Playing poker with the heavens

August 23, 2016 by grahamrob in Imaging, Solar system, Viewing and tagged Perseids, Perseus, Photography, Solar system | 1 Comment

cards1

It’s that time of the year when Earth ploughs its way through the tail of comet Swift-Tuttle, resulting in a the Perseids meteor shower. The name is derived from the location of the radiant point within the constellation of Perseus and Greek mythology’s reference to the sons of Perseus. Such are the orbital paths that Earth’s encounter with the comet occurs around 11^th to 13^th of August each year and can provide an enjoyable spectacle as the meteor particles rain down through atmosphere.

perseids-e1312951836623

Travelling at some 37 miles-a-second, the sand-grain size particles literally burn up in the blink of an eye, with the energy created producing a bright path of the light path that very briefly shoots across the night sky, sometimes green or red coloured. Some 16-miles in size, from time-to-time the comet itself actually passes nearby to Earth during its orbit around the Sun, last time being in 1992 and the next in 2126.

Perseid ZHR 2016

Whilst the timing of our annual encounter can be predicted with good accuracy, a sight of each individual meteoroid particle is entirely down to chance. Over a period of two or three days the frequency (Zenithal Hourly Rate or ZHR) may vary from a few tens to a few hundred, depending on which section of the comet’s tail Earth is passing through. Of course, observation requires a clear sky – something that’s been notably absent here at Fairvale Observatory for some time now. Notwithstanding, this year there were three consecutive clear, dark, warm nights, which occurred shortly after a new Moon that provided excellent Perseid observing opportunities.

Viewing is a matter of lying back in a suitable garden chair looking up towards the radiant position, which starts in the north east then moves to the south during the night and just waiting. This year peak Perseids were on the evening of 11^th/12^th August between about 11pm and 1am, during which time we probably saw between 20 to 40 hits an hour; the previous and subsequent evenings were also quite good, though with slightly less hits. Such is the randomness of each meteoroid hit that in practice Perseid trails occurred all over the sky and were easy to miss if outside the peripheral vision. However, overall it was a very good and enjoyable show but probably not as good as that from the ISS.

At first this looks great but look again, it’s an aircraft trace – living next to Gatwick airport doesn’t help. The giveaway is in the next shot which shows the track continuing i.e. too long and too far for a meteoroid.

At the same time using the Canon DSLR and an ultra-wide lens, I also attempted to image the Perseid shower. On the first night using Vixen Polarie tracking, set towards the radiant position and on the second night pointing east, without tracking. Control was via an intervalometer, with camera settings at ISO 800, 20 or 14 second exposures, and 5-second shot intervals. Even with such a high incidence of meteoroid hits, obtaining a photograph was still very difficult; mostly the strikes occurred outside the field-of-vision or sometimes in the 5-second pause. In total I shot over 300 images but obtained just two Perseid hits and more than a few plane tracks! Even with good preparation and clear skies it really is a case of chance but I was nonetheless pleased to have my share of luck this time and look forwards to another opportunity this time next year, weather permitting.

Gotcha – the real thing: ISO 800 @ 20 seconds with tracking.

Only just! This time the Perseid is just sneaking out of view at the bottom of the frame: ISO 800 @ 14 seconds, without tracking.

The Eagle Has Landed

August 11, 2016 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, Imaging, Software and tagged DSO Imaging, Jupiter, Mars, Nebulae, Saturn, Serpens | 5 Comments

“It is never wise to let a piece of
electronic equipment know that you are in a hurry” (Murphy’s Law)

Following months of unusually protracted cloud cover during the winter and a short, though productive imaging period that can be measured in weeks, I have been unable to carry out any astrophotography since early May, when for inexplicable reasons everything went pear-shaped! The problem started on the 9^th May and it’s taken me 3-months to solve! This and other events have therefore resulted in a noticeable paucity of WTSM activity – sorry.

After an earlier successful dry-run with the equipment in preparation for Mercury’s solar transit, a few days later at the very moment the transit started when I switched on the camera, Cartes du Ciel and EQMOD-ASCOM froze and, despite my best efforts, could not be restarted i.e. no images. With the next transits not due until 2019 and thereafter 2032, this was a missed opportunity at best but as subsequent efforts failed to rectify the problem I’ve reached moments of despair.

I have used the same equipment and software successfully for nearly two years, in particular assigning the same USB COM-ports to avoid potential conflicts; experience of others shows ASCOM can be particularly fickle with the assignment of a COM port. After some discussion via the EQMOD Yahoo forum group there was consensus that the problem was probably a software conflict or driver issue. Somehow this didn’t seem right to me given the background described but with no alternative ideas I reluctantly set out to clean up the laptop and update all relevant software and drivers: ASCOM, Cartes du Ciel, EOS Utility etc. Unfortunately there was no improvement, so I checked and checked again, including all connections and wires but with no success.

I had only queried the problem with the EQMOD Yahoo group convinced that this was where the problem existed and these were after all the experts. With by now the limited darkness of summertime nights upon us, despair setting in and my daughter’s wedding to attend to, I put everything aside for a few weeks: (a) for practical reasons, and (b) in order to restore some enthusiasm – hopefully. At this point, somewhat late in the day, I decided to post a query on Stargazers Lounge; can’t think why I didn’t try before but there you go – the experience and help on SGL has almost always been very helpful and positive.

Almost immediately ‘Smudgeball’ (AKA Neil) from Scotland responded with a similar experience that turned out to be a very small break in the DSLR mains adapter insulation. On inspection I could find no such damage to my adapter but it was worth a try, though holiday travel then delayed acquiring a replacement for another few weeks. Immediately on my return I obtained a new adapter which on testing indoors with the equipment produced a successful outcome – BINGO! Soon after I was able to get outside once again and at last undertake some astrophotography, phew. Despite my resolve and perseverance there have been times I’ve really felt like giving up completely and I am still getting over the frustration of these drawn out events.

AC/DC DSLR power adapter: How can something as basic as this cause so much disruption?

Whilst this was going on I did manage to carry out some planetary observing – with Jupiter, Mars and Saturn all around it was too good to miss. For a while I have been aware that astrophotography has been distracting me from looking at the night sky itself; it seems strange but you get so tied-up with imaging and forget to look up – I hope to avoid this trap in the future. Unfortunately the re-awakening of my observing interest only served to highlight the poor quality and range of some of my eyepieces.

After some research and another query on SGL I purchased an Explore Scientific 20mm 68^oMaxvision eyepiece, which I thought would fit well in between my existing 32mm and 6mm eyepieces. The Maxvision is very well made but like many high-end eyepieces nowadays is quite bulky. However, the eyepiece has an unusual rubber twist-up eyecup, which though ingenious limits eye relief for those, such as myself, wearing spectacles and narrows the field-of-view. As a result I exchanged the Maxvison eyepiece for Explore Scientific 5-element 20mm and 10mm 70^o eyepieces, which provide much better eye relief and is therefore more suitable for my circumstances. At this time I have not used either of these but as they are more conventional in design, with good access to the top lens for viewing, I am very hopeful they will do a good job.

