Astrocamp – Astrophotography & Deep-Sky Catalog
A week-long father-son road trip from Koblenz to northern Spain to photograph the total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026. From the search for the right spot to three independent local contacts and a nerve-wracking final hour before totality – the first part of a blog series about planning, detours, and the moment itself.
The first — and definitely the primary — photo of the 2026 total solar eclipse in Spain.
One of three objects in a thoroughly successful week: the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888.
The highlight of my holiday in southern England came on the very first night: Stonehenge with a touch of the Milky Way!
My second attempt at the same object in May 2026. This time at a focal length of just 590 mm.
Ursa Minor Dwarf Galaxy in the 1800mm version, photographed with the Vixen VC200L.
The Berlebach Uni 18 is my tripod of choice for the WarpAstron WD-20P – an overview of the selection criteria, the configuration with three-angle spread, ZWO plate and extension pier, and the reasons why a lightweight carbon tripod is not a sensible choice for harmonic drive mounts.
StellarMate OS keeps showing a notification that a new PHD2 version is available – but what’s actually behind it? I dug in, worked through terminal output and apt packages, and finally dissected the package itself. The result is surprising.
Across 5 sessions during an unusually long stretch of good weather, the new cooled system (UHC filter plus first light of the ultra-narrowband H-alpha filter) produced my deepest and highest-quality image of Messier 101 to date.
Sometimes the best outings happen almost by accident. That is how it was on the day I picked up my son from the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam after the finals of the Geo-Olympiade — and we spontaneously decided to explore the grounds together on foot. What was meant to be a relaxed walk turned into a small journey through 150 years of scientific history.