Latest Images  (and News)

 (As you might expect, the most recent images are at the top of this page. But the Gallery pages read downwards.) 

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Laptop Upgrade, 2004 Messier Marathon, Transit of Venus, Dalby 2004 Star Party, Kelling Heath 2007 and other oddments on the Bits 'n Pieces Page.

All photographs Copyright © Peter Vasey, and may not be reproduced without permission. You can email me at the following (written out to help to avoid web spiders): Peter at petevasey dot wanadoo dot co dot uk

Visits to La Palma. 2007 and 2008

Visit to Les Granges 2008 and 2009

Comet 17P/Holmes There is a separate page devoted to this remarkable comet. Here. 

NEW Home made 'Light Board' for producing flat field images. 

Well I eventually DID get more data on NGC 3628, collected on the nights of 6th and 7th March. So here is the result. Luminance 44 x 10 minutes, RGB each 6 x 5 minutes binned 2x2. ST-10XME with AO-8 on 12" LX200R. Full size

The second session of data collection (night of the 6th) showed an asteroid passing in front of the galaxy, identified as mag 15.3 Asteroid 14257 2000 AR97 Here it is on the first frame. I have made an animation of the pass which uses 15 frames, each was a 10 minute exposure. Unfortunately I missed four frames during the recording session, so there is a jump (40 minutes worth - grrr, I hadn't realised that the preset imaging sequence had ended!) Animated GIF here (444KB)

The evening of 4th March 2010 was also forecast to be clear for a while, and as I was out for the earlier part of the evening, again I wanted a fairly bright target that would only need an hour or so before the Moon rose. I had an image of M67 from earlier years, but it was well placed and nicely sized for the ST4000XCM on my 12" meade with a .7 reducer. A little hazy, probably contributing to slight haloing of the brighter stars. 6 x 10 minutes. Full size

With so many interesting 'faint fuzzy' deep sky targets, sometimes open clusters get overlooked. The evening of 2nd March 2010 was forecast to be clear for a while, and I wanted a fairly bright target that would only need a couple of hours work (before the Moon rose). On checking my images I realised that I'd never imaged M37! And it would fit beautifully into the frame of my ST4000XCM on my 12" meade with a .7 reducer. So here it is. I actually got 12 subs, but had to scrap the last 3 - thin cloud with a rising Moon raised the background level unacceptably. 9 x 10 minutes. Full size

In the post below of the Leo Trio, I said that NGC 3628 deserved a close up. And on 20th February 2010, although a late start, then later thin cloud followed by thicker cloud cut my efforts short, I've made a start. Probably no more data now until the Moon gets out of the way. 13 x 10 minutes, ST-10XME with AO-8 on 12" LX200R. Full size

Out of three nights staying at Kielder in early February 2010, only Saturday 13th offered any imaging opportunities. But it was beautifully clear for a few hours, also bitterly cold with a hard frost - Brr! So another chance to put the ST-4000XCM through its paces. This time the Leo Trio, M65, M66 and NGC 3628. 10 x 15 minute subs on Meade series 5000 127 mm with AP 0.7 reducer. Quite a large field, so cropped from the full frame. Thinks: It's time I did a closeup of the 'hamburger' (NGC 3628) Full size

At last! A crystal clear night on February10th, and although I was out earlier so didn't get started until 11 pm, nevertheless I managed almost four hours of data. Only one frame scrapped when the guide star was lost for some reason. Hazed over a little in the small hours, but no complaints. The Hickson 44 group of galaxies around NGC 3190 in Leo are all very different in type, and nicely framed in the SBIG ST-4000XCM at 2 metres focal length. 15 frames x 15 minutes on the one-shot colour camera have given it a good workout with a satisfactory result despite the relative faintness of the galaxies. 12" LX200R at f7. Full size

