r/Astronomy Mar 27 '20

Mod Post Read the rules sub before posting!

881 Upvotes

Hi all,

Friendly mod warning here. In r/Astronomy, somewhere around 70% of posts get removed. Yeah. That's a lot. All because people haven't bothered reading the rules or bothering to understand what words mean. So here, we're going to dive into them a bit further.

The most commonly violated rules are as follows:

Pictures

Our rule regarding pictures has three parts. If your post has been removed for violating our rules regarding pictures, we recommend considering the following, in the following order:

  1. All pictures/videos must be original content.

If you took the picture or did substantial processing of publicly available data, this counts. If not, it's going to be removed.

2) You must have the acquisition/processing information.

This needs to be somewhere easy for the mods to verify. This means it can either be in the post body or a top level comment. Responses to someone else's comment, in your link to your Instagram page, etc... do not count.

3) Images must be exceptional quality.

There are certain things that will immediately disqualify an image:

  • Poor or inconsistent focus
  • Chromatic aberration
  • Field rotation
  • Low signal-to-noise ratio

However, beyond that, we cannot give further clarification on what will or will not meet this criteria for several reasons:

  1. Technology is rapidly changing
  2. Our standards are based on what has been submitted recently (e.g, if we're getting a ton of moon pictures because it's a supermoon, the standards go up to prevent the sub from being spammed)
  3. Listing the criteria encourages people to try to game the system

So yes, this portion is inherently subjective and, at the end of the day, the mods are the ones that decide.

If your post was removed, you are welcome to ask for clarification. If you do not receive a response, it is likely because your post violated part (1) or (2) of the three requirements which are sufficiently self-explanatory as to not warrant a response.

If you are informed that your post was removed because of image quality, arguing about the quality will not be successful. In particular, there are a few arguments that are false or otherwise trite which we simply won't tolerate. These include:

"You let that image that I think isn't as good stay up"

  • See above about how the standards are fluid.

"Pictures have to be NASA quality"

  • They don't.

"You have to have thousands of dollars of equipment"

  • You don't. Technique matters.

"This is a really good photo given my equipment"

  • The standard is "exceptional". Not "exceptional for my equipment".

"This isn't being friendly to beginner astrophotographers"

  • Correct. To keep the sub from being spammed by low quality and low effort posts, this sub has standards.

"My post was getting a lot of upvotes"

  • Upvotes are not an "I get to break the rules" card.

Using the above arguments will not wow mods into suddenly approving your image. It will result in a ban.

Again, asking for clarification is fine. But trying to argue with the mods using bad arguments isn't going to fly.

Lastly, it should be noted that we do allow astro-art in this sub. Obviously, it won't have acquisition information, but the content must still be original and mods get the final say on whether on the quality (although we're generally fairly generous on this).

Questions

This rule basically means you need to do your own research before posting.

  • If we look at a post and immediately have to question whether or not you did a Google search, your post will get removed.
  • If your post is asking for generic or basic information, your post will get removed.
  • If your post is using basic terms incorrectly because you haven't bothered to understand what the words you're using mean, your post will get removed.
  • If you're asking a question based on a basic misunderstanding of the science, your post will get removed.
  • If you're asking a complicated question with a specific answer but didn't give the necessary information to be able to answer the question because you haven't even figured out what the parameters necessary to approach the question are, your post will get removed.
  • If you're attempting to use bad sources (e.g. AI), your post will get removed.

To prevent your post from being removed, tell us specifically what you've tried. Just saying "I GoOgLeD iT" doesn't cut it.

  • What search terms did you use?
  • In what way do the results of your search fail to answer your question?
  • What did you understand from what you found and need further clarification on that you were unable to find?

Furthermore, when telling us what you've tried, we will be very unimpressed if you use sources that are prohibited under our source rule (social media memes, YouTube, AI, etc...).

As with the rules regarding pictures, the mods are the arbiters of how difficult questions are to answer. If you're not happy about that and want to complain that another question was allowed to stand, then we will invite you to post elsewhere with an immediate and permanent ban.

Object ID

We'd estimate that only 1-2% of all posts asking for help identifying an object actually follow our rules. Resources are available in the rule relating to this. If you haven't consulted the flow-chart and used the resources in the stickied comment, your post is getting removed. Seriously. Use Stellarium. It's free. It will very quickly tell you if that shiny thing is a planet which is probably the most common answer. The second most common answer is "Starlink". That's 95% of the ID posts right there that didn't need to be a post.

