Do you ever feel like you are running out of targets?

The OP raises a great point.

With a small refractor + OSC, I think the answer is frankly yes.

The more extensive your gear, the more targets you have. The better your site, the more target you will have. The more flexible your target base, the more targets you have. The longer you are prepared to spend per DSO, the more targets you will have.

I have been imaging for 6 years from a backyard Bortle 2 with less-than-brilliant seeing, and I now feel that I am also running out of (rewarding) targets, even with a 12-inch scope. I could go longer/use a bigger scope but the gains are either slow or expensive. In the past, Telescopius, AB have been great sources of inspiration for me. But increasingly less so. [It irks me slightly that most AB users don’t reference where they get their inspiration from].

There is a good reason why increasing numbers of AB users are moving to remote site/large telescope consortia. Better more cost-effective data. Same thing happened in professional astronomy in the 1960s.

Yes you can still add to old data (or re-process it with greater experience) but the gains made are incremental and lack the “wow” factor of a new target. If you want to get the wow back; suggest you upgrade, move location, or join a big mountain-top consortium.

From where the OP currently is, my initial suggestion would be to go mono.

CS Brian

I feel this way with visual.

the universe is big and full of objects. Check “first on astrobin”, “astrobin debut”, or “introducing to astrobin” for some rarely imaged objects.

Well I have been imaging for 15 years from Bortle 8, suburbs of London UK. I can only really image from here in Narrow band. I also have a lots of trees to contend with. I actually have run out of NB targets I can do from home, and trips to dark locations means a big effort to pack everything in the car and set up elsewhere, and this is getting more of an effort as I get older. Plus the weather doesn't always "play ball" when we have booked a campsite.

I don't want to keep repeating images I have done before unless I can do them better or different, and I think I have pretty much exhausted what I can do from home in that respect also.

Quite depressing really. Currently trying to sort out a better solution for getting to darker locations. Not ideal but have bought myself a smartscope for travel and doing broadband stuff I can't do from home.

Carole

I have a 16” telescope and aside from planned targets i sometimes do “blind imaging” for fun. I point the telescope to a random area in the sky and collect a few minutes of data. Then i use an automated workflow in Siril and im left with a “suprise” image. With this resolution and light collecting capability there is something aside from stars more often than not

Paul - as others have mentioned, you’re experience certainly isn’t isolated. I also had a “Well, now what?” moment after my first year. The “bigger scope” suggestion isn’t a thing to be feared, though. Most of us have multiple cameras, mounts and telescopes of various designs and focal lengths to answer the very question you’ve raised. You have wide field covered with the 400mm focal length. You could go wider with a 135 or 150mm camera lens. Likely shot at f/2 or faster, hyper wide FOVs can be very rewarding and I love how those images show the “context” of some of our favorite, front of mind favorite targets. I think I would suggest a longer focal length, especially with galaxy season right around the corner. I don’t know how much of a budget you could bear, but the AstroTech 115 and 130 are plenty long enough and properly balanced, an instrument your AM5N could handle. If you’re a tinkerer, a C6 or C8 SCT, reduced to f/6.3, could easily get the 1000-1250mm focal length to your sensor. I have the same camera and shoot with a C8 at f/6.3 for 1260mm and it does brilliantly on the smaller Messier galaxies. Like I said, a refractor would be “less” tinkering, but any new setup will have it’s challenges.

On a side note, my seeing and transparency conditions are certainly not the worst, but I don’t have the conditions to go much past 2000mm except on the most rarest of nights. This should be something you consider as well, because going from 400mm to 2000mm is quite the jump and your skies simply may not allow for it. I say that to suggest a jump to 750-1000mm focal length first, and see how it goes. Buying used may be the best way to find out what direction you should go. Re-selling used equipment helps you recoup much if not most of your initial outlay.