Typically some clear weather around Full Moon at the start of February 2010, so not suitable for deep sky imaging without narrowband filters. But on 2nd there was a 3 hour window of full darkness before the still bright (81%) Moon rose. So at last a chance to give the ST4000 a good workout. And what else but the Great Orion nebula, Messier 42 and adjacent area including the 'Fishes' Mouth' M43 and 'Running Man' NGC 1977. Main image 9 x 10 minutes, central Trapezium region patched from 6 x 2 minutes. I also took 6 x 5 minute subs, but haven't used them. A bit 'noisy' in the fainter outer regions - if I get the opportunity I'll take a set of longer subs, perhaps 20 minutes each to improve those areas. ST4000XCM with AO-8 and William Optics 0.8 reducer on Meade series 5000 127 mm refractor. Full size

Eventually a brief clearance on 14th January 2010 gave me a chance to try out the now desiccated ST4000, and I was able to capture a sequence of Messier 45 - the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. The camera worked well enough, but on processing I found that the field was unevenly focussed. The light of day showed me that the drawtube (which was almost fully retracted to accommodate the AO-8 unit with the William Optics 0.8 reducer/flattener) on my 80 mm refractor was slightly tilted, so one side was approximately 1/2 mm different from the other - enough I presume to affect the focus across the big chip at the f4.8 ratio (f6 scope with 0.8 reducer). I've adjusted the slide bars and it looks better. Next try will tell.... 8 x 5 minute subs, darks and flats applied. Obviously longer subs are required, but weather did not permit. But a reasonably promising start. What is particularly heartening is that I was using the rig on my Autostar DS motor driven EQ3-2 mount. And the AO-8 was able to provide all the correction needed without adjusting the mount at all, indeed it was well within its limits. So an eminently portable system for medium to wide field imaging. No point in supplying a full size image - the quality is very mediocre.

Postscript - on 30th January after a prolonged cloudy spell, a clear night, albeit with some high thin cloud. Full Moon, so no chance of nebulosity, but a series of 5 minute exposures proved the focus adjustments to have been successful - much improved across the field, although still not perfect in the corners, but that is probably optical . The moonlight and haze accentuated the vignetting, but no point in applying flats etc. Same setup as before. Full size

After Christmas, I took delivery of a secondhand but hardly used SBIG ST4000XCM camera to complement my ST10XME, the intention being to use it for images with bright stars which would bloom horribly with my ST-10. Unfortunately it required several desiccant refreshes before it was usable, and in the meantime winter tightened its grip, leading up to the coldest snowiest period for 30 years. Although we occasionally saw some sunshine and blue sky, invariably the clouds thickened at night. So no first light by 11th January. But here is a daytime photo of my back garden and Observatory under snow. Taken on 6th January 2010. (The Observatory and birdbath had already been cleared of snow the previous day!) And there was more to come - by the next day another 3 inches or so, and the level snow was almost 14" deep next to the Observatory path!

The weather in December continued to deteriorate, culminating in a heavy fall of snow on 19th. And in the rare clear intervals, the Moon was brightening so no deep sky work. But on New Year's Eve there was the second full Moon of the month - a 'Blue' Moon. And to add interest there was also a partial eclipse. Only a small Umbral effect, and because of clouds I only managed to capture a few frames. This was the best, taken with my Canon 350D on the Meade 80 mm f6 refractor at prime focus (cropped from the full frame). Single frame, 1/640sec at ISO200. Full Size

NGC 2146 in Camelopardalis is a right mess, and consequently an interesting target. I imaged it a year ago in very poor conditions but when the sky cleared on 10th December 2009 after weeks of terrible weather conditions were superb. Mist in the valley over Hexham blocking most of the light pollution (see pic) meant that my overhead sky was very dark, and seeing was also good. So time for a return visit. Unfortunately I was out in the evening (rehearsing for a Christmas concert - it was that time of year!) so didn't get cracking until midnight. And by 4 am the Moon (and mist) had risen. Other problems from focus shift (lost 5 subs), dewing inside my LX - the wet windy weather of the last few weeks prevented me using my dehumidifier and humidity levels in the Observatory were almost 90%! But despite all these, I'm happy with the pic. Luminance 9 x 10 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes binned 2x2. ST-10 on 12" LX200R at f10 with AO-8. Full size

