Dean MacDonald Photos

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Dean MacDonald Photos

Astrophotographer located in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. I’m an amateur astrophotographer based in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada.

Prints can be ordered from my website.

08/14/2026

🔭My contributor copy of the October 2026 issue of Sky & Telescope arrived, featuring my image of the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) and Ghost Nebula (vdB 141), taken with my ASI294MM Pro and an 80mm APO.

The article looks at some of the faint reflection nebulae and illuminated dust in Cepheus, including what it takes to find these objects visually. This image took more than 20 hours of exposure time to put together, revealing dust that would be extremely difficult to see through an eyepiece.

Since this is an early contributor copy, I’ve blurred the article for now, but I couldn’t resist sharing a quick look. 😁

🌐 deanmacdonald.com

06/28/2026

Here's 12 hours on Bode's Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82).

Only my second finished project of the year, but I've got a few more on the go that I'm looking forward to getting back to... if the weather cooperates.

If not, I'll probably be waiting till fall. These short nights don't leave much imaging time, and before long the mosquitoes will be bad enough to keep me inside. 😂

🌐 deanmacdonald.com

06/25/2026

Some exciting news!

An editor at Sky & Telescope Magazine recently reached out to ask if they could use my image of the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) and Ghost Nebula (vdB 141) in an upcoming article about the van den Bergh catalog of reflection nebulae.

The image will appear in the October 2026 issue. It's an honour to have one of my images included in such a well-respected astronomy publication, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article in print. 😁

🔭 Clear skies! 🌐 deanmacdonald.com

05/25/2026

About this time last year, I was preparing some of my first astrophotography prints for the Square Foot Show at the Owen Sound Artists’ Co-op.

After one of my prints sold last summer, I got a call during our family camping trip asking if I’d like to join as a temporary member. Of course, my answer was yes.

To my surprise, they weren’t sick of me yet 😉 and extended my temporary membership. Then, in February of this year, I was offered full membership, which I happily accepted.

Now, I’m very pleased to announce that I’ll be joining the board of directors for the Owen Sound Artists' Co-op! A great community of talented folks, and I’m really looking forward to being more involved.

See y’all tonight at the AGM! 😁

05/18/2026

My latest capture, the Leo Triplet 🔭

I imaged the Leo Triplet back in 2024 with my 80mm APO, but it was nice to revisit this target with a little more reach.

The Leo Triplet is a group of three prominent galaxies located approximately 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Messier 65 and Messier 66 are both intermediate spiral galaxies discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy, is an edge-on spiral galaxy discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

This is 10.5 hours in LRGB, taken with my ASI 1600MM-C, using my 6” RC and a 0.67 reducer at 0.74× reduction.

🌐 deanmacdonald.com

05/11/2026

I think I've found the perfect place to hang my 'Summer of 69' piece by William Van Veen – right next to my scopes!

I had to snag this from the Owen Sound Artists' Co-op before someone else beat me to it. 😁

04/25/2026

M81, M82, and the Not-Yet-Visible Vulcan
4-Panel Mosaic

This will be an ongoing project, but I wanted to check my initial framing after the first night out, and figured I’d share a look at how the mosaic is coming together.

This is just 24 minutes of luminance for each panel so far, but I’ll be collecting many hours of LRGB, along with even more hydrogen and oxygen data to help bring out the Vulcan Nebula.

Clear skies! 🔭

04/24/2026

It was great to finally get back out for some imaging last night 😊
My first couple of projects this galaxy season include a 4-panel mosaic of Bode's, Cigar, and Vulcan with the 80mm APO, and the Leo Triplet with the 6" RC.
Here’s a peek at the luminance data of the Leo Triplet from last night.
Looks like we may have some more clear nights soon🤞

04/20/2026

Just added a few new prints at the Owen Sound Artists' Co-op 😁
Swing by, say hi, and see what’s new on the walls.

04/06/2026

Haven’t posted in a while, but things are going great at the Owen Sound Artists' Co-op 😁

Just restocked greeting cards and I’ll be adding a few new acrylic prints over the next couple of weeks.

If you’re in the area, stop in and check out some of the great work being created locally.

Address

Owen Sound, ON

Website

http://deanmacdonald.com/, http://deanmacdonald.ca/, https://app.astrobin.com/u/DeanMacDonaldPhotos

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