June 21st 2235 GMT Double Stars
There was a lot of cloud, mostly moving but I managed some
shots before the sky clouded over.
I tried the same approach with Epsilon Bootis but it did not work.
June 21st 1630 GMT Sun
I used the Seestar S50 to photograph the full solar disc. I also checked that I could find the Sun using the Star Atlas in Stargazing, something that could prove useful on the days that the Seestar cannot find it.
I took some closeups with the Seestar S50 at 4x zoom of the
sunspot regions.
I tried to capture Mercury but it was too faint to detect in daylight.
June 21st 2300 GMT Deep Sky Session
My primary target for the night was IC 1318, the Nebula
associated with the star Sadr in Cygnus. I used Framing mode (which did not work) and ran the
integration for 54 minutes. I combined it with a 4 minute integration run.
I then tried using minimum brightness and only 10 seconds integration to have another go at M57. I did a few runs with a total integration time of 1 minute. The result was a bit overexposed but I sorted it out with GIMP.
I used the star map with the S50 to find Delta Lyrae to capture the double star.
I had another go at Epsilon Lyrae but could only split it in
two and not four.
I finished with another go at the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023). I took a total of 38 minutes integration with the Seestar S50.
I tried Deep Sky Stacker but this did not work, either.
June 20th 1515 GMT Sun
There were a few sunspots around, with two groups on each
side of the solar disc. I used the Seestar S50 to capture the full disc.
I used the Seestar S50 at 4x zoom to photograph each of the
sunspot groups.
June 20th 0000 GMT Deep Sky Session
Conditions were not good, with lots of cloud and haze near
the horizon.
I used the Seestar S50 to capture M92. I stacked 4 imaging runs for a total integration time of 20 minutes.
I used the Seestar S50 to capture NGC 6229 but it only
showed a small cluster.
I tried to photograph the planetary Nebula NGC 6210. The
Seestar S50 found it but nothing appeared.
I finished with IC 1318 around the star Sadr in Cygnus. This was a stack of 4 imaging runs with a total integration time of 25 minutes.
June 19th 1115 GMT Sun
I shot the Sun with my PST solar telescope and DSLR camera.
I caught a nice prominence in one image and some surface features in another. I combined them into a single image.
The green data showed some sunspots but not as well as the Mak/DSLR combo or the Seestar S50.
June 19th 0930 GMT Daylight Session
This was a partially successful session, with partly being the key word. I tried for the Sun, Moon and Venus, with only the Moon being successful with the Seestar S50. Even then, I only got the full disc. My usual daylight processing methods did not work.
I tried other processing methods but they did not work.
June 19th 2310 GMT Deep Sky Session
The sky was hazy near the horizon but better nearer the zenith.
I used the Seestar S50 to capture some open clusters in the constellation of Lacerta.
First was the best known, NGC 7243. I used 3 integrations runs with a total time of 22 minutes.
Next was NGC 7209. This took a total of 22 minutes integration from 4 runs.
I finished with NGC 7296. This took 12 minutes of integration.
I had a go at using longer integration times on the globular
cluster M71. I did 5 integration runs for a total of 38 minutes.
I tried turning the brightness right down on the Seestar S50
and using longer integration times on the planetary nebulae M57 and M27.
13 minutes on M57 did not work.
14 minutes on M27 seemed to do the trick.
The Seestar S50 did not find the sun and it was too high in the
sky to use the Mak/DSLR combination. I made a drawing using my binoculars and
solar filters. The sunspots had rotated and I saw one that I had not seen the
day before.
June 17th 1610 GMT Sun
The Seestar S50 sometimes fails to find the sun. I used my
binoculars and filter and found three sunspots on the solar disc.
June 16th 2200 GMT M5 and M28
I used Antares as a sighter.
I was hoping to catch some of the more southern Messier objects. M28 was too low at first, so I did a more thorough re-image of M5. This was a single integration of 23 minutes.
After that, M28 was high enough to photograph.
June 15th 0930 GMT Sun and Venus
There was some moving cloud but there were enough clear
patches of sky to have a go at photographing the Sun with my Seestar S50.
Immediately, I could see that many sunspots had rotated onto the solar disc.
I increased the zoom to 4x with the Seestar S50 and took some sunspot closeups.
Again, Venus was hiding in plain sight. It's phase had not visually changed since my last observation.
