Ray

****PLEASE READ****PLEASE READ****
*****RE-INTRODUCTION*****
Been a while since I posted an introduction and new pic of me. Sorry internet. Old and ugly, as promised.

First my name REALLY is Ray. Second ALL the images here are my own work and NEVER AI.

Ok, A little about the guy in the picture. I JUST turned 60 on May 6th, 2026. I'm an honorably discharged, decorated veteran. I served 10 years in the US Air Force as an aircraft crew chief for 3 years and a combat arms instructor for the remaining 7. I'm an expert marksman and still hit the range several times a month to keep in practice. I'll post targets now and then. I served 7 years in the US Border Patrol then as a civilian combat arms instructor for the Air Force.

My photography has always been a hobby. NOT INTERESTED IN NFTs. Terrestrial photography is ALWAYS of nature. I TRY not to get ANY humanity in my pictures. No, I'm not a fan of humanity. I'm the guy that roots for the asteroid! I'll be there with a baseball mitt on to try to catch it. LOL Wildlife, landscapes and weather are primarily what I focus on. The instruments I use are a Canon EOS t7 with basic kit lenses, DJI Mini 2 & 3 Drones, and a GoPro Hero 13.

My Astrophotography is my true passion. Since childhood I have been fascinated by Astronomy. I ALWAYS wanted to take pictures like the ones I saw in Astronomy, Science News, and Sky & Telescope Magazines. Back in 2011, I was FINALLY able to get the gear I needed to do BASIC Astrophotography. Now, I am fulfilling that dream and sharing it here. My main scope is a Williams Optics Red Cat 51 Gen 3. (Scope in pic with ugly old man)

Politics. Ugh! I have VERY strong opinions. THIS site is not about that for me. It is about photography. I don't care what side you are on, what you identify as or who you vote for. I will NOT engage in political debate here. Anyone that tries will be immediately blocked whether you are on my side or not. PLEASE, if any of you feel I am being political, let me know and I will correct that behavior.

Thanks for sticking around to read the ramblings of a strange, ugly old man. This is who I am and I'm too damned old to care or change.

Again, not the BEST capture I have ever seen but given the equipment I was using and the inexperience I'm pretty proud of it. This was Jupiter, its moon Io and a double red spot. 2012, there was a secondary storm just south of the Great Red Spot. You can BARELY make it out on the right side of Jupiter's disk.

Holy crap! Decided to try one of my old planetary images from 2012. Not the greatest image of Saturn I have ever seen but damn! This was done with an 8" scope, a x 3 Barlow lens and a DSLR camera!

Another example of TRYING to salvage old BAD data. This is M-65 part of the "Leo Triplet" group of galaxies. This is data from 2013, again before I knew what I was doing. Kind of messy, but SOME detail can be seen. I was not very consistent with using Calibration Frames back then.

Here's where I'm at on my SH2-200, Bear Claw Nebula. This is 68 X 10-minute subs. (About 11 hours 20 minutes.) This is a wide FOV version. A cropped version can be seen here. astrob.in/qvwtan/0/ I might try to add even more data in the next coming nights as wait for other targets to rise.