XaiJu
ajamesmccarthy

ajamesmccarthy

patreon


ajamesmccarthy posts

One of the more difficult shots I've done so far, here's the Horsehead and flame nebula I've been working on all winter.

Raw data for this is available to patrons in that tier. Would love to see your take on my data!

View Post

A more detailed look at tonight's Snow Moon

View Post

A focus stacked image of the full moon tonight

This image was created by blending shots using a small telescope I modified to have greater depth of field, and a large telescope for lunar detail. 

View Post

A gibbous Mars

View Post

A composite image of the moon tonight

View Post

The incredible Jellyfish Nebula. If it were brighter, it would appear larger than the full moon in the sky.

The raw data for this image has been shared on dropbox for those of you with access. See how close you can get to my result!

View Post

The comet as of this morning. Its profile has changed considerably since last week's shot

View Post

Tadpoles in Auriga, the closer you look the more you see

The raw data for this image has been posted to dropbox to those of you with access! See how close you can come to my image. 

View Post

Comet c2022 ZTF. My first attempt to capture this nearby Comet!

View Post

Our sun yesterday

View Post

My most detailed look at the Trifid Nebula, pushing an 8" telescope to its limits.

The raw data for this image is available to ambitious patrons who would like to give it a try. This shot is particularly challenging, because while it was captured from darker skies than usual, bad weather prevented me from capturing a "green" channel, so I had to create a synthetic one, making color balancing the image a particular challenge. This is my third attempt at processing this data set. 

View Post

Captured during a conjunction, the glare from the moon cast beautiful colors over Jupiter.

View Post

The Omega Nebula, a nebula so bright you can see it with your naked eyes.

The data for this image is available in dropbox to those of you with access. Also- this was shot with a color camera (not mono) so there is no need to align/integrate the channels, which makes it much easier for photoshop users!

View Post

The whimsical whirpool galaxy, eating another Galaxy 23 Million Light years away

The raw data for this image is available in Dropbox (Messier 51) for those of you with access. As always, let me know if you have any questions!

View Post

Patreon exclusive: The full uncropped 60MP image of my recent transit photo

As an artist, I enjoyed the composition of the closer crops I shared of this event. But it felt like a waste since I captured the entire moon to not show the full image. Hope you enjoy!

View Post

Tonight's "Wolf" moon!

View Post

The ISS kissing Tycho crater, a difficult shot to plan!

Learn more about how these are planned here:

https://cosmicbackground.io/blogs/learn-about-how-these-are-captured/capturing-the-international-space-station

View Post

Going to add some gift items to my shop and would love your feedback!

This is a bit different from my usual posts, because I would genuinely love your feedback. I added some gift items to my shop- right now just blankets, mugs, and puzzles with a few images for each. If there is anything you think you'd love to see in there please let me know! I'm just dipping my toe in the water to see if branching out away from just prints is in my future. 

If you want anything, don't forget as my patron you get 20% off- enter COSMICPATRON20 at checkout. This is a ...

View Post

A 4k compilation of some of this year's highlights

View Post

Mars with Phobos and Deimos

You can see Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris! The moons were drawn in artificially based on location data, they’re tiny so were lost in the planet’s glare.

View Post

Our moon in broad daylight

View Post

The Lagoon Nebula, one of the brightest nebulas in the sky.

The raw images from this have been uploaded to dropbox to those of you with access

View Post

My first time capturing this object: The Seagull Nebula

The raw preprocessed data is available in dropbox for those of you with access. Test your processing skills and see how close you can get to my image!

View Post

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

View Post

An intricate portrait of our sun captured yesterday. Make sure you zoom in!

View Post

This is Mars. Can you find Olympus Mons?

View Post

A Cosmic Pearl- A close look at the Bubble Nebula

The Raw data for this shot is available for those of you with dropbox access!

View Post

A Supernova in Detail... Vibrant colors reveal the composition of the stellar explosion

The raw data for this image is available in dropbox to those of you with access. If you want to get into this hobby it's a good place to start

View Post

Tonight's Martian Occult

View Post

Mars is at it's closest to Earth right now. Here's my shot of it.

View Post