The open cluster NGC 457 in Cassiopeia is also known as the E.T. or Space Invaders cluster - easy to see why from its shape. Always a pleasure to observe visually and one I often return to. But the last time I imaged it was in November 2003, monochrome with my MX716 camera. about due for a revisit! The weather in November had been appalling, but the night of 30th was clear and cold. My ST-10 would bloom horribly on the main bright star in the cluster, 5th magnitude phi Cas, so I used my Canon 350D. Despite the almost full Moon, I managed a reasonable image with 12 x 3 minute sub frames, darks and flats, f6.3 on the 12" LX200R. Guided using a Celestron radial guider and QHY5 camera. Larger Image

In December 2008 I collected some data on Messier 1 - the Crab nebula in Taurus - over a couple of nights. But have overlooked it until now when M1 is again well situated for imaging. But now that I have processed it I'm quite pleased! ST-10XME on 12" LX200R with AO8. Luminance 20 x 5 minutes, RGB each 6 x 2.5 minutes binned 2x2. Full size (Cropped from full frame - some of the frames were slightly rotated on different nights.) This image was published in the February 2010 Astronomy Now magazine

Sunday 8th November 2009 was for me the first clear night for two weeks, other than (as always!) a few hours around Full Moon. For once the UK was a clear filling in a cloud sandwich instead of the other way around. But Sod's law proclaimed that I had to be away from home from 5 pm to 11.30 pm by which time the last quarter Moon was well up. So narrowband had to be the order of the night. I already had a satisfactory image of Messier 76, the Little Dumbbell in Perseus, but decided to see what it looked like in narrowband, and here is the result (cropped from full frame). Using the 'Hubble Palette' SHO, with Ha for luminance. All filters evenly combined in the colour stack, so it's obvious that OIII is the predominant emission - definitely the filter to use for visual! SBIG ST10 with Astronomik filters and AO8 on 12" LX200R at f10. Nice bright (mag 6) guide star, so correcting at 4 Hz despite the narrowband filters. But poor seeing around 5 to 6 FWHM even in narrowband. H-alpha 8 x 10 minutes, OIII and SII each 6 x 10 minutes. Flats made for each filter using my new DIY 'Light Board' Full size

A group of us stayed at Kielder the weekend of 24th October 2009. Unfortunately the weather was atrocious, and out of four nights only one imaging opportunity was available on the night of 25th. But the sky was pristine for about 3 hours, ample time to collect data on the Double Cluster, NGC 869 and 884 in Perseus. ST10 with AO-8 on Meade 127 refractor. Luminance 20 x 1 minute subs, RGB each 10 x 90 second subs.
The initial processing as can be seen produced substantial halos round the brighter stars. But prompted by the UKAI Group (!) I processed further, with this final result. Full size
Although I ended up with the halos pretty well all gone, I think this intermediate result is perhaps the more natural and maybe prettiest of them all. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so it's over to you, gentle reader! Full size

I attempted to capture the faint outer halo of M27 when in La Palma in 2008, but sky conditions defeated me. However a decently clear night in Hexham on 17th October 2009 gave me an opportunity before the target sank too low in the West. I started with 10 minute sub frames but soon realised more was needed, and moved up to 20 minute for the luminance images. Even then it needs deeper exposures, so next attempt I will try 30 minute subs! But now the year is advancing, and poor weather means it's unlikely I'll get another opportunity until next year. When I will use a shorter focal length - with the halo it's larger than expected. Two renderings, one Ha, O3, S2 for RGB, and one S2, Ha, O3 (Hubble palette). Luminance 6 x 20 minute Ha, colour each using Ha from the L, and 4x10 minutes each S2 and O3. SBIG ST-10XME binned 2x2 on 12" LX200R OTA at f7

