Capturing and Processing the Eagle Nebula with Astro Wizard
The Eagle Nebula (M16) and the Pillars of Creation
Capturing the Pillars of Creation from My Texas Backyard
A Smart Telescope’s Take on a Classic Deep-Sky Icon
We've had some excellent clear skies the past few days in Central Texas, and I've been able to capture a few targets. Tonight it's cloudy, so I'm processing this capture of the Eagle Nebula, Messier 16 (M16). The Hubble Telescope made this one famous way back when, and its photo of the Pillars of Creation kind of became a thing. Well, my Vespera Pro smart telescope sitting in a light-polluted suburban Texas backyard is no match for the Hubble sitting in pristine space, but bringing this incredible star factory into view right from home still blows my mind.
Piercing the Suburban Light Pollution
To pull this off under my Bortle 5 (trending Bortle 6) suburban skies just north of Austin, I ran my Vespera Pro with its dual-band filter over a total integration time of 10.4 hours using 10-second sub-exposures. The dual-band filter is a lifesaver here, cutting right through the local light pollution while isolating the vivid emissions of hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III.
However, the duo-band filter working so magically also has a downside; it also removes most of the natural colors of the stars. There’s a way around that which I’m going to play with, it just requires double the work. Watch this space…
Streamlining the Workflow with AstroWizard
I processed the final TIFF from the Vespera Pro in AstroWizard, a relatively new piece of software that I’ve been using almost exclusively for the last couple of months. AstroWizard is exceptionally easy to use, downloadable for free and it's packed with easy power. The developer has been updating it frequently—sometimes once or twice a week—and jumps on YouTube about once a week to walk everyone through the latest features. Astro Wizard is so fresh that when I was up in Colorado visiting my kids and grandkids last week, I asked my son about it. He’s been doing heavy-duty astrophotography for years with a full-blown, complex setup, and he hadn't even heard of it yet. It’s no surprise, he uses Pixinsight! If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend giving it a look.
For the latest updates to Astro Wizard you can check out the developer’s website.
For the latest tutorials head to his YouTube channel.
Below you can watch this week’s update (October 15, 2026)
Updates on Astro Wizard and Stacking Wizard
Explore More of My Adventures
See how 10.4 hours of exposure time from a suburban Texas backyard revealed the iconic Pillars of Creation inside the Eagle Nebula using the Vespera Pro.