I might also suggest looking at different star charts for wide field targets that may be listed in different catalogs. There are certainly more objects, so that even the most prolific astrophotographers can say they’ve run out of targets. You may have reached the bounds of your personal catalog of favorite targets but even at 400mm, there are many, MANY other things to discover. Just get out there and get to it! CS - Jay

Carastro · Jan 24, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Well I have been imaging for 15 years from Bortle 8, suburbs of London UK. I can only really image from here in Narrow band. I also have a lots of trees to contend with. I actually have run out of NB targets I can do from home, and trips to dark locations means a big effort to pack everything in the car and set up elsewhere, and this is getting more of an effort as I get older. Plus the weather doesn't always "play ball" when we have booked a campsite.

I don't want to keep repeating images I have done before unless I can do them better or different, and I think I have pretty much exhausted what I can do from home in that respect also.

Quite depressing really. Currently trying to sort out a better solution for getting to darker locations. Not ideal but have bought myself a smartscope for travel and doing broadband stuff I can't do from home.

Carole

I certainly don’t feel this way yet, but I guess the point of my post is that I could imagine feeling this way over time. It seems to me that this hobby kind of drags you in with those almost magical experiences in the beginning with the realisation that you can image those beautiful showcase objects yourself, but then at some point you have done them (again forgive my lack of imagination). Then it also seems to me that you’re buying bigger and longer scopes to go further in, trying to access dark sites, remote imaging, etc, to up your game in being able to image those same subjects in a different way to make them interesting again. But I hope that doesn’t happen to me for a long time (and that I haven’t spent too much on gear in the process in case it does) 😀

In the meantime, for me, the combination of science, art and the technical experience in the gear, make this an an amazingly interesting and fun hobby…

Hvboy738 · Jan 24, 2026 at 05:55 PM
I have a 16” telescope and aside from planned targets i sometimes do “blind imaging” for fun. I point the telescope to a random area in the sky and collect a few minutes of data. Then i use an automated workflow in Siril and im left with a “suprise” image. With this resolution and light collecting capability there is something aside from stars more often than not

I do like this idea. Do you actually ever find anything interesting though?

There’s always something to look at. Consider AstroBin’s Garry Imm’s Deep Sky Compendium:

https://garyimm.com/compendium

You could also specialize in particular objects or types of objects: there are entire areas of study in all kinds of objects.

Mel Martin · Jan 23, 2026, 02:20 PM
I felt that way at times, but now I am exploring the less obscure catalogs (LDN, LBN, vdB, Sharpless, Barnard, Arp, Abell, ) and taking longer exposures. I've also (as mentioned above), gone back to some old targets and added much more exposure time. It's a big universe. I doubt I will exhaust its wonders.

Exactly. I have a modest background (4 years) in astrophoto and I must confess I am an optical geek. I feel a bit “out of target” sometimes but here is my prescription :

look at images shot with similar gear with respect to those you own : it is very inspiring ( at least for me)
deepen sophistication in capture and processing to have access to fainter objects (so many of them)
plan your observation schedule : there are wonderful tools around like telescopius or aladin (the idea is to compare what you see with your framing capability) . Make your seasonal shopping list.
ultimately get new gear with different focal length, or barlow, or reducer, or camera lens with adapter… whatever works while you can manage WAF.
and keep dreaming… the sky is a source of inner peace and meditation

Clear skies

Paul Sanfilippo · Jan 24, 2026, 09:31 PM
Carastro · Jan 24, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Well I have been imaging for 15 years from Bortle 8, suburbs of London UK. I can only really image from here in Narrow band. I also have a lots of trees to contend with. I actually have run out of NB targets I can do from home, and trips to dark locations means a big effort to pack everything in the car and set up elsewhere, and this is getting more of an effort as I get older. Plus the weather doesn't always "play ball" when we have booked a campsite.

I don't want to keep repeating images I have done before unless I can do them better or different, and I think I have pretty much exhausted what I can do from home in that respect also.

Quite depressing really. Currently trying to sort out a better solution for getting to darker locations. Not ideal but have bought myself a smartscope for travel and doing broadband stuff I can't do from home.