Stephan's Quintet in Pegasus is a remarkable demonstration of colliding galaxies. I imaged it previously in 2007 with my ST8, but now I have the AO-8 unit, was able to obtain a better guided image on the night of September 20th 2009 - the night before going to Les Granges. For individual identifications 'mouse over' the medium sized image (click on the thumbnail). 18 x 10 minute Luminance subs and 5 x 5 minutes each RGB binned 2x2. ST10 on 12" LX200R at f10 with AO8. Full size

This image is really 'work in progress' - limited data over three slightly hazy nights in mid September 2009, each time interrupted by clouds, and different alignments. But it's really a high Summer object, and not feasible from my twilit latitude at that time. And I may not get any more data this year. So for what its worth... the mag 14.6 'Tadpole' galaxy, UGC 10214 (Arp 188) in Draco. SBIG ST10 on 12" LX200R at f10. 16 x 10 minute subs binned 2x2. Colour RGB each 4 x 10 minutes binned 2x2 The small elliptical galaxy lower left is mag 15.5 PGC 57108 and edge on lower right is mag 17.2 PGC2502068 . North is right.

Although the night of 25th July 2009 started off cloudy, for a while the Milky Way smiled on me, so having completed the Propeller the night before I quickly changed scopes and got some data before the clouds returned. I tried 5 minute subs binned 3x3 at first, but a bit on the noisy side, so back to 2x2 binning. The target is an extremely faint bubble of gas in Cygnus, only discovered in 2008. Classified PN G75.5+1.7, popular name the Soap Bubble Nebula. See here. 5 x 10 minute subs binned 2x2, ST-10 on 12" LX200 ACF at f7, H-alpha filter. Heavily stretched so still noisy - need lots more data, but it's a start!

A month later on 24th August the predominantly poor weather relented long enough for me to obtain more data, with this result. Heavily processed so still rather noisy despite over 3 hours of data. Maybe later in the year... Anyway, 2 hours of Ha and 40 minutes each of O3 and S2 gave me this 'Hubble Palette' (SHO) image. All subs binned 2x2, ST-10 on 12" LX200 ACF at f7

Another noctilucent cloud, this time on 19th July 2009. Taken looking North over Hexham around 11:20 pm. The cloud was isolated and soon dispersed, but reminded me of a whale cruising through the sky! The bright star in the middle is Capella. Panasonic TZ5 camera, 15 seconds using the 'Starry Sky' setting. Larger image. This image was published in the October 2009 issue of Astronomy Now.

This is still a work in progress, but for the moment here is a monochrome Hydrogen-alpha image of the 'Propeller' nebula in Cygnus, taken in the early hours of 16th July 2009 in a mixture of Nautical and Astronomical twilight. Variously catalogued as DWB-111, Simeis 57 and MRSL 479 . SBIG ST-10XME on Meade series 5000 127 (950 mm fl). 14 x 5 minute sub frames, binned 2x2.

Postscript: 24th July 2009 was a cracker - Milky Way and Cygnus rift clearly visible even from my 55 degree twilit latitude. Pretty good seeing as well, so I was able to get a lot of fresh data to add to my earlier cloud interrupted bits, including colour. So here's the final result. Luminance 24 x 5 minutes H-alpha, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes Ha, O3, S2. There was negligible O3 in the image, so the colour is predominantly red. All with the SBIG ST-10 binned 2x2 on Meade series 5000 127 refractor, prime focus. North is to the right.

On 6th July 2009, not only was it a sunny day, albeit with lots of puffy clouds scudding across the sky, but there was a decent spot visible! Designated AR 1024. Artemis 285 with Solarscope 50 (cropped when imaging) and 2x Barlow. Stack of 15 frames, captured during a break in the clouds.

