The Sun in H-alpha

Taken on 22.5.12, from Austerfield using the DMK 31 camera and the PST, mounted on the Vixen on the AP 900GTO mount.
The processing was done in Registax 6. The sky was clear and hot, after a month of terrible weather, but there wasn't much wobble as could be expected on such a hot day.

NGC 6888 - the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus

This is an addition of two nights' work, the first on the 23 June 09, and the second, last night 25 May 12. both taken with the same kit of course, the WO 98 with FR carrying the M25C, guided by the H9C in the Vixen VMC260L. Both taken under cloudless skies, though last night's sky was hazy and a bit too close to dawn, in fact I lost 5 frames to the rising dawn.
Pre-processing was done in Astroart as was the matching and averaging of both sets of frames. The final tweaking was done in Photoshop CS2, without sharpening.

There is an abundance of glowing hydrogen all over the frame, several dark areas, dust clouds, and stars too. Just above the nebula is a couple of bright stars, the red SAO69636, a Carbon star, and the blue SAO69635 above it. Not sure if they are related. At the lower left is a small Open Cluster NGC 4996. All this is located on the spine of the Swan, just below the cross of the wings, with the Milky Way running through it.

The Sun - 12.05.12

Taken by Eddie Marris, using a William 132, with his DSLR set at ISO 800 and 3200th of a sec. Processed in Photoshop.

Eddie's photograph is a good celebration of the end (hopefully) of a month of cloud and rain.

4.5.12 - Friday

We are in what the enlightened ones have officially pronounced a drought, so, of course, the rains poured down for days on end, to the effect that we've recorded the greatest rainfall for April almost since records began. Rivers overflowing and floods everywhere, but it's still officially a drought.
All this means that there haven't been any clear nights for astrophotography.
I'm beginning to suffer withdrawal symptoms, and fear I'll have forgotten how to do it all when the skies clear.

The Albategnius crater on the Moon

Taken on th 14.1.12 with the DMK31 in the Vixen260. Processed in Registax6 and Photoshop.

NGC 2392 - The Eskimo Nebula

The M25C was given a rest and the usual guide camera, the H9C took centre stage, in the Vixen260.
The guiding was done by the WO98 and M25C instead. though hardly needed.
The exposure was 19x90sec. Acquisition and preprocessing was done in Astroart with final processing in Photoshop. The photograph was taken on 5.01.12.

The Sun

Taken on 30.11.11, with the DMK31 in the PST, mounted on the 900GTO. Processed in Registax6 and finished off in Photoshop.
The PST is a very good version indeed of this telescope, their quality/setting varied quite a lot, piece to piece.

IC405 - The Flaming Star nebula

Taken on 17.12.11 with the M25C in the WO98, guided by the H9C in the Vixen260. The exposure was 23x300sec. It was acquired and calibrated in Astroart and finally processed in Photoshop.

The Leo Trio

Taken on the 14th of April from Austerfield using the usual kit, M25C in the WO98, guided by an H9C in the Vixen260. But this time I added a Televue 2x Powermate to the 98 to get up closer. I've used this combination a long time in the past with poor results, so have avoided it. But this time I've had a modicum of success so will continue with it. This effort, for instance, needs more time and I'll do that when the skies agree. The processing followed the usual practise, acquisition and pre- processing in Astroart and final work in Photoshop. The exposure was 19x300sec and extended into the murk in the west, so includes more noise than I'd hoped.

This is our new Photo Journal

You may have been used to seeing our old Journal here, but quite by accident it was deleted, and we can't get it back, so have had to start a new one. All our years of data and photographs lost.

Hopefully you can see us grow from here.