January 2025

January 31st 0930 GMT Sun 

Against the weather forecast, there was some clear sky. I photographed the Sun with my Mak telescope and DSLR at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

January 30th 2205 GMT Constellation Shoot 

 I had tried to do a photo shoot of Jupiter and Mars with my Mak telescope and DSLR camera. Unfortunately, the viewing angle was too steep and the legs of my telescope tripod had not worked properly for ages. I gave up, as my frustration levels were near their limit. Not wanting to waste a clear night, I opted for a constellation shoot instead. That got off to a bad start with me needing to clean my camera lens after the first two shots.

 

I set my DSLR camera to 18mm focal length, ISO 1600 and 30 seconds exposure.

 

First up was Orion.

 

I then tried for Lynx, capturing Mars in Gemini and Cancer but, alas, only part of Lynx.

I got a couple of shots of Auriga at 30mm focal length, ISO 1600 and 15 seconds exposure before cloud rolled in.

January 30th 1950 GMT Mars and Jupiter 

 I took some shots of Mars and Jupiter with my phone camera at default settings.

January 30th 1905 GMT Planetary Shoot

 I set my DSLR to 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/400 second exposure. I aimed at Venus. I caught the phase.

I tried the same settings on Jupiter then Mars. Few details on Jupiter and none on Mars.

 

I changed the settings to 70mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 1/25 second exposure and took multiple images of Mars with Castor and Pollux.

 

I changed the settings to 300mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 1/40 second exposure and took multiple images of Jupiter, hoping to catch the moons. I caught two.

  

I tried the same settings on the Orion Great Nebula (M42). They did not work.

January 30th 1120 GMT Sun 

I photographed the Sun with my Mak telescope and DSLR camera at my usual settings of 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

January 30th Scorpius Reprocess

I reprocessed a photo of Scorpius from September 2013, originally taken with my Konica Minolta DSLR camera from Aruba in the Caribbean Sea.

January 29th Canis Major Reprocess

I reprocessed an old image of Canis Major from an unknown date.

January 29th 0215 GMT Leo

I photographed Leo with my phone camera but was unable to run a stack, so processed a single image.

January 28th 1950 GMT Jupiter and Mars 

The weather had been awful but a gap appeared in the cloud which allowed me to do a quick shoot of the two objects together.

January 25th 1950 GMT General Shoot

 

I had a go at Jupiter at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/250 second exposure in an attempt to capture surface details.

I tried Jupiter's moons at 300mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 1/2 second exposure.

I had another go at 70mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 6 seconds exposure.

I used the same settings for the Orion Great Nebula and Orion's belt.

 I then used the same settings to capture Mars with Castor and Pollux.

The only clear image was the Orion shot, as all others had too much distortion.

January 25th 1925 GMT Planet Shots

 

I did a quick shot of Venus with Saturn at 70mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 1/50 second exposure.

 

I used the same settings for Jupiter's moons but afterwards thought I should have used 300mm focal length. I should, as nothing showed. 

I snapped Venus alone at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/250 second exposure. It suggested (falsely!) a larger phase than my telescope shot a few days before.

January 25th 1900 GMT Planets Widefield 

I went out with my phone camera. I shot Venus with Saturn and then Jupiter with Mars. I used it at default settings.

January 25th 0955 GMT Sun 

 I woke up to bright sunshine, so proceeded to photograph the Sun with my Mak and DSLR at my usual settings of 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

January 24^th 1410 GMT Sun

I checked the sun with my binoculars and filters. I saw the same large sunspot as the day before and it had rotated nearer to the edge of the disc.

January 23rd 1420 GMT Sun

Between heavy showers, the sun appeared. I checked it with my binoculars and filters but I was only able to see a single large sunspot.

January 22nd 1920 GMT Jupiter and Mars 

 

It had clouded over since I photographed Venus and Jupiter. I could see Jupiter and Mars, so did some shots of them with my phone camera at default settings. Mars had been travelling retrograde, so was close to Castor and Pollux. I also caught a satellite trail.

January 22nd 1730 GMT Venus and Jupiter 

Following a cloudy day, the sky unexpectedly cleared after sunset. Venus was high in the south west. I snapped it with my Mak telescope and DSLR camera at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

 

I used the same settings to snap Jupiter. I underexposed it but still managed to catch the cloud belts/

 

 I adjusted the ISO setting to 6400 and exposure time to 1/50 second to try to capture Jupiter's moons. I caught one.

I combined the two photos.

January 21st 1125 GMT Sun

The cloud was thinner than the day before and I was able to see a 4^th sunspot.

January 20^th 1255 GMT Sun

I saw sunlight but when I checked, the sun was behind cloud. However, enough sunlight got through, at times, and I was able to see three fairly large sunspots through my binoculars and filters.

