Paul's Deep Sky Wonderings

Recent image's and news

2012-01-22T16:56:00.001Z

It's been quite a while since I updated my blog. For one, the weather hasn't been very co-operative with producing clear skies. And coupled with that. We still haven't seen Winter.

We've had the odd cold frosty night, which has allowed me to do some astro-imaging. But nothing like as many as I would have liked.

And when those skies are clear for me. We usually see a big fat Moon which, really doesn't help when imaging faint deep sky objects.

Last week-end January 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th. We had a very pleasant run of skies, that allowed me to take a good number of astro images.

These are all taken through, my little William Optics ZS66mm Doublet, and my trusty Atik16ic and 13nm HA filter.

I am now able to control everything from inside my house, through the use of two, 5mtr USB repeater cables and, a 5mtr RS232 mount control cable.

It makes it more relaxing, as I only have the telescope/mount outside, with everything else here in the warm.

My first image for you is no1 on Charles Messier's list of famous nebulae. The Crab nebula or M1.
Messier 1 is a supernova remnant in Taurus, and it was seen as a bright supernova in the year 1054 by Chinese astronomers.

This is my first really long exposure. Three hours comprising of 601 second exposures.

The second image is from Monday 16th, and is a one hour exposure using 300 second exposures.
This is part of IC410 which, is situated in Auriga, and is a huge molecular star forming cloud.
You will see in this picture, two object's that are named the "tadpoles"

The Tadpoles are composed of denser cooler gas and dust, and are around 10 light-years long. They are potentially sites of ongoing star formation. The wind and radiation from the cluster stars, causes their tails, to trail away from the cluster's central region. IC 410 lies some 12,000 light-years away,

My final image is again from Monday 16th, and is a three hour exposure. SH2-235 is a bright nebula in Auriga and is an object which, you don't see imaged.

I was able to begin imaging this object shortly after 1800hrs and didn't finish imaging it for another three hours.

SH2-235 is a kidney shaped HII region at the intersection of two giant molecular clouds. Causing intensive star forming. SH2-235 is 7000 lyr away and 130lyr across.

The Moon meets Jupiter + A Gibbous phase

2011-12-08T09:00:00.002Z

The skies where I live, in Cheshire were clear for 30 minutes on Tuesday, early evening, around tea time.

So I dashed out with my Nikon, to snap the Moon and Jupiter conjunction.

The image here is a composite, with one exposure for the Moon, taken with my 55-200mm Nikon Zoom lens (200mm)

And the image of Jupiter. Is with the lens open at 55mm.

On the following night. Wednesday December 7th. The skies were mainly clear. But with a bigg fat Moon washing everything out, there really isn't a lot you can do.

So armed with my Nikon D40 and a heavy, and very solid, Soligor 254mm telephoto lens, I took this picture of the Moon at F11.

This is a very good lens, built in the day's when things were built to last. It is a manual lens with a range from f4.5 to f32, and was designed to be used with film (m42) thread cameras and was built in the 1960s

This is a stack of 4 frames, at 160th second at 200 iso. Shot in continuous mode. with lens and camera, tripod mounted.

You have to try don't you.

IC1848 AKA Soul Nebula

2011-11-27T09:31:00.003Z

I took this image of IC1848 aka Soul nebula. As a test too see, if I have finely nailed my guiding issues, once and for all.

After spending an hour or so, waiting for the sky to clear (it was supposed to be clear, on Friday, from 1800hrs) I was able to carefully polar align my G11 using my polar scope.

My thanks must go too. The helpful advice, from Chesterfield Astronomer, Paul Collins during PSP211

Paul very kindly told me, where I have been going wrong all these years with my polar alignment.
And in a nut shell, told me. "Stop buggering about, with pointing models, as these don't make any difference to my initial polar alignment".

The Soul nebula. is huge. And I can only get the central part, on the Atik16ic chip.

I am saving to buy a 314L+. And I hope to have this next year, if all goes well.

I think this is one subject, that will fit nicely on that larger chip with the 66mm William Optics, focal reduced x.5

Here is 1 hour & 22 minutes guided image. Taken through my, William Optics Zenith Star 66sd, and guided through my 8" with the QHY5 and PHD.

Focal reduced to 400mm at F2, to better suite my guide settings in PHD.

All exposures are in HA and taken using seven minute exposures.

This was taken on Friday tonight, before the cloud rolled in

Physical characteristics
Type	Emission
Right ascension	02^h 51^m 36.24^s
Declination	+60° 26′ 53.9"
Distance	7,500 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	??
Apparent dimensions (V)	40.0'x10.0'
Constellation	Cassiopeia
Radius	-
Absolute magnitude (V)	6.5
Notable features	-
Other designations	LBN 667 - Cluster is IC1848

Messier 76. A Planetary nebula in Perseus.

2011-11-08T18:43:00.002Z

At this time off the year, Perseus is riding high in the North East.

It is a constellation, full off interesting deep sky object's to see. Both visually and image.

On the evening of Sunday 6th November. I was fortunate to have a clear sky, but the Moon was so bright.

So- I decided to try a spot of narrowband imaging.

My choice was the Little Dumbbell nebula.

This is an interesting nebula. And it is known by too names. The Cork, and Barbell Nebula.

It was discovered by Mechain in 1780, and included in Messier's catalogue as no 76.

M76 is faint, and some sources quote M76, as magnitude 12.1, whilst other's give a value near magnitude 10.

It is there for, quite an easy subject visually, for modest aperture telescope's.

The size of M76 is. 2.7 x 1.8 arcmin. Whilst its distance is 780pc or 2,500ly.

This picture was captured over a period of just under two hour's. And has been combined from fifty-five times two-minute exposure's.

I was using an Astronomik 13nm Hydrogen Alpha filter, attached to my Atik 16ic CCD camera. Which was attached to my Orion Optics 200-800 F4 imaging Newtonian. The guiding was undertaken with a QHY5 and Willam Optics ZS66sd, and PHD software. All this is attached to a Losmandy G11-Gemini L4.

I hope to gather more data, using longer exposure's once the Moon is in the morning sky.

click the image to enlarge

Using a Nikon D40, for astro-imaging.

2011-10-03T20:40:00.002+01:00

I have always been interested in imaging, ever since I owned a very good CCD camera, the MX5 in the middle half of the 1990's.

In 2006 I bought an Atik16ic CCD camera and in 2007- I bought a Nikon D40.

I always use my Atik for long exposure CCD imaging of faint, but also bright, Deep Sky object's.

