2022

I first attempted the very faint HFG1, PN G136.3+05.5 in Cassiopeia at the November Galloway Star Party 2022. Discovered in 1982, full name Heckathorn-Fesen-Gull 1. Such an interesting target, so I persevered with it and despite the awful weather recently I've managed to acquire more data. I used a different off-axis guide star than for Galloway, so had to start again from scratch. Bicolour, Ha and OIII. SII was pretty well negligible so ignored. Eventually I managed 23 H-alpha and 22 OIII 20 minute subs over a number of nights, some crisper than others. QSI 683 on SharpStar 140 refractor with TS2 flattener and Starlight Xpress AO unit. Last batch on 16th-17th January 2023. That set slightly compromised by extra sky glow due to snow covered ground. I also then collected data for the background stars, an image consisting of 5 x 2 minutes each IR, Red, Green and Blue. So I used Steve Cannistra's method mainly to process the two colours, along with a bit more juggling, in particular using StarNet++ to remove the stars. Then added the RGB image for stars. And this is the best I can get. My skies here are simply not dark and clean enough to get the best of this very faint target. But c'est las vie! HFG1 is moving relatively quickly so the bow shock wave is clearly visible as is a tail of Hydrogen gas. The smaller planetary nebula is magnitude 14.3 PK 136+ 4.1 Full size

Lynd's Bright Nebula 878 also catalogued as Barnard 35 and containing other catalogued objects, Ced 59 is the small bright area to the left of the main dense cloud, is situated in Orion, about 3 degrees ENE of Betelgeuse. I'd previously seen images of this target taken from dark areas with wonderfully clear skies such as New Mexico. But as often, seduced by its beauty, I decided to have a go anyway in cloudy old NE England! With this result. QSI 683 wsg on TMB 105 refractor with Starlight Xpress AO unit and Baader filters. Luminance 16 x 10 minutes, RGB each 10 x 10 minutes all binned 2x2 over three nights, final data from 22nd January. Full size

IC 2574, 'Coddington's Nebula' in Ursa Major is often overlooked in favour of its well known neighbours, M81 and M82, only 3 degrees away. But this distorted galaxy is worth a visit. With a stated magnitude of 10.2 one would expect it to be quite bright. But it is also large in the sky, 13.2 arc-minutes for the long axis, and with a consequent low surface brightness is not the easiest of targets. This season has been among the worst ever here in NE England, but two clear nights on 13th and 14th February 2023 gave me an opportunity to capture this elusive object. I say 'clear', but on both nights there was thin haze, indeed freezing fog cut the second night short! So a lot of data was needed to minimise the background noise. This is the result of 23 x 10 minutes Luminance and 12 x 10 minutes each RGB, all binned 2x2, QSI 683 with SX AO unit on RC10. Full Size

NGC3338 is an attractive 10.9 magnitude spiral galaxy in Leo, usually overlooked in favour of its nearby famous and brighter Messier list neighbours. But worth a look as shown by this excellent Adam Block image. A much awaited clear night on 14th March initially looked promising, but reflections between snow on the ground and moisture in the air which eventually formed freezing fog, allied to poor seeing to spoil contrast and detail, producing a rather disappointing 'noisy' image. But this season has been so poor that anything is better than nothing! QSI 683 on RC10. Luminance 2 x 10 mins + 6 x 15 mins, RGB each 1 x 10 mins + 4 x 15 mins, all binned 2x2. Full size

This season is probably the worst yet as can be seen from the dearth of recent images. No less than four very bright Aurorae were clouded out. The week commencing 17th April seemed very promising with three clear nights forecast. Indeed the early evening skies were beautifully clear, but as soon as the Sun set, clouds rolled in from the North sea on an Easterly wind. Eventually a clear night on 24th April but with a 23% Moon in the West. Nevertheless the relative height of my chosen target gave me a worthwhile image. There was a galaxy competition running on Stargazers Lounge, so I wanted to try something I'd never imaged before, and went for the Hickson 68 galaxy cluster in Canes Venatici which includes NGCs 5350, 5353, 5354, 5355, and 5358. The wider field of my SharpStar 140 included the nice spiral of NGC 5371. Thin high haze and slight mist later hence the halos round the brighter stars. Several other background galaxies can be seen. QSI 683 on SharpStar 140. Luminance 9 x 10 minutes, RGB each 5 x 10 minutes, all binned 2x2. My last chance for this type of image before twilight Summer nights arrive. Full Size

