Seeing index: OK (3)
Transparency: Poor/ave (2)

Photographed with the Moon at first quarter at precisely the day/time that this transient effect is visible. I was looking along the terminator and attempting to identify some of the prominent craters when all of a sudden this jumped out at me. I swear that if I had tried to find it it would have taken hours! The effect is actually only visible for approx four hours or so on one day a month when the Moon is at first quarter (lunar day 6.9). The next date it is visible is the 17th March by my…

    Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 139 X 60s (139m)
    * Total: 2h19m

Seeing index: OK (3)
Jet stream: Good (7 m/s)
Transparency: Good (4)

    Integration time (running total):
    * OSC 130 X 180s (390m)
    * Total: 6h30m
    
    Integration time target
    * Target: 6 hours
    * Progress: 100%

Thursday 18th January

Lucky imaging: best 25% frames from 10000 video frames.

    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

The huge crater Copernicus displays clear ejecta rays and lines of mini craters caused by the scattering of debris from the meteor impact that created it many millions of years ago.

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