But, until very recently, I have started to do some test's, to see how good my Nikon D40 compares, for Deep Sky, astro imaging, to the Atik.

For most people, the preferred camera of choice for this sort of work. Are camera's from the Canon stable.

Canon offer a very good range of DSLR's which all have, very good red sensitivity.

So naturally, these were the camera's of choice for imaging nebulae, together with other, fine DSO objects.

There first camera, being, the 350D followed later by the 1000D.

Nikon, on the other hand are not as popular, with digital astro imagers. But over the past year they have started to produce some very good camera's that are suitable, for this type of low light, imaging.

The Nikon D7000 is a very good example. But for some, this camera is expensive.

The Nikon D40 is a 6.1 mega pixel camera, that I use for day time shooting. And until very recently night time, astro imaging.

I am using this camera with an Orion Optics SPX 254mm F4.8 Newtonian reflector, with 1/10^th wave optics.

This set up is all mounted on what I consider to be. One of the best value equatorial mount's affordable.

The Losmandy G11, fitted with Gemini Level 4 GOTO.

On Friday September 30^th 2011, I was very fortunate to be able to image the night sky from by back garden observatory here in East Cheshire, using this equipment.

And for the very first time. I was able to use my Nikon D40.

Searching the internet, I have found very little imaging of the night sky done with this camera. And I wanted to see, just how good it was. Both for color response, but also sensitivity, to low light imaging.

My subject on Friday was the famous Dumbbell nebula or Messier 27.

During early autumn evening's. M27 is still at the zenith, and crosses the meridian shortly before 9pm, so it is there for, very well placed for imaging.

I was able to set my equipment up in reasonable time, to give the OTA plenty of time to cool down. The mount was polar aligned during the early evening, and whilst it was still light. I was able to go through my alignment procedure.

After spending a quarter of an hour. I was finally ready.

The skies above me were very clear, getting slowly darker. I was able to take some test shot's of Sadar (Gamma Cygni) to check for focus, and tracking issue's. I wasn't guiding, as I do not as yet have a suitable guiding scope.

Everything was looking OK. So with heavy heart I slewed the 10” and D40 onto Messier 27. And began taking 10 x120 second exposure's.

To avoid any vibration's, that could spoil each image. I used the self timer, and also a pillow case that I draped over the front of the OTA .

Film user's will remember the “Top Hat” method, where you cover the front objective, and wait for any vibration's to die down before removal.

This I did. And I was very happy with the raw, image's.

These image's were all stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, with final processing done in PS.

I am very pleased with the result considering my exposure's are all unguided.

And. I am also very pleased to see, how much detail, in M27 I was able to capture using this camera UN-modded.

Paul A Brierley

October 03^rd 2011.

I find the taking of CCD image's a big challenge, and with every image taken. I learn something new

Sun-day

2011-09-18T12:52:00.000+01:00

If like me, you have suitable equipment for looking at our nearest star, safely. Then I strongly recommend you do so, today.

The sun is positively alive with Sun spot's. There are currently on view. Six large spot group's. And these were visible in my William Optics Zenith Star66 and a Baader white light solar filter, and 25mm Ortho.

Warning.
The Sun is DANGEROUS.
Never attempt any solar observing unless you are able to do so safely. Using a Baader solar filter attached to the FRONT of your telescope.

The Backbone of the Night

2011-08-05T08:42:00.002+01:00

Last night, I together with a friend from Macclesfield Astronomical Society, went out onto the Derbyshire moors, with the intention to view C/2009 P1 Garradd.

Our observing site was a high plateau above the village of Pott Shrigley, which is on the Cheshire, Derbyshire border.

The skies last night were dark. And very transparent T=6 with the Milky Way clearly visible through Cygnus. I estimated the NLM at m+ 5.9.

Our observing tools were 10x50 binoculars. I still believe these minature telescope's, are still an invaluable tool in observational astronomy, and shouldn't be disregarded by beginners, who are thinking about taking up this hobby.

Here is my report.

M15, m6.3. Dim fuzz ball, but very easy none the less.

C/2009 P1 Garradd. Located the comet quite easily. Estimated magnitude is about m+8.6. The comet is visible towards the right of a pair of faint stars. HD 203699 m6.7, and the fainter HD 204215 m+7.2.

The comet is an elongated fuzzy patch, elongated North-South. It was easier to see with averted vision.

M11, m+5.8. Through the binoculars, M11 looked almost globular in appearance. It is bright and unmistakable.

M16, m+6.0. Very easy, and very bright. M16 is visible, with in, a very rich star field.

M17, m+6.0 Another very bright and easy nebula, which is visible in the same field as M16.

M24, m+4.6. The small Sagittarius star cloud, is one of those objects, that we seldom get to see from where I live in East Cheshire. Because I was high UP last night, It was unmistakable as a small fuzzy haze.

We also observed the Scutum star cloud with the un-aided eye.

M22, m+5.2. This is another seldom seen object. Tonight however, we were both treated to some excellent, wide field views, of this bright globular star cluster. M22 is round and looks slightly granular.

M8, m+4.6. Bright nebula, visible with in a small cluster of stars.

M20, m+6.3. Fainter than M8, but still visible through my 10x50 glasses. M20 is visible as a faint glow against the brighter milky way.

High up, above our heads Cygnus was flying over head. With binoculars and the naked eye. I was able to see NGC7000 and through binoculars. The brighter part's of the Gamma Cygnus nebulosity.

We were observing from 21:35 hrs until cloud rolled in at approx 22:30hrs UT.

One other observation that I made, which, I have yet to identifi. Were two satellites moving through the lower portion of Pegasus. These object's were moving at the same speed. And I think probably, in a synchronous orbit.

They were both seen to transit M15, and they were bright through the glasses. My estimation was m+7.0. I didn't record the time which is annoying. But I would guess it was about 21:45UT.

2011DF in NGC6801 and 2011DH in Messier 51

2011-06-04T18:22:00.000+01:00

You don't usually associate CCD, or visual astronomy during these all two short night's. But. As I discovered only last night.

There is still plenty to see when full astronomical darkness comes shortly after 22:00 ut. And last night was know exception.

The skies where I live had been wonderfully clear all day, and I had received notice, about some recent supernovae that were visible. So I decided to set up, and enjoy taking CCD image's of.

Messier 51 and 2011DH (M+14). And then NGC6801 and supernova 2011DF (M+16).

M51

NGC6801

Both of these object's were tricky, especially Messier 51 with it's near impossible altitude. I had to switch off the guiding, and take 4x30 second UN-guided exposures. Then regrettably I had to leave it. The angle of the G11, made imaging, impossible.

