The Iris and the Ghost (in Explore 24 Dec 2023)
The Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) and the Ghost Nebula (SH2-136) in the constellation Cepheus are reflection nebulae shrouded in dark, molecular dust.
Capture details and info on Astrobin: astrob.in/xfcobc/0/
SH2-119 (in Explore 3 Sept 2023)
My first image for some time due to problems with my mount in February, which has since been repaired (new control boards) and also the lack of darkness over the summer here in the UK.
SH2-119, sometimes called the Clamshell Nebula, is a close neighbour of the North America Nebula and Cygnus wall but not often imaged. Processed as SHO with channel and colour balance achieved using Bill Blanshan’s new NarrowBandNormalisation script in PI which makes the job of matching channels so much easier.
Capture details on Astrobin: astrob.in/zi4xky/E/
Crowns Engine Houses, Botallack Mine (in Explore 29 July 2023)
The amazing engine houses, clinging to the cliff face at Botallack Mine on the Western edge of the Cornwall coast
Common Blue (male) (in Explore 2 June 2023)
After a long break with my normal camera I’ve been out a few times recently, mainly looking for Marsh Fritillaries. I’ve had no luck so far but this Common Blue posed nicely for me in the afternoon sun
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) (in Explore 11 Feb 2023)
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
This object, currently passing nearby Earth, was last seen by the Neanderthals 50,000 years ago. It was discovered in March 2022 by the Zwicky Transient Facility. It’s orbit extends to the Oort Cloud at the farthest reaches of the Solar System.
California Nebula (NGC 1499) (in Explore 24 Dec 2022)
This is an emission nebula in the Orion spiral arm of the Milky Way and is one of the nearest of these regions to our Solar System. The image is presented in false colour (SHO) using Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen III and Sulphur II narrowband filters.
Techie stuff:
SHO Hubble palette
6h 55′ integration (2 panel mosaic)
Takahashi FSQ-85EDX
iOptron CEM70
ZWO ASI294mm-Pro
ZWO EFW with Antlia 3nm narrowband filters
ZWO EAF
APT, APP, Photoshop
More details on Astrobin: astrob.in/ki6ln6/E/
The Elephant’s Trunk (in Explore 19 November 2022)
The Elephant’s Trunk nebula (IC 1396) in the constellation Cepheus. This is a large are of gas and star forming regions approximately 2400 light years away. This version is presented in a modified HOO colour palette in which Hydrogen Alpha emissions are mapped to Red and Oxygen III emissions to Blue & Green. Taken during the night of October 10 with around 7 hours of data.
The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) (in Explore 24 Oct 2022)
IC1805 is a large emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia, some 7500 light years from Earth.
The image is a combination of Sulphur II, Hydrogen Alpha and Oxygen III emissions with each band mapped to R,G and B respectively to produce a false colour image from a total of 12 hours of individual frames.
Full details on Astrobin: astrob.in/0cdm6m/H/
Common Blue (male) (in Explore 4 Sept 2022)
A second shot of one of a dozen or so Common Blues in my local meadow recently in lovely evening light
NGC 7822 & Cederblad 214 (in Explore 17 July 2022)
Imaged over 6 separate nights in January and February 2022, this large area of nebulosity lies within the constellation Cepheus. The image consists of two separate panels, stitched together as a mosaic. For full capture details look at the version on Astrobin: astrob.in/fhosoy/0/
Horsehead Nebula (in Explore 30 April 2022)
The famous Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion, taken back in March.
For more information please see my Astrobin: astrob.in/fw4yw0/I/
The Great Orion Nebula and friends (in Explore 10 April 2022)
The nebulae, in the sword of Orion, are the brightest in the northern skies and include the Orion Nebula itself (M42), de Mairan’s Nebula (M43) and the Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977). They are 1500 light years away and are visible to the naked eye.
NGC 1333 (Embryo nebula) (in Explore 7 March 2022)
My latest project which has taken over a month to complete with data from 5 separate nights, totalling 12h 35′ of LRGB.
The giant molecular cloud complex, surrounding the reflection nebula NGC 1333, in this region of Perseus, lies approximately 1000 light years away and contains more than 10,000 solar masses of gas and dust. There are also several designated LBN, LDN and Vdb objects in this region which covers an area of 6º by 2º in total.
This was tough to process but I hope I’ve done it justice.
Rosette Nebula (in Explore 14 Feb 2022)
The beautiful Rosette or Skull Nebula in the constellation Monoceros, lying 5219 light years away and 65 light years across.
Captured with my ZWO mono camera with Ha, OIII and SII filters with about 4 hours of integration time for each filter. Processed in the SHO (Hubble) palette.
