Last night, I drove out to the dyke near Emden with my camera and that quiet kind of anticipation only a clear evening sky can bring. Across the Dollart, Delfzijl lit up the horizon with a thick haze of light pollution. And yet, there it was: C/2023 A3, the long-awaited visitor from the outer edges of our Solar System. And yes, it was worth the way.
At first it was hard to spot against the glaring light dome. But as darkness settled in and my eyes adjusted, it unfolded its true shape. A delicate tail stretching outward and I was amazed by its sheer scale. I had never seen a comet before so it was a first for me to see something so ancient. It had a quiet majesty to it that made me awestruck.
I brought my telescope along, and when a few curious evening walkers passed by, I offered them a glimpse too. It felt good to share the moment—seeing their faces light up as they found it in the eyepiece, that same breathless “wow” I had just felt myself.
Discovered in early 2023 by both the Tsuchinshan Observatory in China and the ATLAS survey in South Africa, this comet made its closest approach to the Sun in late September 2024. Around October 9–11, forward‑scattering effects made it glow brilliantly. It reached up to magnitude -4.9 becoming one of the brightest comets in decades. Now it’s heading away from the Sun, which means it rises higher in our evening sky each day – but also fades a little more.
The best time to catch it? Right now, just after sunset. Find a dark spot with a clear western view, bring binoculars or a telescope if you have them, and give your eyes a moment to adjust. It won’t blaze across the sky, but if you’re patient, it reveals itself. Quiet, distant, and full of stories older than memory.
Of course, I tried to capture it on camera too. But I’m still a bit inexperienced with stacking—and depending on the method, either the stars or the comet end up trailing. So post-processing turned out to be trickier than expected.
In October, I attended our annual star party in Zwischenbergen/Wiesmoor, where amateur astronomers from across Germany gathered to share their passion for the night sky. This year, we were fortunate to enjoy clear skies on several nights—and a few very special surprises. But more on that later.
On October 5th, I traveled to Zwischenbergen with a friend, eager to kick off the event. One of the highlights of the evening was seeing the 16-inch Halfmann telescope of a fellow club member in action for the first time. When we arrived, he was showcasing the Dumbbell Nebula (M27), a breathtaking planetary nebula. The images were live-stacked, allowing us to see them in vivid color and detail—far beyond what’s possible with the naked eye.
Next, we turned to the Ring Nebula (M57). Though the object is relatively small, it came alive in color, and its central star was clearly visible after a bit of processing. Finally, we moved on to the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888), an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. Its brighter areas stood out beautifully, though the darker regions required more processing time to reveal their secrets.
As the night went on, we wandered around, talking to other guests and admiring their setups. One observer used a small apochromatic refractor to photograph the Heart Nebula. The live-stacked images revealed intricate pillars of gas and dust, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the detail. Astrophotography has always fascinated me, but for now, it remains on my “someday” list.
I also took the opportunity to view Saturn through several telescopes. My favorite was a 16-inch Dobsonian, which provided a sharp and stunning view of the planet’s bands and its moons — three to the right, one to the left. The high humidity, however, posed a challenge, fogging up lenses and mirrors. After a bit more stargazing and conversation, we decided to head home, chilled but happy.
The following night brought even colder temperatures, but with my down coat and a set of ultra-thick boots I kept myself warm enough to join my friends for another night. Although the visibility wasn’t as well as the night before I got rewarded with some fleeting glimpses of Draconid meteors. It was a quieter evening, perfect for catching up with club members and sharing stories.
I couldn’t attend the following nights and was rather bummed to miss out seeing the northern lights. After getting my car back on October 8th, I was eager to rejoined my friends despite the cloudy skies. Around 1 a.m., the heavens cleared just enough to offer a glimpse of the stars, along with a few more Draconids streaking across the sky. The next day began with rain and wind, but even as the skies improved in the evening, the visibility remained poor. Since it was rather a „bottle 12“ than a Bortle 12 sky we engaged in conversations and got a surprise visit by another club member from southern Germany.
Thursday night brought an unexpected highlight: northern lights. We had been alerted to a high KP index earlier in the day and as the first reports rolled in at dinner, we rushed back to our meeting place. The sky soon revealed a soft, reddish-green glow, forming a surreal backdrop for a presentation on constellation mythology. Slowly, the auroras transformed into a mesmerizing dance, their vibrant streaks weaving across the heavens. Captivated, I snapped photo after photo until clouds moved in, giving us a brief pause to sit and chat.
Just as we thought the show was over, another wave of green and red lights appeared, this time brighter and stretching into the zenith. The sight was nothing short of magical—a perfect fusion of art and science. When the display finally faded, I had captured around 660 photos, which later became stunning time-lapse sequences.