NGC6801 was also difficult but, not as difficult as I had imagined. This galaxy is tiny, and lies very close to Kappa Cygni, and is in a bad area of sky to find galaxies. I suspect if this galaxy were out side the plane of our home galaxy, it might be brighter.

NGC6801 is small and it is a type Sc Galaxy, in Cygnus , it can be found at.

Right Ascension (2000.0): 19:27:35.9 (h:m:s)
Declination (2000.0): +54:22:21 (deg:m:s)
m_b: 14.6 (mag) , m_v: 13.9 (mag) , SB: 13.6 (mag per square arcmin)
Dimension: 1.30 x 0.7 (arcmin) , PA: 44
Cross Identifications: UGC 11443, MCG 9-32-5, ZWG 281.3, PGC 63229, IRAS19264+5416

Both Sn are arrowed, and both were imaged from my home here in Cheshire, with a Atik16ic and Orion Optics 200-800 F4 on a Losmandy G11. Guiding was carried out with a QHY5 TS, OAG, and PHD.

Car seat Astronomy by Christopher Hill

2011-05-15T17:39:00.000+01:00

Here is a short but fascinating observation report, by a member of my local Astronomical Society, Mr C Hill of Macc Astro.

Car Seat Astronomy – Chris Hill

We have all heard of armchair astronomy but what about car seat astronomy? Spring 2011 was awash with clear nights, but a strong easterly wind made astronomy sometimes uncomfortable. Setting up a telescope and observing in the wind can leave you very cold, so on the last good night of a clear spell I decided to observe from the comfort of my car.

After the May workshop I parked in a quiet dark spot in the Goyt valley, which is situated between Macclesfield and Buxton.

With the open drivers side window facing south. And the sunroof open as well, I began making observations.

With my 8x50 Opticron binocular I went hunting for the host of galaxies that are best seen in the spring. Starting with Ursa Major through the sunroof I could easily spot M81 and M82 at right angles to each other. M51 looked like a pale disk through the binocular and M101 was also visible as a larger but fainter glowing disk. However M108 and M97 (the owl nebula) could not be seen.

The globular clusters M3, M13 and M53 were easy to spot and a fine sight. I could also see M64 (the black eye galaxy) clearly. The Leo triplet (M66, M65 and NGC3628) could just be made out with M66 being easiest to spot. The Virgo cluster was a bit trickier. While M100 and M85 could be made out I could not pin down M98 or M99. In the area around M84 and M86 I could not make out any individual galaxies but the sky took on a mottled appearance.

I find that galaxies look quite different through a binocular than the usual view that you get through a telescope. The core of a galaxy stands out in a telescope eyepiece but the faint outer regions can be elusive. Through a binocular the core can be hard to spot while the outer parts stand out. The best view of M31 (the Andromeda galaxy) that I have had was through a binocular.

The sky was quite good with a limiting magnitude of 5.5 but there was some dust in the atmosphere. Perhaps on another night more could have been seen but I was surprised how much could be seen from a car seat with a binocular.

03-05-2011

Thank you Chris, for that excellent observing report. Chris has also very kindly submitted a DSLR image of Messier 51. Thank you again.

Gibbous Phased

2011-05-09T18:25:00.000+01:00

What do you do at this time of the year, now the night's getting alarmingly shorter and shorter?

Well. I am now making regular solar observation's through the William Optics 66sd and Baader filter, and I am also observing the Moon and imaging it.

Last night for a bit of fun, I decided to use my little APO, and Nikon D40 for some quick lunar imaging.

Here is the result.

I've also been making observation's of the Sun using the same telescope, and below are a small selection of drawing's.

The Sun is now beginning to get active again, and with each day there is something new to observe. These drawings were made through my little William Optics fitted with a home made Baader solar filter. I find the use of a deep Orange filter, helps to increase contrast. And this makes any sunspots stand out.

So you see, there is still plenty of astronomy one can do during the long, dreamy, summer month's...

Our Moon

2011-04-13T21:27:00.000+01:00

With the lighter night's, fast approaching. I've been tinkering with my QHY5 and videoing the Moon.

The Moon is one subject that, thankfully doesn't require a dark sky. And I have noticed before. How some of the best seeing can be found during the early hours, or, during the later part of the day. Around two hours before Sun-set.

The image's which you will see on here were all taken through a 10" Newtonian from the British company Orion Optics http://www.orionoptics.co.uk/ in Crewe Cheshire.

The OTA is mounted on top of my Losmandy G11 and I'm using a Red filter (W25) which is helping to reduce the effects of poor seeing.

The image is of Copernicus. Copernicus is a huge 93km diameter crater that is easily visible through small binoculars.

I took this image on 2011-04-12 on the 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gargarin and his solo manned space flight.

This image was captured around 19:45 hrs UT through a x2 Barlow. You can also see, in the same field the Carpathian mountains which is the small rocky out crop below Copernicus. Also in this image is Eratosthenes. Which is visible to the right, with three peaks visible in the crater.

The Moon is a lovely object, and It is one subject that I will return to with this telescope now the night's are getting lighter, and I can't do any CCD imaging because of work.

Enjoy...

Messier 3 a Globular clsuter in Canes Venatici

2011-04-03T12:59:00.000+01:00

Messier 3 is one of the Northern sky's show piece globular star clusters. Lying at a distance of 48,500 lt-yrs. And it is an easy object for anybody with a small telescope, or binoculars.

M3 was discovered by Messier in 1764, and looked on May 3rd of that year
"Nebula without star: centre brilliant, gradually fading away; round. In a dark sky, visible in a telescope of 1-foot"

This image was taken during a clear window on 2011 April 2nd, from my observing site here in East Cheshire. The seeing wasn't brilliant, and this was evident when using my Hartman mask to focus on a nearby star.

The exposure is made up of 16x60 second exposures, and it is the best out of 30x60 second exposures.

Imaged using the Orion 200-800 F4 "AG" and guided using PHD a QHY5 and William Optics ZS66SD.

The image could be better. And I will return to M3 again, on a night of better seeing.

Good By Orion

2011-03-11T21:47:00.000Z

I think the tittle of this message is particularly apt.

Orion together with his retinue of Taurus and Canis Major, are slowly descending into the Western half of the sky, and will be sadly lost to the glow of twilight, by the end of March.

And of cause with the disappearance of Orion, we also loose the great Orion nebula, or Messier 42.

The skies where I live in East Cheshire were once again clear on Sunday 6th, (why it does this on a Sunday, I don't know).