Flaming Star and The Tadpoles (in Explore 23 Jan 2022)
The Flaming Star and the Tadpoles
The Flaming Star Nebula (IC405) and the Tadpoles Nebula (IC410) are two neighbouring emission nebulae in the constellation Auriga. The former is 1500 light years away and the latter is 12000.
My first target for 2022 during a clear spell of 4 nights. 7h 30′ of narrowband data with my ASI294MM-Pro on the Takahashi FSQ-85EDX Baby-Q with 0.73x reducer. I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere near this with the bright Moon but my dark (Bortle 4) skies definitely help.
I processed this as a modifed SHO Hubble palette in APP and Photoshop with StarXTerminator to separate the stars and Topaz Denoise AI for noise reduction.
More details on Astrobin: astrob.in/vc2q85/0/
Lion Nebula SH2-132 (in Explore 13 December 2021)
Lion Nebula – Sharpless 132
The Lion Nebula, catalogued as Sharpless 132, in the constellation Cepheus, is a faint emission nebula around 10,000 ly away. It contains two ionizing Wolf Rayet stars and two dark nebulae (LDN 1150 & 1154).
My latest astro project and my first attempt at mono with my ASI294mm-Pro. Processing was done with AstroPixelProcessor and Photoshop with StarXTerminator. A total of 17h 10′ of exposure time with Ha, OIII and SII 7nm ZWO filters. The colours are false using a SHO palette which maps the SII signal to red, Ha signal to green and OIII signal to blue and the colours then changed in Photoshop.
More details and full resolution on Astrobin: astrob.in/yghdzf/E/
Cygnus Wall (in Explore 31 October 2021)
The Cygnus Wall is the central part of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) in the constellation Cygnus. It lies approximately 2202 light years away.
Gear and capture details:
Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ-85EDX Baby-Q
Imaging camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro
Mount: iOptron CEM70
Guiding telescope: Primaluce 60mm Guidescope
Guiding camera: ZWO Optical ASI290MC
Focal reducer: Takahashi Flattener 1.01x for FSQ-85EDX
Software: Adobe Photoshop v23 · Aries Productions Astropixel Processor · openphdguiding.org PHD2 v2.6.10 · RC Astro StarXterminator · Incanus Ltd. Astro Photography Tool
Filters: Optolong L-eXtreme 1.25″
Accessory: ZWO 8x 1.25″ EFW · ZWO EAF 5V Electronic Auto Focuser
Dates:Oct. 12, 2021 , Oct. 16, 2021
Frames:Optolong L-eXtreme 1.25″: 39×300″ (3h 15′) (gain: 100.00) -10C bin 1×1
Integration: 3h 15′
Darks: 30
Flats: 50
Bias: 50
astrob.in/zkc087/0/
Eastern Veil Nebula (in Explore 19 September 2021)
Eastern Veil Nebula (C33)
I’ve recently upgraded my astro setup with a new scope (Takahashi FSQ-85EDX Baby Q) and also had several clear nights to try it out (amazing as new gear normally comes with clouds). I’ve also been learning AstroPixelProcessor for stacking and processing which has made a big difference to the final results.
The Eastern Veil nebula (designated parts IC1340, NGC6992 and NGC6995) is part of the larger Cygnus loop – a supernova remnant about 1500 light years away in the Cygnus (Swan) constellation and is 5000-8000 years old. The total size of the nebula is about 3 times the width of the full moon.
Technical card:
Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ-85EDX Baby-Q
Imaging camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro
Mount: iOptron CEM70
Guiding telescope: Primaluce 60mm Guidescope
Guiding camera: ZWO Optical ASI290MC
Focal reducer: Takahashi Flattener 1.01x for FSQ-85EDX
Software: Aries Productions Astropixel Processor · Adobe Photoshop v22.5 · PHD2 v2.6.10 · Icanus Ltd APT 3.88.3
Filters: Optolong L-eXtreme 1.25″
Accessory: ZWO EAF 5V Electronic Auto Focuser
Dates:Aug. 28, 2021 , Aug. 29, 2021
Frames:Optolong L-eXtreme 1.25″: 111×300″ (9h 15′) (gain: 100.00) -10C bin 1×1
Integration: 9h 15′
Avg. Moon age: 20.99 days
Avg. Moon phase: 62.16%
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 4.00
astrob.in/ih54vz/C/
Marbled White (in Explore 25 July 2021 & 27 Jan 2022)
A successful week on my local patch, a pair of Marbled Whites showing really well. It was hot work chasing them around the meadow but managed to keep my eye on them as they settled for the evening. This shot of the male, with the sun going down behind him, is my favourite.
