1st October 2008

M45 Pleiades star cluster

6" Newtonian, Canon 350D, 20*60seconds


5th October 2008

M31 Andromeda Galaxy

6" Newtonian, Canon 350D, 14*60seconds


7th October 2008

M33 in Triangulum

6" Newtonian, Canon 350D, 30*60seconds


10th October 2008

Star motion

The universe is not static and the stars are in constant motion. Most move so slowly that we can scarcely notice it, but a time lapse photo can show some shift.
The animated GIF below compares the image of M33 taken on the 7th October, with an image from the Digital Sky Survey. At least two stars have a displacement that is visible.
(Large image file, 1.1meg - may take some time to load)


15th October 2008

More Star motion

Here is another one I found. The bright star in the image is Beta Andromeda (Mirach)


21st October 2008

The importance of stacking images.

The image on the left is a single frame - the best one of 60 separate images. All 60 images were stacked together using Registax, to produce the image on the right.
Some wavelet sharpening was then applied. The improvement in detail is very obvious.
The weather vane is at the top of St John's Church in Bromsgrove. Note that the wind produced some rotation of the cockerel, so his tail feathers appear twice in the stacked image. The Church is 2000 feet from my back garden.

Telescope - 6" Reflector, Camera - Canon 350D


30th October 2008

M57 Reworked image, using flat frames. (Original images captured on 3rd July 2008)



Enlarged

31st October 2008

NGC891 in Andromeda
Very faint galaxy - required heavy processing.

6" Newtonian, Canon 350D, 22*60seconds



Part of a single frame