Andrew Burwell
Designer, astrophotographer, and Mac app developer. Founded Mac Observatory over 9 years ago to help astronomers get the most from their Macs. Now building native macOS apps for the astrophotography community. Based in Houston, TX.
Space Station Passes: A Free, Ad-Free Way to Track Satellites
There’s something magical about watching the International Space Station glide silently across the night sky. For many of us, those passes are a reminder
Planet Stacker X: A macOS-Native Planetary Imaging Tool from Rain City Astro
One of the long-standing frustrations for Mac-based astrophotographers has been the lack of native, high-quality stacking software tailored for planetary imaging. While Windows users enjoy
LuckyStackWorker: The Best Free Mac Software for Sharpening Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Astrophotography Images
LuckyStackWorker is a powerful and free post-processing application designed specifically for planetary, lunar, and solar astrophotography. Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, this open-source software
Takahashi Epsilon 160D Review: A Modern Evolution in Wide-Field Astrographs
The Takahashi Epsilon 160D is a high-performance astrograph designed specifically for deep-sky imaging with modern digital CMOS cameras. Building upon the legacy of its predecessors,
The Role of AI in Astrophotography Image Processing: Tools and Controversies
Astrophotography has always been a challenging yet rewarding pursuit, requiring skillful image processing to bring out the finest details of celestial objects. Traditionally, tools like
Harmonic Drive vs. Worm Gear Mounts: How Strain Wave Technology is Changing Astrophotography
Learn how Harmonic Drive mounts differ from traditional worm gear mounts, their impact on astrophotography performance, and an overview of popular models from ZWO, Sky-Watcher,
Celestron EdgeHD 11 Review: The Ultimate Telescope for Planetary and Deep-Sky Astrophotography
A review of the Celestron EdgeHD 11” SCT, covering its optical performance, imaging versatility at f/10, f/7, and f/1.9, and the
Polar Alignment Guide for Motorized Telescope Mounts
Introduction: Why Polar Alignment Matters Polar alignment is one of the most critical steps in setting up a motorized telescope mount for astrophotography or visual
Planetary System Stacker now has a launcher installer
As some of you know I’ve recently put a second telescope out in a remote site. This time StarFront Observatories. In the Discord one
Seti Astro Scripts come to the Mac as a standalone application
The popular Seti Astro Scripts have now come to the Mac as a standalone application. If you don’t use PixInsight this suite of applications
New Reflection Nebula Discovery: The Blue Ghost Nebula (Burwell 1)
In October 2023, I set out to photograph vdB 1. There are almost no wide field (990mm) images of vdB1 due to the fact that
Remote hosted telescope imaging
About three years ago, I started on a journey to get out of my back yard and image from dark skies with a permanent setup.