Marbled White ♀️ (in Explore 15 August 2021)
A female Marbled White in my local meadow. I only found two individuals, this female and a male, hopefully they managed to start another generation
Common Blue ♀️ (in Explore 12 June 2021)
Although they’re late emerging this year, I managed to find a few Common Blues in my local meadow, including this female laying her eggs.
IC410 (in Explore 25 April 2021)
The Tadpoles
A dusty emission nebula in Auriga, approximately 12,000 light years from Earth.
Technical card:
Captured 6 March 2021
Bortle 4
iOptron CEM70 guided and dithered with PHD2
ASI533MC-Pro at -15°C, gain 101, offset 15
Canon EF 600mm f4 L IS II lens
Optolong L-eXtreme filter
3 hours 10 mins, 19×600″ lights
No darks, flats and flat darks
Captured with APT
Stacked and processed with DSS and Photoshop
Thor’s Helmet (in Explore 14 March 2021)
Thor’s Helmet NGC 2359
This is another one of my first images taken with my new astro camera. The object, in the constellation Canis Major, is a hydrogen emission nebula named after the Norse God due to it’s resemblance to his Helmet. It lies around 15,000 light years from Earth and at it’s centre is a highly luminous Wolf Rayet class star.
Technical card:
iOptron CEM70 guided and dithered with PHD2
ASI533MC-Pro at -15°C, gain 101, offset 10
Canon EF 600mm f4 L IS II lens
Optolong L-eXtreme filter
1 hour 55 mins (300s subs) lights
No darks, flats or flat darks
Captured with APT
Processed with DSS and Photoshop + Topaz Denoise
Alnitak, the Horsehead and Flame nebulae (in Explore 21 Feb 2021)
My latest and probably most pleasing astro image so far taken from my backyard.
Alnitak is the eastern most star of Orion’s belt and is surrounded by clouds of dust and star forming regions including the famous Horsehead Nebula (B33), the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) and NGC 2023.
Technical stuff:
iOptron CEM70 (guided)
Canon 7D Mark II (ISO 1600) with Optolong L-Pro filter
Canon EF 600mm f4 L IS II + 1.4x Teleconverter
FL 840mm, f5.6, fov 1.52°×1.01°, 1.00″ per pixel
Captured with APT + PHD2 (dithered every frame)
2 hours of 5 min lights stacked in DSS (no darks, 30 flats/bias)
Processed in Photoshop + Topaz Denoise
Rosette Nebula (In explore 31 Jan 2021)
My first post for a long time, the reason being I’ve been learning astrophotography and setting up my new gear to take images of the cosmos.
This is the Rosette Cluster and Nebula, NGC2239/NGC2244/C50 and NGC2237/C49 in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way.
The capture details are:
iOptron CEM70 mount
Canon 7D Mark II (ISO1600) + Canon EF 600mm f4 L IS II (f4)
Optolong L-Pro filter
Primaluce 60mm guidescope + ZWO ASI290MC
Capture software: APT + PHD2
1 hour 12 mins total integration (5 min guided subs)
Stacked in DSS (15 lights, 12 darks, 64 flats/64 dark flats)
Processed in Photoshop + Topaz Denoise
Southern Hawker (Explored 22 September 2020)
I always have a resident Southern Hawker around my pond this time of year and 2020 is no exception. I was happy to be able to capture this male in flight a couple of weeks ago.
Marbled White (Explored 24 July 2020)
I went back for a second visit to the Marbled Whites, early morning, to catch some open winged shots. They were already quite active but I managed a few shots of them sunning themselves.
Marbled Whites (Explored 5 July 2020)
A pair of Marbled White butterflies roosting on a Heath Spotted Orchid in a local meadow.
Large Skipper (Explored 4 June 2020)
A Large Skipper resting on Bracken in my local woods
Common Blue ♀️ (Explored 19 May 2020)
I found a small colony of Common Blues in a meadow just 2 minutes from my house over the weekend and spent a happy hour and a half photographing them. This first shot is a female, the only one I could find, the remainder being all males.
Orange Tip ♀️ (Explored 30 April 2020)
After several weeks of very warm weather and active Orange Tips I finally found a female roosting on a Bluebell in my garden.
Holly Blue ♂️ (Explored 13 April 2020)
I believe this is a male Holly Blue Butterfly in my garden today, one of 2. I managed a record shot with the wings partially open and showing the thinner dark wingtips characteristic of the male. Hopefully a female will show up too.
Chaffinch ♀️ (Explored 1 April 2020)
Here’s a female Chaffy to go with the male I posted previously. Lots of Finches in my garden at present.
