I was sent a Vaonis Vespera II smart telescope in July 2025. Here are some images I’ve taken with it. My review will be up shortly on TelescopicWatch.com.

These images were taken using the stock Vespera II with the included dual band/broadband filters, or unfiltered from a dark sky. Unless otherwise noted, I used 10s subs and did processing in the free Siril astroimage processing app.

These should load in full resolution by default thanks to the way my website is coded - if you’re on a desktop, just right click to “open in new tab” - if you’re on mobile, you can just zoom in or save the photos to your device.

I have more images that I’m not entirely happy yet with on a separate page.

Emission & Reflection Nebulae

Cone Nebula, Christmas Tree Cluster & Hubble’s Variable Nebula

Entirely shot from my backyard, 22h, dual band filter. My longest total exposure image so far.

IC 59 & IC 63 - Ghost of Cassiopeia

Shot from the Chiricahua Mountains, 3h 30min, unfiltered.

IC 2118 - Witch Head Nebula in Eridanus

Shot from the Chiricahua Mountains, 7h, unfiltered.

IC 1805/1795 - Heart Nebula in Cassiopeia

Entirely shot from my backyard, 19h 35min, dual band filter. This is a mosaic which I manually stitched together in Siril.

IC 434 & NGC 2024 - Horsehead & Flame Nebula in Orion

Shot mostly at home, 7h 15min with dual band filter, with 45 mins of unfiltered data from the Okie-Tex Star Party. 8h total.

M42/M43 - Orion Nebula

2h from the Okie-Tex Star Party unfiltered, 4h from my backyard with broadband filter, f6h total.

NGC 2237 - Rosette Nebula in Monoceros

Entirely shot from my backyard, 8h 45min, dual band filter. This one uses 20s subs rather than the usual 10.

M8 - Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius

Shot from Sonoita Arizona, 5h 45min unfiltered. This one was processed by my friend Steve Labkoff in PixInsight with BlurXterminator - thanks Steve!

M17 - Swan Nebula in Sagittarius

Shot from Sonoita and Mt Graham Arizona, 4h 45min unfiltered.

M78 - Reflection Nebula in Orion

Shot entirely from my backyard, 12h unfiltered! I needed to remove the broadband filter to get this one as it’s entirely a reflection nebula.

NGC 7380 - Wizard Nebula in Cepheus

Entirely shot from my backyard, 3h 30min, dual band filter.

NGC 7000 - North America Nebula (Cygnus Wall)

Shot from my backyard and from the Chiricahua Sky Vilalge with full Moon, dual band filter, 10h total.

NGC 2174 - Monkey Head Nebula in Gemini

Shot from my backyard, dual band filter, 7h 30min total.

IC 5146 - Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus

Entirely shot from my backyard, 10h 45min, 20s subs, broadband filter.

NGC 281 - Pacman Nebula in Cassiopeia

Entirely shot from my backyard, 11h, dual band filter.

Wolf-Rayet Shell Nebulae

NGC 2359 - Thor’s Helmet Nebula in Canis Major

Entirely shot from my backyard, 3h 52min, dual band filter.

NGC 6888 - Crescent Nebula in Cygnus

Entirely shot from my backyard, 9h, dual band filter.

Supernova Remnants

IC 443 - Jellyfish Nebula in Gemini

Entirely shot from my backyard, 15h, dual band filter.

NGC 6960 - Witch’s Broom (Western Veil Nebula) in Cygnus

Shot with a mix of dual/broadband filters, 13h of 10s and 20s subs, from my backyard and Mt Graham.

Planetary Nebulae

NGC 1360 - Robin’s Egg Nebula in Fornax

Shot entirely from my backyard, 7h 20min, dual band filter.

NGC 7008 - Planetary Nebula in Cygnus

Shot from a mix of locations, 2h 50min total, dual band filter.

NGC 7293 - Helix Nebula in Aquarius

Shot entirely from the Okie-Tex Star Party, 7h 20min, unfiltered.

M27 - Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula

Shot from Mt Graham, AZ and from my backyard, broadband filter, 133 mins total.

Galaxies

NGC 6946 - Fireworks Galaxy in Cepheus

Taken at the Okie-Tex Star Party, unfiltered, 12h total exposure time, 20s subs.

IC 342/Caldwell 5 - Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis

Shot from my backyard, 19h 30min, 20s subs, broadband filter.

NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy

Shot from the Chiricahua Mountains, 3h unfiltered. I actually did 13 hours total (50% from home, 50% from the Chiricahuas) but Vespera’s auto-focus failed and ruined most of the data.

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy

Shot from my backyard, 10h 20min, 10s subs, broadband filter.

M77 - Seyfert Galaxy in Cetus

Shot from my backyard, 4h 20min, 10s subs, broadband filter.

IC 10 - Irregular Galaxy in Cassiopeia

Shot from my backyard, 6h, 10s subs, broadband filter.

NGC 7331 - Deer Lick Group in Pegasus

Shot from my backyard, 5h 45min, broadband filter. Supernova SN2025rbs is visible.

Open Star Clusters

NGC 869 & NGC 884 - Double Cluster in Perseus

Shot from my backyard, 4h 43min, broadband filter.

M45 - Pleiades/Subaru Cluster in Taurus

Shot mostly at home, 1h 40min with broadband filter, 40 mins of unfiltered data from the Okie-Tex Star Party, total 2h 20min.

M11 - Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum

Shot from my backyard, 2h 50min, broadband filter.

NGC 7789 - Caroline’s Rose Cluster in Cassiopeia

Shot from my backyard, 8h, broadband filter.

Comets

Comet SWAN - 10-19-25

Shot from TAAA Chiricahua Astronomy Complex, 10 mins, unfiltered.

Comet Lemmon - 10-27-25

Shot from my backyard, 4 mins, broadband filter.

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