Astrophotography from Brooklyn, New York City. I capture the Moon, planets, Sun, Milky Way, and night sky from NYC and during travel. Passionate about astronomy, nightscape, and starscape photography. Using Celestron NexStar 4SE, Coronado SolarMax II 60, Canon EOS Ra, 60Da, 40D, NexImage, and Canon EF lenses to reveal the beauty of the universe.
After several days of travel across Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands,
most of February was cloudy and rainy — typical for the rainy season.
Then one night finally cleared, giving us a rare window for astrophotography.
I went to sleep early and woke up around midnight to photograph a moonset —
the moment when the Moon drops below the horizon and the sky gradually becomes darker.
This image was captured on Isabela Island, on the beach near the small town of
Puerto Villamil (population under 2,000).
The location was convenient: only about 100 meters from the main street, yet dark enough for night-sky work.
After a full day of island trips, the short walk mattered.
Another practical reason was the wildlife — Galápagos animals are everywhere, and shooting close to town
made it easier to stay aware of my surroundings.
Moonset - Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador Astrophotography
Moonset (not to be confused with sunset) astrophotography from Puerto Villamil,
Isabela Island, Galápagos, Ecuador.
As the Moon sinks, the sky slowly darkens and more stars begin to appear.
Canon EOS 60Da, Canon EF 16–35mm f/2.8L II USM
10.0 sec · f/2.8 · ISO 6400
Related Galápagos & Equatorial Sky Astrophotography:
How to attach a Canon DSLR to the Celestron NexStar 4SE using the T-Adapter-C90 (93635-A) and a Canon EOS T-Ring — a simple and reliable setup for beginner astrophotography.
The Celestron NexStar 4SE is one of the most popular beginner telescopes for planetary, lunar, solar, and bright nebula photography, making it an excellent first step into real astrophotography.
This post shows the exact setup I used to attach my Canon EOS 40D DSLR to the NexStar 4SE using the T-Adapter-C90 (93635-A) and a Canon EOS T-ring. If you’re just beginning telescope astrophotography, this is the first and most important connection you need to learn.
How the DSLR attaches to the NexStar 4SE
The process is simple: the telescope's visual back accepts the T-Adapter-C90, and the Canon EOS T-ring attaches to the adapter.
Once the T-ring is locked onto your DSLR, the entire camera becomes the “eyepiece,” letting you capture the Moon, planets, and bright star fields directly through the optical system.
Canon EOS 40D attached to Celestron NexStar 4SE using the T-Adapter-C90 (93635-A) and Canon EOS T-ring
This is the complete physical connection: Telescope → T-Adapter → Canon T-Ring → DSLR. No eyepiece is used during prime-focus astrophotography.
This configuration enables prime focus astrophotography, where the telescope’s optics act as the camera’s lens.
By attaching the Canon EOS 40D directly to the Celestron NexStar 4SE using the T-Adapter and T-Ring, you get a stable,
optically efficient setup ideal for bright astronomical targets.
This setup is perfect for photographing objects such as:
The Moon (excellent detail and sharp contrast)
Jupiter and Saturn (rings, cloud bands, moons)
Venus and Mars
The Sun — ONLY with a proper solar filter
Bright star fields and clusters
Bright nebulae (such as the Orion Nebula)
More advanced astrophotographers can later use the NexStar 4SE for certain deep-sky projects with skill and practice, so this telescope can grow with you as you learn. But for beginners, its strongest and most exciting results come from planetary and lunar photography, where the 4SE delivers sharp, detailed images right from the start.
Assembly Series: Connecting a Canon EOS Camera to the Celestron NexStar 4SE
This Blue Moon from November 21, 2010 was photographed in Brooklyn using a Canon 40D and Celestron NexStar 4SE telescope, showing how different white balance settings reveal natural lunar colors.
Color full moon, blue moon, Canon 40D, Celestron 4SE
A blue moon can refer to the third full moon in a season with four full moons. The earliest recorded English usage of the term "blue moon" was in a 1528. In 2010 Blue Moon was November 21.
