080d138a5

Full res photo here (zoom in!): https://nyxaion.com/public_gallery.php?slug=aff29f43716c533beb4a1f3d14ae1b89&selected_id=a227dd75-03f3-4f46-9e44-e5260c37907e

NGC 6888 (Crescent Nebula)

This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting projects I’ve taken on so far. The amount of detail that’s starting to emerge after a few hours of integration has me looking forward to seeing what a few more nights will add.

Capture Details
223 × 90-second exposures
5h 34m 30s total integration
DWARFLAB Smart Telescope
Dual-band filter
Bortle 3.5 skies
Processed in Photoshop & Snapseed
Still collecting data, but I couldn’t wait to share the progress. The Crescent Nebula is already starting to show why it’s considered such a rewarding target for long integrations.

• Total integration time - 400 x 30sec
• Processed in Siril and Gimp
• Bortle 6
• Shot with the Seestar S30 Pro

Not really a great last few weeks for astrophotography as I only got half an hour of clear skies but I still managed to capture following scene. Shot on Sony a7RV and Sony 11mm f1.8. What do you think?

I know, an aps-c lens on ff, but I'm in the process of upgrading and the wide angle is the last on the list (hasn't been sold yet).

Exposure info
Skies - 11x 30s, f2 and ISO 800
Foreground - 120s, f2 and ISO 400

Third time's a charm? During these periods of short summer nights flooded with clouds, I find myself drawn (okay, addicted) to re-processing data captured from the first steps on the astrophotography path. Eight months later, I've learned so much and gained a deeper curiosity and wonder for the cosmos.

Located about 2,900 lightyears away in the constellation Cepheus, NGC 7822 is a star-forming complex sometimes referred to as the Question Mark or Teddy Bear nebula (imagine the frame rotated clockwise to better understand the "question mark" nickname). NGC 7822 even features “elephant trunks” similar to the famous Pillars of Creation.

Check out https://app.astrobin.com/i/3utx7a for the full resolution photo.

Light frames: 72 x 300s, total integration time 6 hours.

Equipment:

• Telescope: Apertura 90mm Triplet Refractor
• Reducer/Flattener: Apertura 0.8x (R-FLAT)
• Main camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
• Filter: Optolong L-Ultimate 2"
• Mount: ZWO AM5N
• Guidescope: Apertura 32mm
• Guide camera: ZWO ASI220MM Mini

Processing:

• Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
  • RC Astro BlurXTerminator
  • RC Astro NoiseXTerminator
  • RC Astro StarXTerminator
• Adobe Photoshop 2026

As part of a work experience week at a local university we went to their observatory where they have a decently large solar telescope on a sturdy tracker mount (I am unsure of the specifics so I cannot really answer any questions lol)

One of the professors (not sure, but person of expertise) set up the telescope for solar imagery and took a few still frames while our student group helped to set a few things up.

These were the results of the photos from last Thursday!
(First photo overexposed to show solar prominences (1/100s)
Second and third photo with lower exposure to show filaments, sunspots and other solar detail (1/1000s))