mcrowle

Don't be put off, but perhaps start with the brightest part of the Milky way, i.e. the Core, as others have mentioned. This currently rises just before dawn, but if you wait until the Summer it will be visible all night towards the South. If the local light pollution is not too bad and the sky is really clear, a single frame will display it nicely, though it has to be said that stacking multiple frames will allow you to reduce noise and increase contrast. Using a free tool like Sequator is not too time-consuming. Good luck with whatever you try. Regards, Mike.

After spending some time deep sky imaging in my garden on Friday evening, I walked to a local beach in the early hours to view and image the Milky Way, taking advantage of the southern view over the sea. Sky transparency wasn't as great as I'd hoped to be honest - it had looked better from the garden, earlier. Still, I took some images, using a Canon 5D Mk III, 35mm and 24mm lenses, on a static tripod. Here's the 24mm lens capture, taken just after the end of astro-dark so that the Milky Way Core was reasonably high and Venus had risen. The 5x15-sec ISO 6400 frames were stacked in Sequator to reduce noise. Contrast was adjusted, and vignetting and distortion reduced, using CyberLink PhotoDirector. Regards, Mike.

What did I see tonight? Not a lot, disappointingly. I set up after work, just as it was getting dark, to find 2 periodic comets - 19P Borrelly and 104P Kowal, which are quite close together in Cetus. Unfortunately I drew a total blank, despite having seen over 100 previous comets. The problem was a lack of time before the relevant area moved behind a neighbouring property, plus a bright house light to the south that made it difficult to actually see any stars in the relevant area. It didn't help that there are few bright stars around the comets' location to enable star-hoping. Regarding the light, the neighbours do extinguish it late evening, so it's not a continuous nuisance. I think it has been there for a years, but until recently was shaded by another neighbour's leylandii hedge. That hedge is now gone, so I get the "full benefit" of the light. I should stick to starting sessions when everyone has gone to bed, rather than at 6:30pm! Regards, Mike.

If the display is very active, and changing very quickly, also try shorter exposures at a higher ISO if required - though always expose enough to keep the histogram off the left edge. The short exposures, say 2-3 seconds, will hopefully retain more of the structure of a fast-moving display. Good luck! Regards, Mike.

It's looking like my brief Comet Leonard session last week may have been my last. Perhaps I should have stayed up longer, but at least until 4am Sunday morning was poorer than previously forecast, with barely a clear patch, frequent showers and 40mph gusts. The next week only looks worse. Regards, Mike.

Great to see, there are some fantastic captures of the M3 encounter in the Spaceweather.com Comet gallery: https://spaceweathergallery.com/comet_gallery.html No chance here in Cornwall! Regards, Mike.

I did get a chance to find Comet Leonard this morning, though the opportunity was briefer than I'd hoped. It was very clear when I set up my Meade 127mm ED refractor at just after 1am, but I had to wait for the comet to clear a bush that was conveniently also shading my location from a street light. After finding Comet Leonard's elongated and easily-visible form in the 'scope at about 2:10am, I added my DSLR and started taking a series of 60-sec exposures. That's when it started clouding up, each exposure more murky than the last! I'd hoped to get around 25 frames, especially given the high ISO I was using (6400), but finished with just 8 acceptable ones. All the same, I stacked and processed them this evening, with this result. Regards, Mike.

Actually the early hours tomorrow are now looking reasonably clear, so I plan to give the comet a try - despite it being a work night! Regards, Mike.

Comets are probably my favourite subject, having seen or imaged 102 since my first in 1983, so I'm hoping to see Leonard soon! I didn't think to try last Thursday morning due to the bright Moon. It was the first clear night for ages, and likely the last for a while. Judging by images I've seen posted so far, the Moon would not have been such an issue. Anyway, regrets aside, good luck all over the next few weeks! Regards, Mike.

I rushed out following the 9pm and 1am alerts, but was clouded out to the North from 9pm. After 1am it was very clear, and on camera I did get a purplish glow towards the North - but nothing more. As it was a work night, I didn't hang around too long though. Of course, I'm about as far South as you can get in England, but I have seen aurora 6 times from here, the last in 2014 . Regards, Mike.

Not a bad first attempt at all, Stuart! You're not doing anything wrong, but it's probably worth taking a few frames, say 5 - 7 with the same settings, in quick succession. Then you can stack them in the free Sequator software to reduce noise, before increasing the contrast in the resulting TIFF file. That should enable you to bring out the Milky Way more. Regards, Mike.

