2023 was a fairly eventful year for me, I tried to image many different targets that I previously feared imaging. Even though I didn't discover something new, nor did I get any awards, I still loved 2023 as it was my year of greatest improvement.

I got a new camera at the beginning of the year, and after some trial and error, I was able to produce an image out of it, the image?  Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the image wasn't fantastic, but good for my first-ever attempt at a comet. During previous years I would stop imaging throughout galaxy season because I viewed them as the most challenging targets, but in March of 2023 I made a pledge that I wouldn't lie stagnant for Galaxy season and that I would at least attempt a few galaxies. So I began with imaging Bodes Galaxy, this one never made it to my Astrobin page, the stars looked yucky, my focus was off, and it all in all wasn't a great image. Following this defeat, I decided to image the Pinwheel galaxy, arguably one of the coolest galaxies out there. This also never made it to my Astrobin page because it also wasn't a fantastic image. However, I took notice of something, a constellation shaped like a W, Cassiopeia. I decided that before it finally set in my horizon I would try and image the Heart and Soul with my 25mm zoom lens. This was my first ever real dabble into the art of imaging Ha nebulae, I had other previous attempts but nothing this serious, it was my first time imaging over multiple nights (which was like a breakthrough moment, to be frank.)

I began growing in my editing and capturing skills, and with my Optolong l-enhance, I began imaging the Flaming Star. There were serious problems with this image, I was underexposed which led to a noisy result, but it was still amazing to me. And finally, I produced an image I loved, the Monkeyhead nebula + Jellyfish nebula widefield shot. I corrected all those issues from my previous images and was able to get a solid 3 hours throughout two nights (it was setting earlier and earlier.

I took a month-long break to focus on my personal life and to wait for Cygnus to rise. I started strong with imaging the North America Nebula, one of my best images to date, it was also my first time doing subs over 120s. I only spent one night on it since it was a bright target and because clouds were rolling in, then I set my sights on the dumbbell nebula. Not a great image but it's a cool composition in my opinion. Soon I began wildfiring out images during the summer. The Crescent Nebula was my first time compositing RGB stars onto my l-enhance data, and my Ghost of Cassiopeia nebula was my first time using Guiding + Dithering.

Nearing the end of the year I took upon a new, huge project. The Soul Nebula.
I captured 23 hours over a series of 4 nights to complete my most ambitious and best image yet. Seeing my exposure time gradually increase and watching more details appear was so fascinating. I also tried to do an image where I let more O3 pop out, leading to a very cool-looking result with a contrasting red shell around a blue inner area. Then I was smothered with clouds, I got one break in the cloud though, so I chose to image a target that always fascinated me, the Horsehead Nebula, it was simple and easy but cool as well. I won't be capturing any more data on it, as its time to move onto bigger projects (soon) but I will always look back at these 2023 images in awe of how quickly I developed my skills in the challenging field of astrophotography.