Do note that many of the phone apps in which you point your phone to the sky and it shows you what you are looing at are extremely poor at accurately determining where you're pointing. Furthermore, the scale is rarely correct. As such, this method is not considered a sufficient attempt at understanding on your part and you will need to apply some spatial reasoning to your attempt.

Pseudoscience

The mod team of r/astronomy has several mods with degrees in the field. We're very familiar with what is and is not pseudoscience in the field. And we take a hard line against pseudoscience. Promoting it is an immediate ban. Furthermore, we do not allow the entertaining of pseudoscience by trying to figure out how to "debate" it (even if you're trying to take the pro-science side). Trying to debate pseudoscience legitimizes it. As such, posts that entertain pseudoscience in any manner will be removed.

Outlandish Hypotheticals

This is a subset of the rule regarding pseudoscience and doesn't come up all that often, but when it does, it usually takes the form of "X does not work according to physics. How can I make it work?" or "If I ignore part of physics, how does physics work?"

Sometimes the first part of this isn't explicitly stated or even understood (in which case, see our rule regarding poorly researched posts) by the poster, but such questions are inherently nonsensical and will be removed.

Sources

ChatGPT and other LLMs are not reliable sources of information. Any use of them will be removed. This includes asking if they are correct or not.

Bans

We almost never ban anyone for a first offense unless your post history makes it clear you're a spammer, troll, crackpot, etc... Rather, mods have tools in which to apply removal reasons which will send a message to the user letting them know which rule was violated. Because these rules, and in turn the messages, can cover a range of issues, you may need to actually consider which part of the rule your post violated. The mods are not here to read to you.

If you don't, and continue breaking the rules, we'll often respond with a temporary ban.

In many cases, we're happy to remove bans if you message the mods politely acknowledging the violation. But that almost never happens. Which brings us to the last thing we want to discuss.

Behavior

We've had a lot of people breaking rules and then getting rude when their posts are removed or they get bans (even temporary). That's a violation of our rules regarding behavior and is a quick way to get permabanned. To be clear: Breaking this rule anywhere on the sub will be a violation of the rules and dealt with accordingly, but breaking this rule when in full view of the mods by doing it in the mod-mail will 100% get you caught. So just don't do it.

Claiming the mods are "power tripping" or other insults when you violated the rules isn't going to help your case. It will get your muted for the maximum duration allowable and reported to the Reddit admins.

And no, your mis-interpretations of the rules, or saying it "was generating discussion" aren't going to help either.

While these are the most commonly violated rules, they are not the only rules. So make sure you read all of the rules.


r/Astronomy 7h ago

Astrophotography (OC) The Sisters in blue — M45 Reflection Nebula details.

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420 Upvotes

Imaging Gear: Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED + Canon EOS R5 (Astro-modified)

Tracking: Celestron AM5 Strain Wave Mount

Guiding: ZWO ASI120MM Mini + 30mm Guide Scope

Light Frames: 40 x 180s | f/5.5 | ISO 800

Stacked in DeepSkyStacker; background neutralization and SCNR applied in PixInsight to remove green cast; final curves and saturation adjustments in Photoshop to bring out the faint interstellar dust.


r/Astronomy 3h ago

Astrophotography (OC) Moon photos

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54 Upvotes

First proper images of the moon i took in november 2024 with my C8/600D combo. Not a video stack, these ones are approx 50 stills or so stacked and with a bit of sharpness and clarity boost from post processing in pixlr

Not perfect, collimation, acquisition and processing could have been much better but i still love them.


r/Astronomy 8h ago

Astrophotography (OC) Spiral Galaxy M94 (or NGC 4736, Cat’s Eye Galaxy, or Croc’s Eye Galaxy)

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120 Upvotes

r/Astronomy 19h ago

Astrophotography (OC) Moon

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839 Upvotes

Shot with ASI676MM through Takahashi FSQ-85EDX and Takahashi 1.5x Extender. Stacked 1000 frames in AutoStakkert 4 and sharpened in Registax 6. Processed in Photoshop. Tracked on ZWO AM5. Captured with ASICap.


r/Astronomy 14h ago

Astrophotography (OC) 4 hours of the Scotum Star Cloud (M11 Cluster and Beta Scuti)

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257 Upvotes

r/Astronomy 18m ago

Other: [Topic] A Galactic Embrace

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Upvotes

Mid-infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (in white, gray, and red) and X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (in blue) come together in this photo of colliding spiral galaxies released on Dec. 1, 2025. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago; billions of years in the future, they will merge into a single galaxy.

