Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 307 X 180s (921m)
    * Total: 15h21m

Notes

January has been a better month for clear skies making astro imaging possible once again. Hooray! M78 in Orion is a reflection nebula approx 1600 light years from Earth with NGC2071 to its North. Also visible is part of the H-Alpha cloud known as Barnard’s Loop which encircles the left-hand/East side of the constellation. Barely visible on following the line of the dark lane in the centre of M78…

    Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 35 X 300s (175m)
    * Total: 2h55m   

Notes

Seeing index: 3
Jet stream: Poor

Tonight was unexpectedly clear, although the seeing was average at best. M42 was just scraping above the houses begging to be sketched! The lack of Moon was a bonus and once the heat haze from the chimneys was no longer making the seeing even worse, I spent a fabulous hour observing Jupiter, the Pleiades, the Hyades and finishing with M42. The nebulosity was clearly visible from the outset in the fast Dobsonian and a 24mm eyepiece. With greater dark adaption the fainter nebula became visible and…

    Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 280 X 300s (1400m)
    * Total: 23h20m

    Integration time target
    * Target: 24 hours
    * Progress: 99%

Notes

Sat 14th October

    Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 23 X 300s (115m)
    * Total: 1h55m

Notes

Seeing index: 4/2
Jet stream: Average Transparency: Average

    Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 5 X 300s (30m)
    * Total: 0h30m
    

Between the clouds the other day I squeezed in 30 minutes of exposure time on the border between Cassiopeia and Cepheus, a region full of interesting objects. The view in the photo is wide field - 6.6 x 4.8 degrees. Due to the short exposure the H alpha clouds are mainly colourless (e.g. the Lobster Claw Nebula) and the resolution is somewhat poor but I thought it quite an interesting exercise to point the…

    Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 365 X 60s (365m)
    * Total: 6h05m
    
    Integration time target
    * Target: 6 hours
    * Progress: 100%

Notes

Seeing index: Excellent 5/4
Jet stream: Poor (32m/s) Moon phase: 80%
Transparency: Poor