June 2021

June 30th Sun

I tried to photograph the Sin in difficult conditions at various times in the day. There were varying degrees of cloud and I did not manage a clear shot. I managed to capture the largest sunspot but the smaller ones and granularity were lost to cloud.

June 29th Meteor

I reprocessed a meteor shot from  September 17th 2020. It was nearly a month after the official end of the Perseid meteor shower. I have sometimes seen or photographed meteors before the official beginning or after the official end of the shower but this would have been some sort of record had I believed it!

June 29th Perseus

I processed a stack of Perseus images from September 17th 2020.

June 28th Cassiopeia

I reprocessed some frames of Cassiopeia from September 17th 2020, having stacked five of them overnight.

June 26^th 2340 GMT Moon and Meteor Hunt

 

I snapped the Moon a day and a bit after full at 300mm focal  ISO 100 and 1/400 second exposure.

 

I aimed my camera at Bootes at 18mm focal length ISO 6400 and 6 seconds exposure with my DSLR and intervalometer. I did not catch any of the Bootid meteors but caught Bootes and Corona Borealis.

June 24^th 1150 GMT Sun

The sunspot was close to rotating off but I had another go at capturing it.

June 22nd 1955 GMT Moon

The Moon was low in the south and I snapped it at 300mm focal length ISO 400 and 1/400 second exposure.

June 22^nd 1340 GMT Sun

It had seemed like weeks or months but the truth was that it had only been six days since I had seen anything astronomical. It was also the Sun and I photographed it with my DSLR and filter to show that the sunspot had rotated quite considerably.

June 16^th 1415 GMT Sun

I photographed the sunspot again, with my usual DSLR settings.

June 15^th 1120 GMT Sun

I photographed the sunspot again, with my usual DSLR settings.

June 14^th 1100 GMT Sun

 

There was a small sunspot that I had seen on the Big Bear and Learmonth images. I tried to photograph it with my DSLR and filter at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/4000 second exposure, my usual settings.

June 12^th 2100 GMT Moon and Venus

 

The Moon and Venus were low in the north west and it was my first view of the Moon since the eclipse. I used 300mm focal length, ISO 400 and various exposures for both objects, individually.

The Moon shot came out well at 1/200 second exposure.

 

Venus showed a very small disc at ISO 400 and (also) 1/200 second exposure.

I then tried various focal lengths, ISO settings and exposures to capture both objects together, I used 125mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1/200 secopnd exposure.

June 11th Lunar Photo Reprocess

I reprocessed a full disc lunar shot from September 17th 2019.

June 10th Solar Eclipse

As predicted, the weather was poor, with the eclipse being invisible for long periods. I took a few shots at times during the event. I used my DSLR with s Baader filter at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and various exposure times, depending on the cloud thickness. The first at 0955 GMT and I used an exposure time of 1/320 second.. 

I took a batch of shots at 1010 GMT, near the maximum darkness. I used 1/800 second exposure.

At 1025 GMT, I had my clearest shot and used 1/4000 second exposure.

The last set of shots was at 1045 GMT at 1/4000 second exposure.

June 9th Lunar Reprocessing

I continued processing lunar closeups from Sept 17th 2019.

June 8^th 2230 GMT Deep Sky

 

Conditions during the afternoon and evening had been hazy, with thin cloud. This appeared to continue after sunset but there were enough stars out to convince me to have a go.

 

My previous attempts at M4 had been poor but I had another go with my more traditional setup of my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 2 seconds exposure, the same that had worked in 2020. This time it did, even though the stack did not work and I processed a single frame,

 

I next had a pot at the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), even though it would not be at its best for 3 or more months. I did not get it but I knew there would be other chances later in the year.

 

Could I get M80? Probably not but that did not stop me. I did not get it, though.

 

I aimed at the middle of the cross on Cygnus, just in case I could get M29. No good!

 

I decreased my focal length to 70mm and increased my exposure to 8 seconds for a pot at Melotte 111 in Coma Berenices. Got this one.

June 8^th 2100 GMT Venus

I set my DSLR at 300mm and ISO 100. I tried several exposure times. The best result was 1/100 second exposure.

June 8th Reprocess

I reprocessed a stacked webcam image of the Moon.

Encouraged, I did more.

June 7th Reprocess

I went through some lunar shots and reprocessed a full disc one taken with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1/1000 second exposure. I use a lower ISO and longer exposure time, these days.

                                    

June 5^th 0810 GMT Moon and Sun

 

The Moon was in the south and showed a thin crescent. I started off with 300mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1/50 second exposure, which I later shortened to 1/125 second.

I snapped the Sun with my usual settings of 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/4000 second exposure, with a Baader filter.

June 4^th Various Times: Sun

 

I tried the Sun with my DSLR and filters but was having trouble with cloud. I just hoped I caught the sunspot somewhere, somewhen! The best shot came at 1405 GMT. I did not catch the sunspot but some half-decent granulation, anyway.

June 1^st 0810 GMT Sun

 

As I was waiting for the kettle to boil, I snapped the Sun in white light with my DSLR and filters at my usual settings.

June 1^st 0700 GMT Moon

 

The Moon was low in the south west and was near last quarter phase.  I snapped it with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1/200 second exposure.