'Sing to the Moon and the stars will shine'
Integration time (running total):
* L 14 X 60s (14m)
* R 12 X 60s (12m)
* G 12 X 60s (12m)
* B 12 X 60s (12m)
* Total: 50m
Messier 10 is a very low target from 52°N and one which I had never considered photographing. The poor visibility is made worse by the poor southern horizon here. However, the short integration time has produced a remarkably good image of this beautiful globular cluster, helped by the stable sky this evening. This was really an experiment to…
Integration time (running total):
* L 18 X 180s (54m)
* R 15 X 180s (45m)
* G 17 X 180s (51m)
* B 18 X 180s (54m)
* HA 15 X 180s (45m)
* Total: 4h09m
Imaged in May, the Splinter Galaxy showed no signs of the tidal tail which probably needs darker skies than I have here in Coventry to be photographically visible.
The sunspot group 4079 was so large that it was visible to the naked-eye (when viewed through eclipse glasses). In a telescope the elements were clearly visible. Due to the vagaries of the atmosphere and frequent clouds, sketching was a superior (and far more enjoyable) way to record this compared to photography.
The month of April has presented numerous opportunities for high-resolution imaging of the Moon. Here the Patavius Rille can been seen clearly in the low sunlight running from the central peak to the edge of the crater itself.
Integration time (running total):
* L 18 X 180s (54m)
* R 15 X 180s (45m)
* G 17 X 180s (51m)
* B 18 X 180s (54m)
* HA 15 X 180s (45m)
* Total: 4h09m
Continuing what has been an incredible galaxy season weather-wise with another version of a large galaxy. Again I decided to reimage this in monochrome with additional weighting for the Hydrogen Alpha channel to highlight the star-forming regions.
Integration time (running total):
* L 18 X 180s (54m)
* R 15 X 180s (45m)
* G 17 X 180s (51m)
* B 18 X 180s (54m)
* HA 15 X 180s (45m)
* Total: 4h09m
This beautiful face-on spiral galaxy is situated approximately 54m light-years from our Milky Way in Coma Berenices on the outer edge of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Also visible are NGC4312 (bottom left) and NGC4322 and NGC4328 (above and to the right).
Integration time (running total):
* L 18 X 180s (54m)
* R 15 X 180s (45m)
* G 17 X 180s (51m)
* B 18 X 180s (54m)
* HA 15 X 180s (45m)
* Total: 4h09m
Possibly the most beautiful galaxy visible in the Northern hemisphere. I decided to reimage this in monochrome with additional weighting for the Hydrogen Alpha channel to highlight the star-forming regions.
Integration time (running total):
* L 18 X 180s (54m)
* R 15 X 180s (45m)
* G 15 X 180s (45m)
* B 17 X 180s (51m)
* HA 15 X 300s (75m)
* Total: 4h30m
Spring is the optimum time to observe this beautiful edge-on spiral galaxy. It is situated approximately 40m light-years from our Milky Way and measures 100,000 light-years from end to end. This evening the sky was remarkably transparent and stable which gave good guiding and generally excellent image quality. It…
A spectacular conjunction from 1st April 2025.
Partial 33% eclipse, duration approx 2 hours.
The photo shows the eclipse at 11:53 approximately 15 mins before the Moon’s transit had finished.
Integration time (running total):
* L 70 X 180s (210m)
* R 60 X 180s (180m)
* G 64 X 180s (192m)
* B 65 X 180s (195m)
* HA 68 X 300s (340m)
* Total: 18h37m
Imaged over the course of three nights where the seeing was the best for several months. M81 was high in the sky thus avoiding (though no totally) the negative effect of the ever-worsening light pollution. I included a lot of time on the Hydrogen Alpha channel to enhance the star-forming regions in the spiral…
