https://bhapstar.com/ Astrophotography from a Dubai balcony and the dark skies of the UAE desert. Deep-sky images, gear notes and guides for anyone starting out under the stars. en-gb Bhapinder Singh Bhapinder Singh Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://bhapstar.com/images/icons/apple-touch-icon.png https://bhapstar.com/ https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-the-moon.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-the-moon.html Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 It is bright enough to cut through a city sky, and it needs no tracking and no dark-site drive. How to tell whether it is up tonight, why the full moon is the worst night to shoot it, what the terminator gives you, and the settings to start from on a phone or a camera. Capture https://bhapstar.com/articles/imaging-from-a-city-balcony.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/imaging-from-a-city-balcony.html Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Most city astrophotography advice assumes a garden. A balcony takes away your view of Polaris, most of the sky, and half the night. Here is how to work with all three, and why it is still worth doing. Capture https://bhapstar.com/articles/how-i-plan-every-astrophotography-session-using-stellarium.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/how-i-plan-every-astrophotography-session-using-stellarium.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The software I open before every session. What is up tonight, how high it gets, when it is highest, and whether it will actually fit inside the frame. Capture https://bhapstar.com/articles/bortle-scale-narrowband-filters.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/bortle-scale-narrowband-filters.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Why a city sky buries a nebula instead of dimming it, how to score your own sky from one to nine tonight, and what 7nm and 3nm narrowband filters really do about it. Capture https://bhapstar.com/articles/seestar-s30-pro-tour.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/seestar-s30-pro-tour.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Deep sky and the Milky Way from the same 1.65kg box. Why the dual-lens Pro changed which rig I actually carry, and where a 30mm aperture stops. Gear https://bhapstar.com/articles/main-rig-tour.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/main-rig-tour.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A tour of the setup that takes every deep-sky image on this site. Why the mount has no counterweight, why the camera replaced a laptop, and how the whole thing runs all night on eleven watts. Gear https://bhapstar.com/articles/navigating-the-night-sky.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/navigating-the-night-sky.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The sky is a giant ball and you are standing in the middle of it. How to find Polaris, why the south has no north star, and what the celestial equator and the meridian actually are. Sky basics https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-milky-way-phone.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-milky-way-phone.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 No camera and no experience needed, just a phone, a small tripod and a dark sky. Where to look, which mode to use on an iPhone, Pixel or Samsung, and how to turn an hour of frames into a timelapse. Milky Way https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-milky-way-camera.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-milky-way-camera.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 One wide lens on a tripod, set to manual, pointed at a dark sky. The settings to use, how long the shutter can stay open before stars trail, and how the same frames play back as a timelapse. Milky Way https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-a-meteor-shower.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/photograph-a-meteor-shower.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Which showers are worth staying up for, why you should point away from the radiant rather than at it, and why the trick is taking far more frames than feels sensible. Works with a phone or a camera. Milky Way https://bhapstar.com/articles/calibration-frames-darks-flats-biases.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/calibration-frames-darks-flats-biases.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 What calibration frames actually are and what they remove, how to take each one, and why the flats are the ones that catch everybody out. Twenty minutes that decide the picture. Processing https://bhapstar.com/articles/siril-post-processing-guide.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/siril-post-processing-guide.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The free, open-source route from raw data to a finished picture. Calibration, stacking, and the one rule about stretching that quietly ruins images when it is broken. Processing https://bhapstar.com/articles/asiair-astrophotography-control.html https://bhapstar.com/articles/asiair-astrophotography-control.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Plate solving, autofocus, guiding and an unattended imaging plan, all driven from a handset. What the box does, the order a night actually runs in, and where the closed ecosystem bites. Capture