mcrowle

I’ve kept an eye on conditions since earlier today as there was a chance of it being clear, but in the event the ‘scope stayed indoors. There were only intermittent clear spells, and showers threatened.

However, I looked out at 11:50pm for the umpteenth time to assess conditions and was lucky enough to see a tremendous fireball, heading North overhead with multiple bursts! Wonderful to see.

Regards, Mike.

Oh, the Met Office currently forecasts Wednesday evening being clear for a while! Hope that works out, as it’ll be my first astro opportunity since early December.

There are some clear spells this evening to be fair, but with 40+ mph gusts and hail showers I can hear over my hifi, I think I’ll give tonight a miss 😄.

Good luck all, and happy New Year! Mike.

This unit looks really interesting, with impressive results in this thread! I can see one of these in my future, for use at least when I don’t want to set up a full sized rig. I don’t yet have a smartphone, but presume it can be controlled by a Wi-Fi iPad.

Regards, Mike.

My astro-imaging camera (modded EOS 600D) data is organised in folders by date, so the number of folders gives me a quick count of the nights I did any imaging with that camera. 2023 does feel worse than 2022, especially the last few months, but the actual counts are:

2022: 45 nights

2023: 53 nights

Many of those sessions may have been limited by cloud, rather than being full nights of clear skies. In fact, currently I can't remember the last consistently clear night. Not included in those counts, though, would have been a few nights I did planetary or lunar imaging and viewing, or landscape-astrophotography, and didn't use the 600D.

Regards, Mike.

Thanks! Think I was just exasperated after spending a while trying to reduce the gradients 😄.

Regards, Mike.

Wonderful captures, all!

Looking back through mine there isn’t a telescope deep sky shot that stands out, but I do like this 35mm lens wide field. It contains a bit of everything - bright stars, clusters, emission nebulae, dark nebulae, a supernova remnant, a planet (Mars) and a comet (C/2022 E3 ZTF).

Regards, Mike.

8 minutes ago, mcrowle said:

…though it’s not great 😊 

Hmm, now I’ve seen the photo there on-line, perhaps even that was too kind!

I tried to see 62P last time round, 6 years ago, but only managed to capture it photographically. Try as I might, using my exposures as reference, averted vision, etc, I couldn’t make out its faint smudge visually in my 12” Newtonian. Anyway, that was post-perihelion, and the comet was already fading.

It was a very different experience this time round, with the comet easy to locate and view in the Sickle of Leo. It’s much brighter than last time (estimated at mag 9 according to the BAA page) though it’s very diffuse.

I will share a photo, taken on the morning of 8 December, though it’s not great 😊 - I had to crop it very heavily due to some horrendous gradient issues. This is the result of 20 x 1-min, tracked but unguided exposures taken with the f/4 Newtonian and Canon EOS 600D, stacked in DeepSkyStacker.

Regards, Mike.

Wonderfully captured, Lee! Looks like you have an ideal low Northern horizon at that spot.

Regards, Mike.

This was about 18:15. Not great, but the best of my captures. 14mm lens, but rather cropped to level the horizon (I hadn’t yet levelled as it was only a test shot).

Regards, Mike.

Did catch some purple on camera after 6pm, though only with some test shots. Once I’d set up to image in earnest it had faded. Think I missed the peak, but will keep an eye on conditions (of course, the gibbous Moon will not help!).

Regards, Mike.

2 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

Nothing going on in the south of England yet.

Nor at 5am. Spaceweather.com report one CME arrived after midnight, but the main event is still expected at midday our time. Going back to bed!

Regards, Mike.

The forecast here in Cornwall has it clearing from about 5am tomorrow, so I plan to set an early alarm and check conditions before dawn in case activity starts early. Then Friday night looks clear. 

Regards, and good luck! Mike.

The magnitude shown in Stellarium is likely to be as forecast well in advance, and this can often be inaccurate. I find the BAA comet page useful as it has recent estimates: https://people.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/

Regards, Mike

Yes, very diffuse!

Due to high cloud in the breaks between showers, it was more difficult to pick out this time than on Monday. In fact I had to photograph the general location and then use the photo as reference to find the comet in my 7 x 50s.

Regards, Mike.

It’s around magnitude 6. Was just about to head out to view it myself, but now have a line of showers coming from the North. Hoping to try again shortly.

Regards, Mike.

I imaged the comet very low in the sky on Monday evening. It was rather a rushed session, unfortunately, due to the frequent showers and the comet getting lower. As a result my focus could have been better; occasional wind gusts didn't help either. I'm hoping to get another chance, perhaps on Friday evening.

So this was just 12 x 30-sec exposures at ISO 6400 and f/4, taken with a Canon EOS 600D and Zeiss Jena 135mm f/3.5 lens on a Vixen Polarie star tracker. The frames were stacked in DeepSkyStacker, and post-processed using Canon Photo Professional (for curves adjustment) and CyberLink PhotoDirector (for noise and gradient reduction). I've cropped the result a little.

Regards, Mike.

How most diffuse nebulae appear through the 'scope:

Thanks for the reminder about this comet!

I’d intended to observe and image it a few weeks ago, while it was in Ursa Major and Canes Venatici and more easily seen from my observing position in the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately a clear morning did not materialise and I’d not checked the comet’s location for a while.

Andrew’s post reminded me that it’s now an evening object, much brighter and moving quickly across the sky  - and that I’d better get on with viewing it!

Due to its location, I had to use 7 x 50 binoculars, on a footpath near home, rather than my ‘scope. Still, though the comet was very low in the sky by the time the clouds cleared, it was easily seen as a fairly large, diffuse blob, with the binocs once I was dark-adapted.

Regards, Mike.

These were taken shortly after dark. 5-sec, ISO 6400, F/2.5, with a Canon EOS 5D MkIII and Samyang 24mm lens.

Regards, Mike.

I should add that, on reviewing the photos, I am seeing structure in the aurora. However it is competing for attention behind the drifting cloud. Will post an image or two later  .

Regards, Mike.

Just returned home now, as it has clouded up towards the North.

Using a 24mm lens in portrait on a full-frame camera, the purple of the aurora was filling the frame (and I’m in Cornwall). Not a lot of structure visible, though, just a glow. Will keep an eye on cloud conditions and aurora activity, and hopefully be heading out again before long.

Good luck, and clear skies. Mike.

Very showery here, but there are now a few small breaks in the cloud. Following the Red Alert it was raining and the Glendale app showed no sightings down this way. Some sightings are now being reported, though, so I’ll keep an eye on conditions and have some kit ready!

Good luck! Mike.

Another image, taken from the same footpath above Canazei, but looking in the opposite direction. It shows Perseus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda over Sass Pordoi (2950m), part of the Sella massif.

The details were 5 x 15-sec exposures at F/2.8 and ISO 3200, with the 5D MkIII and Sigma 35mm f/1.4; frames stacked and post-processed as before.

Regards, Mike.

Beautifully captured, Paul! I did make an attempt myself, but it was largely cloudy and apparently the activity had dropped off a cliff by the time I was at my observing spot!

Regards, Mike.