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Astrophotography by Geoff Sikaloski, Mandurah (2026)

07/09/2026

The Helix Nebula — NGC 7293 - Completed image

17.5 hours of integration.

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is a planetary nebula around 650 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius — the expanding remains of a dying, Sun-like star. The intensely hot white dwarf at its centre illuminates the surrounding gas, producing the spectacular blue OIII and red Hα emission seen here.

This image has been a particularly rewarding project because it represents my first major imaging project with the Celestron EdgeHD 9.25.

Getting everything working together has been a challenge — optical setup, focusing, guiding and, perhaps most frustratingly, getting the calibration frames behaving properly.

After a lot of experimenting and plenty of learning, I think we've finally got there.

The final image comprises 17.5 hours of Hα/OIII data captured through the SV220, combined with broadband SV260 stars. The additional integration has really brought out the extremely faint outer halo and filamentary structure surrounding the bright central nebula.

Equipment

Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 9.25
Reducer: Celestron 0.7×
Camera: Player One Poseidon-C Pro
Nebula Filter: Svbony SV220 Hα/OIII
Star Filter: Svbony SV260
Usb/Power : Svbony Sv241 Lite
Mount: Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 Pro
Guiding: OAG Svbony sv238 + guide camera Svbony sv905C
Control: N.I.N.A. / PHD2 mini pc
Processing: PixInsight

02/09/2026

Some exciting news to share…

I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve been appointed as an SVBONY Australia Ambassador as part of their new ambassador program specifically for Australia.

This is a role I’m genuinely proud to take on.

Over the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to use a growing range of SVBONY equipment in my own astrophotography, putting it through its paces under real Australian skies. Some of those experiences have been incredibly rewarding, and some have certainly presented a few challenges along the way!

What I particularly enjoy about astrophotography is the process of taking equipment, dealing with the conditions we’re given, working through the technical challenges and ultimately producing an image that I'm proud of. I hope to bring that same approach to this ambassador role.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my imaging projects, equipment experiences, techniques and, of course, plenty of images from the southern skies of Western Australia.

A big thank you to Australia Svbony Astronomy Club for the opportunity and for the confidence they’ve placed in me.

There are some exciting times ahead… and I suspect there will be a lot more photons captured along the way!

I’m looking forward to sharing more of the southern skies with SVBONY.

23/08/2026

Helix Nebula — Work in Progress

NGC 7293 — The Helix Nebula - The Eye of God

I'm calling this one a work in progress, but I couldn't resist sharing it.

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is a planetary nebula about 650 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. It is the expanding shell of gas expelled by a dying Sun-like star near the end of its life. The central white dwarf is incredibly hot, illuminating the surrounding gas and creating the striking blue OIII and red H-alpha emission we see in images like this.

Despite its relatively small physical size, the Helix is enormous in the sky — spanning roughly half the apparent diameter of the full Moon — with an extremely faint outer halo extending well beyond the bright central ring.

This is my first serious imaging project with the Celestron EdgeHD 9.25, and it's been a genuine learning curve getting everything working together. From the optical setup and focusing to guiding, calibration and, in particular, getting the calibration frames behaving properly, there have been plenty of challenges along the way.

A special thank you to Allan, who I purchased the EdgeHD from. It's great to finally see for myself what this scope can do.

After a few frustrating moments, I think we've finally got there. The guiding has been exceptional, regularly getting down around 0.2″ RMS, first test for the oag mounted Svbony sv905c guide camera. Power and connectivity was handled by the new upgraded Sv241 lite. Thank you Australia Svbony Astronomy Club! This 7-hour integration is giving me a very good indication of what the EdgeHD is capable of.

The Helix was captured using the SV220 Hα/OIII filter, and I'm particularly pleased with the faint outer halo that's beginning to emerge. There's still considerably more data to collect, and I'd love to get this project somewhere around 15–20 hours if the weather gives me the opportunity.

For now, I'm very happy with this first serious test of the EdgeHD 9.25. There is more to come.

14/08/2026

M20 — The Trifid Nebula

After a rather frustrating run of winter weather, I finally managed to put together enough integration on one of the southern sky's great showpieces.

The last few weeks have been a real battle here in Western Australia. Winter has brought plenty of cloud, rain and very limited opportunities to get under a clear night sky. This image was built up over those scattered opportunities.

M20 is one of those objects that rewards patience. The familiar bright pink emission nebula is only part of the story. With enough integration, the surrounding blue reflection nebulosity begins to emerge, along with the intricate dark dust lanes and much fainter nebulosity extending well beyond the main core.

I wanted to keep the colour relatively natural rather than pushing it into an exaggerated narrowband palette, while still bringing out the incredible structure hidden in the surrounding cloud. To achieve this I utilised the Svbony SV260 broadband filter. Perfect to reduce the light pollution at my bortle 5 site.

22 hours of integration — M20, the Trifid Nebula.

26/07/2026

The Prawn Nebula (IC 4628)

This image combines 15 hours of Hα/OIII data with an additional 13 hours of SII, allowing me to create a Foraxx-style narrowband palette that reveals the complex interplay of hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen within this vast star-forming region.

What fascinates me most about IC 4628 is the incredible network of dark dust lanes weaving through the glowing gas. These dense clouds are the raw material for future generations of stars, while the brilliant blue-green regions trace oxygen excited by the intense radiation from young, massive stars.

I've spent quite a bit of time refining the processing on this one. Rather than pushing for the most dramatic colours, I wanted to preserve the subtle structure and depth captured in the data while keeping the image as natural and balanced as possible.

I hope you enjoy exploring this remarkable corner of our galaxy as much as I enjoyed capturing and processing it.