Carole
I certainly don’t feel this way yet, but I guess the point of my post is that I could imagine feeling this way over time. It seems to me that this hobby kind of drags you in with those almost magical experiences in the beginning with the realisation that you can image those beautiful showcase objects yourself, but then at some point you have done them (again forgive my lack of imagination). Then it also seems to me that you’re buying bigger and longer scopes to go further in, trying to access dark sites, remote imaging, etc, to up your game in being able to image those same subjects in a different way to make them interesting again. But I hope that doesn’t happen to me for a long time (and that I haven’t spent too much on gear in the process in case it does) 😀
In the meantime, for me, the combination of science, art and the technical experience in the gear, make this an an amazingly interesting and fun hobby…

Isn’t that reward enough?

I have noticed that a lot of long time imagers start to go for dim far away targets. After 8 years of imaging I have moved to the dim side a little bit, but I keep coming back to the brighter and or closer targets because I can usually do it better the second, third, or fourth time around. I think I have imaged the Orion Nebula at least 20 times and M13 almost as much. My M13 images have improved and my Orion Nebula images have improved by miles, or lightyears. Not sure which.😄

I will add a few new targets a years but as my imaging and post processing skills get better I like to redo objects I have done before. I should also mention new post processing tools that can make a decent image good and a good image really good.

I haven’t gone for those tiny looking long distance galaxies yet. I may get there someday.

I am doing astrophotography now (again) for about 6 + years - started again after retirement (PhD in Physics and Astrophysics) - I use three telescopes with fl from 420mm to 2450mm and my only concern is that I am running out of time and do not get enough clear nights here in Austria, where I live.
Not all targets, which I would like to grab are possible from my location, but with the ones, I can grab, I always can get more raw data, go deeper and deeper to see more of what is not only in the target but also what I around it.

And if I really want to get a certain target which I cannot grab myself, I download raw data from Telescope.Live - desparation poor. Same is true for a very long period of rain and/or fog :-(

But I think that there are more potential targets in either half of the skies than one can image in a whole life time!

Another option is to take up imaging comets! You get new ones every year, they move relative to the star field so with some planning you can get interesting combinations with DSOs, the comet tail can change daily (or even by the minute - that is exciting!), and they can be imaged with a smaller telescope with a wider field of view or even a DSLR and a wide angle lens. That said, it often helps to have a view towards the horizon (I have to travel for this) and darker skies.

Paul Sanfilippo · Jan 24, 2026, 09:32 PM
Hvboy738 · Jan 24, 2026 at 05:55 PM
I have a 16” telescope and aside from planned targets i sometimes do “blind imaging” for fun. I point the telescope to a random area in the sky and collect a few minutes of data. Then i use an automated workflow in Siril and im left with a “suprise” image. With this resolution and light collecting capability there is something aside from stars more often than not
I do like this idea. Do you actually ever find anything interesting though?

Well that depends what you will consider interesting, the most common thing i see aside from stars are small, almost star-like distant galaxies, but i did also come across some planetary nebulae and star clusters

Hi Paul.

Although I have only been on Astrobin for a couple of months, I have been photographing celestial objects for nearly 50 years. I have rarely repeated the same object. For example, I have spent three years trying to photograph all the concentric craters on the Moon (there are about 115 of them), or if you want even more work you can try photographing the 1128 planetary nebulae that you can find in the atlas, Strasbourg-ESO Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae.

Good skies!

If you ever think you are running out of targets, go look up books by Gary Imm. Trust me, you will be amazed. He is also on Astrobin.

Running out of targets is a numbers game, similar to restrictions of shooting with an OSC camera. If you are in New Mexico and can collect data 200 nights per year, the answer is clearly different that someone who might manage 15 decent nights in a full year. The photographer with only 15 good nights per year will only get two targets done per year with a mono sensor and filters. If he shoots OSC or mono he would never run out of targets and with Mono he would have a hard time getting his data in for just one (several nights worth) before a target has passed its season.

You can add a Duo-Band filter on an OSC rig to expand your number of targets (sorry I missed if you have one already).