I took the opportunity to use my new, TS 9mm OAG on my 8" Orion F4 to see if my guiding has improved.

The Orion nebula was just in the right place to image at 20:00, and I banged off three exposure's. Two x Five minutes and One x 30 seconds for the core regain.

These where guided using the OAG and QHY5, whilst imaging through my Atik 16ic and filter wheel with a CLS filter all attached to the G11.

I've stacked these in DSS, and done some processing in CS2. I wanted to try if I could, to bring the highlight's down, to reveal more of the core regain, and to show the trapezium stars.

This I have done, and I also used a deep space noise reduction, together with a couple of small UN-sharp mask's.

Messier42/43

The Peak Star Party

2011-02-13T12:05:00.001Z

Yesterday afternoon, I spent a lovely three hour's at Shallow Grange, (the venue for this years PSP).
A committee, has been formed with the event organiser as chairman.

The camp site is excellent with everything you need to make the PSP a success. All the camping field's offer very good unobstructed views, with particularly good views towards the south, where Orion will be rising at that time of the year.

The site owners, are bending over backwards to make this event a success. The owner, although not an amateur astronomer, is very concerned about light pollution, and the effect's it has on the environment. And with this in mind, he has agreed to cover all, naked white light's. This will give us a totally dark environment.

We are also planning to have lecture's and we were shown, a very spacious shed, that we can use for this. We already have two speaker's booked, and it is hopped to find possibly a third.

The event is officially open for booking in on Friday October 21st, with a meet and greet station inside a marque, that will be kindly provided by a local scout group. It is also hopped to have hot water for drinks.

The committee all agreed that we need to be there on site from Wednesday 19th, to get everything ready.

There will be facilities provided, for a small fee (50p) for charging of batteries or mobile phone's and laptops during the week-end.

If people wish, they can stay on after October 24th.

I have agreed to give, new comers to astronomy, tour's of the night sky, and a tour, during day time of the telescope's. I am also planning a co-ordinated meteor watch on Saturday 22nd for the peak of the Orionid meteor shower.

Everything is looking, positive. All that we need now is you're support.

Please take a look at our web site.

http://www.peakstarparty.co.uk/

And please sign UP.

If we can get a full compliment of 40+ the owner has agreed to close the site!

PEAK STAR PARTY- BUXTON- DERBYSHIRE

2011-02-09T06:49:00.000Z

Date for your Diary - Peak Star Party 21st - 24th Oct 2011

The Peak Star Party 2011 is being held at Shallow Grange Farm, just south of Buxton in the Peak District, between 21 and 24 October, giving the three nights 21, 22 and 23 October. The party is open to anybody with an active or pending interest in astronomy. Shallow Grange Farm is open for people wishing to extend their visit into a Half Term holiday vacation.

Click

http://www.eventelephant.com/peakstarparty2011

for further details.

Supernova in Galaxie NGC2655

2011-02-08T06:42:00.001Z

I have another report for you all , by my guest observer/imager Paul Cannon.

Paul was lucky enough, to image SN 2011B after being alerted by myself, after I received an alert from the BAA.

I how ever have not been so lucky, with work and fighting continue cloud coverage.

NGC 2655 Supernova

The images show a Supernova taking place in Galaxy NGC 2655 as it was on the 3rd of February 2011. The first picture is a wide field image of 300s and the second a composite of

3 x 300s stacked images cropped to emphasise the action. Both were taken taken with a Canon1000D through a Celestron 8" SCT.

The Supernova was first discovered on 7th January 2011 by Koichi Itagaki and Masaki Tsuboi

Macclesfield Astronomical Society; Observation of Occultation of mag 4.8 Zeta Arietis

2011-01-15T12:59:00.000Z

Five members from the observing group, of Macclesfield Astronomical Society, were able to witness the disappearance of the 4.8 magnitude star Zeta Arietis by the dark limb of the Moon on Friday 14th January 2011.

It was touch and go whether or not we would actually see the event. The skies were, by 22:30 becoming very milky, making Zeta Arietis difficult to see visually.

I timed the disappearance at 23:06, whilst observing through my 10" Orion Optics Dobsonian with a 24-8mm Vixen LV zoom (16mm) X75.

The location was Kerridge Cricket club, Kerridge, Bollington, Cheshire. The NLM here is normally +5.6 but tonight, we were struggling to see +3 because of the approaching cloud but also the wide gibbous Moon. The seeing was variable ANT IV.

The observers were.

Chairman: Andrew Greenwood WO Zenith star 66 "OG"
Paul A Brierley 10" OD250 f4.8
Paul Canon 4" Celestron "OG"
John Tipping Home built 6" Newtonian
Richard Lowe 8" Meade LX200.

We all confirmed the disappearance at 23:06. And we were all greatly relieved when the star finally disappeared . The Moon was, by 23:04 beginning to make some of the observers eye's water, because of the intense concentration needed, to see the slowly fading star. We had all been watching from 22:50.

Occultation observing and timing is one of the few aspects of Amateur Astronomy that doesn't require any high tech equipment or knowledge. All you need, especially for Lunar occultations are an accurate time piece, (in my case I have a radio controlled watch) and a telescope ( minimum aperture 2") or large tripod mounted binoculars.

Below is a link, to the SPA's Occultation section web site, which gives you a full listing of occultation event's concerning the Moon.

http://www.popastro.com/sections/occ/lunarocc.php

Perseus Galaxy cluster

2010-11-30T19:24:00.001Z

It was very clear, but also very cold here in East Cheshire on Monday night. I don't know what's up with our weather, I think somebody had better tell the big man, it's still only Autumn.

It was -5 with Snow on the ground!!

Last night, I decided I would concentrate on imaging galaxies in Perseus, so I decided, I would spend a couple of warm hour's (I can image from the comfort of my conservatory now) imaging NGC1275 or Perseus A, together with it's accompanying galaxy cluster.

I feel very humbled when I look at this image, as it shows you I think, just how vast and complex our Universe is. NGC1275 is a staggering 300mly from Earth. It is a radio galaxy and has a radio source at it's core, this is known as 3c84.

This image is a 1hr 44min exposure (cloud's buggered any remaining exposures) composed from the usual 4min30second subs. Taken through the SPX 200-800 f4 with my Atik16ic. And guided by the QHY5 and PHD. The seeing was very bad Ant 4.

Perseus A is the galaxy just left of centre. You can, if you look closely, see that I was just starting to bring out the filaments that surround this fascinating object. These I think are caused by the galaxy's black hole at it's nucleus.

