the0phrastus

I'm looking through some old backups, and here's a shot of Boston from 2015, taken with my iPhone at the time (iPhone 6s Plus). #boston

Sunset in the backyard, June 12, 2026. #sunset

A plethora of peaches on the tree this year...

In the backyard with the Portable astro rig and the ZWO ASI585MC Air--first light with the North America Nebula. Setup and polar alignment was super fast. I was using the bluetooth connection to the AM3N mount, but switched to USB (short USB C to A cable from the back of the saddle to the 585MC Air). North America nebula (NGC 7000) is always a good bright test target for a new camera (when M42 or M31 aren't available). Clouds moved in around 2:30 in the morning and I ended up with 81 x 120-second clean subs, no calibration frames, no filters (other than the built-in UV/IR cut). So, this is pretty close to real color as captured by the camera, the stars and a nice mix of hydrogen-alpha and oxygen 3 (ionized oxygen). The "Cygnus Wall" is well-defined. I ran the ASI585MC at -10C with a gain of 250 at the low noise drop. #astrophotography #astronomy #night #space

I set up the portable rig this afternoon--supposed to be clear tonight. The tripod has its own slim bag. Everything else fits in a backpack. William Optics Redcat 51 apochromatic refractor, ZWO ASI585MC Air cooled camera, ZWO AM3 EQ mount, and a 20AH LiFePO4 battery. The articulated arm in the front holds my phone during polar alignment. #astrophotography #portableastro #astronomy #space #night https://ChrisHowardWriter.com

My book Thornall came out last summer. I shot a batch of reference pics of tree roots and a faceted Labradorite sphere--bumped up the saturation. It's nowhere near as bright and colorful in reality, but that's what I going for with the Thornfall cover art--which is still one of my favorite works (a cropped slice of that art at the top). And it was one of those pieces that took me a year to get right. More: https://chrishowardwriter.com

https://tinyurl.com/atsp-amazon - https://tinyurl.com/atsp-BN - https://tinyurl.com/atsp-apple - https://tinyurl.com/atsp-kobo - https://tinyurl.com/atsp-vivlio - https://tinyurl.com/atsp-fable

COVER REVEAL for All Tomorrow's Starparties. Want a little dystopia with your astrophotography? #sciencefiction #astrophotography #astronomy #SciFiAdventure #sfbooks #newbookalert Find out more: https://ChrisHowardWriter.com

Here's my M51 processed image from last month, with other galaxies and interesting stuff in the frame. It's just wild how far away some of these objects are. There's the Whirlpool Galaxy itself, at 31 million lightyears away, and M51-ULS-1 is the first extragalactic exoplanet discovered. The two galaxies left of M51 are between 200 and 300 million lightyears. And that galaxy at the top of the image is almost 2 billion lightyears away. #astrophotography #astronomy #galaxy #lightyears

Another art post--I think I posted an older version of this a while back. Here's the latest, part of which went into the cover art for my latest book--cover reveal on that soon! I have several art and book projects going at the moment.

I finished this one up over the weekend. I've been drawing and painting more book art lately. I will post more soon! #art #bookart #astrophotography

I'm working on more book illustration, including the finishing details on this one of the main character. Posting more over the next couple weeks. #art #bookart #astrophotography

Now that's an anemone--a "giant green anemone" (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) in the intertidal zone at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Sony A7S, Rokinon 35mm #montereybay #montereybayaquarium

Another shot of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, overlooking the tidepools. Except for a few pigeons and a seagull or two, we were almost alone. A little cloudy, a little rainy at times, but amazing weather overall. Sony A7S, Rokinon 35mm, #montereybay #MontereyBayAquarium

#montereybay #MontereyBayAquarium

Monterey Bay on a beautiful April morning, looking out from the aquarium toward Sand City and Fort Ord, Sony A7S, Rokinon 35mm #montereybay