The Crescent Moon 36 hours after New Moon at 19h29 on 20th March 2026.

The sky was better tonight - though not perfect! - and it was possible to get an improved mono image using the RC8 of the red spot and, again, the moon Io just visible at left.

Day 11 view of the south-western sector of the Moon.

Day 5 view of the south-eastern sector of the Moon.

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.

A spectacular conjunction from 1st April 2025.

The photo shows the eclipse at 11:53 approximately 15 mins before the Moon’s transit had finished.

The seeing has been exceptional (for the UK) for the last few nights. This combined with the IR Pass filter seems to have helped to create the sharpset Moon photo I have ever made. Additionally, a monochrome camera was used and the combination appears to have made a significant improvement over similar images taken with a OSC camera. This is in fact two photos, the first being one of this evening’s shots of the illuminated Moon and the second another image with a different exposure…

The sky conditions were remarkably good this evening though with some patchy cloud. The jet stream was slow for once after stormy weather yesterday and the planets showed plenty of detail. I was lucky to catch the Great Red Spot on Jupiter with a simultaneous shadow transit of Europa at 22h10.

Seeing index: 3
Transparency: 2
Jet stream: Poor
Moon phase: 44%