April 11, 2026
Galaxy Quest
St. George, Utah
First night in St. George. Got the Seestar S50 out and locked onto M106, a spiral galaxy about 25 million light years away. 23 minutes of exposure. What I didn't realize until I pulled up the image was that two other galaxies ended up in the frame — NGC 4217 is the edge-on one in the upper right corner, and NGC 4248 is the smaller one above M106. Not a bad way to start the trip. There's a satellite trail across the bottom too, which is kind of annoying but also kind of cool.