Hawksmoor

Last night was absolutely beautiful in Suffolk. There was a little high level cloud but otherwise it was quite perfect for backyard astronomy. I decided that I was going to take my first photos of Mars. I used the Logitech Webcam that I had previously cannabalised and took several AVI clips through my refractor using a 3x Barlow lens. I did not get any dark or flat frames which probably would have improved the results. I then processed the images using Registax, IRIS and Photoshop. Although the picture is a bit blurry and not in the same league as some of the images of Mars already on this Forum , I was quite surprised and pleased with the result. :)

Beautiful night in Suffolk. Took quick photos with tripod mounted compact camera and then used Iris and Photoshop to create composite showing the Seven Sisters as well as our closer neighbours the Moon and Venus.

Beautiful night in Suffolk. Took quick photos with tripod mounted compact camera and then used Iris and Photoshop to create composite showing the Seven Sisters as well as our closer neighbours the Moon and Venus.

Spent a rainy afternoon recovering a rather blurry photograph I took a year ago in Norway. At the time I was quite annoyed with my self in not obtaining a sharp focus of the Pleiades whilst concentrating on the Aurora above. http://stargazerslounge.com/members/hawksmoor-albums-aurora-picture16089-aurora-above-pleiades.jpg

Nice moon and glad you got your Allen key back!

Thank you Steve for making this information available. best regards George

Really enjoyed looking at your set on Flikr. Particularly the transit of the sun set. Excellent!

I have never seen M1 through a scope and I have tried on many a night. Sounds like you had a great evening at the eye-piece! best regards George

Thank you, my back is enforcing a certain lack of mobility but in the meantime I'm doing lots of stuff I've put off (e.g I made solar filters for my travel scope etc) and my wonderful wife is spoiling me rotten by doing all the housework etc). I had another go at the ring nebula and have pulled out some detail inside the ring. I've put a copy of this latest image in my Backyard Astronomy Album. best regards George.

Very nice photo of the crescent Moon. Have been getting some lovely views here in Suffolk England. I admire your astronomic perseverance in -21 deg C. Never mind that the wind wasn't blowing. I rarely go out when the temperature drops below 0 degs. I've never been able to see the Rosette nebula through my scope either and I've not tried to photograph it, but some of the deep sky imagers on SGL have more than done it credit. The scallops sound good. best regards George

Tonight Venus was very close to the crescent Moon with Jupiter sailing above and to the south. I took a quick snap with a compact camera perched on top of our car. Really doesn't do the scene credit. Very beautiful even though in competition with the glare from the street lights.

What a marvelous day for February. The thermometer in our back garden reached seventeen degrees Celsius this afternoon. A truly balmy day for the East Coast of Britain in winter. Whilst taking rubbish out to the dustbin I noticed that Jupiter, Venus and the new crescent moon were arranged in a line leading to the west where the sun had just set. Quite beautiful, with the thin crescent moon on its back and partially illuminated by earth-shine.

Thank you for your kind encouragement. best regards George

Its a beautiful sunny day on the East Coast. Have been to the hospital to have an MOT on hip and back. Received great service and care from all staff at the James Paget Hospital. The NHS is great!:hello2: Having a bit of time on my hands and wanting a sit down, have spent an hour with an old photo of M57 which I took last summer in my backyard. Quite pleased with myself in that I have worked out how to use the de-convolution algorithms in IRIS software. (Probably less than pleased with myself in that I didn't better polar align my scope).:)

Due to a flare up of arthritis in my back and hip have been unable to take advantage of the breaks in the clouds which have been infrequent to say the least. Have spent my time downloading images from the ESO archive and practicing the use of image processing software. Have managed to start using IRIS which appears to be the least accessible of the free image processing software I've tried to date. Quite humorous trying to follow the French - English translations.:)