AstroKajan

Hello! I am a North New Jersey based Landscape and Astrophotographer. Check out my webpage. Hello and thank you for visiting my page!

My name is Kajan and I'm based in Northern New Jersey. Follow me as I capture moments in time. My first attempt at capturing a moment was in 2020 when my wife and I went to witness the Northern lights in Norway. Armed with almost no knowledge of how to work a DSLR, we quickly learned what to do to capture this magic. Since that life-changing trip, I’ve been able to look through the lens and captur

e many of these moments and am overjoyed to be able to share these moments with you. Thank you for visiting my page!

05/01/2026

LOBSTERS IN SPACE!

The Lobster Claw Mebula and bubble nebula sit so close to each other and fit in my FOV so nicely that I couldn't not capture them both!
They sit right in Cassiopeia and
Really allow for some good color separation. I shot this using my filter, hence the primarily red image with hints of that Oxygen and sulfur.
This year im hoping to use my L2-duo to revisit and get tons of more data!

Last fall was really quite spectacular for imaging and I was able to get all sorts of targets, this being one of my favorites!
This is also my last image using photoshop to process. Its become too expensive to justify and there are way better programs out there now since I started this journey 6 years ago.

astrophotography

04/29/2026

Pac-Man is eating its way through space!

Back last fall, when clear nights were more abundant, i spent some time trying to capture Pacman. Well he's a quick one!
Sitting roughly 9500 light years away, and roughly 48 light years across, I was able to get a good widefield view of what's going on.

This is one of my last images using photoshop, and one i was really able to work with to manipulate the colors to make things pop. I'm quite happy with it!

astrophotography

01/14/2026

For those who've asked - I've created a separate page for my non-astrophotography work.

Landscapes, nature, and everyday photography are now love at

will continue to be my hub for all things astro

As always, I appreciate the love and support and look forward to seeing you all at

12/02/2025

The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is a large, glowing gas and dust cloud in the constellation Cygnus, located about 5,000 light-years from Earth.

I took this shot with my back during the early fall to learn how the works. I was quite impressed with the detail it was able to pull through my at 420mm.

Quite the fun processing adnenture trying to separate, adjust, and re-combine all the color channels to create something that wasn't dominantly red (which is what the L-enhace produces.

Finally getting around to posting some backlog, so stay tuned! And swipe to see a close up of the Crescent nebula

Camera: Asi2600mc pro
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Scope: Apatura 72ed
Control: Asiair Plus

11/09/2025

The Heart Nebula and Fish Head Nebula shot through my new filter. This came as part of their new L2-duo set to allow us OSC users to capture the SHO pallette much more accurately. This is done through both the L-xtreme (Ha and Oiii) and the L-Synergy (Sii and Oiii). A combination of the two give you the SHO pallette.

Since I already have the L-enhace and only had one clear night I figured I'd do a comparison to test a few things.
1. How does the L-extreme do under a full moon?
2. How is the halo control (known issue in previous l-extreme versions)?
3. How is the color and contrast.

Well here are my thoughts:
1. Under a full moon, the results were amazing. Im excited to try this under less than full moon status.
2. Halo control is no issue. Optolong has fixed the Halo issue and I saw absolutely no issues here.
3. Color and contrast look great. The detail is amazing and the depth of color really surprised me.

All in all, I'm so excited to pair the both the L-xtreme and the L-Synergy the next time I have a few clear nights in a row. Processing will be a learning curve but, that's the hobby isn't it 😂

Gear:
Camera: ASI2600MC Pro
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro
Controls: Asiair Plus
Image details: 8 hours of 7 minute subs under a full moon
Processing: DSS, Photoshop

07/06/2025

Sometimes the sky gives you stars.
Sometimes the ground answers with its own.

For just over an hour, I watched fireflies blink their quiet language into the night — tiny lanterns floating through the summer dark, writing stories in the air while stars traced slow arcs above.

I didn’t try to chase it. Just set the shutter and let time pass.
Some moments aren’t meant to be rushed — only gathered, gently.

And somewhere in between all that stillness,
it felt like I could believe that **planet Earth turns slowly.**

Brighten your screen and zoom around to see all of the tiny lanterns.

📷 Nikon D5600
🔭 18mm (18–55mm kit lens)
🕒 30s exposures over 70 minutes
🖥️ Stacked in StarStax, polished in Photoshop
📍 Backyard stillness

Maybe the best light shows aren’t just above us — but all around.

07/04/2025

✨ North America Nebula (NGC 7000) — New Gear, New Results

This was my first deep-sky target using the ASI2600MC Pro, and what better test subject than a nebula shaped suspiciously like our own continent? It's massive — about 50 light-years across and glowing with hydrogen emissions in the heart of Cygnus, roughly 2,600 light-years away.

I paired the camera with the Optolong L-eNhance filter to cut through light pollution and bring out those rich H-alpha and OIII details. Safe to say, I’m impressed.

📷 ASI2600MC Pro
🔴 Optolong L-eNhance
🕒 5-min exposures over 5.5 hours
🖥️ Stacked in DSS, processed in Photoshop
📍 Backyard with AsiAir Plus

Also, fun fact: posting this on July 4th wasn’t even planned… but I’ll take the coincidence. Nothing says “freedom” like spending hours staring at glowing gas 2,600 light-years away.

07/01/2025

I realized I never shared this one from October 2024 — better late than never.

Both of my cameras (Nikon D3500 and my astromodified D5600) were locked onto Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), each with a different lens: the 18–55mm and the 70–300mm. It was surreal watching this bright visitor streak through the sky — and even better experiencing it alongside my wife.

We both took some shots and then just stood there, taking in the moment. Quiet, fleeting, and unforgettable.

📷 Nikon D3500 & D5600 (astromod)
🔭 18–55mm + 70–300mm lenses
📍 Backyard setup
🗓️ October 2024

Have you ever seen a comet in person? It’s hard to describe — but impossible to forget.

06/29/2025

🌌 M81 & M82 — 24 Hours in the Making 🔭

I’ve captured this galaxy pair a few times, but this version feels like a breakthrough. After over 24 hours of exposure, I finally pulled out the faint red hydrogen filaments exploding from M82 — the “Cigar Galaxy.” Wild to see that kind of detail using a DSLR!

M81’s graceful spiral is always a treat, but M82 brings the chaos — and this time, it really showed up.

Shot with my astromodified Nikon D5600 and the Apatura 72ed, all from my backyard with a fully remote setup. No cooled astrocam, just persistence, planning, and lots of integration time.

🔧 Nikon D5600 (Astro-modded)
📷 Apatura 72ed
🕒 24+ hours of total integration
💻 Processed in DSS and Photoshop
📍 Backyard remote setup

Every revisit to this pair teaches me something new — about the gear, the sky, or the patience this hobby demands.

Drop a 🚀 if you’ve ever returned to an old target and seen it in a whole new way.

04/25/2025

Sometimes life gives you smiles...other times it gives you clouds....today gave me both.
Sitting on the Appalacian trail with my wife, waiting for the moon, Venus, and Saturn to rise...but low and behold, only the moon and Venus were visible.

Address

Vernon, NJ

Website

https://www.pictorem.com/profile/AstroKajan

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