
Seeing index: OK (3)
Transparency: Average (3)
'Star, star teach me how to shine, shine'
Seeing index: OK (3)
Transparency: Average (3)
Integration time (running total):
* OSC 75 X 120s (150m)
* Total: 2h30m
Seeing index: Poor/average (1/2)
Jet stream: Poor (30 m/s)
Transparency: Average (3)
Visual observing during Bortle 3 dark sky trip
Seeing index: OK (3)
Transparency: Poor/ave (2)
Integration time (running total):
* OSC 139 X 60s (139m)
* Total: 2h19m
Seeing index: OK (3)
Jet stream: Good (7 m/s)
Transparency: Good (4)
The beautiful chain of galaxies in Virgo
Integration time (running total):
* OSC 130 X 180s (390m)
* Total: 6h30m
Integration time target
* Target: 6 hours
* Progress: 100%
Thursday 18th January
Integration time (running total):
* OSC 307 X 180s (921m)
* Total: 15h21m
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
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%
Sat 14th October
Integration time (running total):
* OSC 23 X 300s (115m)
* Total: 1h55m
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…