Here is another image only this time showing the catalogue number for each galaxy.

My other offering, is from Friday night. Again I decided to image galaxies and this time selected NGC1023. This is a beautiful galaxy that is over looked. I suspect the reason is NGC891 and the Andromeda spiral.

A double cluster for the early Winter evenings

2010-11-11T20:54:00.000Z

I am now beginning to get active again, with imaging DSO's. I've not done any of this for a while, because I was starting to find imaging, stressful.

I was spending more time trying to figure out why my guiding was all to cock, than actually doing any imaging.

I am now feeling better thanks to an easy fix.

I am now using my old and very small and light weight, 60mm finder scope which I've had for 16 years. The finder allows my guide camera to see considerably more stars because of the very short focal length (200mm) and a very wide field, than my WO ZS66SD could ever do, and this makes for better guiding with less stress, and more fun.

I wish I had done this sooner. Maybe I could have done something with my Vixen GP-DX, who knows.

Yesterday evening and quite by chance, the skies here in Macclesfield cleared suddenly, and I was able to take advantage of this break to try my Nikon D40 dslr.

The subject, because at 8pm it is very high and on the meridian, was NGC 884 and NGC 869. Both of these open cluster's fit nicely on the CCD imaging sensor of the D40, which makes a huge difference over my Atik 16ic.

I was imaging through my fast SPX 200-800 F4 "AG" deluxe, using a Baader MPCC with out a CLS pollution filter. The exposure times were all 0.30 seconds totalling 6 mins. Guiding was done using PHD and my Losmandy G11.

The darks and the subs where then stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with any additional processing done in CS2.

Make mine a Pyms part 2

2010-11-07T17:24:00.001Z

My self a two other observers decided, yesterday, because the forecast was looking particularly good, we would head UP in to the hills for and hour or two observing.

We arrived shortly after 8pm to find the car park occupied with a mobile camper van, the owner asked politely what we were doing, and we explained that we were hoping to do some gazing and imaging assuming the skies cleared.

The skies were forecast to clear from 9pm, and it was looking hopeful after 21:30 when, large openings appeared all around the sky.

I suspected that the sky would be very transparent because of the amount of rain fall, during the past week. I wasn't disappointed. In the East where the sky was clear, the NELM was a good m+5.6 with the double cluster and messier 31 easy with the unaided eye.

I was able to take some fixed tripod, digital camera image's, using my Nikon D40. The image here shows the area surrounding Perseus and Cassiopeia.

This was really a test to see if my Nikon is suitable for imaging the night skies, and also to prove to myself that I don't need the expense of a Canon 1000D.

Looking at this image, I think my camera shows promise.It is a wide field taken with my 18-55 Nikon AF lens set to 18mm and fully open, f3.5 with an iso of 800 and 1600.

Later, when the camera battery died (I've since bought two new ones) I decided to use the 10" and Mk1 eyeball.

The skies at 22:30 where not fantastic, and I was only able to make one observation.

Using my 24mm Pany with a Baader UHC-S filter, I was fortunate to see the famous Crab Nebula or M1.

Through the eyepiece M1 appeared as a bright, but flattened patch of grey light, in a rich star field. It has been said that M1 can been seen through 7x50 and 10x50 binoculars, and I have both, but I have never seen it.

The skies were getting worse towards midnight, so we decided to call it a night. It was a shame the weather couldn't have been more cooperative, but at least we did see something. And I was able to use my camera which was a bonus I suppose.

I just wish we could have a break from this persistent trough of low pressure. A cold front would be very welcome.

I'd like to thank Paul C and Ray S for there company last night. Better luck next time lads...

An Evening with the Milky Way

2010-11-03T10:40:00.001Z

Here is another posting by, guest astronomer, Paul Cannon.

The evening of 10th of October was clear and I decided to venture up to Fernilee reservoir for an imaging session. My main target was Comet Hartley again, but it was so clear and the Milky Way was visible from horizon to horizon so, I decided to image it with the DSlR on a driven equatorial mount. These were 120 second images and no CLS filter was used or darks and flats taken, maybe next time. This means there is a degree of noise in these images, but I thought they were'nt bad for a site no more than ten miles from Stockport and Macclesfield. Comet Hartley as a fuzzy green spot can be located below the double cluster in Perseus. There are many deep sky delights within these images the longer you look the more you see, take you time to browse.

Thank you Paul.

Sun fun and Hartley 2

2010-10-25T06:44:00.000+01:00

These contributions are again from Paul.

Sun Fun

Sunday 241010 11pm

Three active sunspot regions were clearly visible one due west, one in the north west quarter and one towards the east. The latter contained at least four small sunspots. There were two other interesting regions with possible sunspot or filaments, one near the south west limb and one on the west, hard to resolve.
Plages surrounded four of the regions I saw. Broad filaments were located in the north east and south west quarters
Prominences occured around the limb, the longest one due south. A busy Sun indeed again.

Comet 103P Hartley

Sunday 241010 1.30am

Another composite of 5 x 5min images stacked on the head and processed in Photoshop. As green as green can be, because of cyanide gas released as some of the core sublimes.

Comet Hartley 2 and the Sun.

2010-10-22T19:11:00.001+01:00

I have been asked by a friend, and member of my local astronomical society, Macc Astro Soc.
If I can post a couple of observing reports, together with a picture, taken recently of C2003P Hartley 2 and a drawing of the Sun. Drawn using a Coronado PST, by Mr Paul Canon.

Sun Sketching
20/10/10 10.49am
The Sun was very active on Wednesday. There were four sunspot regions in the disc. Each region was surrounded by a large plage. Two large broad filaments were in the north east quarter with a smattering of smaller ones scattered around the disc. South east there was a plage region with a large filaprom visible. Around the limb there were groups of prominences, but not on the south west limb that I could see. The largest prominences were along the south east limb. Two unusual ones were near the north pole, one hanging above the limb the other looking like a tree trunk with a single branch.

Comet 103P Hartley 2
12/10/10 12.10am
A go at Hartley through the murk early Tuesday morning. 5 x 5min images stacked on the head and processed in Photoshop. The comets tail in this image is towards the north east off the central core. The coma around the core is very large, but diffuse and requires processing to bring it out.

NGC7331 Galaxy in Pegasus

2010-10-14T18:46:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday I had a major breakthrough with my astro-imaging. For years I have been struggling getting my guiding sorted out, I began to give UP as I wasn't really getting the results which I had hoped for, when I bought my Losmandy G11.

