Wow, what times those were! Twenty two years ago, my TAL-2M telescope stared up at M27, the Dumbbell Nebula and the very first planetary nebula anyone ever found, logged by Charles Messier in 1764, while a little Nikon Coolpix 4500 clung to the eyepiece, wrapped in a cold pad from the pharmacy and sweating through the night like a nervous student who knows the exam is far bigger than he is. At the end the pad was warm, the camera was wet, but the photo was happily on the card, the last green breath of a dying star caught by a camera that was never built for this. 🥳🎉🍾 My happiness did not last. Some time later the Coolpix began to blink, the so-called BGLOD ☠️ Blinking Green Light of Death, and with that small cruel light it closed its eye for good. ⚱️ So I went the DSLR way, body after body, up to a magic Nikon D5 in early 2020, only to watch Nikon turn its back on its loyal DSLR people and walk into mirrorless without looking back, leaving us standing in the rain. Hard times. I sold everything Nikon I owned, every body and every lens, and switched to Sony forever, yet on some clear nights I still think of that wet little camera and the green smudge it gave me. Thanks for reading and clear skies! /px 10.10.2026 #Astrophotography #DumbbellNebula #NikonMemories #TeamSony #CameraStories