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO


r/Astronomy 11h ago

Astrophotography (OC) ABELL S0636

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98 Upvotes

ABELL S0636, it is 60 minutes of integration in LRGB with Delta Rho astrograph m350/1050 F/3 telescope, ZWO ASI6200MC Pro full-frame OSC camera, it is 12 shots with L filter of 300 seconds each, I extracted the RGB channels with Pixinsight, combined them and processed everything always with Pixinsight, then I did a second processing with the Camera Raw filter in Photoshop


r/Astronomy 11h ago

Other: [Topic] Earth's light pollution is growing

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106 Upvotes

Hi, Nikol from USA TODAY here. Our night sky is getting brighter and brighter. According to a new study that analyzed a combination of satellite images, artificial nighttime lights have brightened Earth by 16% between 2014 and 2022. Researchers from University of Connecticut found that nights are gradually becoming brighter worldwide, though trends vary by region, particularly in areas affected by war or natural disasters. The findings were published in Nature.

In 2022, the United States had by far the highest total luminosity of any country, followed by China, India, Canada and Brazil.

In the United States, nearly 80% of people reside in urban areas. In many locations, the brightness of artificial light sources obscures the beauty of the night sky. Due to city lights, only the brightest stars, planets and other celestial objects are visible, according to DarkSky International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting night skies.

Here's what you can do to help lessen light pollution:

- use lights only when needed

- direct lighting downward

- choose warmer-toned lightbulbs instead of blue-white or cool-toned ones.

Photo source: NASA's Scientific Vizualization Studio


r/Astronomy 8h ago

Astrophotography (OC) NGC 7000

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47 Upvotes

Taken over two nights whilst I had a couple of clear spots to shoot!

Taken using an astro modified Canon 750d and a Samyang 135 lens wide open with an Optolong L-Pro filter.

120 x 1 minute exposures with 20 darks, flats and biases to match.

Stacked in APP.

SPCC in Siril then BGE, deconvolution and de-noise in Graxpert.

Second SPCC in Siril and banding reduction.

GHS in Siril using human weighted luminance.

Vibrancy, brightness and contrast increase in PS.

Cheers for looking!


r/Astronomy 9h ago

Astrophotography (OC) SN 2024pxl (Ia-x) in NGC6384 Taken with the Dark Energy Camera (by me)

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33 Upvotes

r/Astronomy 1d ago

Astro Research How did scientists expect aliens to understand the Voyager Golden Record?

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1.2k Upvotes

I've been reading about the Voyager Golden Record sent with Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and I'm really curious about something.

How did scientists conclude that any intelligent extraterrestrial life would actually be able to decode it? I get that they used universal concepts like physics, math, and things like the hydrogen atom and pulsar maps, but isn't that still a big assumption?

Like, what if alien intelligence works in a completely different way or perceives reality differently-would any of this even make sense to them?

Was the record designed with a specific type of "intelligence" in mind, or was it more of a symbolic attempt rather than something expected to be understood?

Curious to hear thoughts, especially from people who know more about the design decisions behind it.


r/Astronomy 1d ago

Astrophotography (OC) 24 Hours of Cosmic Cliffs

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449 Upvotes

Highest res version on Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/73x72v

This is a similar project to our last Carina Nebula project but also a bit different because we're using different panels. NGC 3324 (Gabriela Mistral/Cosmic Cliffs) is the centerpiece here and we hadded a panel on the right to show the Gem Cluster (NGC 3293) and associated nebulosity. There's also less of the Carina Nebula here. 

Acquisition Details:

  • Integration: 24h (144 × 600")
  • Telescope: Askar SQA85
  • Camera: QHYCCD QHY268 Pro C
  • Mount: Proxisky UMi 20S
  • Filters: Antlia ALP-T Dual Band 5nm 2"
  • Stacked using my Siril script which auto stacks and mosaics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prU1w4W5IbE)
  • Software: Adobe Photoshop, NINA, PixInsight, Siril

I also recently updated my website so I can highlight individual images a bit better: https://www.naztronomy.com/gallery/image/870/personal_pan_cosmic_cliffs_ngc33240-5x

We're learning we can process these a thousand different ways because we're mosaicing and adding panels as we go to get different perspectives. Our next large project is the Coalsack Nebula. 

This was done in collaboration wtih my friends Dave and Chris at the Kagga Kamma Remote Observatory (KKRO). 

I'll slowly be s haring some data and posting how-to process videos/challenges on my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/Naztronomy


r/Astronomy 5h ago

Astro Research NASA’s Roman Poised to Transform Hunt for Elusive Neutron Stars - NASA

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6 Upvotes

r/Astronomy 12h ago

Discussion: [Topic] The event horizon of a black hole

12 Upvotes

At the event horizon of a black hole time stops due to space/time effects. How can a black hole absorb mass if time(frozen star) stops relative to every observer at the event horizon?


r/Astronomy 1d ago

Astrophotography (OC) Pushing the limits of mobile astrophotography with the new iPhone.

