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NGC 2371 planetary nebula in Gemini, near Castor, but usually passed over for the better known Eskimo Nebula. Very interesting bipolar shape, definitely reminds me of a toffee in purple wrapping out of a Quality Street tin. I hereby name it the Purple Toffee Nebula. 7th December 2007. SBIG ST8 with 12" LX200ACF at prime focus. L 10 x 10 minutes, RGB each 5 x 3 minutes binned 2x2 |
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The incredible outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes in October 2007 electified the Astronomical community. I have a separate page devoted to this comet - worth a visit if you have time! Here is a montage of some of my images. Poor weather prevented me obtaining an image between 31st October and 5th November. This image appeared in the December and January BBC TV 'Sky at Night ' programmes. |
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The Helix planetary nebula, NGC 7293 in Aquarius. September 10th. 2007. It never rises higher than 14 degrees from my location, and requires very good conditions to be imaged successfully. SBIG ST8XME, Mirage 8 at f7, Luminance 12 x 5 minutes, RGB each 4 x 5 minutes |
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Planetary Nebula NGC7008 in Cygnus. August 24th 2007. SBIG ST8XME with LX200ACF at full 3048 mm f10, Luminance 6 x 5 minutes, RGB each 3 x 5 minutes. |
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NGC 6946, spiral galaxy in Cepheus. August 23rd 2007. The supernova of 2004 has now faded - captured then with my MX716 camera. SBIG ST8XME with LX200R at f7, Luminance 8 x 5 minutes, RGB each 4 x 5 minutes. |
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Messier 57, the 'Ring' nebula in Lyra. 17th. July 2007. Also in this image, brought out through the magic of digital processing is the faint 15th. magnitude galaxy IC1296. SBIG ST8 XME, 12" LX200ACF at f10. Luminance 5 x 5 minutes, RGB each 3 x 3 minutes binned 2x2. |
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Messier 27, the 'Dumbbell' planetary nebula in Vulpecula. 17th. July 2007. SBIG ST8 XME, 12" LX200ACF at f10. Luminance 5 x 4 minutes, RGB each 3 x 2 minutes binned 2x2. |
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Messier 8 - the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius. La Palma, 19th June 2007. This emission nebula benefits from use of a Hydrogen Alpha deep sky filter, so the Luminance is 11 x 2 minutes Ha, RGB each 3 x 2 minutes. Artemis 285 and ZS66 This image was 'Image of the Month' in the September 2007 issue of Practical Astronomer. |
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Messier 6, the 'Butterfly Cluster' in Scorpius. La Palma, 18th June 2007. Artemis and ZS66. Luminance 8 x 2 minutes, RGB each 4 x 2 minutes. |
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Although the Trifid nebula, Messier 20 in Sagittarius (and M8 above) are just high enough to image from my home, nevertheless they are still difficult. A very different story in La Palma, and the excellent sky conditions allowed for much fine nebulosity to be captured with only short exposures. Artemis with ZS66. Luminance 11 x 1 minute (yes - only 1 minute!!), RGB each 6 x 1 minute. 16th June 2007. |
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Messier 7 - Ptolemy's Cluster in Scorpius. La Palma, 16th June 2007. The small 10th magnitude globular cluster NGC 6543 is just visible at the right centre edge of the image. Artemis 285 and ZS66. Luminance 16 x 1 minute, RGB each 6 x 1 minute. |
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NGC 5139, Omega Centauri. La Palma, 15th June 2007. The largest and brightest globular cluster in our Galaxy. Thought to possibly be the core of a captured satellite galaxy. William Optics ZS66 refractor and Artemis 285. Luminance 13 x 1 minute, RGB each 6 x 1 minute. Yes - only 1 minute exposures were required - the sky is so clean and contrasty. This image was published in the April 2009 Sky at Night magazine in a 'Deep Space' special feature. |
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NGC 5128, Centaurus A galaxy. La Palma, June 10th 2007. Artemis 285 and Meade 10" LXD55 Schmidt-Newtonian telescope (f4). Luminance 7 x 3 minutes, RGB each 5 x 90 secs binned 2x2. Although it looks as though this image is vignetted, it ain't! See this image from the ESO. But because I only had limited data, mine is rather 'noisy' in comparison! |
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Milky Way from La Palma. 'Mouseover' the enlargement for identification of objects. 10th June 2007. Canon 350D, 18 mm lens, 2 x 5 minute frames at ISO800. |
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14th April, 2007. Saturn was still fairly close to it's nearest approach of this apparition (which occurred on 11th. February), and a reasonably steady sky allowed me to capture a fair sequence of frames with this result. Toucam and 3x Barlow with Mirage 8. |
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Barred spiral galaxy, NGC 4725 in Coma Berenices. 20th March 2007. This galaxy is particularly unusual in having only one spiral arm. The small neighbouring galaxy is NGC 4712. Artemis 285 and Mirage 8 at f6.3. Luminance 11 x 6 minutes, RGB each 4 x 5 minutes. |
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12th. March 2007. NGC 4490 and its smaller companion NGC 4485 in Canes Venatici show the gross disturbances occasioned by the close encounter. I feel that the larger galaxy has the appearance of a water flea about to devour a smaller morsel! I would like to name it the Water Flea Galaxy! Artemis 285, Mirage 8 at f6.3. Luminance 12 x 6 minutes, RGB each 4 x 6 minutes. |
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The 3rd. of March 2007 provided a total Lunar Eclipse over all of Europe. I was on a ski holiday in Zermatt, but was favoured with clear skies and obtained several frames at different stages. Unfortunately I only had a moderate quality 300 mm lens to use with my Canon 350D camera, and that coupled with the fixed tripod meant that the longer exposures and noisy setting for totality (2 seconds at ISO 1600) prevented me getting detailed photographs. Nevertheless a reasonable record. It was also clear in the UK - had I been at home with a driven mount it would have been a different story..... |
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Jones-Emberson1 (the 'Headphone' nebula) Planetary Nebula in Lynx. 6th and 7th February 2007 for Luminance. 16 x 6 minutes, Artemis 285 and Mirage 8 at f6.3. Colour information on 12th. March 2007. RGB each 3 x 5 minutes binned 2x2 |
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