Explore Scientific 20mm eyepiece – good access to the wide angle top lens element provides good eye relief and full use of 70 degree FOV

I routinely watch second-hand equipment on the SGL and UK Astronomy Buy & Sell websites, which has resulted in some timely purchases in the past, including my modded Canon 550D camera and Vixen Polarie. From experience I find it pays to know exactly what you might be looking for and what a good price might be, in order to act quickly if necessary. There is great demand for popular items such as the Polarie which tend to go very quickly. Buoyed by much positive online comments I was recently lucky to see and successfully acquire a Tele Vue 2.5x Powermate, just 3-minutes after it was posted! I’ve only had brief use so far but it’s already obvious that this is an excellent piece of kit; being parfocal vignetting is eliminated and with great optics it’s noticeably a quantum improvement on a Barlow.

Additions to the family: Explore Scientific 10mm & 20mm eyepieces and 2.5x Powermate

With the return of astronomical darkness on July 20^th and the prospect of Fairvale Observatory able to function again, I have been keen to get back out. Imaging targets are mixed at this time of the year but I’ve just managed to bag three exciting new objects. The so-called Pillars of Creation are perhaps the iconic image of modern astronomy, inevitably captured best by the Hubble telescope. These towering columns of illuminated cosmic dust are situated within M16 or Eagle Nebula, in the constellation of Serpens, which at this time of the year is located low in the southern sky, just above the ecliptic at about 25^o– not an ideal but too tantalising not to give it a try.

M16stellcrop

At 7-arcseconds in size and +6.0 apparent magnitude, the Eagle is a decent target for the William Optics GT81. Unfortunately as it’s been some time since the last session and my old nemesis of polar alignment wasn’t too good on this occasion, which combined with its low altitude and lack of guiding was always going to be a challenge. Notwithstanding I manged to get a reasonable sequence of images that show the shape of the ‘bird’ and even the general nature of the Pillars at the centre of the nebula, though inevitably exposures were short and minor star trails are evident.

M16 The Eagle Nebula: William Optics GT81 & modded Canon 550D + FF | 15 x 180 sec @ ISO 1,600 + darks | 7th August 2016

M16 Stacked 070816cropL2GX2SLpcropinverse copytxt

After all the trauma of the past few months it was a satisfying result and later that night I was able to capture two more interesting objects, more of which another time – watch this space. It’s fair to say that for now the eagle had in more than one way well and truly landed, though given the preceding difficulties and eventual solution it was more like Apollo 13 than 11!

apollo11 apollo13

Summertime Blues

June 15, 2016 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, General Astronomy, Imaging, Software and tagged DSO Imaging, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Star Clusters, Sun | Leave a comment

This year the Summer Solstice falls on 20th June at 23.34 BST, meaning the Sun will have reached its furthest point north; as a result from 22nd of May to 19th July 2014 there is a state of permanent Astronomical Twilight AKA Nautical Darkness at Fairvale Observatory. This means there is a complete lack of Astronomical Darkness for imaging, which when combined with short nights poses various problems for astronomy in general. Notwithstanding, there are benefits and other opportunities which are worth exploiting.

Annual darkness at Fairvale Observatory 2016

To turn the problem around an obvious solution at this time is viewing and imaging the Sun. However, following the initial success of testing my equipment in preparation for Mercury’s transit of the Sun on 9^th May, the actual event proved disastrous for solar imaging. I have subsequently re-checked the equipment and software set-up and the problem has continued but without any obvious reason. Popular opinion on the EQMOD Forum is that it is a software issue – drivers, EQMOD, EOS Utilities – so when time allows over the summer I will reinstall and test everything, hopefully ready for the return of astronomical darkness on 20^th July. Murphy’s Law will likely mean it’s something else but for the moment this seems to be the only way forwards, or is it backwards? Having just managed to get guiding to work, I had been looking forwards to a new imaging era but that’s astrophotography!

Although the nights are now short the temperatures have been pleasantly warm; after the long dark but cold nights of winter (and spring this year) it’s been a real pleasure to be outside in summer clothing and without the threat of condensation on the equipment. Notwithstanding, ever present cloud and inevitably the Moon has continued to thwart my efforts until recently, as I have at last just managed a couple of very enjoyable evenings.

At the moment the three major planets of Jupiter, Mars and Saturn can all be seen at various times between 10.00 pm to nearly 3.00 am, when the early morning light then becomes evident. After putting on a great show during May, Jupiter still remains high in the sky just after sunset. Mars and Saturn are at a much lower declination of between 10^oand 17^o but provide very good views in the right seeing conditions, especially Mars which with an apparent dimension of 18.6^ohas recently looked excellent, even to the naked eye.

With such opportunities I decided to try out the Skywatcher 150PL and the ZWO ASI120MC once again. It is almost two years since I used this telescope, preferring instead the superior William Optics GT81 for viewing and imaging. However, with a focal length of 1,200mm and 150mm aperture (f8) the Newtonian scope is better suited to planetary objects; this was also the first time I rigged the scope for use on the AZ-EQ6 GT mount, thus providing better control than the EQ3-2 I have previously used.

Sure enough the views of each planet were very good but also being unaccustomed to the ZWO webcam through lack of use, I failed to obtain any images! Pity but the lesson learned is that I cannot just dabble with this equipment and need to dedicate more time in the future if I am to learn how to use properly again. Nonetheless, it was fun re-acquainting myself with these planets. As an unexpected bonus the ISS also flew right over Fairvale Observatory for over 7 minutes. This time the station was noticeably brighter than previously observed, which I put down to Nautical Darkness and the relative position of the Sun that results, thus producing greater reflection and therefore better illumination of the ISS when viewed from the ground?

All-in-all after months of difficulties and inactivity it was a good night and at midnight I therefore decided to swap to the William Optics GT81 for some DSO imaging. After setting-up the scope I looked up and, as if from nowhere, broken cloud had rolled in obscuring much of the sky and putting an end to any DSO imaging. Oh well, I had had a good time before and was at least able to get to bed at a civilised time – one of the other drawbacks of summer astronomy. As luck would have it the weather was also good on the following night, probably even better than before and this time I concentrated on bagging some DSO images as the planets again marched across the sky from east to west.

As a result of the aforementioned equipment and software problems I have resorted to the trusty SynScan handset again for alignment and mount control. Impressive though EQMOD and all the other paraphernalia are, so far I have found it all to be somewhat fickle and from my personal experience often unreliable. However, after last year’s enforced astronomy hiatus following my operation and the almost farcical lack of observing conditions over winter and now spring, I’ve become a little rusty with the set-up and as a result, on this occasion encountered my old nemesis – polar alignment – to be something of a problem once again.