Equipment Used
Canon EOS 40D DSLR
Celestron NexStar 4SE Telescope
Color-Enhanced Blue Moon
1. Neutralize the colors (the median of the values of R, G and B is the same).
2. Create two duplicated layers.
3. First layer set as luminosity
4. Saturate the second layer.
5. Make invisible main background layer.
6. Play games with best parameters
So those colors are real, and the only difference is that they've been exaggerated a bit :)
Blue Moon - White Balance: Tungsten light
Blue Moon Celestron 4SE Canon 40D Brooklyn Astronomy
White-Black Moon - White Balance: Cloudy, twilight, sunset
Full Moon Celestron 4SE Canon 40D Brooklyn Astronomy
This Blue Moon project remains one of my favorite lunar imaging sessions. Using simple backyard equipment, the Celestron 4SE and Canon 40D can reveal a surprising range of natural lunar colors through different white balance settings.
Moon Astrophotography Celestron NexStar 4 SE Canon
Backyard Astronomy - Astrophotography Celestron - My amateur astro-photos
Celestron Nexstar 4SE - 4 inches telescope 101.6mm
Canon EOS 40D SLR Digital Camera
Canon Live View
The Moon Photos
Blue Moon November 21, 2010 (A blue moon can refer to the third full moon in a season with four full moons).
Music Debussy Suite Bergamasque: Claire De Lune ("Moonlight")
Hyginus is a small lunar caldera located at the east end of the Sinus
Medii. Its rim is split by a long, linear rille that branches to the
northwest and to the east-southeast for a total length of 220
kilometers
Hyginus is a small lunar caldera located at the east end of the Sinus
Medii. Its rim is split by a long, linear rille that branches to the
northwest and to the east-southeast for a total length of 220
kilometers. Celestron 4se, Canon 40D, Brooklyn Moon astrophotography
Between two seas: Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin for Sea of Tranquility) and Mare Serenitatis (the "Sea of Serenity"). Apollo 15 landing at site Hadley–Apennine region.
Apollo 15 landing site at Hadley–Apennine region, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis. Canon 40D, Celestron 4SE, Brooklyn Moon astronomy from backyard
Tycho is a relatively young crater (about 108 million years). This age suggests that the impactor may have been a member of the Baptistina family of asteroids. A larger asteroid from the same family may have been the impactor responsible for creating Chicxulub Crater on Earth 65 million years ago, and causing the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Tycho crater, Brooklyn Moon astronomy from backyard Canon 40D and Celestron 4SE
Moon astrophotography Canon 40D and Celestron 4SE, Tycho crater, Brooklyn Moon astronomy from backyard
Copernicus is a lunar crater named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. The crater is located in eastern Oceanus Procellarum. It is estimated to be about 800 million years old. The circular rim has a 30 km wide. The crater rays spread as far as 800 kilometers across the surrounding mare.
Copernicus crater, Astronomy from Brooklyn backyard Canon 40D and Celestron 4SE
Backyard Astronomy - Astrophotography Celestron
NexStar 4se telescope
Canon EOS 40D and T-Adapter-C90 and Barlow T-Adapter 1 1/4 inches and T-ring for Canon EOS
Celestron 4se telescope with T-Adapter-C90 (93635-A) and Canon EOS 40D
Celestron 4se telescope with Barlow t-Adapter 1 1/4 inches (93640) and Canon EOS 40D
Celestron 4se with Barlow t-Adapter 1 1/4 inches (93640), Erect Image Diagonal (94116) and Canon EOS 40D
Photos of the Moon and the Sun
Celestron NexStar 4se telescope NexImage CCD
Jupiter photos
Piggy-Back Camera Mount for Celestron NexStar 4 telescope (Item# BRKTPIG4)
The Green Comet 103P/Hartley 2 (2010)
From his wife, it drew nothing but torrents of tears.
"For you see," said Ms. Halley,
"He used to come daily;
Now he comes once every 70 years!"
--Astronomy Jokes
In October 2010, the bright green comet 103P/Hartley 2 passed relatively close to Earth, offering a rare opportunity for urban astrophotography.
This series was captured from Brooklyn, New York City — under heavy light pollution — using a piggyback DSLR setup mounted on a Celestron NexStar 4SE.
Despite the challenges of NYC skies, stacking multiple exposures revealed the comet’s distinct green coma, caused by glowing diatomic carbon (C₂) molecules in its atmosphere.
Image 1: Stacked result showing the comet within the surrounding star field.
Image 2: Closer crop revealing the bright coma.
