In the spring of 2026, MAS member and Seestar owner Jack Fitzmier had an idea. Having read about a Seestar collaboration in China, Jack wondered if we could do something like that here. Maybe a few of our Seestar owners could be persuaded to contribute to a large group project. It seemed like it was worth a try.
By the time the project concluded at the end of July, we had 12 participants with Seestar S50s and S30 Pros.
Together, they shot over 116 hours of imagery centered on the galaxy NGC 6166, the centerpiece of the Abell 2199 galaxy cluster in Hercules.
Jack and his collaborators introduced the image at the August MAS meeting and answered questions about the process and what they learned. They also discussed choosing a new target for another collaboration. Stay tuned for additional information and contact us if you’re interested in participating in future projects.
Larger JPGs of the final image can be seen here:
Final Image – with full SeeStar S30Pro field of view
Full S30Pro field with galaxies of the Abell cluster labeled
(posted by John Rummel, August, 2026)