In the fall of 2018, after a lifetime of dabbling in astronomy, I revisited my local South Dakota Black Hills Astronomical Society to attend a public star party. Soon after I joined and my new astronomy club mates provided links for Cloudy Nights and Astrobin for learning and some inspiration.
After a short stint in visual astronomy I saw a BHAS club member running an astrophotography session. After seeing some of his previous results, I was severely bitten by the AP bug.
In 2021 an amazing
IOTD of M78 by Mr. Frank Breslawski popped up on Astrobin. I was stunned by the beautiful contrasts of color, dark nebulosity, details, etc. I fell down a rabbit hole while discovering M78's technical details - M78 was the home of
Japanese superhero Ultraman. I had rabidly watched Ultraman on TV as a snot-nosed youngster. Now I HAD to capture it!
I bookmarked that image two and a half years ago and swore one day when I was ready and able, I would try my best to just capture M78 in LRGB. Five years after my AP path started - struggling with CCD/CMOS Color/Mono cameras, Meade/APT/SGP/NINA/DSS/PixInsight, NB/WB filters, EAF's, an SCT, three mounts, a quality Refractor - I was finally ready for my first run at M78.
Thank you to all at Astrobin for your stream of excellence and inspiration. Thank you, Frank, wherever you are.
CS & GB!
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