Wow - that looks fantastic, Nigella! Certainly brings back memories for me too - I used to collect them as a kid, and I'm pretty sure I still have them (and the book) somewhere. Regards, Mike.

I mentioned my disappointment with attempts to image the planets with a 12" Newtonian on another thread, but for the record here's my far inferior capture of the closing stages of the Io transit the previous night with that 'scope. I really should stick to the 127mm refractor . 12" GSO/Revelation Newtonian, 3x Televue Barlow and ZWO ASI120MC. Regards, Mike.

Thanks, Craig. For me it clouded up during the evening after a mostly sunny day, but luckily was clear again after 11pm. Then, once the 'scope was allowed to cool outside for a while the views were superb. Yes, it is the triplet. I like it a lot, and have taken my best astrophotos through it over the years, and had some of my best views of the Moon and planets. Only my Meade 12" Dobsonian bettered it, though very sadly that one is long gone. Unfortunately it gets less use these days for deep sky imaging, as I normally employ either a 12" f/4 Newtonian for shorter subs, or a Sky Watcher 80mm for the wider field. That's a pity, really, because the Meade has a far flatter field than either of those and always produced superior results (all be it with longer subs being required, especially compared to the Newt). I think a lot of users of the triplet replace the focuser with a Moonlight one that has better weight handling. I had some issues early on, but tightened up all the screws - to the extent that there's now no unwanted movement at all (though this has marred the finish on the draw tube). To be fair there is a little purple fringing on the Moon's limb and bright stars, no doubt something absent on the more prestigious (and expensive) refractors, though I've never found it an issue when viewing or imaging. Regards, Mike.

Thought I'd quickly process one AVI of tonight's Ganymede transit, before I go back out and continue watching. Meade ED 127mm refractor, 5x Barlow and ZWO ASI120MC. Regards, Mike.

Many thanks, Craig - I'll take a look at that. The only mod I've done so far was to replace the support springs with stronger ones (also following a recommendation on this forum). Regards, Mike

Just watched the end of the transit - although Io was only visible to me as it left the disk, followed closely by its shadow. Seeing is not great here, either. Using a 12" Newtonian, though not one I've ever had the best planet views with, sadly. Regards, Mike.

Superb work, Craig! I must say I'm a little jealous, as I've been hefting a 300mm Newtonian to and from my observing position in the garden for the past 9 years and have never once had an impressive view or capture of a planet! Mine appears to have the light-gathering power of a 300mm, but the resolution of a toy 'scope! Regards, and clear skies. Mike.

Yes, certainly always worth checking the sky! For me the display below NEOWISE was only visible though a low point in the valley side, but fortunately Friday's display extended higher in the sky. Regards, Mike.

Thanks, Pete and Paul. Yes, it was lucky that I looked out when I did and that the sky was clear (of low cloud at least ) - it's been mostly cloudy since. This was only the 4th noctilucent cloud display I've seen - the first was back in 1988, and the last was during one Comet NEOWISE imaging session in July 2020. Friday night's display was definitely the best of the 4. Regards, Mike.

I looked out of the bedroom window late this evening, just to check conditions (as is my habit), and was surprised to see a vivid noctilucent cloud display! Having grabbed some gear and rushed out, unfortunately it took a while to find a suitable vantage point - as I'm in a valley. However I did manage to grab a few pics before the clouds faded. This is slightly cropped 10-sec exposure at f/5.6 and ISO 400. Canon EOS 5DMkIII and 100mm lens. Regards, Mike.

The forecast for me was for 100% low cloud cover. However I'd say that it's closer to 300% . Regards, Mike.

I've taken a couple of days off work to watch and image the eclipse - and also in the hope of photographing Air Force One passing overhead (I'm in Cornwall, under the flightpath to Newquay). It's not going great so far: the forecast for the eclipse is low cloud, fog and/or drizzle. Just to rub it in, Air Force One did fly low overhead about an hour ago, i.e. in the dark and invisible above the low cloud. Good luck with the eclipse, all! Regards, Mike.

There is a YouTube channel (though this presentation is not posted yet): StarGaZine - YouTube. I do hope to catch it again, as I missed the discussion at the end due to an incoming phone call. Regards, Mike.

I live on the edge of large village In Cornwall and have Bortle 4 skies at home, so I'm relatively lucky. However the streetlights stay on all night, and various houselights are an issue unless I wait until everyone else is in bed. I don't drive, but I often take portable equipment to a beach 25 minutes walk away. It's only slighter darker there to be honest, but the horizons are less obstructed and south is over the sea - so it's ideal for Milky Way views in the Summer . Regards, Mike.