Then two weeks ago I decided that I would try again, only this time use my CCD, an Atik 16ic and drift align my already reasonably aligned mount. This I did, and I managed to take a series of one minute test exposures of NGC7331 in Pegasus. Everything was looking very good.

On Sunday I decided to dig out and restore, my fifteen years old 60mm finder scope, that has been modified and now has a rack and pinion focuser, to use as a guide scope.

The biggest advantage in using this scope is it's small light weight design, and whopping field of view, which will make finding guide stars easier.

On Tuesday during a spell of very sunny weather, I came home to a clear sky and started to get everything ready.
Shortly after sunset, I was happily slewing and synchronizing on Beta and then Epsilon Pegasi, then onto NGC7331. This galaxy was visible near the centre of the CCD chip, and it was only a matter of seconds before I had it in the middle.

The next test was the guide scope, and would it focus with my QHY5 guide camera!

I attached the camera and powered up the guiding software that I use, PHD.

I didn't have to worry, because I was able to focus on a faint guide star in the area, so I begin my calibration run to get the guiding ready.

I am happy to say that I can auto guide, and at the moment I can take guided exposures of 3 minutes with know trailing.

To prove this, here is an image of NGC7331 with a cluster of m+14 background galaxies.

The exposure length is 1hr 45min guided with PHD and QHY5 and short focal-length 60mm guide scope, and imaged through my Orion Optics SPX 200-800 F4 with an Atik 16ic and IR block filter.

Western Veil, NGC6960 Super Nova Remnant in Cygnus.

2010-10-14T18:21:00.000+01:00

Sunday night was once again clear. If I had a pound for every Sunday when the skies are clear. I would be rich by now.

The skies where I live were fantastic, with the Milky way faintly visible to the unaided eye, and together with that. You could also see the NAN, NGC7000, together with all of Aquarius, and the small and often over looked constellation of Equuleus. NLM was an estimated m+4.8

I looked firstly at C2003P Hartley, and noticed how much it had brightened since my last observation. I then moved over to some favourite dso's and started with M15, and then M2. Both were superb through my 24mm Panoptic and 10" Dobsonian (x50).

I then decided to have a look at the Western Veil; NGC6960. I could see 52 Cygni so I new that I could find it.

I used a wide field eyepiece, my 35mm Celestron Ultima, together with my Lumicon OIII. I centred the star, and found the Veil almost immediately.

The view at 35x magnification was just right, and I managed to make a drawing with out to much trouble.

Here attached is my drawing.

I packed UP shortly afterwards because I was tired, but happy.

M57

2010-10-02T17:07:00.000+01:00

Last night after a day of very heavy rain, the skies where I live, finally cleared for an all to brief period. I was able to get out under a very damp sky and try my hand at drawing.

For many years now I have been using an Atik16ic for imaging and capturing deep sky object's to process and then store away on a DVD. At the end of the day all you have are a lot of pretty picture's that look nice, but at the end of the day that's all they are, picture's. And together with the problems involved with imaging, I was beginning to find it very stressful and it was slowly becoming less enjoyable with every session.

I've been looking at the work of members of the Webb Deep Sky Society, whom I am a member off, who are using video cameras and drawing what they see.

I would like to get back to basics and draw what I am looking at, using my Atik16ic and my 8" F4 Newtonian from home and my OD250 10" when away from home. The big advantage with using my CCD from home; it cuts through light pollution and acts as an electronic eye. And allows me to still look at deep sky objects.

One other advantage of doing this, you don't have to worry if you're stars are slightly elongated with each CCD image, due to a poorly miss aligned mount.

Last night as I said, the skies did eventually clear, and I got out and took the cover of my Losmandy G11, and soon had it fired UP and slewing, with my 8 inch f4 "AG" to the field where messier 57was.

It is remarkable how sensitive the CCD is over the human eye. With the exposure's set to 60 seconds, M57 was very clear and sharp with it's magnitude 13 central star clearly visible. The camera is UN-filtered except for a IR-block filter.

Despite the short exposures last night. I think that I was seeing stars between magnitude 13 and magnitude 14, whilst with the unaided eye I was lucky to see magnitude 3.5.

Below is my drawing made at 19:07ut.

I found this way to be very relaxing and enjoyable night. And I certainly hope to do this again and again.

I would have made some more, but as is the norm, it clouded over shortly afterwards and I packed UP muttering to myself.

Macc Astro Jupiter Watch 2010

2010-09-18T08:35:00.005+01:00

Last night members of my society, Macclesfield Astronomical Society hosted a "Jupiter" watch at Kerridge Cricket Club, Bollington. I am the society's observation co-ordinator, and decided last month it would be a good idea to get together in a public place to show members of the public, and our beginners to astronomy, Jupiter.

This event was, despite the annoying cloud, a success. We had a total of five telescope's set up ranging from my Orion (UK) 10" a 7.5" Mak-Newt a 6" SCT an 8" SCT and our chairman's Andrew Greenwood's 12" Meade Light Bridge.

Because of the slight haze in the sky, the seeing was for once superb. I estimated it to be Antoniardi (ANT) two. The Ant numbering is the scale used for judging the seeing conditions for the night. ANT 1 is excellent whilst 5 is very poor (why are you out side)

And because the seeing was very good, Jupiter was very sharp when viewed with a good high power eyepiece. At one time last night, I had the planet at x300 (4mm Vixen LV) but my best views of the planet were at x160 (7.5mm Plossl)

I said the planet was sharp, and what a view! When Jupiter came into view and rose higher in our sky the view's were simply stunning. I saw clearly the GRS which was very bright pink to my eye, together with the shadow of Io and various cloud features.

Later in the evening towards midnight. We were treated to a view of Io, that nobody could have predicted or have ever seen before. The moon was suddenly visible before it broke free of the planet, and we watched as Io slowly separated from Jupiter. The view is hard to describe; Io was a tiny disc that looked iridescent against the backdrop of Jupiter's invisible South equatorial belt, it really was an amazing sight through the telescope.

The evening was a great success and, with luck, I hope to be there again tonight for stage 2 of our Jupiter watch; sadly though the weather doesn't look fantastic for tonight, but you never know.

Here is a report from the Chairman of Macc Astro, Mr Andrew Greenwood.

Chairman's note: As Paul has mentioned, the event was extremely successful, it was very gratifying to be treated to some wonderful views. It has been a long, long time since Jupiter has looked so good through a telescope at our latitude.