Cormorant or Shag? (Explored 9 Jan 2020)
Another shot from Hannafore Beach, Looe, this time a Cormorant or Shag (please let me know the correct ID) on the rocks having a good old scratch
Chaffinch ♂️ (Explored 20 Dec 2019)
Watch out for this on the RSPB Instagram feed.
Happy Christmas to all my followers.
Goldfinch (Explored 8 Feb 2020)
A shot from last year I forgot to post at the time. It’s always challenging to catch smaller birds in flight, lots of missed shots but pleasing when you nail one.
Common Frog (Explored 3 March 2020)
A year ago in my garden pond, no sign of them yet this year. hopefully we’ll get some warm weather soon to encourage spawning.
Blue Tit (Explored 16 November 2017)
Some nice Autumn colours around over the last couple of weeks which set off this Blue Tit rather nicely
Landing gear down (Explored 30 October 2017)
One of my resident Nuthatches coming in to land
Robin (Explored 16 October 2017)
A Robin from my garden this week, still waiting for the Woodies and Jays to start coming to the feeders!
Apologies for the lack of comments recently, I’m having to spend a lot of time with my elderly Mother whilst she settles in her care home.
Peregrine (Explored 4 October 2017)
A very vocal Peregrine over Wembury Point last week
Three Tortoiseshells (Explored 4 September 2017)
Lovely to see improved numbers of Small Tortoiseshells in my garden recently, these three enjoying my Buddleia
Redstart ♀️ (Explored 8 June 2017)
A shot of the female Redstart a day after the young fledged. She was flitting between the hedgerows feeding the fledglings so I managed to hide close to a wall and get this frame filler!
Redstart ♂️ (Explored 24 September 2017)
A shot from back in May of the male Redstart I was watching up on the Moors.
Redstart ♂️ (Explored 26 May 2017)
The male Redstart flying in with food to the nest, won’t be too long before they fledge now!!
Pied Wagtail (Explored 12 May 2017)
A shot taken on the Moors recently whilst looking for the Cuckoos.
Male Orange Tip (Explored 27 April 2017)
A male to follow on from the female posted previously, this one from my garden
Goldfinch (Explored 15 April 2017)
Back to the Goldfinches, one half of a battle between two birds.
Wishing everyone a Happy Easter weekend and a huge thank you for all your faves and comments.
Goldfinch (Explored 3 April 2017)
No joy with catching the Goldfinches squabbling in mid air yet so here’s one posing nicely for me.
Chaffinch (m) (Explored 22 March 2017)
Another shot from my Small Garden Birds in flight project, this time a male Chaffinch in hover mode with some nice early evening light.
The yellow in the background are Daffodils!!
Goldfinch (Explored 12 February 2017)
Another angle on the Goldie in my garden this week.
Long-tailed Tit (Explored 21 January 2017)
A shot from a couple of weeks ago, these are visiting regularly at the moment, hoping to catch one in-flight but proving tricky!!
Happy weekend all
Stonechat (Explored 9 January 2017)
Out and about on my local patch on the Moors this week I found a pair of Stonechats with some lovely golden early evening light. This is the male looking rather splendid with the dead bracken on the slope behind glowing in the setting sun.
Coal Tit landing (Explored 29 December 2016)
I’ve set myself a new project to capture some small garden birds in flight with my new garden setup.
This is the first successful shot of a Coal Tit coming into land, hoping to get some more over the holidays.
Nuthatch (Explored 16 December 2016)
Another shot from my new garden setup
Desert Wheatear 3 (Explored 6 December 2016)
A third shot of the Desert Wheatear from Thurlestone beach, South Devon. This is an uncropped image showing how close I was able to get to him!
Long-tailed Tit (Explored 27 November 2016)
Another of my recent garden visitors and one of my favourites.
Wren (Explored 30 January 2017)
A Wren doing a very good impression of a Treecreeper, from my garden back in November
Dipper (Explored 18 November 2016)
Another shot of a Dipper on my local river in nice warm morning light
Kestrel (Explored 8 November 2016)
Taken at the same location and time as the Goldfinch flock, some lovely evening light making it’s wings glow. Hoped to get a little closer but spooked the Goldfinches in the attempt!!
Chaffinch (male) (Explored 30 October 2016)
After a week away I’ve not been out much with the camera recently so another shot from my garden last week.
Formation flying (Explored 10 October 2016)
Mute Swans on the River Tavy.
One of the easier birds to catch in flight but pleased to get this sharp at 1/500s.
Best viewed full screen.