Amongst the types of DSO objects, I find globular star clusters to be particularly intriguing; I had not even heard of such features until taking up astronomy in 2013. Some 158 of these ancient star clusters are known to orbit around the main disc of the Milky Way. At about 11bn to 13bn years old they are very old and despite what so-called experts might say, it seems to me their origin remains something of a mystery; it’s interesting that such clusters are also associated with other galaxies.

At this time of the year a number of globular and open clusters feature across the night sky and form excellent imaging targets. First up at about 11.00pm was M5 and immediately I discovered the shortcomings of my polar alignment, further aggravated by the decision to try 4.00 minute exposures = big mistake; ironically prior test shots turned about better!

M5 globular cluster + excess trailing! WO GT81 Canon 700D + FF | 9 x 240 secs @ ISO 800 + darks | 6th June 2016

M5 test shot: 10 sec @ ISO 6,400

M5 test shot: 15 sec @ ISO 6,400

Following on from M5 shortly after midnight, M13 appears at a much higher altitude, thus helping to reduce the impact of star trails. Furthermore, as I was by now fully aware of the polar alignment error, I reduced the exposure time from 4.00 to 2.00 minutes; it helped but nonetheless could not hide the impact on the resulting images. Note to self: always ensure good polar alignment. An EQMOD – ASCOM – CdC alignment model would be much better but until I can correct the aforesaid problem it’s down to SynScan and hopefully in the interim I can return to globular clusters once more during summer.

M13 with less but still noticeable trails! | WO GT81 & Canon 700D + FF | 19 x 120 secs @ ISO 800 + darks | 7th June 2016

Before going to bed I couldn’t resist a few quick shots of an old summer favourite, M57 or the Ring Nebula, itself also very high above Fairvale Observatory by this time of night. Considering the alignment problems the image wasn’t too bad, however, the first half of 2016 has really been a case of one step forwards, two back. I hope the next 6-months will be more positive, they will inevitably be darker and colder.

M57 Ring Nebula (left of centre) + Sulafat (left) & Sheliak (right) | WO GT81 & Canon 700D + FF | 13 x 120 secs @ ISO 800 | 7th June 2016

M57 – Ring Nebula, cropped.

Transit

May 9, 2016 by grahamrob in General Astronomy, Solar system, Viewing and tagged Mercury, Sun | Leave a comment

13147537_10154089139076772_6724120884346003381_o

Unfortunately not my image: Mercury starting its transit across the Sun today, photo by NASA.

The transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun takes place about thirteen times each century and today was one of those occasions; the next is on 11^th November 2019. With months of bad weather I’ve been unable to undertake very little astronomy for some time but albeit late, spring actually arrived last week and I took the opportunity to shake-down my equipment and experiment with settings for solar imaging in the hope of capturing Mercury’s transit. Using a Baader solar filter and both the William Optics GT 81 and Skywatcher 150PL, I have successfully imaged the Sun before. Of course, inevitably I aspire to a dedicated Lunt or Coronado solar telescope one day in order to image details of the chromosphere and prominences, which are not visible using a white-light solar filter.

Sun spot activity is limited at the moment but the Baader filter and WO GT81 do a reasonable job, although I find achieving focus of the Sun quite difficult. Using the DSLR I experimented with the field flattener and an alternative basic 1/ 1.25” nosepiece, which produced a preferable result of a slightly larger and sharper image. I also tried the ZWO ASI 120MC webcam but as I don’t use this very often struggled to get the settings right for any sort of image – I’ll experiment more with that over the summer. I also put EQMOD-ASCOM and the newly acquired gamepad control through their paces which both worked well, so I was ready for the transit – weather permitting.

Last week’s test image of the Sun, with sun spot top left: WO GT81 + 1.25″ nosepiece | 1 / 2,500 sec @ ISO 100

After days of sunshine, albeit with high cloud that has continued to prohibit astrophotography at night, I was nonetheless hopeful of seeing at least some of the transit today. Notwithstanding, Sods law arrived in the form of a belt of cloud over south east England last night! Not to be defeated I watched the sky and cloud forecasts which suggested a glimpse of the transit might still be possible.

In hopeful anticipation I set up the equipment just before contact at 12.12 pm BST and shortly afterwards obtained a good view of Mercury as it started its transit across the face of the Sun. For the next three hours I managed glimpses of the planet as it continued its journey. It is very, very small but forms a distinct, sharp black dot against the background of the Sun when compared to the more diffuse, grey nature of the sunspots. It was an exciting experience and despite the drawbacks – cloud has now completely covered the sky for the rest of the transit – it was very enjoyable; so what’s the problem?

Despite all my preparation for imaging everything that could go wrong did and I was unable to obtain even a single photograph:

On setting up the camera and starting to focus the EQMOD-ASCOM tracking stopped and Carte du Ciel froze. Despite re-starting the set-up numerous times the tracking would not work!

Finally after resorting to the Synscan handset for tracking control, for some completely inexplicable reason I could not get any sort of image on the camera, that otherwise was working OK!

As I have learned many times before, the art of astronomy is patience and persistence but I am very disappointed not to have imaged Mercury during its transit today. Ironically once the cloud put an end to further activity, I tested the EQMOD-ASCOM tracking once again and it worked fine. Perplexed does not describe my feelings – oh well, 3-years to prepare for the next transit!

How I felt after today’s imaging!!! The transit view was still very good and I’m grateful for the breaks in the cloud.

Nocturnal Safari

March 16, 2016 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, General Astronomy and tagged Canis Major, Constellations, DSO Imaging, Monoceros, Nebulae, Orion | 3 Comments

night eyes

Asterisms of the night sky have long been the basis for astronomy, navigation, astrology, myths, general stories and even religion. Whilst over millennia their shapes inevitably change, on the scale of human life there is an element of permanence and certainty. With so many stars it is not difficult to ‘join-the-dots’ in order to arrive at a recognisable shape, thereby making identification easier. Simplest amongst these are the seasonal often geometric asterisms such as the Summer Triangle, Winter Hexagon and The Plough or Big Dipper. However, it is the 88 constellations that dominate our definition and description of the night sky.

Computer based planetarium usually trace the relevant shapes and often the underlying historical figures from which they were originally derived – though frankly in some cases these can be quite spurious and even misleading. Of the total constellations: 17 depict humans or mythological figures, 29 inanimate objects and a whopping 42 animals – the night sky might literally be described as something of a zoo!