June 14th 2230 GMT Deep Sky
My first target with the Seestar S50 was the double star
Mizar in the Plough. Stargazing mode did not work, as the stars were too
bright. I switched to Scenery mode, increased the zoom to 4x and it worked. I also caught Alcor.
I tried the same with the Seestar on Epsilon Lyrae. As it is not in the Seestar database, I had to fond Vega and star hop to it. I could split in two but could not split it into four stars. A check on a star map showed that the two stars I had photographed were not the intended target.
My next target was a faint galaxy (NGC 5033) that was somewhat
underwhelming.
I aimed the Seestar S50 at the Cocoon Nebula (IC5146) and took
several images up to 21 minutes integration for a total of 79 minutes. That was a nice surprise.
June 13th 1020 GMT Sun and Venus
The Sun was high in the south east. I used the Seestar S50
to photograph some full disc shots.
I took two sets of closeups at 4x zoom to capture the
sunspots.
Venus was hiding in plain sight again. I used 4x zoom to
capture a waxing gibbous phase.
June 13th 2350 GMT Moon
Conditions were poor, quite poor and, despite my best
efforts. I could only see the Moon with my Seestar S50. I took some full disc
shots.
June 12th 2310 GMT Moon and Deep Sky
Conditions were far from perfect, as I photographed the Moon
with the Seestar S50.
I proceeded to photograph many Deep sky objects, many of which I had never photographed before.
I photographed the globular cluster M15 for the first time with the Seestar S50, with 9 minutes integration.
An attempt to photograph the double star Albireo with the Seestar S50 overexposed the star. I tried using the Scenery mode and nailed it, showing the colour contrast.
I was only able to get 3 minutes integration on M32 with the Seestar S50 but I managed to photograph it for the first time.
I got 6 minutes with the Seestar S50 on M110 for my first ever photo of it.
I managed 9 minutes on M31 but the result was no better than what I had managed previously with my DSLR camera.
I took 5 images with the Seestar S50 of the Pacman Nebula (NGC281) with a total of 23 minutes integration.
June 11th 1700 GMT Sun
The Sun was behind a veil of thin cloud, so I did a binocular scan
using my solar filters. I recorded two sunspots.
June 10th 2115 GMT Moon
I had a bit of trouble with levelling the Seestar S50 and
cloud but I used Arcturus as a sighter again and took some full disc lunar
shot.
June 10th 1020 GMT Sun
There was a clear patch of sky but it clouded over before I could
get the Seestar S50 to swing into action. I managed to catch a single sunspot
in my binoculars and filters through moving cloud.
June 8th 1010 GMT Sun
It took a few goes to find the Sun with my Seestar S50 but I
eventually managed to take some full disc shots.
I increased the zoom to 4x and took some solar close ups
with the Seestar S50.
June 7th 2130 GMT Moon
I had a difficult session. The waxing gibbous Moon was too
low to capture from the back garden with the Seestar S50.
I moved to the neighbourhood and the Seestar S50 could now find the Moon, even though it was in plain sight! I resorted to my usual trick of finding a star first, thus time Arcturus.
I took some full disc shots of the Moon with my Seestar S50.
I set the zoom of the Seestar S50 to 4x and took some lunar
close ups.
June 4th 1715 GMT Sun
I took the Seestar S50 out in clear sky, only for it to cloud over before I could get a shot.
June 2nd 2245 GMT M11 and M19
Conditions had got much worse than when I did the lunar shoot but I pressed on. I used Vega and M3 as sighters to aim and focus the Seestar S50.
I used 5 minutes integration time with the Seestar S50 on M11.
I used 2 minutes integration time on M19. It was the first time I had captured it and I hoped for some better conditions to revisit it one night.
June 2nd 2115 GMT Moon
I took some full disc lunar images with the Seestar S50. I
could not get auto focus to work so had to use manual adjustment.
I increased the zoom to 4x to take some lunar closeups.
June 1st 2030 GMT Moon
The Seestar S50 does not always find the Moon first time, so
I often use a bright star as a sighter. As no stars were visible, this was not
possible, so it took a few goes.
I took some full disc shots with the Seestar S50.
I took some closeups at 4x zoom with the Seestar S50. The stacks did not work.
June 1st 1030 GMT Sun
I used the Seestar S50 to photograph full disc images of the
Sun.
I used the Seestar S50 at 4x zoom to take a closeup of the
solar disc, catching most sunspots.