The changing sky itself was quite dramatic. The veil of Cirrostratus produced a number of subtle optical effects. We saw a paraselene (moon-dog) and part of a 22 degree halo, upper tangent arc and upper and lower Moon pillar. All three are infrequent night-time displays. The most striking optical effect was telescopic. Looking at Jupiter it was clear to see a beautifully coloured, oval-shaped halo around the planet. As Paul has mentioned, the seeing was amazing. The GRS and inky-black shadow of the transiting moon was striking. It has been a long time since the GRS appeared so orange/red. I expect this is because of the absence of the SEB. A multitude of subtle details were visible within the polar regions of the planet, and even after the GRS had exited the disk, there was a large oval in the NEB, which to my eyes had a very defined dark area, much smaller than the transiting shadow.

After waves of thicker Cirrostratus came and went, something miraculous occurred. The sky became ultra-transparent. The Milky Way burst into view straddling Perseus, Cassiopeia and into Cygnus. No telescopes were required to see the Double cluster and the great Andromeda galaxy, M31 - or to just gaze at the countless majestic stars.

The final target for the night was 2.5 billion miles away from where we were standing. It was Uranus. The pale green, glimmering disk of the distant planet was clear to see. All the more amazing was its line-of-sight proximity to Jupiter - it was only 0.5 of a degree from the giant planet, but separated by two billion miles ... Wonderful!

Upon returning home, I took one last lingering look at the Milky Way, hopefully anticipating the brief appearance of a meteor. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Still, I felt very happy with the wonders I had witnessed.

Congratulations to Paul for organizing a very successful observing evening. I very much hope there will be many more.

Observations from Hardraw, Wensleydale, Yorkshire Dales.

2010-09-07T10:21:00.002+01:00

A small select group from Macc Astro use an old school in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire for week-end observing trips, and I was very fortunate to be able to join Malc and the team for two night's, Friday and Saturday observing. I arrived on Friday afternoon to find the sky clearing, and with the prospect of doing some deep-sky with my 10" Dob, I was eager to set up and await for sunset.

Sunset at this time of the year is around 19:55hrs, which means that for astronomy, we now have almost nine hours dark sky observing, which is brilliant.

The sky's here are truly dark m+6.2. The milky way was very bright, with the NAN (NGC7000) together with the Cygnus rift very bright and clear.

I made an observing list, but unfortunately I didn't make any note's. I'll start doing this from now on!

61 Cygni.

Easy to split, and looks very similar to Albireo.

NGC6946.

This is a difficult galaxy which requires averted vision to see clearly. X50 the galaxy is visible against a starry background. Higher power x120 (10mm plossl) NGC6946 appears as a faint smudge of grey light. This galaxy is difficult.

M13.

Very clear and resolved at all magnification's used, x50 and x120.

I then took a break, and began looking at Jupiter, which was by now visible above the house. I then had a look at Uranus which was looking rather good despite the planets huge distance.

NGC884-869

X34 the double cluster looked magnificent. I have never seen so many stars in this cluster as I did tonight.

I can't really remember the objects I looked at afterwards. In future, I will record my observations.

Fernilee observing session

2010-08-09T08:55:00.002+01:00

Last night was just one of those night's, when we were supposed to have clear skies all night. So myself and one of my observing buddies, decided at 20:00 to GO for it and head over to our adopted observing site.

The skies where I live in Macclesfield, and where Paul lives in Hazel Grove, where clearing, or so we thought!

I arrived after a very leisurely and relaxing drive to find the sky was almost, but not quite clear. I could see Vega (alpha Lyrae) over head and soon had my 10" OD250s f4.8 set up and collimated. What a joy it is to use a Dobsonian!

Below is a short account of my observations.

Observing site
Fernilee reservoir

Seeing A2 Transparency 5 Naked eye limiting magnitude +5.4
Telescope 10" OD250S f4.8 Deluxe

M15.
Very easy to find and resolve. x120 (10mm Plossl) very bright core, with granulation. x150 (Vixen lv zoom) granulation is now stellar with hundreds of faint stars visible, more stars are visible with averted vision. M15 is very small when compared with M13 and M92.

NGC6960.
I had difficulty finding this with cloud passing over head, but eventually I was successful. 51 Cyg is a faint m5.4 star that is easily visible to the unaided eye from this observing sight.
NGC6960 bisects 51 Cyg and is there for, very easy to observe, when the skies are clear!

At x34 with a Baader UHC filter, the Witches broom nebula as it is called, is very faint against a very rich milky way star field.
Using my 24mm Panoptic with a OIII filter, greatly enhances the view. NGC6960 is a bright luminous grey streak, with the southern portion brightest. I will study this region of space again on a better night.

Whilst hunting down NGC6960, I was lucky to spy some of the other bright parts of the Veil supernova remnant which I shall return to,when we are next UP there and the skies are more transparent.

M31.
I never tire of looking at the Andromeda galaxy so tonight was know exception. M31 was just on the fringes of naked eye visibility, so I was able to hone in on it with out any trouble.
For the best views of M31 I use a low power eyepiece, as this allows me to see all the galaxy.

x34 (Celestron Ultima) Bright nucleus with fainter spiral arms visible, this is a glorious sight to behold. M32 is also visible in the same eyepiece field.

Jupiter.
x120, North equatorial belt, very dark, and brown in colour. South equatorial still absent.

Unfortunately, we were clouded out after 00:45hrs despite the forecast of clear skies for most of the night. Paul's power supply was miss behaving, so we agreed to called it a night hoping for a decent break, for the peak of the Perseids on Thursday night.

Make mine a Pyms

2010-06-19T16:48:00.002+01:00

Yesterday evening I travelled over to the Derbyshire peaks, to Pyms Chair which is a local beauty spot above the Goyt Valley. This site is very exposed, but does have one advantage, it is high up and has a good horizon all around.

I arrived with a friend at 22:30 to find one of my Macc AS observing buddies waiting for me, and I was soon joined by another good friend from Macc AS, Paul C. We had arranged to meet at the Pyms chair site to observe comet C2009 R1 McNaught. This comet is now quite bright, m5.6 and was seen visually and imaged, by Paul last Wednesday morning. What a pity the comet isn't visible later in the year when the skies are darker. I am sure it would be an easy naked eye object.

We soon had all out gear set up. My Dob is so easy to assemble and to use, it only takes a minute before I have an eyepiece in the focuser and I am ready to observe.

Last night I was fortunate to get my first views of a wide gibbous Moon, together with Venus and Saturn. Despite a howling gale buffering the telescope, the Moon looked exquisite.

I was delighted to show one of the group her first ever look through a telescope, she had never seen the Moon before, until last night. To say that she was gob smacked is an understatement. Of cause she now wants a telescope so you can guess what hubby will be saving for.