I rarely use my little EQ3-2 mount for imaging - my Observatory Gemini and 'Star Party' EQ6 Pro are far more accurate. But it guided well during my visit to Les Granges in 2008, and I plan to take it on a trip in 2010 to the Southern Hemisphere, hopefully to photograph a Total Eclipse of the Sun near Tahiti, then some Southern sky objects both from Tahiti and further South during my trip which includes Tasmania. Due to weight and power supply requirements I won't be taking my SBIG or Artemis cameras, but will use my Canon 350D as the main imager. So I purchased a QHY5 guide camera which is powered direct from a USB port and will guide the mount via a standard ST4 system. Here is the full setup (wires omitted) using my Meade Series 5000 80 mm refractor and a 200 mm camera lens.

It seems a long time to go of course, but the light UK Summer nights are not conducive to deep sky faint object imaging, so a good time to experiment. Collinder 399 - the Coathanger or Brocchi's Cluster in Vulpecula is a beautiful binocular object and well suited for the fairly wide field of the setup, which includes a William Optics 0.8 reducer/flattener giving a focal length of 390 mm. And on the night of 3rd/4th July 2009 I obtained this image. 4 x 5 minute subs at ISO800. No darks or flats, but processing improved the background although it is still a little patchy. Hardly surprising considering a bright Moon and twilight. But satisfactory guiding, although not perfect - a full size image shows some trailing, but the resolution of the telescope is pleasing - the central hook star is resolved into a triple on one of the individual frames. Larger image.

The light Summer nights don't give many opportunities for stargazing, but we do occasionally have a show of beautiful noctilucent clouds, not seen from more southerly latitudes. And the night of 17/18th June 2009 saw a good display looking North over Hexham. Taken around 0030 BST (British Summer Time). Panasonic TZ5, 15 seconds at ISO 100 (Starry Sky setting). 'Mouse over' the medium size image (click on the thumbnail) for star names. Larger image.

After a long wait a genuine Sunspot! Small but perfectly formed ;-) June 1st 2009, also accompanied by a couple of nice prominences - maybe the Sun is waking up at last! all imaged with my Solarscope 50 and Artemis 285, close ups with 2x Barlow.

The following night was again clear and I tried for the quite faint emission nebula, Sharpless 112 near Deneb in Cygnus. And narrow band filters defeated the moonlight ;) The dark lanes are interesting - they don't look like dust. Perhaps the Hydrogen has been dispersed by starlight? ST-10XME on 12" LX200ACF OTA at f7, guided with AO-8. Luminance 16 x 5 minutes, RGB using Ha (some of the luminance frames), OIII and SII each 6 x 5 minutes. All binned 2x2

A long time since I imaged this and not happy with my effort from 2005. So on 30th May 2009 I decided to revisit the great globular cluster Messier 13 in Hercules. Lots of luminance, then went for colour. Strangely the colour only composite was crisper than the luminance result, although the latter had much more data! Don't know whether it was focus drift or moonlight in the earlier luminance (it had set by the time I went for colour). RGB, each 5 x 3 minutes. ST-10XME, AO-8, LX200ACF 12" at f7. Full Size

The 7th May 2009 was beautifully clear, albeit windy, and when observing the Sun through my specially filtered solar scope I saw that there were some faint prominences. So took this image showing the prominences and surface structure. The dark spot towards top right just might be a baby Sunspot. Not many around these days - the Sun is taking an awful long time to get cracking on the next cycle. There is even talk of it entering a quiescent period similar to the Maunder minimum between 1645 and 1715 which coincided with the 'Little Ice Age' when Ice Fairs were held on the frozen River Thames. Solarscope50, Artemis 285. Moon filter used for the disc shots. Disc - inner, 0.01 second frames, outer 0.05 second frames (better to show the faint prominences). Prominence close up, 0.1 second frames with 2x Barlow Processed, co-registered and coloured in Photoshop.

