'I saw the crescent, you saw the whole 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.
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…
Views of the day six Moon with Earthshine in HDR
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…
Integration time (running total):
* L 70 X 60s (70m)
* R 60 X 60s (60m)
* G 64 X 60s (64m)
* B 65 X 60s (65m)
* L 70 X 10s (11m40s)
* R 60 X 10s (10m)
* G 64 X 10s (10m40s)
* B 65 X 10s (10m50s)
* HA 10 X 180s (30m)
* Total: 5h32m
Orion will soon be gone from the sky for another season. I wanted to have a new attempt to produce a satisfactory photogrpah of the bright star-forming region around the Trapezium in the Great Orion nebula which is so…