Chocks away (Explored 19 September 2016)
A Herring Gull taking flight from Wembury beach as the tide comes in
Robin (Explored 21 October 2016)
I’ve not been able to get out much recently so here’s a Robin from my garden back in September
Wryneck (Explored 31 August 2016)
Spent a very pleasant couple of hours on the South West Coastal path from Wembury to the River Yealm estuary. The highlight of the walk was this Wryneck, a rare passage visitor to our shores and a life tick for me!!
Southern Hawker (m) (Explored 11 September 2016)
Close-up of my resident male Southern Hawker at rest on the white Buddleia
Common Blue (f) (Explored 6 August 2016)
Another from my new local patch displaying nicely in the sun.
Common Blue (m) (Explored 7 August 2016)
A male to go with the female posted yesterday from the same location. A little battle scar on his wing tip shows his blue upper wing colour nicely.
Small White (Explored 16 August 2016)
A Small White on a Wallflower in my garden a couple of weeks back.
Blue Tit (Explored 28 September 2016)
Up close and personal with a Blue Tit in my garden.
Nemo the Small Copper (Explored 29 July 2016)
Taken at Cotehele House and Gardens in the wildflower meadow. I called him Nemo because of his little wing 😉
Marbled White (m) (Explored 29 July 2016)
A male Marbled White taken at the same location and time as my previous post of a female, starting to look a little tattered now.
Jay (Explored 20 July 2016)
Another shot of one of my resident Jays
Jay (Explored 10 July 2016)
I have a family of three Jays visiting my garden regularly at the moment, one of them is presumably a youngster but not sure if this shot is him/her or not! Lovely to watch them flying in and landing on the tree near my kitchen window.
Large Skipper (Explored 24 June 2016)
Taken on my visit to Meeth Quarry Nature Reserve last Saturday
Beautiful Demoiselle (m) (Explored 7 June 2016)
One of my favourite Odonata species discovered by the Brook near to my house last week. This is an immature male identified by the brown rather than blue wings of a mature male.
Heath Fritillary (Explored 29 May 2016)
My favourite shot from my session with the Heath Fritillaries this week.
Pied Flyctacher (m) (Explored 22 May 2016)
My first, albeit distant, shot of these little woodland birds. Saw both male and female, hope to get back to the location to get some closer shots.
Large Red Damselfly (Explored 12 May 2016)
These have been emerging from my garden pond during the warm weather recently.
Heath Fritillary (Explored 27 May 2015)
I spent a wonderful afternoon at the BC Devon reserve near Lydford in search of the very rare Heath Fritillary. Thankfully we found at least 30 specimens and as the sun was behind the clouds they were static and showing beautifully.
Many thanks to the BC Devon branch for organising the event and for keeping this extremely rare Butterfly from extinction in the UK.
Shaken not stirred (Explored 14 May 2015)
Mr. Mallard again giving it a shake (intentional blur)!!
Grey Wagtail (Explored 3 May 2015)
On the River Tavy by Abbey Bridge, Tavistock obviously nest building nearby
Stonechat (female) (Explored 31 March 2015)
The partner to the male I posted earlier, hoping to get back to find them again soon when we get s clear morning!
The Boogeyman Nebula (LDN1622) (In Explore 14 Jan 2024)
This area in the well known constellation of Orion consists of dark dust and Hydrogen emissions, including a small part of Barnard’s Loop which surrounds the familiar stars of Orion.
For more details have a look on Astrobin: astrob.in/p1id2c/E/
The Dark Shark (In Explore 4 Feb 2024)
An interesting part of the northern sky, in the constellation Cepheus, with clouds of dark dust, LDN 1235, making the easily recognisable Shark, two reflection nebulae (vdB 149 and vdB 150) and a couple of distant galaxies, one of them (PGC 67671) near the centre of the field is some 55 million light years distant. This has been captured over several nights in January 2024 as a side project to complete the night after my other targets in Orion have got too low.
Capture details and hires on Astrobin: astrob.in/qh8hus/0/
The Angel Nebula (in Explore 26 Feb 2024)
This region of the sky, in the constellation Monoceros, contains many different types of objects including Reflection nebulae (NGC2170), Hydrogen Alpha Emission nebulae (LBN999) and lots of surrounding molecular dust clouds. It is low in the sky from my latitude so more difficult to capture clean data and I also battled with intermittent clouds and a large number of satellite trails.
Takahashi FSQ-85EDX with 1.01x Flattener
Altair Astro Hypercam 26C
iOptron CEM70
16 hours of RGB data captured with APT
Processed using AstroPixelProcessor, Pixinsight and Photoshop
More details and hires on Astrobin: astrob.in/swtfm6/K/