Imaging Details
Telescope: SVBONY SV122 (854 mm focal length)
Camera: Player One Poseidon C Pro
Filters: SVBONY SV220 Hα/OIII + SV220 SII/OIII
Total Integration: 28 hours
Location: Mandurah, Western Australia

15/07/2026

NGC 6726 – Corona Australis Reflection Nebula

After 20 hours of integration, I'm calling this project complete... at least for now.

This image has taken much longer to finish than originally planned. Between weeks of uncooperative weather then being overseas, opportunities to collect additional data have been few and far between. I'd have loved to push this project beyond 30 hours, but sometimes you have to work with what nature gives you.

NGC 6726 is one of the most beautiful and challenging broadband targets in the southern sky. Rather than glowing from ionised gas, this region shines by reflecting the light of nearby young stars through vast clouds of interstellar dust. Capturing the delicate blue reflection nebulosity while preserving the subtle brown molecular clouds is a rewarding challenge that demands dark skies, patience and plenty of integration time.

Although I consider this image finished for now, it's definitely a target I'd like to revisit in the future under darker skies to reveal even more of the incredibly faint dust that surrounds this remarkable region.

I hope you enjoy exploring the intricate dark dust lanes, delicate blue reflection nebulae and the rich star field that make the Corona Australis molecular cloud one of the most fascinating regions in our southern skies.

Equipment
SVBONY SV550 122mm APO (0.8× Reducer)
Player One Poseidon C Pro
SVBONY SV260 Broadband Filter
20 hours total integration
Mandurah, Western Australia

25/06/2026

NGC 6559 – The Chinese Dragon Nebula (25 Hours Integration)

Located in Sagittarius, NGC 6559 is a fascinating star-forming region containing emission nebulae, reflection nebulae, dark dust lanes, and Bok globules all within the same field. What initially attracted me to this target was the intricate dust structure surrounding the brighter nebula, and I'm pleased to see that detail beginning to emerge with the additional integration time.

The plan was to push this project beyond 30 hours, however a combination of poor weather and an increasingly intrusive Moon means completion will likely be delayed for a few weeks until darker skies return.

For now, here's the current work in progress at 25 hours. I'm looking forward to revisiting this target under better conditions and seeing what additional depth can be extracted from the faint dust and reflection regions.

Equipment:
SVBONY SV550 122mm (854mm focal length)
Player One Poseidon C Pro
SVBONY SV260 Broadband Filter
25 Hours Total Integration (180s exposures)
Bortle 4.5 Skies

18/06/2026

🦇 LDN 43 – The Cosmic Bat

After several weeks of imaging and waiting for gaps in the weather, I've finally completed my image of LDN 43, also known as the Cosmic Bat.

Located approximately 650 light-years away in Ophiuchus, LDN 43 is a fascinating dark nebula where dense clouds of interstellar dust block the light of background stars, creating the distinctive bat-like silhouette stretching across the field. Hidden within the cloud are young stars whose light illuminates portions of the surrounding dust, revealing the complex structure of this stellar nursery.

What attracted me to this target was not bright colours or dramatic emission, but the subtle interplay between light and shadow. The challenge lies in capturing the incredibly faint dust and integrated flux nebula (IFN) that permeate this region of our galaxy. These delicate structures only begin to emerge through long integration times and careful processing.

This final image represents 30 hours of total integration collected under the dark skies of Western Australia. The additional data has helped reveal the intricate layers of dust surrounding the nebula and the remarkable depth of the region.

30 Hours Total Integration

Equipment:
SVBONY SV550 122mm APO Refractor @ 854mm
Player One Poseidon C Pro
UV/IR Cut Filter
SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6 R Pro Mount
Processed in PixInsight

06/06/2026

The Lagoon Nebula (M8)

After 12 hours of integration, I've completed this close-up view of the magnificent Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius.

Located around 4,000 light-years away, M8 is one of the brightest and most active star-forming regions visible from Earth. The image reveals intricate lanes of dark dust, turbulent clouds of glowing hydrogen gas, and the young star cluster NGC 6530 embedded deep within the nebula.

This data was captured under challenging conditions, with an 85% illuminated Moon only 31 degrees away from the target. The SV220 dual-band filter did an excellent job isolating the nebular emission, allowing the fine structures and contrast within the Lagoon to emerge despite the bright lunar sky. A further 25 minutes of RGB data was added to restore natural star colours and provide a more balanced final presentation.

Equipment:
Svbony sv550 122mm at full 854 focal F7
Player One Poseidon C Pro
SVBONY SV220 Dual-Band Filter
SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6 R Pro
Captured with N.I.N.A. and processed in PixInsight

Integration:
• 12 hours SV220 dual-band data
• 25 minutes RGB stars

17/05/2026

CG4 – The Hand of God Nebula

Here is my latest reprocess of CG4, captured under the dark skies of Western Australia using my SVBONY setup.

This fascinating cometary globule in Puppis is shaped by intense stellar winds and radiation, creating the striking “Hand of God” appearance reaching through a sea of hydrogen, dust and faint reflection nebulosity.

For this reprocessing pass, I focused on preserving the natural dust structure and subtle colour transitions throughout the field, while bringing out the intricate detail within the globule itself. The surrounding molecular clouds and blue reflection regions are incredibly faint, so the long integration time really helped reveal the wider environment around CG4.

Equipment:
SVBONY SV550 122mm refractor
Player One Poseidon C Pro
SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6 Pro
SVBONY uv/ir and sv260 filters
Processed in PixInsight

Total integration 28 hours of 3 minute exposures.

This target is far more delicate than it first appears, and definitely one of the most rewarding broadband objects I’ve processed so far.

Astrophotography by Geoff Sikaloski

07/09/2026

02/09/2026

23/08/2026

14/08/2026

26/07/2026

15/07/2026

25/06/2026

18/06/2026

06/06/2026

17/05/2026

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