NGC 4559 is an infrequently imaged galaxy in Coma Berenices, yet reasonably bright at mag 9.6 But it took me three nights to get satisfactory data - although 24th and 25th April started out clear, they soon clouded over, and the nearness of the weather fronts gave lousy seeing. But 26th was a beautifully clear night, although the seeing was still a bit 'twinkly' and eventually I prevailed ;) Even so, with the now short dark hours, relatively poor seeing and faint (mag 11.3) guide star allowing the AO-8 to work at only around 1 correction per second I binned everything 2x2. ST-10XME, AO-8, 12" LX200ACF OTA at f10, Luminance 15 x 5 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes. Right is North. There's a very nice AOP of this galaxy here. But I wonder why so many of their images are mirrored? - Galaxy Zoo would not be happy !
Although the earlier nights were disappointing, the very first frame on 25th April shows an unusual streak. Looks like a tiny meteor (remember the fov is only 16 arc-minutes, so the trail is approximately 4 arc-minutes. Maybe a cosmic ray passing through the chip almost parallel to the surface??
A bit of time left on 26th, so a quick look at the large but very faint NGC 4395 in Canes Venatici, of particular interest because of the puzzlingly small black hole at its core. See here . A nice bright guide star this time. Hoping for more data, but only a few nights left before the bright Summer nights at my latitude wash this one out altogether. ST-10XME, AO-8, LX200 ACF at f10, 5 x 10 minutes binned 2x2. Left is North.
Seeing, although far from perfect, was better on 29th, so despite a waxing Moon and thin cloud later I managed to get a further hour of data on NGC 4395. Maybe focus was better as well, so more detail is shown, despite this being only four frames (10 minutes binned 2x2). Alas by next New Moon full darkness has fled until August. So this target will now have to wait until next year before I can do more with it. But I WILL return!!

The 21st of April was again clear! So I decided to add Messier 91 to my collection. This relatively small (5 arc-minutes) Coma Berenices galaxy is quite low contrast, and coupled with mediocre seeing and slight haze it wasn't worth trying full resolution, so binned 2x2, SBIG ST-10XME, AO-8, Astrodon filters, 12" LX200 ACF at f10 on Gemini G41 mount. Luminance 19 x 5 minutes, RGB each 6 x 5 minutes. North is roughly to the left. A few 'minnows', the biggest is 15th mag PGC 41978.

I seldom do planetary imaging - although I have decently dark skies at my Hexham home, it's position in the lee of the Pennines means I rarely get good enough seeing conditions. But 20th April was an exception with high pressure, slight mist and no wind, so rather than have no record of Saturn with the rings nearly closed, I fired up my Toucam on my 12" LX200 ACF with 3x Barlow. Stacked approx 700 frames out of 1800. Reasonably happy - banding and ring shadow visible and just a hint of the Cassini division.

After Saturn, I turned my attention to NGC 4236 in Draco. This quite faint galaxy is relatively close to us, and is a whopping 22 arc-minutes long - almost as big as M81. Mag 10.1, surface brightness 15. Compare with similarly distanced M81 mag 7 and surface brightness 13.2, and you see why it isn't better known. But some nice little tiddlers in attendance. SBIG ST-10XME, AO-8, Astrodon filters, 12" LX200ACF at f7. Luminance 12 x 10 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes. Would have had a bit more data, but the focus slipped a couple of times with the 'scope pointing almost straight up - the camera/filter wheel/AO-8 combination is *heavy*! Full size

After a week of appalling cloud and mist shrouding North East England while much of the rest of Britain was basking in sunshine, the weather finally relented and I was able to fire up the camera again on 19th April. NGC 5033 in Canes Venatici was the chosen target. Imaged a couple of years ago, but without colour. The seeing was good and I was able to capture reasonable detail of this interesting galaxy with its widely scattered spiral arms and strange structure right of centre, although thin haze reduced contrast. The small smudge to the left is faint galaxy PGC 166160. SBIG ST-10XME, AO-8, Astrodon filters, 12" LX200ACF at f7. Luminance 15 x 10 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes binned 2x2 Full size