At this time there is a galaxy competition running on Stargazers Lounge. Without repeating some earlier images I didn't have much to offer, although I did enter my Hickson 68 shot from April (above). I don't really expect it to win, but I also wanted to enter a shot of M81 and M82 in the same frame - they would fit nicely in the field of view of my SharpStar 140. The weather did not play fair until 9th May 2023, by this time into Astronomical twilight, but a nice clear night, so this is the result. M82 of course is an active galaxy with huge hydrogen outbursts, well seen in my image from 2012. M81 also has some active regions, so in addtion to the usual RGB colour channels I also captured Hydrogen-alpha. So two versions are presented here, one standard RGB, one with the Ha added. QSI 683 on SharpStar140. Luminance 13 x 5 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 mins, Ha 9 x 10 minutes, all binned 2x2. The faint fuzzy area just above M81 isn't 'noise', it's the very diffuse dwarf galaxy Holmberg IX (UGC 5336) magnitude quoted between 14.4 and 16.5, rather lost in the twilight glow. I might repeat this combination next Season when I will have time to expose unbinned in a fully dark sky for finer detail, possibly also with Galactic cirrus. RGB Full size RGBHa Full size

NGC5466 in Bootes is an ancient mag 9.5 globular cluster. The bright blue stars are what is known as 'blue horizontal branch stars' which in their late stage of evolution are fusing helium rather than the usual hydrogen. Although I only had a short period of Astronomical twilight early on 22nd May 2023, a good clear night beckoned, so I imaged this interesting target. Rather poor seeing so the stars are slightly bloated, but the blue stars are well shown. The small galaxy to the right is magnitude 15.8 PGC50187. QSI 683 on RC10. Because of the short 'window', Luminance only 10 x 5 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes, all binned 2x2. Note to self - perhaps another go at this next April! Full size

Again Astronomical twilight on a clear night of 24th May 2023, BUT a type 2 supernova had been spotted in Messier 101. I hadn't imaged this galaxy since 2006, but of course notwithstanding the lighter sky and low surface brightness the supernova had to be imaged! It was discovered on May 19th by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki. At that time it was magnitude 14.9, but in this image, nearer Mag 11. So here is the result. QSI683 on RC10. Luminance 11 x 5 minutes, RGB each 5 x 5 minutes, all binned 2x2 Full size

For many years my image of M11 was this monochrome one from 2003. About time it was replaced! June of course has very bright twilight skies here, and July 2023 was the wettest on record. But a couple of clear nights in August gave me an opportunity. 11th wasn't too bad although clouds moved in, but the night of 15th although not forecast was an absolute cracker - Milky Way beautifully clear across the sky. So although M11 is quite low and was past the meridian by full darkness on both nights, I was able to acquire decent data and here is the result. Luminance 17 x 5 minutes, RGB each 8 x 5 minutes all unbinned. QSI 683 on RC10 with SX AO unit. Larger image

In early October 2023 a trip to Kelling Heath Star Party was followed immediately by a few days at Calvert Trust Kielder. Unfortunately for both events there was only one reasonably clear night, and although the sky is nicely dark at both locations, it was never clean - always thin high haze. I already had targets in mind and succeeded in getting reasonable images of both, but not as clearly defined or contrasty as would have been possible under better conditions.
This is Barnard 169-71 dark nebula in Cepheus. This was the Kelling Heath target. The object is quite faint anyway, and the conditions didn't help, but at least it is visible. The 'squiggle' in the top left corner is seperately catalogued as B173-4. I have a closer image of this from 2013 here. I also have an image of the main target taken under the clear skies of Les Granges in France in 2008, but it does not include B173-4. This image comprises Luminance 15 x 10 minutes unbinned, RGB each 10 x 5 minutes binned 2x2. QSI 683 on TS65 quad with SX AO unit.. Larger image
Also in Cepheus, Sharpless 154 is a hydrogen alpha region. Imaged from Kielder, again faint. There was very little OIII and no SII to be seen, so on returning home I gathered RGB data for star colours and added the H-a as a layer. The small open cluster in the lower left corner is NGC 7419. H-alpha 15 x 10 minutes, Luminance 10 x 2 minutes, RGB each 6 x 2 minutes, all binned 2x2. QSI683 on TMB105 with SX AO unit. Remains high for some months, so if possible I would like to gather more H-a data. The slight haze and stretching required has left it a bit 'noisy'. Full size
Footnote: The last of the data for Sharpless 154 was gathered on the night of 21st October. And was the last imaging for some time. I ruptured the Achilles tendon in my left leg the following afternoon at a friend's birthday party ceilidh. This severely limited my activity for three weeks due to wearing a non load bearing cast, and indeed I missed a couple of clear nights and a bright aurora shortly afterwards. But once in a load bearing boot I was more active although still unable to drive for several weeks.

2024