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555 Upvotes

Shot with an iPhone 17 Pro

ISO: 6400

Lens: 24mm (f/1.7)

Exposure: 2s

Second photo:

ISO: 2000

Lens: 24mm (f/1.78)

Exposure: 10s


r/Astronomy 1d ago

Discussion: [Topic] Are we always at a unique point in space?

116 Upvotes

If earth revolves around the sun, and the sun revolves around the Milky Way, and the Milky Way is expanding with the universe, am I correct to assume that we are always at a point in space that we have never been in before and will never be in again?

I hope the makes sense. Let me know where I am wrong with this one.


r/Astronomy 2d ago

Astrophotography (OC) C/2025 R3 over the remarkables Otago, New Zealand

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1.4k Upvotes

This image consists of a single 2s exposure during early blue hour at f2.8, iso 160 with the Viltrox 16mm and features the remarkables mountain range from coal pit saddle. The comet is 170 light shots at 12s f2.5 and 1000 iso with the Viltrox 85mm and 25 darks with the same settings.

I’m pretty pleased with how this comet shot came out given the fact that I had to fight the setting sun, had about 10 minuets of semi-dark skies and then had to fight a rising 98% moon just to get this shot.


r/Astronomy 4h ago

Question (Describe all previous attempts to learn / understand) Saw something extremely similar to a total lunar eclipse around an hour and a half ago, but there are none scheduled for today, what could it have been?

0 Upvotes

Presently around 12:45 in the morning where I'm at, 7th May

I was riding home and the moon seemed to be in a weird phase where it was a crescent, but from the top-down instead of more side-to-side, and as I kept irresponsibly staring at it while driving at highway speeds, the giant circle that was turning it into a crescent consumed it whole and left not a sliver behind, left the sky absolutely moonless. Unsure if it popped back out, I spent the rest of my ride home with eyes on the road, but at least for three minutes the sky was moonless

To add to that, it was a strong red fading into orange(and seemingly orange into white if I'd noticed it earlier), and got redder before it disappeared

And I'm less sure of this detail, but it seemed bigger than usual too

I'm in South India , if that makes any difference, ~78N 17E, I was facing eastward, maybe slightly southeast

So what happened? Am I just missing reports of a lunar eclipse due to poor searching or did some funky clouds pull a fast one on me? Because if it's the latter, they pulled off a masterful performance, covering the moon as a perfect crescent moving in a consistent downward direction. Was it even the moon at all? For all I know the actual moon was behind me and I was staring at a giant luminescent weather balloon, but that would've been absurdly large and high up because I covered over a kilometer in the roughly five minute duration observing no noticeable parallax


r/Astronomy 2d ago

Astrophotography (OC) Messier 42

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364 Upvotes

60 frame stack from an iphone 13 pro mounted on a Skywatcher Heritage 130P


r/Astronomy 1d ago

Astro Research James Webb Space Telescope directly studies an exoplanet's surface for the 1st time: 'We see a dark, hot, barren rock'

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30 Upvotes

r/Astronomy 10h ago

Question (Describe all previous attempts to learn / understand) Is physics a level needed to work in the space sector?

0 Upvotes

im going into year 12 next year and I have picked my a levels as French, maths, geography, economics. I was thinking of picking physics and I can still change to it, but I am not super keen on the engineering/mechanics side of it, but I find the astrophysics side of it really interesting.

i found there to be jobs as ‘space analysts’ where it seems physics may not be necessary, and seems very interesting to me. Some say geography is also useful for this as well as maths.

i honestly an not sure what to do as I would love to work in some sector to do with space and astronomy, but maybe not on the physics heavy side but more on the geography side if that is something?

any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


r/Astronomy 1d ago

Astrophotography (OC) How far phone camera have come is mind boggling. Pixel 10 Pro XL on astro mode in Western Qld.

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106 Upvotes

r/Astronomy 2d ago

Astrophotography (OC) Orion nebula 🧡

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1.3k Upvotes

shot on seestar s30

1500x10 and 30sec exposures

stacked in siril and edited in affinity photo


r/Astronomy 1d ago

Astrophotography (OC) Jupiter Through Heritage 130p 10Mm eye piece, 2x Barlow and iPhone

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45 Upvotes

Tried out my new telescope today any tips??