January 15th 1955 GMT Moon and Mars 

 

I was going to do a Moon shot with my Mak and DSLR but fog had started to roll in. I snapped the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/800 second exposure. 

 

I snapped the Moon with Mars with my phone camera at default settings.

I combined the two to produce a composite image.

January 15th 1730 GMT Planetary Shoot

 

Venus and Saturn were close. I could even get them into the field of view of my DSLR camera at 300mm focal length. I set the ISO to 6400 and 1/50 second exposure.

I used the same settings on Jupiter, hoping to catch some moons. Only one shot was sharp enough but the Exposure function in GIMP did the trick.

 

I rest the ISO to 100 and exposure to 1/200 second to try Jupiter. I caught the main cloud belts in one photo.

I combined the two photos to show Jupiter with moons.

I tried Mars with an exposure of 1/100 second. Unfortunately, the resulting disc was too small to show any detail. 

I ended up increasing the exposure to 1/50 second to try Saturn. This did not work either, for similar reasons. 

The Venus and Saturn shot was the only one I realistically expected to work but I'm not adverse to trying things out. I managed to get some cloud belts on Jupiter, which as happened before but is rare. I think the quick shot showed it is potentially possible to catch its moons without any need for a tripod. Cause for more experimentation.

January 15^th 1635 GMT Venus

Venus was high in the west. I snapped it with my  DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

January 15^th 1525 GMT Sun

The sky was clear but the sun was low in the south west, barely above our fence. I checked it with my binoculars and filters and saw what looked like a single, large sunspot.

January 12th 1920 GMT Venus, Saturn, Moon, Jupiter and Mars 

Conditions were somewhat hazy but I was able to do a shoot with my phone camera.

The first was Venus with Saturn at default settings but a zoom of 2.5 times.

 

I reverted to zoom level of 1.0 and took photos of the Moon with Jupiter, Moon with Mars, then all 3 together.

January 11th 1105 GMT Sun 

I photographed the Sun from inside the house, with the back door open. I used my Mak and DSLR at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure. I only saw small sunspots.

January 10th 2035 GMT Moon and Jupiter 

 I tried the shot again later when the sky had cleared.

January 10th 1845 GMT Moon and Jupiter 

I was recovering from illness, so I wasn't ready to go out. I snapped the Moon and Jupiter with my phone camera at default settings from an upstairs window.

January 6th 1655 GMT Moon and Venus 

 

It was dusk and there was some moving cloud around. I set my DSLR to 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/400 second exposure and took some separate shots of the Moon and Venus.

January 3rd 1630 GMT Moon and Venus 

After putting the shopping away, I took my telescope and DSLR camera out.

I photographed the Moon at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/200 second exposure. I stacked 5 images in Autostakkert and finished in GIMP.

 

When I photographed Venus, I reduced the exposure to 1/500 second exposure. Despite it being theoretically better than the overexposure of the evening before, it did not work.

I disconnected my DSLR camera from my telescope and attached a zoom camera lens. I set my camera to 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/200 second exposure to capture the Moon and Venus. The stack did not work, so I processed a single shot.

January 3rd 1520/1605 GMT Moon and Venus 

I did some shopping and. when I arrived at the car park, I could see the moon very clearly. I could see Venus above it, even though the sun was above the horizon. The sun was still above the horizon when I got back, so I snapped the together with my phone camera at default settings.

January 3rd 1130 GMT Sun 

I had some clear sky again, so photographed the Sun with my Mak telescope and DSLR camera at my usual settings of 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

January 3rd 0225 GMT Mars in Gemini 

 I took a few shots of Mars in Gemini with my phone camera at default settings. The images were out of focus, for some reason.

January 2nd 1835 GMT Saturn and Venus 

I used my phone camera at default settings to capture Venus with Saturn. Unfortunately, this did not work.

January 2nd 1640 GMT Moon and Venus 

 The sky was still clear at dusk. Venus and the moon were close. I took some Moon shots with my Mak and DSLR at 1.54m focal length. ISO 100 and 1/125 second exposure.

 

I used the same settings for Venus, perhaps unwisely.

 

I switched to my DSLR camera alone and snapped the two objects together at 45mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1/40 second exposure.

 

I tried Jupiter at 45mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 1/40 second exposure, in the hope of catching something. I( didn't capture any moons (as hoped) but did catch a hint of the cloud belts. This did not load in Blogger.

January 2^nd 1020 GMT Sun

 

I awoke to bright sunlight and got into action immediately. The Sun was showing lots of small sunspots and I photographed it with my 127mm Maksutov telescope and DSLR camera. The settings were 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

January 1st 2250 GMT Sirius, Orion and Jupiter 

I took a few shots of Sirius and Jupiter each side of Orion with my phone camera at default settings. 