On Friday, we found time for solar observations. Using telescopes equipped with H-alpha filters, we marveled at sunspots and prominences. Later, a group ventured out to the fields in search of a clear view of the western horizon, hoping to spot Comet C/2023 A3. Unfortunately, low clouds made it hard to find the comet against the still light sky although Venus was clearly visible.
Back at the meadow, many of us enjoyed casual conversations while others set up their equipment. As the night went on, the air grew heavy with humidity, making observations increasingly difficult. Jupiter and Saturn were once again in view through a Dobsonian, though the turbulent atmosphere made it impossible to see finer details. To lighten the mood, we joked about the music from a nearby party and decided to create our own festive atmosphere. Our „party“ featured leftover homemade liqueur and alcohol-soaked fruit, adding a humorous twist to the evening.
Saturday featured a lecture by an astrophysicist from a neighboring club, exploring the origins and impacts of small celestial objects like comets and meteorites. That evening, the clouds parted briefly, allowing us to observe Jupiter, Saturn, and the Hercules Cluster. With rain in the forecast, many participants began packing up, and I decided to call it a night as well. This was the longest stay I’ve ever had at our star party, and the most time I’ve spent sleeping in my „mini-van“. My back was rather grateful for a normal bed that night xD
A while back, I felt inspired to recreate a photo captured by Deepsky Balve took. It took me some courage to start and for a while I stopped because I was afraid that I would’t be able to paint the galaxy proper. But I made it and I’m really proud of how it turned out! Despite initial hesitations, I found the courage to start painting. At times, I doubted my ability to depict the galaxy accurately which took some time (and another test on an empty canvas). In the end I’m thrilled with the final result.
The finished painting
Almost done here
After the first layer of varnish
Detail of NGC2805
This celestial piece features the Holm 124 galaxy group nestled in the Great Bear constellation. Noteworthy members include NGC2805 (prominent in the lower corner), NGC2814 (a smaller one next to the bright star at the top left), and NGC2820 (elongated and positioned at the top left) with its companion dwarf galaxy IC2458 at the bottom that completes the ensemble. Discovered by Herschel in 1791, these cosmic wonders reside at a distance of 72 – 81 million light years from Earth.
On October 28th there was a partial lunar eclipse taking place. It was rather cloudy but we were at least lucky enough to see it through the clouds. In Germany it was also astronomy day so our astronomy group offered an observation evening in the tiny observatory.
The tiny observatorium, a mobile observatory, was staying in Zwischenbergen in October.
Although it was rather cloudy, we had a few guests who came to visit or asked for help with their own equipment. And after sunset we were lucky to catch some breaks in the clouds and see the moon and Jupiter.
At home I took out my camera to take photos. The lunar eclipse started 20:01 CET and had it’s maximum at 22:15 CET. The moon was rather obscured with clouds so it was hard to get a clear photo. I added several photos to get a slightly better composite photo.
The moon and Jupiter were very close and could be captured with a 70 mm lense together. Since they were rather obscured by clouds, the photos were rather blurry:
Moon and Jupiter, single shot with Canon EOS M50, 70 mm, F=5.6, 1/20 s, ISO500, 28.10.23 22:22 CET
I actually started this illustration back in May but I was too busy to finish and post it. Now I finally had time to do so and I absolutely love how it turned out with the colorful galaxy hair. Somehow at the moment I love to play with digital mediums and also combine vector illustrations with other digital illustrations. So stay tuned, I’m already working on more spaced out illustrations 😁
I will soon also update my shops on Redbubble and Society6 with this design, if you like to get yourself some colorful and spacey clothes or accessoires.
Today I have a little flashback to July 2022 when the James Webb space telescope showed the first photos of Stephan’s Quintett – five galaxies in the constellation of pegasus. I used yellow hexagon squares for the background in reference to the mirror construction which was quite some fun 😄 Also used some of the cute cup stickers from Salam Creative that I absolutely adore but forget to add way too often 😅 And it was the time that I finally managed to open my Etsy shop for the first time.
These videos have been a pain in the a* to edit and cut together. Simply because I had the glorious idea to film the process in almost 4K 🙄 But I finally managed it and hope you enjoy this little timelapse of my acrylic ink experiment on raw cotton.
I really enjoyed playing on a different material for the first time. Yes, I painted on canvas but that was always primed with Gesso. But I saw several artists using their canvas raw and unprimed so I had to try it out myself. And I have to say that I really enjoy working on the raw material and definitely will try that again.
The northern lights are always magical. So when I came across a tutorial beginning of 2022 I just had to try it. I didn’t quite like the mountains in the first version, they felt too plain. A while back I decided to rework them and I’m super pleased with how it turned out 🥰
It’s also uploaded to my Redbubble shop and my new Society 6 shop so if you like it, make sure to head over and get a print of it (or some fancy accessoires 😄)
