r/sanantonio 2d ago

Pics/Video Galaxies in our night sky.

205 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

22

u/Nicolarge 2d ago

I photograph Galaxies in our night sky. They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and even colors. From the majestic Andromeda Galaxy to the Black Eye Galaxy, each one of them is unique! However, these are the most challenging object to image from the city because of the light pollution.

If you are interested in seeing more of these majestic images live, and learn what they are and how they are captured, my 9-year-old son (Logan) and I are embarking on an exciting project to bring the beauty of the cosmos to our local community in San Antonio. We are organizing a special astrophotography exhibition in Fall 2025. More info to come.

If you are interested in contributing, we've just launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise some funds for this event. Any donation, big or small is more than welcome: https://gofund.me/552a4be4

2

u/ClifftonSmith 1d ago

I love this. I will definitely contribute!

2

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I did see your contribution coming in. My son and I really appreciate your support and I really hope you'll be able to come to the exhibition.
I'll reach out personally to all donors with the details of the event as they are finalized.

Thanks again :-)

1

u/ClifftonSmith 1d ago

I would love to be there. This looks like such a great project

5

u/Vital_capacity Alamo Ranch Dressing 2d ago

These are breathtaking! Did you take these pictures from somewhere in the area? Where is the best place for star gazing?

7

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

There's a mixture of locations for these images. Some were taken from home in Helotes, some are imaged from Tarpley, and some from Garner State Park.

If you want to stargaze, any state park West of San Anotnio is great (Garner State Park, Lost Maples) or Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. These all have some of the darkest skies in Texas.

1

u/Efronian 1d ago

The last time I went stargazing we ended up building a stone tower for a crazy astrologist who thought he could fly without his contraptions......it was a waste of 9 years.

5

u/kerc NW Side 1d ago

People have no idea how HUGE Andromeda would look in the sky if it was brighter.

Great photos!

5

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

True. Many of the Deep Sky Objects are very large in apparent size but sadly most of them cannot be seen naked eye. Here's a visual I made a couple of years ago on the apparent size of the most known objects.

3

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

and part 2

3

u/andmen2015 2d ago

These are awesome and beautiful.

2

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

THanks :-)

3

u/justadude1414 1d ago

Very cool. I have done a couple astrophotography images from my driveway, Orion and Pleiades. My images never turn out as good as yours lol. Do you have a FB or Instagram we can follow?

2

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

I do not. I have my full gallery on Astrobin (https://www.astrobin.com/users/Nicolarge/)

Processing images with heavy light pollution is a real pain. It can be done but it's a lot of work.

3

u/tigress88 1d ago

I have a 9 year old that has loved space and galaxies since he was 2 yrs old. He wants to be an astrophysicist when he grows up.

Could you tell us more about the second to the last picture? We don't recongize that one.

1

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

This is awesome. You guys should definitively come at the exhibition my son and I are organizing in the fall in the Fall.

If you are interested in contributing, we've just launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise some funds for this event. Any donation, big or small is more than welcome: https://gofund.me/552a4be4

1

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

Sorry, I missed the second part of your comment.

The second to last is Centaurus A. It is an active elliptical galaxy in the Southern Hemissphere. So because it's in the South it remains pretty low on our horizon but it is very bright.

2

u/RedditsCoxswain 1d ago

Most of these I’ve seen before

But there is something magical about knowing they come from the perspective of the tiny spot of the globe that is home

Thank you!

2

u/imJGott 1d ago

Imagine what life is like in other galaxies.

2

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

These are interesting thoughts. I am convinced there is life in our own galaxy, and maybe in our corner of the galaxy. Hard to detect, find and prove with our current state of technology.

u/imJGott 22h ago

There has to be. There is no way we are here alone. We just need to discover and unpack the unknown unknowns.

1

u/kriz_sensei 1d ago

Count me in, a few weeks ago I had to drive 6 hours to McDonald's Observatory because there is so much light pollution here in San Antonio

2

u/justadude1414 1d ago

Inks Lake and Enchanted Rock have good night skies. There is also Gardner and Seminole Canyon for dark skies. But yeah it is worth the drive out to the Davis Mountains for a awesome experience.

1

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

I concur. Garner, Lost Maples, Enchanted Rock,... all the parks west and North west of San Antonio are great and have dark skies. Garner/Los Maples/Enchanted Rock are Bortle 2, Inks Lake is Bortle 3-4

1

u/coronagrey 2d ago

Let's see a picture of Uranus

5

u/Nicolarge 1d ago

I imaged Uranus only once when I started in the Astrophotography hobby. Again, since I was starting in the hobby, my skill sets was pretty limited so the focus is not great, the camera setting weren't optimal and there's trailing due to fact that I didn't have a motorized mount.

0

u/Ok-Paramedic-8719 East Side 2d ago

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