By midnight the wind was getting worse and so was the cloud. As for the temperature, well that was ridiculous; is it really the beginning of Summer?
Despite the forecast of clear skies all night, the cloud was gathering in the North east alarmingly fast shortly after we began observing, and it wasn't too long before we had total obscuration.

We called it a night at 12:20am and thawed out on our way home.

To good to be true

2010-06-11T19:52:00.001+01:00

I thought the arrival of my a new telescope, would bring forth rain. Which it did on Sunday and, since then, the weather has felt more like April than the start of Summer.

On the plus side; I made myself an off axis baader solar filter, using a spare dust cover. The filter is about 3inches diameter and increases the focal length of my 10" from f4.8 to about f16 this is ideal for comfortable solar viewing.

I was lucky enough to get my first views of the Sun on Friday June 5th. I've found the 35mm Celestron Ultima works best, and with my baader contrast boost filter the image is greatly enhanced.
The low magnification 34x, reduces atmospheric heat shimmer, and the contrast is better than through a higher power ep. So you get a nice steady image that is very sharp, allowing you to see plenty of detail in white light.

At the time of my observation (14:05ut) there was a very nice spot group visible, with plenty of limb darkening, and faculae.

I hope to begin drawing the Sun, when I get the chance, and I also want to start drawing DSO's. But I think this will prove tricky as I have not done any astronomical drawing before.

I've yet to view the Moon through the 10", and if the views I had of Saturn are anything to go by. I'll be in for a treat.

Clear skies and a new telescope

2010-06-04T09:45:00.001+01:00

Can you believe my luck! I collected my new Orion OD250S deluxe dobsonian on Wednesday afternoon. And believe it or not, the skies have been clear. On Wednesday and Thursday, I have been using a small run off car park at Fernilee reservoir in Derbyshire, here the skies are considerably darker than where I live.

My new 10" is well made, and very easy to use. The mounting is very smooth, and unlike other dobsonian telescope's, you have the option to adjust the OTA in the cradle for comfort. I can stay seated with the scope which is very nice, and still reach the eyepiece.

Below is a round up of the last two night's.

June 2nd

24mm Panoptic (x55) 18mm Ortho (x66)35mm Celestron Ultima (x34) 6mm Vixen LV (x200) 10mm Orion plossl (x100))

Warm, and clear but with a slight haze. NLM +5 Seeing A3

Saturn.
At x150 I had a breath taking view. The planet is very sharp, steady and crisp, through this telescope. The contrast is also very good. I can see three moons.

Epsilon Lyrae.
x100 Easily resolved into two, separate components.

Alpha Canes or Cor Caroli.
This is a lovely colourful double. Using a 35mm Ultima Cor Caroli is a brilliant white, whilst the secondary is almost ice blue.

M94.
Through my 18mm Ortho (x66) M94 shows a bright stellar nucleus that fades into a nebulous haze.

M3.
WOW. x50 (24mm Panoptic) M3 is a dazzling mass of star light. Higher power x100 M3 is still very bright, and contrasty. I can resolve M3 to the core.

M13.
WOW x100 granular mass which is brighter towards the core, the proppella feature is almost visible. Increasing magnification, and M13 bursts forth in a mass of star light. It looks like white diamonds on black velvet.

M57.
Very clear open ring, in a very rich star field x50. x200 using baader UHC-S. M57 is bigger and clear. The smoke ring shape is now very clear, and I can begin to see braiding in the nebulosity. There is a m11 star clearly visible.

M56.
x50 M56 is clearly visible in a very rich milky way field, as a granular haze.

M10.
x150 is a bright, but granular circle of light. M10 is easy to resolve.

June 3rd

Very clear.

M51.
x50 two bright nuclei are visible, with just the hint of spiral structure visible. You can see these two are connected. On a night that is darker, I am sure M51 and NGC5195 will look better.

NGC4490.
I've not seen the "Cocoon Galaxy" before! x100 NGC4490 is a bright elongated fuzz. The fainter m12 NGC4485 (M12.5) is visible but only just when using averted vision.
Not bad for a 10"!

M81/82.
This galaxy group is best seen at low power. x50 both galaxies are clearly visible. M81 has a bright core, with spiral structure clearly visible. M82 is a distinct cigar shape, with a bright core.

M27.
x50 M27 is small and egg shaped. x66 Baader UHC-S M27 looks beautiful. It's large with a bright core, and fainter ansae. At this power M27 takes on it's dumbbell appearance.

Sunny Saturday

2010-05-22T16:30:00.000+01:00

As this is the first time that I have posted a BLOG (I still can't get my head around that word)I thought I would introduce myself.

My name is Paul, and I have been interested in amateur astronomy since childhood. I was more of an arm chair astronomer back then. It wasn't until the formation of my astronomical society in 1990, that I really started taking an interest in the subject again.

I bought my first telescope in 1990 a 6" Newtonian, and I have owned two more telescope's since 1990.

During that latter day's of the 20th century I stared thinking about astro imaging. And I began to climb the hill of this very fascinating, and often trouble-some hobby.

The equipment that I use for CCD imaging are the listed below.

Orion Optics SPX 200-800 f4 "AG"
Losmandy G11 Gemini level 4 GOTO
William Optics ZS66SD (for guiding)
Atik 16ic
QHY5

Last year and particularly this year. I have been keen to get back to basics again, and begin visual observing again.
I sold my 12" DX300 F4 last year, to fund the SPX 200, and this year I sold my fourteen years old 8" GX200.

In April I took the plunge and bought from Orion Optics (all my scopes are from this firm in Crew) an OD250S f4.8 deluxe dobsonian. I collect this new telescope on June 2nd.

With the telescope I hope to be able to enjoy my hobby again, after spending to many night's capturing CCD image's. And I can also get away into the Peak district where the skies are darker than here.

I'm an all round amateur astronomer, and I enjoy looking at the Moon and bright planets, and observing the Sun, through a white light solar filter.

But my main interest is in the Deep Sky, so hence the tittle of my blog spot. I hope to start posting my observations on here as soon as possible.

Once I get to know the sky again, I hope in four years to upgrade to ether an OD350 or a Meade light bridge 16".

I am a member of Macclesfield Astronomical Society, which celebrates it's 20th birthday today, at Macclesfield Town Hall. And I am also the society's observing co-ordinator.

I am also a member of the British Astronomical Association the Society for Popular Astronomy and the Webb Deep Sky Society.

Clear Skies
PB