After months of cloud followed by 3-months of lost imaging time due to a mysterious camera / mount control problem, I was on the verge of throwing in the towel by August. But then I sorted the problem, started guiding and as if by magic, with a prolonged spell of good weather managed 7-nights of astronomy between 23rd August and 13th September; such was the intensity I was able to work over consecutive nights and by the end quite exhausted but happy.
Under clear skies and warm nights I could operate in just shorts and a T-shirt, a hitherto unknown experience at Fairvale Observatory. In such comfort I was also able to experiment and optimize the equipment set-up further – oh, if it could only be like this always. Of course I did not miss the opportunity to chase some night sky objects as well, imaging 11 targets all-in-all, sometimes on more than one occasion. It was a glorious time which has since taken time to organise and process.
Top left – NGC 6905 Blue Flash Nebula in Delphinus constellation 42″ x 35″ mag +11 26th August; Bottom left – NGC 6781 planetary nebula in Aquila constellation 1.8′ +mag 11.8 23rd August; Middle M57 Ring Nebula Lyra constellation 1.4′ x 1.1′ mag +8.8 13th September; Right M57 23rd August
A number of these images have already been reviewed in Forbidden Fruit and The future is not what it used to be but, such was productivity that for the record I’ve collected the overspill here. Inevitably targets reflected what was about and in sight from this location at the time but were nonetheless diverse in nature, ranging from the Witch’s Broom to planetary nebulae, the Andromeda galaxy and, making use of the otherwise frustrating monthly occurrence, the Moon. Features such as M57 and NGC 6781 are intrinsically too small for the William Optics GT81 and Canon 550D, filling significantly less than 1% of the original image but after cropping both are evident in the final picture.
Top Left – M15 Globular cluster Pegasus constellation 29th August; Top Right – Q1 Moon 23rd August; Middle Right – NGC 6960 Witch’s Broom Western Veil Nebula; Bottom – M31 Andromeda Galaxy 26th August
These images are not particularly memorable but it was a fun time and I will remember the enjoyable experience for a long while. Of course, the cloud has now returned and since passing the autumn equinox night temperatures have plunged into single figures. On the plus side, Orion is on its way together with all the other photogenic objects that characterize the winter night sky – can’t wait!
WATCH THIS SPACE(MAN) 