First Perseid Meteor of the season

I had fairly clear skies late Sunday evening, 6th August, so put the DSLR out to try for some Perseid meteors.

I took 298 x 10s f/2.5 exposures between 21:40 and 23:19 UTC on a 20s timer. This is the only one I managed to capture, it was captured at 23:13 UTC.

Pentax:    K-S2

Lens:       Samyang f/2.0 16mm ED AS

Tripod:    Manfrotto ART 055

Of the 298 exposures, 47 (16%) contained satellite trails, that's way more than I can remember seeing in the past and an illustration of how mega constellations of communication satellites are polluting our skies. It'll only get worse unless someone of influence takes a stand, unfortunately big business rules and that'll never happen.

Nice active region flare - 30th May 2023

Scope:     Coronado PST

Mount:    Sky Watcher NEQ6 Pro
Camera:  AltairAstro 178M

Image capture: SharpCap using 'Feature Tracking Tool'

Compiled to video with PiPP and processed with VirtualDub.

SN 2023ixf - Super Nova in M101

A new Super Nova in M101 was discovered on Friday 19th May 2023 by Koichi Itagaki. At 21 million light years away it's the closest observed Super Nova for over a decade.

More information

https://earthsky.org/todays-image/supernova-in-m101-pinwheel-galaxy-closest-in-a-decade-how-to-see/

I imaged it on Sunday 21st.

45 x 120s Lights + Darks and Flats

Scope:     Sky Watcher ED80 DS Pro
Mount:    Sky Watcher NEQ6 Pro
Camera:  QHY268C

Guide scope: Sky Watcher Evoguide 50ED
Guide cam:   Altair Astro GP-CAM 290M

Image capture: SharpCap
Guiding:           PHD2
Planetarium:    Cartes du Ciel

Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker.

Processed with Fitswork4 and Affinity Photo V2.1.0.

April 2022

May 2023

The animation below is compiled from the above images, April 2022 and May 2023.

The Super Nova is clearly visible below and to the right of the centre of M101. The recent image is bluer than the 2022 image, that's just processing differences. The video quality seems to have been reduced by the site, but it still shows the Super Nova very well.

Solar flare and Prominence - 7th April 2023

Solar flare and prominence captured between 10:30 and 16:00 on 7th April 2023

Compiled from 1200 still frames taken at 15s intervals.

Scope:     Coronado PST
Mount:    Sky Watcher NEQ6 Pro
Camera:  AltairAstro 178M

Image capture: SharpCap

Compiled to video with PiPP and processed with VirtualDub.

30th January 2023 - Another night on C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

 Same set up as on 27th

211 x 60s exposures captured between 19:12 and 22:45, 30 January 2023

Still image compiled from stacking the 211 frames. A first image aligned by stars and a second image aligned on the comet, then combined in Affinity Photo to a single image.

27th January 2023 - Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is racing across the sky right now.

Here is a time-lapse video and a stacked image.

Taken between approximately 19:00 and 22:00 on 27th January 2023

187 x 60s Lights + Darks and Flats

Scope:     Sky Watcher ED80 DS Pro
Mount:    Sky Watcher NEQ6 Pro
Camera:  QHY268C

Guide scope: Sky Watcher Evoguide 50ED
Guide cam:   Altair Astro GP-CAM 290M

Image capture: SharpCap
Guiding:           PHD2
Planetarium:    Cartes du Ciel

Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker.

Processed with Fitswork4 and Affinity Photo V2.0.4