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.
Mac Observatory Automation with ASCOM Alpaca: What Works in 2026
ASCOM Alpaca Is Quietly Unlocking Full Observatory Automation for Mac Users The biggest obstacle to running a fully automated observatory on a Mac has never
Strata Is Now in Beta — Native Planetary Stacking and Sharpening for macOS
Strata replaces the traditional Windows-only chain of AutoStakkert, RegiStax, and PIPP with a single GPU-accelerated macOS app. Now available as a free public beta on TestFlight.
How to Identify Unknown Objects in Your Deep-Sky Images on Mac
The full identification workflow — plate solving, catalog queries, and one-step annotation — runs natively on every Mac. Identifying an unknown object in a deep-sky
NGC 4535: The Lost Galaxy Sends a Signal
Over 31 hours of integration on the pale barred spiral in Virgo that William Herschel discovered in 1785 — and a short story about what might be looking back.
Deep-Sky Stacking Software for Mac: The Complete 2026 Guide
Deep-sky stacking software combines multiple long-exposure astrophotography frames, calibrated with darks, flats, and bias frames, into a single high-signal image by aligning
The MacBook Behind the Black Hole: How Mac Supports Cutting-Edge Astronomical Research
Katie Bouman's viral photo told half the story — here's why professional astronomers chose Mac long before that moment. When Katie Bouman,
How to Organize & Track Your Astrophotography Data Library Across Devices and Cloud Storage
From scattered folders to searchable archives — a practical guide to managing integration time, calibration frames, and multi-session imaging data across local drives, cloud storage,
KStars, Ekos and INDI on the Mac: What Works in 2026
KStars and Ekos are free and actively developed, but the official Mac build is still Intel-only. Where to run them, and what to use instead.
Where to find free raw astrophotography data for practice: public archives, sample datasets, and how to use them to build processing skills before your first session.
Free astrophotography practice data consists of pre-captured astronomical images — including light frames, dark frames, flat fields, and bias frames — shared by experienced astrophotographers to
INDIGO A1: CloudMakers' All-in-One Mac Astrophotography Suite
CloudMakers' all-in-one native Mac astrophotography suite: camera control, autoguiding, mount control and plate solving, free with three $24.99 modules.
PixInsight on the Mac: The Definitive Deep Dive
The most powerful astrophotography processing tool ever built asks you to think like a scientist — not a photographer. Here's what Mac users need
Getting Started with Astrophotography on the Mac (2025–2026)
Astrophotography on macOS has come a long way since the early days of “figure it out yourself.” In 2025, you can do serious deep-sky