Special day today - it's 5 years since I started this blog.

Year zero.

A big thanks to all my followers.

Uranus 25th Sept 2010

Jupiter with IR & Blue filter - 17th Sept 2010

Jupiter & Io in IR 9th Sept 2010

Jupiter & Callisto in IRRGB & IR 7th Sept 2010

I need to get out more!

I also need to get to some darker skies. Here in Wiltshire we have some very good dark sky locations.
I hope to get out a bit more now that I have a new powertank from Maplin.
My old Celestron powertank is knackered, It never charged very well using the supplied PSU that came with it and I haven't used it for over 3 years, hence the battery is completely flat. A naughty No No! when it comes to lead acid batteries.
I sourced trying to get the battery replaced but it would have cost about £30... the Maplin unit is only £34, so it's "a no brainer".
Handy for me Doh!

We're on holiday soon in darkest South Wales in a place called Amroth. I'll be taking my old AS-GT mount and Takahashi to have a go there. Only problem is there'll be a full Moon about, but it'll be interesting to see what I can get.
I must go to a star party one of these days, if I can just get over my anti-social tendencies.

The Bubble Nebula NGC7635 August 2010

3Hours 98mins.

The Iris Nebula NGC 7023 August 2010

Here's three lots taken at 800ISO, 2hours 58Min, 178 Frames of 1min. Processed in DSS and PS. Takahashi SKY-90, Canon 50D.
I was hoping for a bit more dust, but as usual I need more subs!

Milky way 4th Sept 2010

Taken with 18mm lens pointing almost straight up, 60x 1min exposures on CGE mount.

Jupiter 3rd Sept 2010

Jupiter from 31st Aug - re-worked

Jupiter & Io transit 2nd Sept 2010

The white dot just down from the centre is IO with its shadow to the right.
Not very good seeing tonight, hence the 2.5x Powermate.

Below are 3x Barlow versions.

Jupiter in IR 1st Sept 2010

Jupiter, Io & Europa.

Jupiter 31st August 2010

Jupiter - blue filter 31st Aug 2010

Jupiter in IR 31st Aug 2010

Clavius, Gassendi & Aristarchus 30th Aug 2010

Cauchy Rille 28th Aug 2010

Jupiter 28th Aug 2010 IRRGB

Messier craters 28th August 2010

I like the sharp shadows on Messier crater to the right.

Lacus Mortis, Hercules & Atlas 28th August 2010

Fracastorius crater 28th Aug 2010

Jupiter & Ganymede 28th Aug 2010 IRRGB

Using a 2.5x TV Powermate.

Jupiter IRRGB - 28th August 2010

Fair seeing last night, could have done with getting out of bed a bit earlier.

Jupiter in IR 28th August 2010

Full Moon 24th August 2010

The Moon tonight - 23rd August 2010

Nearly full Moon tonight; Takahashi with flattener and Canon 50D, single shot 1/2000, ISO 100, processed in DPP.

The Bubble Nebula and M52 18th August 2010

Had about an hour of clear'ish sky last night, so I thought I'd image something different for a change. The Bubble Nebula NGC 7635.
49x 1min at 800ISO, darks, flats & bias applied.

Star trails from 18th August 2010

Nice star trails from the other nights meteor hunt. (Shame about the gap, I had to take out a few frames due to clouds) 2hours 40mins worth.
I used Chris Schur's superb Photoshop action.

Jupiter 16th Aug 2010 IIRGB

3x TV Barlow:-

2.5x TV Powermate:-

Perseids meteor group photo.

A composite of all the meteors taken from 230 x 30sec frames last night (about 2hours).
I make it seven.

Perseids meteor shower.

Spent about 4 hours out last night on and off, with the camera piggy backed to the Takahashi, which was piggy backed to the C9.25. Taking 30sec exposures with a few seconds time lapse.
Initial scan through the images is that I've picked about 5 shots of meteors... but I have some wonderful clouds!

First Perseid meteor tonight.

Larger M31 from the 11th Aug.

I also tweaked the colour.

M31 11th Aug 2010

You'll never believe it! it was clear last night. First time we've had a solidly clear night for ages. So I thought I'd waste my time imaging M31 yet again. Although Actually this is the first time with my new setup, ie. camera/tak config.
Here is 115 one minute subs, with darks, flats and bias.
Processed in Deep Sky Stacker and CS4 with the help of Noels tools and some very useful actions that I found on Cloudy Nights over the years.
BTW I saw about half a dozen Perseids meteors as well

M31 starless from 2009

Been messing with M31 again and produced another version minus most of the stars in our galaxy.