Despite my cynicism the patterns can be very helpful when initially learning the night sky, as well as for navigating and descriptive purposes. When starting out in astronomy I deliberately did not purchase a GoTo mount in order to first better master the geography of the night’s celestial sphere. For this purpose I purchased a planisphere and to a degree (no pun intended) it did initially help but with so many stars, light pollution and the odd cloud it wasn’t always easy when it came to essential star identification and alignment. I am sure I will forever benefit from the effort but this is 2016 and inevitably I have succumbed to using Google Sky on my smartphone to identify or at least confirm a star’s identity. Equally inevitable, I now use an AZ-EQ6 GoTo mount, which when linked to the Cartes du Ciel planetarium software is a quick and powerful combination for locating and tracking objects.

As previously discussed, this winter has been unusually cloudy but I recently managed a rare though decent imaging session in which I was able to capture night animals of a different sort. Probably like most astronomers I find the mid-winter night sky to be the highlight of the year, making the aforementioned seeing problems all the more frustrating. I have already imaged various parts of everyone’s favourite, the Orion constellation and so this time was looking for alternative objects in a similar region that would be suitable for the William Optics GT81. Whilst I find many if not most of the star asterisms unconvincing, there’s no denying that some of the DSO shapes really do look like animals and this time I found two.

animal2

NGC 2174 or the Monkey Head Nebula is located within the Milky Way, between Orion’s club and Castor’s left foot. An HII emission nebula, with an apparent magnitude of +6.8 and 40’ apparent dimension, it was a good target and a very convincing monkey’s head. Closer inspection of the image shows another smaller HII nebula north above NGC 2174 called Sh2-247, that is not only connected to the monkey but they are both part of the even larger GEM OB-1 molecular cloud complex which covers a massive region of 570 x 770 light-years!

NGC 2174 & Sh2-247 nebula above. WO GT81 & modded Canon 550D + FF | 20 x 180 sec @ ISO 1,600 | 10th February 2016

NGC 2174 The Monkey Head Nebula, cropped & inverted

In addition, situated between the constellations of Canis Major and Monoceros is IC 2177 the Seagull Nebula, which is also within the Milky Way but ‘flying’ lower than the Monkey Head Nebula to the left (south-east) of the Orion. More than 2.5^o from wing to wing, a number of bright star clusters are associated with this emission nebula, notable of which is the ‘bird’s head’ designated NGC 2327; IC 2177 is also known as the Parrot’s Head Nebula, which given the form of NGC 2327 I’m inclined to prefer.

IC 2177 The Seagull Nebula. WO GT81 & modded Canon 550D + FF | 20 x 180 sec @ ISO 1,600 | 10th February 2016

I’ve previously imaged a number of other animal-like DSO objects: Jellyfish Nebula, Crab Nebula, Pelican Nebula and the famous Horsehead Nebula. Unlike the constellations they generally but not always, really do resemble the form their names imply. Now adding to this list the Monkey Head and Seagull (Parrot) Nebulae it sometimes seems like a safari rather than astronomy!

Sky Animalscrop

It’s all in the stars

February 24, 2016 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, General Astronomy, Imaging, Universe and tagged Auriga, DSO Imaging, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Milky Way, Nebulae, Star Clusters | 2 Comments

After 24-weeks I have just completed Imagining Other Earths, a Coursera MOOC presented by David Spergel, Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy at Princeton University – soon to become Director of the new Computational Centre of Astrophysics, NY – and cannot speak too highly of the course. In my quest to better understand what I am seeing and imaging, I have participated in five astronomy courses and this is by a country mile the best; how many country miles in a parsec I wonder? There was very little not covered about astronomy in the course, including related geology and life itself but it was outstanding for three reasons:

Frequent use of easy-to-understand equations to explain and link various processes responsible for the Universe and everything in it;
It is very comprehensive, thorough and well produced, and…
David’s lecturing is just very good – easy to understand and well delivered.

For some while now the trend in my astrophotography has been increasingly directed towards seeing the big picture and by coincidence the course followed a similar scientific theme in order to Imagine Other Earths throughout the Universe; a metaphor for life itself and possibilities across the Universe.

The ultimate question starts at the beginning – where do we come from? Moby and astrophysicists seem to have the answer: we are all made of stars. How we get from that to here may be an even bigger question and like the philosophers in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy looking for the meaning of life (answer = 42!), should keep many astrophysicists gainfully employed for aeons.

In the meantime there is strong evidence that we do indeed come from stars and their evolution through the process of nucleosynthesis, which is responsible for all but a few man-made elements that we find on Earth. Through the action of nuclear fusion a star burns its way through the periodic table, first from hydrogen to helium then carbon-oxygen-magnesium-silicon and eventually iron. Thereafter the other, heavier elements require even more extreme conditions – heat & pressure – that can only be found in the late or final stage of a star’s life such as a Super Nova.

When the Periodic Table was initially formulated in 1863 by Dimitri Mendeleev there were 53 elements, which through subsequent discovery have now grown to 118. I find it wonderful and exciting that almost all of these can be attributed to stellar evolution, which can be viewed and imaged in the night sky.

At this time of the year the Milky Way is a dominant feature passing across the winter night sky which provides numerous, sometimes spectacular objects that are favourable for imaging. Located close to the western edge of the Milky Way in the constellation of Auriga about 1,500 light-years from Earth, is IC 405 or Flaming Star Nebula and nearby (visually) IC 410 or Tadpole Nebula, itself at 12,000 light-years distance. Located across the central area between these objects is a star field, notable of which and actually within the IC 405 is the O-type blue variable star of AE Aurigae, that is responsible for illuminating the nebulae.

IC 405 is formed of two sections, consisting of an emission and reflection nebula. Radiation from the variable star AE Aurigea, that is located in the lower part of upper-east (left) lobe, excites the hydrogen gas of the nebula which then glows red, while carbon-rich dust also creates a blue reflection from the same star.

IC 405 (right)-The Flaming Star Nebula inc AE Aurigae varibale star & IC 405-The Tadpole Nebula: WO GT81 & modded Canon 550D + FF | 15 x 180 sec @ ISO 1,600 & full calibration | 8th December 2015

Located within the nebula IC 410 and partly responsible for its illumination is an open cluster of massive young stars, NGC 1893. Being just 4-million years old these bright star clusters are the site of new star formation and therefore are just starting their creation of new elements. The so named ‘tadpoles’ are filaments of cool gas and dust about 10 light-years long.

IC 410-The Tadpole Nebula: Illuminated from within by the NGC 1839 star cluster. Image cropped and forced to highlight the two ‘tadpoles’, which can just be seen indicated in the green ellipses (‘tails’ upwards)

Each nebula is large, respectively 30’ x 20’ and 40’ x 30’, with an apparent magnitude of +6.0, which combined with the star AE Aurigae makes an excellent target for the William Optics GT81. I find it thrilling to consider the processes taking place in these objects that I have captured in the photograph, which surely represents the ultimate Big Picture?