Your physical collection site is also a strong factor. Many of us can only operate in one direction so to speak, as trees, buildings or insane light pollution is in the other. This limits the dates when any target is visible.

it is also a personal pref issue. I am happy with galaxy data I can manage with a short triplet refractor while others wouldn’t waste their time on a galaxy under 1000mm FL. There are quite a few within reach of shorter instruments (M31, M33, M101, M63, M106) with many smaller galaxies that still look very pretty such as the Leo Triplet, The Needle galaxy etc.

That said, AP will require 2 scopes to frame the well known targets and probably 3 scopes if you want to go planetary. Do not fear as the little 60mm you need to cover several degrees FOV is not so expensive. Obvi., if you learn to stitch together mosaics using serious software, your FOV can grow exponentially without needing smaller scopes. Myself, I enjoy getting the larger nebulas in one frame.

On top of that. two cameras is also a great help. One with a Larger sensor to go wide and another with tiny pixels to shoot planetary or smaller galaxies. Two cameras and three scopes will give you quite a range of FOV degrees and Arc.Sec./Pixel.

So there you have it. You need Three Scopes and Two Cameras to start with (3 cameras if you want to do planetary).

AP is a wonderfully maddening thing.

PS: One last thought; Returning to any target after a few years is very rewarding when you compare it to your earlier efforts. It always makes me feel better about my work. It can be very humbling looking at the work these heavy hitters produce, at least I am getting better vs. myself!

Hello,

following the discussion, I won't hide the fact that I too have thought that a certain lack of subjects will sooner or later force me to upgrade my setup.

I have been shooting with medium focal length instruments in both monochrome and color for a few years now, and the idea of adding an RC 12" to my setup has crossed my mind several times.

Capturing galaxies, planetary nebulae, and fine details on nebulae I have already photographed could open up new possibilities.

The real problems are others:

1) Time - if you work during the day, you need to sleep at night.😴

2) Seeing - going below 1"/pixel under my sky could be disadvantageous 👁️

3) Light Pollution → Bortle 6 🙄

4) The weather in central Italy isn't great, but there are worse places...💦

For now, I am still holding out. Then I'll see.

Bye

Paul Sanfilippo:
qcernie · Jan 23, 2026 at 05:44 AM

When you run out of targets you need a bigger scope.

😂

I feared this response.

Yep get a bigger telescope, and what you thought was not alot, purely opens up what you couldnt see first time round. The rabbit hole just goes deeper.

You never “run out of targets”. Once you have a year under your belt, you can go back and see how much you can improve over the last time.

It isn’t a once and done. It’s a hello my old friend, let me see if I can improve. Because often you can.

I have plateaued several times. Then go back and shoot the same things over again and find it is better than the last time. It is always interesting. It is never the best I can possibly do. It’s “OH, I like this better!”

A friend of mine I worked with always said, “Another chance to do good!” He was a professional painter where I worked, and a great friend.

I never “plan”, I randomly pick something in Stellarium, load it into NINA, adjust the angle of framing, and let-her-rip. Planning is the best way to set yourself up for disappointment. Tonight is supposed to be clear for me. No plan, just pick a victim. Then gather the light that would just disappear into the ground if my equipment didn’t grab it.

Make it fun, make it entertaining. Don’t fuss about running out of things to explore. There is always room for improvement. Believe me, none of us is that good.

SonnyE · Jan 28, 2026, 06:01 PM
Then gather the light that would just disappear into the ground if my equipment didn’t grab it.

Love that!

I’ve only been serious about this hobby for about 18 months. I’m not concerned about running out of objects, but more about running out of disc storage an money. I have and AM3 and looking at getting the new AM7 when it is released. Then there is a new ASI2600MM, better filters, EFW and bigger scopes.

Lately I have been doing searches on astrobin for images that was taken with similar equipment as mine. This gives me a jump off point as to other types of objects to try.

I have been doing AP about five years now have shot hundreds of targets. I am coming back to ones I did before, but they usually can be improved upon. New ones still crop up.

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