Nebo Blyzhcheastrophotography from a balcony
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All the sky from one balcony

Hi, I'm Kostia. I photograph nebulae and galaxies with a tiny smart telescope from a city balcony in Ukraine. The goal is simple: capture everything that can be seen from here at all.

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Open cluster M37 · M37, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniGalaxy NGC 7331 (Caldwell 30) + SN 2026aaiv · C 30, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniHorsehead Nebula · IC 434, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniOpen cluster M38 · M38, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniBeehive Cluster (Praesepe) · M44, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniOpen cluster M35 · M35, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniOrion Nebula · M42, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniSoul Nebula · IC 1848, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniAndromeda Galaxy · M31, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniCalifornia Nebula · NGC 1499, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniChristmas Tree (Cone) Nebula · NGC 2264, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniJellyfish Nebula · IC 443, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniHeart Nebula · IC 1805, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniRosette Nebula · NGC 2244, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniCrab Nebula · M1, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniTadpoles Nebula · IC 410, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniFlaming Star Nebula · IC 405, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniPacman Nebula · NGC 281, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniMonkey Head Nebula · NGC 2174, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniPleiades · M45, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniOpen cluster M103 · M103, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniOpen cluster M36 · M36, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniDouble Cluster in Perseus (h Persei) · NGC 869, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniTriangulum Galaxy · M33, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniGalaxy NGC 7479 (Caldwell 44) · C 44, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniGalaxy NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis · NGC 2403, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF MiniOpen cluster M34 · M34, astrophoto from a city balcony, DWARF Mini

Rosette Nebula · NGC 2244 27 h 4 min of light over 10 nights

Updated 16 October at 21:56

The season
in numbers

48nights at the telescope
138.6hours of deep-sky light
20of 38 challenge objects captured
48published photos

Gathering light right now

bar: hours collected towards the goal

The challenge: done and ahead

For every object there is a goal: how many hours of light I need for a clean image under city skies. Tap an image to open it large.

Messier from the balcony

The 110 best-known nebulae, galaxies and clusters. Only the eastern half of the sky is visible from my balcony, so some objects are out of reach for good. The rest I collect one by one.

15of 100 reachable captured
≈ 148 h to the finish
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081?82?8384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110
CapturedGathering lightAheadOut of reach from the balcony

Solar system

The Moon, the Sun and the planets are shot differently: thousands of short frames, and only the sharpest ones survive. No percentages here, just the best attempts.

3D flights through my images

tap to watch
Rosette Nebula: 3D flybyRosette NebulaBeehive Cluster (Praesepe): 3D flybyBeehive Cluster (Praesepe)Heart Nebula: 3D flybyHeart NebulaTadpoles Nebula: 3D flybyTadpoles NebulaPacman Nebula: 3D flybyPacman NebulaChristmas Tree (Cone) Nebula: 3D flybyChristmas Tree (Cone) NebulaOpen cluster M36: 3D flybyOpen cluster M36Open cluster M38: 3D flybyOpen cluster M38Jellyfish Nebula: 3D flybyJellyfish NebulaFlaming Star Nebula: 3D flybyFlaming Star NebulaCalifornia Nebula: 3D flybyCalifornia NebulaOrion Nebula: 3D flybyOrion NebulaSoul Nebula: 3D flybySoul NebulaDouble Cluster in Perseus (h Persei): 3D flybyDouble Cluster in Perseus (h Persei)Open cluster M103: 3D flybyOpen cluster M103Open cluster M35: 3D flybyOpen cluster M35Crab Nebula: 3D flybyCrab NebulaAndromeda Galaxy: 3D flybyAndromeda GalaxyPleiades: 3D flybyPleiadesTriangulum Galaxy: 3D flybyTriangulum GalaxyOpen cluster M37: 3D flybyOpen cluster M37Horsehead Nebula: 3D flybyHorsehead NebulaOpen cluster M34: 3D flybyOpen cluster M34Galaxy NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis: 3D flybyGalaxy NGC 2403 in CamelopardalisMoon: 3D flybyMoonSun: 3D flybySun

How an image is born

  1. I pick a targetI check the forecast, the Moon and what has already risen over my half of the sky.
  2. The telescope shoots at nightThe DWARF Mini follows its plan while I sleep. The best hours are after midnight.
  3. Morning processingHundreds of frames are stacked into one, and the colours of nebulae are pulled out of the city sky.
  4. The site updates itselfThe numbers and images here refresh automatically after every night.

About me and this balcony

I'm Kostia. By day I write code, by night I collect the light of nebulae and galaxies. I've had the telescope since August 2026: a small DWARF Mini smart telescope that points itself, tracks the object and stacks the frames on its own.

My conditions are, frankly, so-so. The balcony roof hides half the sky, so I only get its eastern part. Until midnight everything is washed out by street lights, and even after that the city sky stays bright. So every image here is hours of light gathered over several nights, followed by a long processing session.

How I shoot, what worked and what didn't: all of that is in my Telegram channel «Nebo Blyzhche» («The Sky, Closer»). It's in Ukrainian, but questions in English are welcome too.

Clear skies!

  • DWARF Minismart telescope with a hydrogen and oxygen filter for nebulae
  • City balconyonly the eastern half of the sky, bright city skies
  • Best after midnightstreet lights are on until 00:00, only a dew shield saves the frames
  • Seasonssome objects simply haven't risen into my patch of sky yet