Good Vibrations

February 7, 2016 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, Imaging and tagged DSO Imaging, Nebulae, Perseus | 1 Comment

Ever since autumn undertaking astronomy has continued to be very difficult at Fairvale Observatory; except for some periods coincident with the full Moon, I can count on the fingers of one hand the times we’ve had clear dark skies – at this rate I’m going to need a new hobby! As a result 8^th December was the last time the observatory was in action – frustrating but what can I do? Notwithstanding, on that occasion I was able to obtain decent images of three different objects, two of which were new for me.

I live under the grey bit in the South East i.e. cloudy

Apart from persistent cloud, the winter has also been unusually wet and in general I yearn for better weather. In the absence of more desirable conditions I was at least able to image something that kind of reminds us of a better more pleasant climate, NGC 1499 or The California Nebula – so called because being like the shape state of California.

perseus

Located in the constellation of Perseus, within the Orion arm of the Milky Way some 1,500 light-years from Earth, NGC 1499 is a large emission nebula about 100 light-years long, or nearly 4^o. The HII nebula is ionized by the nearby but otherwise unrelated star of Xi Persei (Menkib) but despite its size it is difficult to view and can only be properly appreciated using long exposure imaging, preferably with an Hβ filter (486 Nm) or in my case a modded-DSLR camera and light pollution filter (450 Nm – 550 Nm & 650 – 750 Nm) worked quite well.

NGC 1499 California Nebula – Xi Persei (Menkib @ top), North down: Wo GT81 & modded Canon 550D + FF | 16 x 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 & full calibration | 8th December 2016

It was a pleasure to finally image the California Nebula, which is an ideal object for the William Optics GT81. However, being nearly 2-months since imaging NGC 1499 it is now only present during the early evening and will soon be gone from the sky altogether for another year, pointing the way towards the Spring Equinox in a few weeks and hopefully improved weather and astronomy conditions, in every sense leading to good vibrations!

A Wider Perspective

January 23, 2016 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, Equipment, General Astronomy, Widefield Imaging and tagged DSO Imaging, Nebulae, Orion, Photography | 3 Comments

I like to think and operate at both ends of the spectrum: sometimes considering detail and its implications and often exquisite beauty, whilst on the other hand taking a wider view will often provide broader insight and answers – notwithstanding, I am usually drawn towards the latter. There was no shortage of scope for such thoughts in my career as a geologist and now as my hobby in astronomy. I have become fascinated with parts of the Universe and captivated by imaging them: galaxies, nebulae, star cluster etc. but the wider view is often even more astounding and perplexing.

you-are-here-2

My nascent astroimaging has already produced some rewarding photographs, which using the fast William Optics GT81 refractor has enabled me to obtain images of up to 3^o FOV. In fact this became something of a theme last year, successfully imaging features such as the Sadr Region and as they say, one thing has led to another. Wanting to image even wider views there’s mostly only one alternative, using a camera and lens. I’ve tried this before, on a tripod and fixed to the ALT-AZ EQ6 mount but with mixed success. Meanwhile, I came across excellent pictures taken using lightweight tracking mounts on a tripod and as a result the way forwards became obvious; after scanning the Classified advertisements online for a while I was fortunate to find and purchase a second-hand Vixen Polarie mount last September.

Probably my favourite object, which can rightly be considered the signature image of the winter night sky and is therefore around at the moment, is the constellation of Orion and especially its numerous and often exciting constituent parts: M42, Horsehead & Flame Nebulae etc. After waiting for weeks for the clouds to clear, I briefly got a chance to image Orion using the Vixen Polarie early in November, whilst at the same time using the WO GT81 to obtain yet another picture of the irresistible Great Orion Nebula M42.

Orion’s Sword – including the wonderful Great Orion Nebula M42 et al : WO GT81 + modded Canon 550D & FF | 14 x 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 9th November 2015

The Vixen Polarie is a deceivingly simple and well-made solution to obtaining long exposure images of the wider night sky using a camera and lens. As stability remains essential for the mount and camera to operate at their best, I also purchased a decent Manfrotto tripod and suitable ball heads to attach the Polarie. After that it was simple, well not quite! Trying out the Polarie at the same time as using the GT81 and being first time out was a mistake. I fumbled setting up the equipment and initially even forgot to turn on the tracking, leaving only a short time to grab a few images before the clouds rolled in once again! Not surprisingly the results were mixed and I was left frustrated. With continuing poor seeing conditions, it was to be a further month before I had an opportunity to properly use the Vixen Polarie again – this time with a new Sigma 10 – 20 mm ultra-wide angle lens I had just purchased.

Vixen Polarie & Canon 700D + 18 – 55mm lens | 19 x 60 secs @ ISO 800 | 9th November 2015

Having by now spent more time looking at the manual (we all get there, in the end) and concentrating on imaging using only the Polarie, this time I was able to achieve a good set-up and remembered the correct sequence of operation. As the mount sits high on the tripod I am just about able to see Polaris in a small gap between the roof of my garage and house, something hitherto impossible when using the lower positioned AZ-EQ6 mount. As a result I am able to achieve a reasonably good visual polar alignment, though a polar scope made specifically for the Vixen Polarie would improve this further; probably something for another time? Nevertheless, such an alignment at Fairvale Observatory is a first and was a major breakthrough that has already permitted exposures of 4 minutes and could probably go to 5 to 6 minutes or more.

The high position of the Vixen Polarie on the tripod provides an otherwise elusive view of Polaris between the garage / utility room and the main house for polar alignment, at last! Alignment of the mount is carried out by viewing through the hole in the top right of the Polarie – better alignment can be achieved by using a polar scope which fits through the middle of the Polarie mount.

Once polar aligned, fixed on the front of the Vixen Polarie the camera then rotates to follow the celestial sphere and chosen object in order to achieve a sharp image with long exposures. For this purpose there are 4 tracking rates: sidereal, half sidereal, lunar and solar. With no interesting foreground here I concentrated on the sky by using the sidereal rate; for more scenic shots with the landscape incorporated, using half-sidereal provides a compromise in order to achieve a non-blurred image of the sky and landscape, though this method is inevitably limited to shorter exposures than sidereal.

Vixen Polarie mount on Manfrotto tripod – a lightweight, portable tracking method for widefield astroimaging

Vixen Polarie – close-up showing x2 ball head fittings

Vixen Polarie – tracking speed settings

VP Dial

Vixen Polarie with DSLR attached & ultra-wide lens

I have adapted a somewhat basic red dot finder to fit on top of the DSLR camera using the hot shoe, which was immediately helpful to accurately locate the desired target area. However, as previously experienced, once again achieving focus proved quite difficult, basically requiring just trial and error; I intend to look into a more efficient method but in the absence of a Bahtinov mask this is likely to be the best technique for now. A laptop can be used for image capture but maintaining the themes of portability and simplicity, I successfully used an intervalometer to control exposures.

