I’ve waited a long time to get a good night for shooting. What was not expected : a lot of people at my usual quiet spot.

Global weather has changed, that’s not to be discussed … clear skies are rare and I’m tracking every day multiple spots to be a good place to shoot. I have so many targets in mind, and I have so many tests to validate …

On the 11th of May, finally a clear sky, I’ll go top of the hill. I have two spots there: one where I’ve been on a boar path between two woods, and the other one where a night bus is polluting a bit the spot with its lights every 15 minutes. I’ve decided to use the Celestron C9 with the Hyperstar. It is amazingly fast so in case of weather changing, at least I could get some shots with some light quickly.

This time, I prepared three targets : still CTB1 (maybe ?), The Tulip Nebula and eventually the Pacman Nebula if I have some time. I’ve decided to shoot where the bus is bothering me : the field is wide so I may drive further in this country road to avoid the bus lights. Strangely, a car is already there … with a woman in it … that’s ok, I drive a bit further.

I setup my equipment, then another car is coming … and then another one, and then another one !!!! What’s happening ???? All these cars with lights on, families with kids yelling and with flash lights : if I wanted a Bortle 8 spot, I’ve chosen the right place … and then I remember : the day before was an opportunity to spot auroras, and there was a chance to catch them the day after too … that’s why … I’m now concerned that my telescope will catch these beautiful but also noisy lights. I wasn’t wrong, I caught some reminiscence of these lights in my shots … pfff … I’ll deal with that later.

CTB1 is not reachable … I quickly shift to the Tulip Nebula : I can see it (Hyperstar is crazy fast), seems a good target for tonight. For the first time, I’m exposing for 180 seconds for each light shot, now that I understand guiding.

After around 20 shots, my guiding system is giving up … I worked on it unsuccesfully, and I shifted on Pacman Nebula. After around 20 shots of Pacman, my guiding system is giving up again … I switched back to the Tulip and took additional 6 shots. My night is then done, I drive back to home. Time for stacking and treating these pictures.

• Exifs : Celestron C9 + Hyperstar / PegasusAstro Nyx-101 / PlayerOne Poseidon C Pro cooled at -10°C / Askar D1 HaOIII filter / Guiding System Askar 135mm scope with PlayerOne Ceres C

26 lights 180 seconds each - 20 selected for stacking (1 hour exposure for final shot)

20 biases - 20 darks (done at home in a dark room the day after, these are difficult to do on the Hyperstar) - No flats.

Stacked with Pixinsight (WBPP)- Post-Treatment with Pixinsight with a minimum of processes.