The Daily Populous Sunday January 31st, 2021 evening edition
Image from preview.redd.it and submitted by NightSkyFlying

NightSkyFlying on January 31st, 2021 at 12:51 UTC »

Here is Betelgeuse, a red giant star that is estimated to be roughly 600 light years from Earth. The star itself is quite popular as one of the brightest in the constellation Orion. It made the news last year when the prominent red glow started to fade before our eyes. Astronomers predict this star will end in a spectacular supernova, but unfortunately the dimming last year was only temporary, and not a sign of the end of its lifecycle. But who knows what the future holds? While unlikely, maybe we will see it go in our lifetimes. What a crazy sight that would be.

I took this image from my backyard in northern California, under Bortle 4-5 skies. It is made up of about 75 minutes of data.

The tilt shift look was just for fun and added in post processing. It really does create an effect that draws your eyes to the target. You can actually take images with that effect using some specialized attachments (but I don't own one), so I gave this a try instead, and it came out looking pretty cool.

I'm happy to answer any questions, and feel free to see more of my work on Instagram if you like

Gear:

William Optics Z61 telescope AVX mount Canon Ra camera 50mm guide scope ZWO ASI290mini guide camera

Liger_Zero_Schneider on January 31st, 2021 at 13:45 UTC »

Oh this is brilliant! I just got an Ultrawide monitor and set that Tilt-shift picture of Andromeda that won awards last year as my desktop background, but I wanted something different but similar for my other screen.

ShadowYankee on January 31st, 2021 at 15:46 UTC »

My friend, Ford, often looks up wistfully at Betelgeuse, or as he claims, somewhere in the vicinity of it.