Whilst initially my target was the Orion constellation, I’ve long held the ambition to image Barnard’s Loop, a much larger and elusive feature surrounding the constellation and more difficult to photograph. I had tried this before last January with limited success but ever since acquiring the Vixen Polarie this has been my No1 imaging goal.

Orion Constellation 220115 Stacked1L2C3GX (Large)

The Orion Constellation & Barnard’s Loop (up / north is left) : AZ-EQ6 Mount + Canon 550D & 200mm Telephoto | 180 secs @ ISO 1,600 & calibration | 22nd January 2015

Unable to see with the naked eye, only using long exposure photography unveils the majesty of Barnard’s Loop, an emission nebula to the left (east) of the Orion constellation. Shaped as a large-C, the loop completely encompasses the eastern side of the constellation and is thought to be a recent supernova front moving out from Orion and illuminated by stars from within the nebula, as well as part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. Discovered and named after astrophotographer E. E. Barnard in 1895, at some 14^o or 300 million light-years across Barnard’s Loop is enormous; however, the entire Molecular Cloud is about 30^o in size!

pleyades31_02

The Orion constellation was originally conceived in Greek mythology as the Hunter, pursuing Taurus the Bull to the west, with the stars tracing out a shape of a hunter holding a shield and club in each hand, a belt around the waste with a sword attached. What they could not have known at the time is that he also has a head, in the form of the Lamda Orionis Nebula (Sh2-264), located centrally and above Betelgeuse and Bellatrix.

Barnard’s Loop & Lamda Orionis Nebula : Vixen Polarie & modded Canon 550D + Sigma UWA @ 20mm | 11 x 240 secs @ ISO 1,600 + darks | 7th January 2016

I was able to image Barnard’s Loop on 7^th and 14^th January; at ISO 1,600 the first images showed the Loop but certainly left room for improvement, as a result I shot the subsequent images at ISO 800 and obtained a noticeably better outcome – though I had to push post processing to reveal the features. The Loop and head are clearly evident but I’ve been intrigued to see other objects also revealed, albeit without the detail obtained with prime focus imaging using the telescope: Great Orion Nebula, Horses Head & Flame Nebulae and surprisingly on the left (east) of the Loop the Rosette Nebula. Looking at other’s images of Barnard’s Loop it is clear that I will need to take significantly more subs to properly reveal the full beauty of this wonderful and very large feature – dark skies would be nice too – but for the moment I am pleased with my first outing using the Vixen Polarie, which holds great promise for capturing a wider perspective of the Universe.

Barnard’s Loop & Lamda Orionis Nebula + Rosette Nebula on far left : Vixen Polarie & modded Canon 550D + Sigma UWA lens @ 20mm | 14 x 240 secs @ ISO 800 | 14th January 2016

Reflections – 2015

January 1, 2016 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, Equipment, Imaging, Software, Solar system, Widefield Imaging and tagged Andromeda, DSO Imaging, Galaxies, Lunar Eclipse, Orion, Photography, Solar system | 1 Comment

Launched in August 2014, 2015 is the first full year of Watch This Space (Man) and despite some personal set-backs it’s been an interesting year astronomically, with much to write about. Whilst I have made progress with my imaging, it was not what I would have wished for but nonetheless I have been pleased with the outcome. Continuing on from last year, Reflections is a recap and thoughts on all that happened to me astronomically in 2015 and looks forward to the coming year.

Although this website is just intended as my record of A personal discovery of the Universe through astronomy and astrophotography, it has been pleasing to see that over the year the site has attracted 1,310 visitors from 77 countries around the world and over 2,700 views; you are all most welcome. This was not the intention of the blog but I am humbled by the interest and would be very pleased to hear from anyone who would like to get in touch with queries, comments or just to say hello – contact details are in the About section.

JANUARY TO MARCH

The first quarter turned out to be my most active and successful period of the year for reasons that will become apparent later. Strictly speaking my image of the Rosette Nebula posted on 5^th January was taken on 29^th December 2014 but what an image to start the year with, clearly I was doing something right by now. Notwithstanding, from looking at pictures of the same object taken by other more accomplished photographers, it was evident that something was missing – red! This was an easy to problem to solve and I immediately set out on a quest to find a suitably modified camera with the IR filter removed. Soon thereafter I was lucky to find an excellent second hand modded Canon EOS 550D, which has now become my main imaging camera of choice and with all that extra red Ha-light has led to a quantum improvement of many images since. Such cameras are very popular so I felt lucky to have secured this one.

Orion’s Sword: M42 The Great Orion Nebula, Running Man Nebula & NGC 1981 Star Cluster
WO GT81 + modded Canon 550D & FF | 10 x 180 secs @ ISO 800 & darks calibration | 8th February 2015. Modification of the camera by removing the IR filter increased red Ha-light.

EQMOD / ASCOM is a popular free software project developed by amateurs that, amongst other things, provides computer and planetarium linked control of the mount; with other compatible linked programmes such as APT (Astrophotography Tool) and PHD (Push Here Dummy) control can be extended to cameras and for autoguiding. At the start of the year I successfully started using Carte du Ciel planetarium linked with EQMOD for computer controlled alignment and mount control, which as expected was very useful – particularly when it got really cold and I was able to take the equipment indoors and operate the equipment remotely. However, later in the year I have encountered connection problems which are, as yet, not fully resolved.

Whilst EQMOD is an excellent project which provides first class mount control when working, it requires additional faffing about and problems on a different level of scale, which with limited imaging conditions in the UK and having to set up outside from scratch each time is a pain. For this reason and others I have not yet moved to autoguiding, which I know will be highly beneficial to imaging but for the moment has proved to be a step too far for me. Such is the fickle nature of all this that I’m now considering other ways of achieving the same end, perhaps with professional software control and a stand-alone guider, such as the Lacerta M-GEN – of course a dedicated observatory would help a lot but seems unlikely at the moment!

I have previously found the early winter sky of Orion, Taurus, Pegasus and Monoceros very productive with beautiful imaging objects such as M42 and the Horsehead Nebula. However, this year looking more closely at the late-winter / early spring skies turned out to be just as exciting, with a veritable playground of galaxies to choose from during February and March. Notwithstanding, the highlight during the winter was successfully imaging Comet Lovejoy, a first for me that required changes to normal DSO and planetary imaging techniques as this ephemeral object was speeding across the night sky at over 70,000 mph – post processing also turned out to be quite different.