January 1st 2050 GMT Jupiter and Mars 

 

I was putting a bag of rubbish out when I noticed that there was some clear sky from Betelguese upwards. I snapped 20 frames of Mars and Jupiter and a few more dark frames.

December 2024

December 29^th 1115 GMT Sun

After what seemed like months but was actually only six days, I saw some faint sunlight coming through a window. Further investigation showed clouds moving across the solar disc. I checked the sun with my binoculars and filters and saw two sunspots. The larger one was accompanied by a smaller one. I produced a drawing of the sunspots.

December 23rd 0805 GMT Moon 

It was clear as dawn was ending. The waning crescent Moon was in the south west. I snapped it with my DSLR camera at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/250 second exposure. However, the images were out of focus.

 Unfortunately, it clouded over after sunrise, so I could not take any photos of the Sun.

December 22nd 2310 GMT Binocular Session 

 The sky was clear but there was a strong, cold wind. I hadn't seen many objects visually for a while. Where better to start than the Pleiades, better known as the Seven Sisters. They looked superb, showing about 80 stars. The star cluster Melotte 20 was striking, too, although their height above the horizon not doing my neck any favours. I also saw the star clusters M34 in Perseus and M36. M37 and M38 in Auriga. I  also saw the Perseus Double Cluster and M35 in Gemini.

I saw two galaxies: the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Pinwheel (M33). These clearly showed their bright nuclei and fainter outer arms.

I ended up estimating the brightness of Betelguese as magnitude 0.5.

December 22nd 1655 GMT Venus and Jupiter 

 

I set my DSLR camera to 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/400 second exposure.

I snapped Venus then Jupiter. The Jupiter shots were underexposed but the Venus shots showed a phase. I stacked 5 images in Autostakkert and finished in GIMP.

December 22nd 1100 GMT Sun 

I snapped  the Sun with my DSLR and filter at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/1000 second exposure. I caught some shading due to sunspots but the image was out of focus.

December 20th 2315 GMT Moon and Mars 

I took some shots of the Moon and Mars with my phone camera.

December 20th 2215 GMT Mars with Jupiter and Orion 

 

I had a quick session with my phone camera. The first set of photos were aimed at Jupiter and Mars. For some unknown reason, the images were out of focus.

The second set of photos was of Orion. I also captured Sirius, a.k.a. the Dog Star.

December 19th 2245 GMT Moon and Mars 

I photographed the Moon with Mars using my phone camera at default settings.

December 19th 1625 GMT Venus 

Venus was visible in the dusk sky. I photographed it with my DSLR at 300mm focal length. ISO 100 and 1/400 second exposure. Unfortunately, the images were out of focus.

December 19th 0915 GMT Moon and Sun 

There was cloud around but a few clear patches allowing me an opportunity to grab some quick shots of the Moon and Sun.

I photographed the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1,/500 second exposure.

I added a solar filter to snap the Sun at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/1000 second exposure.

December 16th 2055 GMT Moon 

I photographed the Moon with my Mak and DSLR at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

December 16th 2025 GMT Moon with Jupiter and Mars

I used my phone camera to capture the Moon with Mars and Jupiter.

December 16th 1820 GMT Jupiter, Aldebaran and Capella

I caught Jupiter with the brightest stars in Taurus and Auriga. I caught some other stars in both constellations and a hint of the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) near the top of the photo.

     

December 16th 0900 GMT Sun 

After a few days of bad weather, I finally had some clear sky and took some full disc snaps of the Sun with my Mak and DSLR at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

December 13th 1930 GMT Moon 

I tried to capture the Moon with Jupiter. It didn't work.

 I then took some Moon shots with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/100 second exposure, given the very poor conditions. It was not pretty but I was lucky to catch anything at all.

December 6th 0955 GMT Sun 

 

It was almost clear, so I photographed the Sun with my Mak and DSLR at my usual settings of 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

December 6th 0130 GMT Jupiter and Mars 

 

As the images on 3rd did not stack. I took several photos with my phone camera again. These almost stacked but not quite.

December 3rd 2315 GMT Phone Camera Shots

I took several images with my phone camera at default settings. The first set of shots did not stack but, by processing a single image, I was able to capture Jupiter, Mars and the constellations of Orion, Gemini and Canis Minor,

I stacked over 20 images of Orion and this worked well. I even managed to show the Orion Great Nebula (M42).

December 3rd 1110 GMT Sun 

The Sun was behind some thin cloud. I snapped it with my Mak and DSLR at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/320 second exposure. I used a slightly longer exposure than usual to counteract the conditions. There was just a hint of a sunspot,

December 2nd 1210 GMT Sun 

I bin scanned the Sun through moving cloud and saw 3 sunspots.