While at the Kielder Star Camp in March I succumbed to temptation and bought the baby sister of my Meade 127 refractor - the Series 5000 80mm. I had hoped it would have as flat a field as its sibling, but unfortunately that was not to be. Nevertheless with the William Optics 0.8 reducer already in my possession all was well, and on the night of 12th April I targeted Messier 44, Praesepe the Beehive cluster in Cancer. Previously imaged some years ago with my Starlight xpress MX716, and in need of a re visit. SBIG ST-10XME on Meade Series 5000 80 mm, WO 0.8 MkII reducer, (focal length approx. 410 mm, f 5.13) Luminance 20 x 30 seconds, RGB each 10 x 30 seconds, Astrodon filters. Full size

When the above data was complete, the waning gibbous Moon had not yet risen, so for a bit of interest I moved to the area of Messier 81 and 82 in Ursa Major for a wide field image. North is to the left in this image. Also M82 to the left. The smaller galaxy at the bottom of the frame is NGC 3077 and the faint one to the far right is PGC 28563. Same optical arrangement as M44, Luminance 9 x 5 minutes, RGB each 4 x 5 minutes. Full size

On my return from Ambleside, the evening of 4th April was reasonably clear and I resolved to test my Canon 350D on the Meade 127 refractor. I expected the edges of the field to be distorted on the large Canon chip, but was pleasantly surprised to find very little coma. The target was the area around NGC 2281, an open cluster in Auriga. Only 7 x 1 minute subs at ISO 800, unguided on my Gemini mount, moonlight and fairly low, but the only image I have of this cluster, and good enough to keep. For now! Larger image

During the 2009 Spring Moonwatch week (part of the International Year of Astronomy) I was on holiday for a few days in Ambleside in the English Lake District. I took a telescope along with me in the hope of 'wowing' some of the guests at the hotel with a closeup of the Moon. And I wasn't disappointed!  Over the four nights I was there about 20 guests took advantage of the opportunity, and only one of them had ever seen the Moon through a telescope before. Saturn was also on show and elicited exclamations of wonder, although appearing very small at the maximum 81x magnification available using a Hyperion zoom eyepiece (8 - 24 mm) on my 4" TMB refractor (650 mm focal length).  Some nights were rather hazy, but Thursday 2nd April was beautifully clear with good seeing, and several guests took the opportunity to photograph the Moon afocally with cameras ranging from mobile phones to full size digicams. I also obtained a nice image with my Panasonic TZ5 digicam. Of particular interest was the bright spot of crater Ammonius catching the rising sun within crater Ptolemaus while immersed in the pointed shadow of a high mountain on the main crater wall. Here.  A number of guests departed vowing to buy a telescope - definitely a successful Moonwatch!  This was later featured in the John Lewis Partnership House Magazine 'Connections' for July 2009 and in the July to September 2009 issue of the SPA magazine.

The weekend of 28th March 2009 was the climax of the annual Spring Kielder Sky Camp. I and some friends stayed in a log cabin for most of the preceding week, but our heart went out to those camping - Thursday and Friday were cold and wet in the extreme! Even the earlier part of the week afforded only glimpses of the night sky. But Saturday evening opened with a beautiful thin crescent Moon in the western sky. This photo, taken with my Panasonic TZ5 digicam shows the Moon with Earthlight hanging above the trees to the west of the cabin.
I had my Meade Series 5000 127 mm refractor with me on my EQ6 Pro mount, and the crescent fitted nicely into the field of view with the ST10 XME. So using a Hydrogen-alpha filter to reduce the glare I was able to obtain this image. This is the best frame picked out of 10 x 1 second frames. (Combining produced a less crisp image).
Once the Moon had set, I decided to image the 'Whale' (NGC 4631) and 'Hockey Stick' (NGC 4656) galaxies in Canes Venatici, which were nicely framed. Apart from a couple of interludes when some cloud passed over, the sky remained pristine most of the night. I stayed with the one target, getting the following data. Luminance 18 x 10 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes binned 2x2. ST10XME, AO-8, Astrodon filters. Numerous tiny background galaxies visible in the Full size image. This image appeared in the September 2009 issue of Sky at Night magazine