C/2014 Q2 Comet Lovejoy
WO GT81 + Canon 550D (modded) & FF | 40 x 20secs @ ISO1,600 + darks | 16th January 2014

No	Date	Object*	Name
1	16/01/15	C/2014 Q2	Comet Lovejoy
2	16/01/15	C/2014 Q2	Comet Lovejoy
3	16/01/15	NGC 2244	Rosette Nebula
4	22/01/15	M42 etc	Orion Nebula
5	22/01/15	M45	Pleiades
6	22/01/15		Comet Lovejoy
7	22/01/15		Comet Lovejoy
8	22/01/15		Banard’s Loop
9	22/01/15		Banard’s Loop
10	22/01/15		Orion Constellation
11	24/01/15	NGC 1909	Witch Head Nebula
12	24/01/15	NGC 2392	Eskimo Nebula
13	24/01/15	M44	Beehive Cluster
14	24/01/15	IC-443	Jellyfish Nebula
15	08/02/15	M42	Gt Orion Nebula etc
16	08/02/15	Barnard 33	Horsehead Nebula etc
17	21/02/15	M65	Leo Triplet (Galaxies)
18	21/02/15	M105	M96 Group (Galaxies)
19	24/02/15		Venus & Mars
20	25/03/15	NGC 2903	Spiral galaxy – Leo
21	25/03/15	NGC 3842	Galaxy cluster: Leo
22	25/03/15	M 88	Spiral galaxy: Virgo cluster
23	25/03/15	M100	Spiral galaxy: Virgo cluster
24	26/03/15	NGC 4438	Markarian’s Chain
25	26/03/15	M104	Sombrero
26	26/03/15	M53	Globular cluster

*Record of quarterly photographic images in 2015, excluding other widefield pictures

APRIL TO JUNE

Things took a turn for the worse in April when I went into hospital for a knee replacement operation. All went well but it is a major operation and recovery has been slow and often painful, thus prohibiting any real astronomy until September. It did however provide the time and opportunity to read about astronomy and pursue some MOOC astronomy courses.

After a period of convalescence, I did manage to obtain some widefield camera shots of the planets, the ISS and simple night sky images in the summer. Whilst not as satisfying as prime focus photography, it was interesting and kept me sane during this otherwise difficult time.

1st July 2015. Bingo = conjunction; though one day later Jupiter has now moved to the right of Venus.

1st July 2015. Conjunction of Jupiter to the right of Venus.

No	Date	Object	Name
27	11/04/15	NGC 4438	Markarian’s Chain
28	11/04/15	NGC 4565	Spiral galaxy-side

JUNE TO SEPTEMBER

This period was more of the same until on 19^th September, when at last I managed to set-up Fairvale Observatory for the first time since March, what a relief. As a bonus I was particularly chuffed to achieve a good image of the Andromeda Galaxy but the highlight of this period and the year was the lunar eclipse at the end of the month on 28^th September.

For once everything was perfect: a clear sky all night with a perfect view of the eclipse from start to finish. I stayed up all night and would have to say it was one of the best, if not the best event I have so far experienced since taking up astronomy; apart from being an outstanding imaging opportunity, the ambiance throughout the eclipse was spellbinding. I was therefore very pleased to obtain an excellent set of images of the entire eclipse, mainly using a prime focus camera set-up with the WO GT81 telescope but also with an alternative camera and telephoto lens on a tripod. The memory of that night will stay with me for a long while and, in part, helped to make up for the lost time since my operation in April.

Eclipse Animation 28th September 2015

No	Date	Object	Name
29	19/09/15	IC 5070	Pelican Nebula
30	19/09/15	NGC 6979	Pickering inc Veil Nebula
31	19/09/15	M15	Globular Cluster
32	19/09/15	M31	Andromeda
33	28/09/15	Lunar Eclipse	Entry @ 1 sec intervals
	28/09/15	Lunar Eclipse	Totality
	28/09/15	Lunar Eclipse	Entry @ 1 sec intervals
34	28/09/15	Lunar Eclipse	Exit – camera + tripod
35	30/09/15	IC 1318	Sadr Region (+NGC 6910)
36	30/09/15	IC 1318	Sadr Region – Pt2

OCTOBER TO DECEMBER

The final quarter of the year has been very frustrating due to the almost complete absence of suitable imaging conditions, mainly due to cloud cover but even when there was a few clear nights it was of course a full Moon – you can’t win! I was particularly unhappy as this time marks the arrival of the constellation Orion and all its wonderful imaging opportunities, for which I had new plans.

Given the short focal length of the William Optics GT81 and relatively small aperture, used with a APS-C cropped sensor DSLR camera the resulting field-of-view is a quite large and, where possible, this year I’ve therefore concentrated on objects of 2.5^o to 3.0^o apparent dimensions. Together with the modded camera this has resulted in some exciting new images of old and new objects.

However, large as the field-of-view is with this set-up, I have become increasingly aware of the simply enormous scale of some nebulous features such as Barnard’s Loop. As a result I have become more interested in widefield imaging using just a camera and tripod. Like prime focus imaging, widefield imaging will also benefit from achieving longer exposures through the use of tracking. Early in this period I was fortunate to purchase a Vixen Polarie lightweight tracking mount for this purpose, but due to the aforementioned conditions I have unfortunately been unable to use it very much. In fact it’s fair to say that other than some brief experimentation, it’s hardly been used at all so far. Notwithstanding, I can see the potential and have high hopes for future imaging opportunities when the clouds part and the Moon is absent.

The year finished with a couple of other purchases that I hope will assist with imaging in 2016:

A new laptop – running Windows 10 with a core i7 Intel chip, 2 TB hard drive, 16 GB RAM, dedicated AMD graphics card and an HD 17.3” screen, which I hope will help improve post processing. Running my preferred Windows 7 operating system, I will continue to use the smaller 13” i5 chip laptop for mount and camera control.

Ultra-Wide Angle lens – the truth is I’ve recently acquired this wonderful Sigma 10 – 22mm f3.5 lens for a trip to the Grand Canyon in April, however, I will of course also be using it with the Vixen Polarie when the skies clear.

