I am in northern hemisphere (southern US) and am new to astrophotography.
Regarding the best time of year, I know winter is typically the best (October - January).
Right now I am using a redcat 51 so 250mm and have hard time finding targets to image. Due to field of view, Galaxies are far too small for the most part and nebulae seem to be almost out of season. By the time it is actually dark, most are close to the horizon and I can only do the orion nebula so many times before I need something fresh. I have looked at telescopius but not finding many options that are suitable.
Any advice?
Astrophotography in March
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I have an almost identical setup, and I’ve struggled with this issue, too. The simplest solution is just to image galaxies anyway: Markarian’s Chain, M81 & M82, M106, M101, and M108 and M97 are all large enough to look decent. For some inspiration, here’s a great image of M106 taken with a Redcat. The same user has several good galaxy images with that telescope.
Alternatively, there are a few circumpolar nebulae that you can image year-round—Sh2-174 comes to mind. Most of them are quite faint, but they’re still interesting targets. Because there’s less to image, you can spend more time on them and produce a deeper image. As a third option, if you’re willing to wake up well before dawn, around March, you can also start to image Cygnus and the Milky Way core. Although it’s only for a few hours a night, it’s better than nothing.
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What I do, Trey, is use Stellarium to scout out likely objects to suck the light out of.
I’ve used it so long it has become my favorite hunting ground. I image the year around. If it’s clear, I’m out there. I didn’t get into this frustrating sport to warm a bench. LOL!
I just got going on the Seagull Nebula for tonight’s victim.
Mix it up, pick on a Galaxy when the Nebula seems sparce. But keep shooting, keep gaining experience’s.
You can do this. Just get out of that lull.
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What mount do you have?
Maybe think about getting second ota with a bit more focal length?
Maybe think about getting second ota with a bit more focal length?
Trey Wood · Feb 23, 2026, 02:38 AM
I am in northern hemisphere (southern US) and am new to astrophotography.
Regarding the best time of year, I know winter is typically the best (October - January).
Right now I am using a redcat 51 so 250mm and have hard time finding targets to image. Due to field of view, Galaxies are far too small for the most part and nebulae seem to be almost out of season. By the time it is actually dark, most are close to the horizon and I can only do the orion nebula so many times before I need something fresh. I have looked at telescopius but not finding many options that are suitable.
Any advice?
Maybe try seeking out some LBN or LDN targets if your skies allow.
That’s what I plan to do if I get a single clear moonless night between now and summer time(which is not looking likely).
Some of them are fairly big and many are close together forming large dust fields.
Concise
Trey, unfortunately we are coming to the end of nebula season and so a lot of the bigger targets you can shoot with the 250 are going to be below the horizon or almost there, by astronomical dusk.
We are entering Galaxy season soon and you truly need FL to capture most of them. Be patient though - by June Sagittarius and Ophiuchus will be here with all their great nebulae. Unfortunately, the nights are shorter then.
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I normally take a break from imaging between late March and late June so I can refresh because my longest focal length is 600 mm. That said, here are some ideas for early March I’ve come up with. I image from about about 30 degrees north latitude. I’m looking specifically at March 7th on Stellarium (moonrise is at about midnight, the night daylight savings time begins):
The Flaming Star and Tadpoles nebula in Auriga should be 30 degrees above the horizon until about midnight.
M78 and the Boogeyman Nebula (LDN 1622) are a little east of the Orion Nebula and will set a little later than Orion.
The Jellyfish Nebula (IC443) is above Orion in the constellation Gemini, but Jupiter is about 10 degrees away and might cause issues.
Rosette Nebula in Monoceros. (Edit: I just looked at your profile and I see you already done this, but adding more integration time to the image is also worthwhile!)
M44 (Beehive Cluster) will fill the frame well and will be high in the sky for most all of March, but might be a little boring.
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I like the conversation here and have been thinking about this, since we’ve all worked through it one way or another.
I wonder if a slight shift in thinking might help—instead of focusing on a specific object, think in terms of a region of sky. With a RedCat’s wide field, you’re really working in the ~2 to 6 degree range, which opens up a lot of possibilities.
I’d be curious what shows up if you use that as a filter in Telescopius. Wide-field views around some galaxies, for example, can be surprisingly rich with IFN and surrounding structure, and they tell a very different story than just zeroing in on the galaxy itself.
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John Walsh · Feb 23, 2026, 07:24 AM
Trey Wood · Feb 23, 2026, 02:38 AM
I am in northern hemisphere (southern US) and am new to astrophotography.
Regarding the best time of year, I know winter is typically the best (October - January).
Right now I am using a redcat 51 so 250mm and have hard time finding targets to image. Due to field of view, Galaxies are far too small for the most part and nebulae seem to be almost out of season. By the time it is actually dark, most are close to the horizon and I can only do the orion nebula so many times before I need something fresh. I have looked at telescopius but not finding many options that are suitable.
Any advice?Maybe try seeking out some LBN or LDN targets if your skies allow.
That’s what I plan to do if I get a single clear moonless night between now and summer time(which is not looking likely).
Some of them are fairly big and many are close together forming large dust fields.
So I got curious and found this: LBN or LDN - Search