James

That is nice James

That's useful to know... Methinks the image is nicer than you think - What Paul says James

That's a good point.. I've been lucky enough to visit La Palma twice in the last ten years or so, generally with a DSLR for time lapsing rather than a scope though I did get a twirl with an Evolution 8 for a couple of nights. The primary difference telescope-wise was objects generally appearing much brighter and therefore often more detailed - and up near the observatories the seeing was usually excellent so planetary viewing was much improved. I figured the view was really only limited by the aperture and optics at that point. Oh, and my then 46 year old eyes.. The main difference that I found was zodiacal light being much brighter than the Milky Way from home, much less twinkling of stars and the Milky Way itself was ridiculously bright and detailed - I could see it from inside the kitchen where we were staying with a dim 40watt light bulb on above me. One particular night there was no twinkling pretty much down to the last few degrees near the horizon and I was able to walk around and follow paths without needing a torch (I was careful!). I guess proper dark skies allow for proper dark adaption, sort of a virtuous cycle... I'm pretty sure the Milky Way and Jupiter were casting a shadow that particular night. I took my son, then 11, up to the top with me and the things he described like the number of stars visible in the Pleiades was pretty mind boggling. Of course, that meant even though I could see all that extra stuff he could see more... 🙄 So, in answer to the OP... actually there was nothing I could see that I couldn't see at home (well, except the Zodiacal light - have to go to Kielder for that) but everything was way brighter, clearer and more detailed. James

There is a tint isn't there. Its not on my calibrated laptop, but is on my oh so nearly calibrated desktop... will tweak that after Christmas probably... Hmmm... I'll have a look for Hubbles Cepheid variable.. but only after I've gotten used to my new glasses prescription Cheers, James

Thank you I know what you mean about overcooking... that said.. I didn't get as much of the blue stuff come through at each end and I suspect I was over heavy with a mask... if I go back and correct that I may as well add just a smidgeon of Ha... but then I'll over do it.. oh I don't know!! James

For me Andromeda is getting out of easy imaging territory (very dark to the east but Exeter is to the west so I don't do LRGB imaging for objects that way) so I'm calling a halt to my efforts for a while... I've done M31 as LRGB - I have some Ha but couldn't face doing it again with Ha in yet, maybe after Christmas, should make it pop so to speak All 2 minute subs: 28x L, 16x Red, 21x Green, 22 Blue so just 6 minutes shy of 2 hours. Taken with a WO Cat 71, ASI2600mm-Pro, iOptron CEM40 Mount controlled by an ASIAir, processed in PixInsight. I'm not sure what the 'correct' way to display Andromeda is, this way up looked best to me Clicking on the image probably gives a slightly clearer version... I've been tempted to see if I could capture the patch of OIII that's allegedly there and see if any Ha turns up but I think I'll need more Ha for starters as none, or very little is showing on my Ha data outside the galaxy itself.. James

If this was a spot the difference competition I'd be shouting "Orion, ORION!!!" I would say it'd be great to tag along when you're doing the lighting. I won't bother imaging, I'll just eat the kitkats... Hmmm... would help timelapsing no end... James

Still catching up on the sleep after a star party with three clear nights (perhaps mercifully Thursday was cloudy so got some sleep after a very clear Wednesday night) - but those up for just Friday and Saturday nights got a treat too.. I really don't want to know if it stayed clear after I left on the Sunday 🤫 Unusually, I left with a largely dry tent!! Did a bit of time lapsing, some standalone shots (some attached), some visual through Lynn and Kevs' scope, struggled with the faint fuzzies somewhat but we were looking at some very obscure NGC's. Also popped out with Nick for some photos of nearby tree, found by @davew previously - the exact location will remain slightly secret in case the Sycamore Gap tree killers are still at large.. As it happens we ended up comparing what a new iPhone 15 can do versus a DSLR and, subject to the phone being in the hands of a very competent user and my DSLR being in the hands of a moderately competent user it's pretty clear that the phone was holding it's own. I'm guessing I can print up to and beyond A3 though with the DSLR's output.. so I'm chalking that as a win... Much like I hear from the red field at Kelling (running the same weekend) we did have an unfortunate incursion by a young lady with headlights/foglights on full one night - once the blind/dark spots had faded it was back to business. The skies at Kielder are very very dark - there's always been some light pollution from Newcastle way, considerably hidden by a hill/bank of trees but there's a gradual increase from light pollution from the north too. It's still great being at a dark site where the only indication there's cloud overhead is that some stars are hidden.. Some random images attached here - I suspect the images are clearer/sharper when clicked on.. James

... and we did... I'd forgotten what it's like to get minimal sleep for several days James

Oh, they're nice I'm guessing you got over the disappointment at not getting some Milky Way shots.. as soon as I saw the alerts I went out the house... to admire the cloud formations. That first shot, looks like the house is producing some smoke James

Just checked my image time above and yes, it was earlier. Mine was taken at 9:51pm. I got a little more around 1am ish but it was pretty faint and minor..

Folks in Cornwall (and throughout the country of course) were reporting it early in the evening, I didn't catch any until about 11pm ish

Here's what I got from Devon Pity about the moon, and pity about Cullompton too for the light pollution... (no offence to any Cully's out there..) James

Hard to see but this is a handheld iPhone photo. Knew so should get a tripod adaptor for the phone!

Not quite as good here as tooth_drs image though

It’s visible here in Devon - I hate to think what I missed earlier but my camera picking up a very red aurora just now.. James

Just checked some notes... it was dew on the glass in front of the sensor, not the objective.. which might explain why I had only part of the image with similar spikes..

Whilst it's unlikely to be this I have seen similar spikes when I've had a small patch of dew on my objective. Last time was with M45 as well back in December. Was using a refractor, had no spikes on anything else bar the lower part of the image. Never did figure it out but ramping the dew strap up to 100% made it go away so I figured it was that... James Edit: " ramping the dew strap up to 100% made it go away " I guess if my optics were pinched due to cold it might get resolved with a bit more heat but I've imaged on many colder nights more recently and not seen this..

Hmmm… not sure about that 😊 maybe I’ll have another look at my data

I like that - I’ve been trying to capture this but am being defeated, so far, by massive gradients from nearby light pollution etc. Then again you have about 8 hours more data than I do!

Lovely image, the blue shine from Ruchbah is a nice contrast to the red