No	Date	Object	Name
37	09/10/15	NGC 6888	Crescent Nebula
38	09/10/15	M 74	Spiral galaxy (near Pegasus)
39	09/10/15	NGC 7814	Little Sombrero
40	09/10/15	NGC 7479	Barred spiral galaxy
41	09/10/15	M 31	Andromeda galaxy
42	08/12/15	NGC 1499	California Nebula
43	08/12/15	IC 405	Flaming Star Nebula
44	08/12/15	NGC 2264	Cone Nebula
45	09/12/15	M42	Great Orion Nebula etc
46	08/12/15	Orion	Constellation

Favourite Images

Despite the lack of activity this year I have been fortunate to obtain some good images and I can only hope 2016 will be just as rewarding. Acting as judge and jury, my personal favourites in no particular order are:

NGC 2024 Flame Nebula & Horsehead Nebula
WO GT81 + modded Canon 550D & FF | 10 x 180 secs @ ISO 800 & darks calibration | 8th February 2015

Eclipse: Inward sequence from umbral contact to totality
WO GT81 + Canon 700D + FF | 1/500 to 1/3 sec @ ISO 100 | 18th September 2015

M31 Andromeda Galaxy
WO GT 81 + modded Canon 550D + FF | 9 x 120 secs @ ISO 1,600 | 19th September 2015

Goals for 2016

After the year that’s just finished I am reluctant to set out goals for 2016 but here goes:

Increase imaging exposure times: This is a euphemism for (a) improving equipment set-up and alignment, and (b) start autoguiding. As previously outlined, I have been struggling with both of these issues but one way or another I have to overcome the problems in order to obtain exposure times of at least 5-minutes and hopefully longer;

Improve processing: I was pleased to get to grips with Photoshop in 2015, albeit using a very old version, which together with other minor improvements to processing has added to the quality of the final images. However, I know that even now there is more to be teased out of the existing imaging data for which I am already considering new software;

Start widefield imaging: First I just need clear skies in order to get out and start using the Vixen Polarie tracking mount from Fairvale Observatory, with the initial objective of imaging Barnard’s Loop, which has hitherto proved elusive to my current set-up. However, one of the attractions of the Polarie-DSLR-Tripod combination is its portability, which I’d like to put to good use in 2016 by visiting dark sky areas in the UK.

There are other possible developments which at the moment seem unlikely to eventuate but you never know: a larger probably SCT telescope, a cooled CCD camera, and / or a permanent observatory (well I can dream can’t I?).

So all things considered 2015 was a good but not great year. As a fundamental and important development I had really hoped to start autoguiding and thus increase exposure times but it was not to be. Certainly the loss of astronomy time between April and September was a major set-back in many different ways. Notwithstanding, during the remaining times available when I did manage to get outside I believe I achieved some of my best images to date and discovered many new and exciting objects in the night sky, which can’t be bad. In particular, I am sure the lunar eclipse in September will remain a highlight of my astronomy experiences for many years to come.

Harvest Moon at Totality
WO + Canon 700D + FF | 1/3rd Sec @ ISO 400 | 28th September 2015

I’m now looking forwards to 12-months of uninterrupted astronomy, clear skies and plenty to report in the WTSM blog at the end of 2016!

Watch this space!

Spaceship Earth

December 23, 2015 by grahamrob in Deep Sky Objects, Earth, General Astronomy, Software and tagged DSO Imaging, Earth, Monoceros, Orion, Solar system | Leave a comment

I’m now into my second year of ‘serious’ astronomy and astrophotography, which accompanied by a greater knowledge of the Universe has brought an element of familiarity: with the equipment, with viewing & imaging techniques and space itself. In the past I have worked underground as a geologist on mines and like to think that I have good spatial awareness. Through this growing familiarity and knowledge of the night sky, I have become increasingly aware of our place in the Universe and how we on Earth are travelling through space; I also feel a growing empathy other peoples such as mariners who use and relate to the sky and space in a way ordinary people do not.

Whilst spinning on its axis at 1,037 mph at the equator (653 mph here at Fairvale Observatory’s higher latitude), the Earth is moving at about 70,000 mph round the Sun. Furthermore, located in the Orion-Cygnus arm of the Milky Way, the Solar System is also moving around the spiral galaxy at 500,000 mph, resulting in a galactic year of nearly 250,000 Earth years . Notwithstanding these complex and frankly mind boggling statistics, it thankfully all feels quite serene when outside at night with my telescope at Fairvale Observatory.

Going back some 5,000 years the constellations might seem to describe the ‘shape’ of space and provide a sense of stability to the sky but this is misleading. These and other asterisms are 2D patterns that mankind has created for practical use, whereas in reality most of the stars that make up these patterns bear little if any meaningful relationship with each other when viewed in 3D – like this animation showing the true shape of Orion.

Furthermore, under the force of gravity and other as yet unknown influences e.g. dark energy, these too are moving through space in their own way at vast speeds. In reality the constellations are therefore anything but permanent and through the millennia their apparent shapes change and will eventually be destroyed as far as we on Earth are concerned. As with my professional subject geology, this is the problem with space – it is very big and the timescales are very, very large, essentially beyond human comprehension, which result in otherwise unimaginable events; this animation wonderfully illustrates the scale and complexity of the known Universe.

Space selfie = the insignificance of Earth.
The Pale Blue Spot photograph of Earth (right side of picture) taken 6 billion kilometers (40.5 AU) away by Voyager-1 on February 14th 1990,

The beauty of such a system is that it can be modelled very accurately, from which it is possible to predict with great certainty the projected position of all these celestial objects, thus making spaceflight and the prediction of astronomical events possible. Likewise using the same data modelling it is possible to look backwards at past events. Such computerisation is no longer just the preserve of NASA and University academics but is at our fingertips using a computer based planetarium, in my case Carte du Ciel – incredible!

Given the time of year I have therefore used the aforesaid programme to generate a view of the night sky from Bethlehem 2015 years ago on the morning and evening of 25^th December. Even then differences can be seen in the shape of the constellations compared to now. If we are to believe the story of the Three Wise Men following a bight ‘star’ at this time, it seems it would be most likely to be in the morning when first Jupiter and then Venus are present. Either way it’s fascinating to be able to model the night sky in this way for any chosen moment in time.

Santa's view of Bethlehem - actually from the ISS on 24th December 2011

Santa’s view of Bethlehem from the ISS on 24th December 2011

After weeks of cloud cover I recently managed to get outside again for what turned out to be a wonderfully clear night, from dawn to dusk, furthermore there was no Moon! As a result imaging was productive and included some exciting new objects. However, again given the time of year for the moment I am repeating an object used last Christmas. One year on the difference is that this time I have used a modded Canon 550D DSLR camera and thus improved (I think) the red Ha-light detail.

Cone Nebula & Christmas Tree Cluster WO GT81 + Modded Canon 550D & FF | 15 sec @ ISO 1,600 + calibration | 8th December 2015

Cone Nebula & Christmas Tree Cluster – right of centre
WO GT81 + Modded Canon 550D & FF | 15 sec @ ISO 1,600 + calibration | 8th December 2015

Cone Nebula (bottom centre) & Christmas Tree Cluster (inverted)

NGC 2264 or Christmas Tree cluster and its neighbour the Cone Nebula are located within the Monoceros AKA Unicorn constellation, which being part of the Milky Way are therefore inextricably linked to a similar destiny as spaceship Earth as it makes its way through space. Being some 2,700 light-years away we are unlikely to meet, though you never know with space and time!