Image 3: Maximum zoom view highlighting the comet nucleus region and surrounding glow.
Comet Hartley 2, Celestron 4SE Canon 40D Brooklyn
Capture Details
Object: Comet 103P/Hartley 2 (The Green Comet) Date: October 12, 2010 Location: Brooklyn, NYC Camera: Canon 40D Mount: Piggybacked on Celestron NexStar 4SE Lens: Canon EF 28–135mm f/3.5–5.6 IS USM Focal Length: 28mm Exposure: 27 × 60 seconds ISO: 1250 White Balance: Daylight Total Integration Time: 27 minutes
The following images were taken during daytime and show the full piggyback configuration used for capturing Comet 103P/Hartley 2 from Brooklyn.
The Canon 40D DSLR was mounted on top of the Celestron NexStar 4SE telescope using a dedicated piggyback bracket (Item #BRKTPIG4).
This configuration allows the telescope mount to track the sky while the DSLR captures wide-field images.
PiggyBack Camera Mount for Celestron NexStar 4SE (Item# BRKTPIG4), Comet Photo Setup, Brooklyn NYC Astrophotography
NYC Astrophotography, Celestron 4SE
Celestron 4SE and Canon 40D - NYC Astrophotography
Urban Comet Imaging – A Challenge Worth Taking
Capturing a comet from New York City is always a technical challenge.
High skyglow, limited visibility, and atmospheric haze make faint objects difficult to detect.
However, with careful stacking and processing, even a suburban or urban observer can document transient celestial visitors.
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 was especially memorable because it was visited by NASA’s EPOXI spacecraft during its 2010 flyby — making backyard imaging even more exciting.
Comets Over New York City – 14 Years Apart
Urban comet imaging has always been one of the most challenging and rewarding forms of astrophotography.
Fourteen years after capturing Comet 103P/Hartley 2 from Brooklyn, I photographed another bright visitor over New York City —
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) visible in NYC
.
The contrast between these two comet encounters is striking.
In 2010, Comet 103P/Hartley 2 was faint and not visible to the naked eye from New York City.
Its position had to be calculated using ephemerides, and a wide-field piggyback setup was required to locate and capture it through stacked exposures.
By comparison, Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) was significantly brighter and easily visible without optical aid.
Using a more modern Canon EOS Ra, a much simpler imaging approach was possible — sometimes the sky itself provides the spectacle without the need for complex techniques.
Together, these two comets illustrate different faces of urban comet photography:
one a technical challenge requiring precision and persistence, the other a rare and unforgettable naked-eye visitor over the New York skyline.
This video demonstrates how Live View on the Canon EOS 40D can be used for basic
solar astrophotography when connected to the
Celestron NexStar 4SE telescope.
It was recorded on October 2, 2010 in Brooklyn, New York.
The main goal of this experiment was to show how Live View helps with
focusing, framing, and exposure control when photographing the Sun.
At the time, Live View was still relatively new on DSLR cameras, and this setup
made solar imaging much easier than using only the optical viewfinder.
IMPORTANT: The Sun was photographed only with a
proper full-aperture solar filter.
Never point a telescope or camera at the Sun without a certified solar filter.
Permanent eye and equipment damage can occur instantly.
The video includes images and footage from the following
assembly series, showing different ways to connect a Canon EOS camera
to the Celestron NexStar 4SE. The links below lead to the original photo posts
for reference.
After the mechanical setup, the video shows the Canon Live View feed on a computer
using Canon’s software, allowing real-time monitoring of what the camera sensor sees.
This makes it much easier to achieve accurate focus and capture surface detail.
Celestron Solar Filter for NexStar 4 SE and Celestron 4SE, Brooklyn NYC Astronomy
The image above shows the solar filter mounted on the NexStar 4SE.
This is the most critical component for solar imaging and must always be installed
before pointing the telescope toward the Sun.
Astrophotography NYC - Celestron 4SE and Canon 40D
This photo shows the full imaging setup with the Canon 40D attached to the NexStar 4SE.
Live View allows precise focusing without touching the telescope, minimizing vibration.
Sunspot - Solar Activity - Celestron 4SE -Brooklyn Astrophotography
The final image shows a close-up of the Sun with sunspot group 1109.
Only a portion of the solar disk is visible — this framing was intentional to better
reveal sunspot structure and surrounding bright regions.
