Glancing from the window early on Thursday morning (00:48 BST) I was confronted with a beautiful, and equally mind bending atmospheric display as noctilucent clouds streaked there way across the northern sky. These elusive clouds, which consist of water ice crystals some 0.1 micron in diameter, are found in a tenuous atmospheric layer known as the mesosphere. Illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon, which is scattered by the ice crystals, they become visible; appearing to glow with a ghostly pale blue colour.
It was a truly mesmerizing sight that almost begged belief. I feel very lucky to have finally observed, and photographed these ‘wraith’ clouds. Hopefully the next few months will yield similar if not better conditions!
Noctilucent clouds sweep across the constellations of Auriga, and Perseus. Capella can be seen shining brightly towards the lower left hand corner, while Mirphak, and Delta Persei can be seen in the upper right hand corner.
The constellation Auriga disappears behind a rippling swathe of vivid Type 5 IIIb NCLs, while the outer arm of a large cumulus cloud begins to drift over the sky.
The incredible, and intricate detail in the wave like structure of these ethereal clouds can be seen here as they outshine the bright star Capella.
A firey red Sun casts it’s light on to a large cumulus cloud as it drifts over the roof tops. At the same time some fainter NCLs spread their glowing arms across the sky leading to a very surreal scene.
Tags: Auriga, Capella, DSLR, Mirphak, Noctilucent Clouds, Perseus
Posted in Astrophotography, Observing | 6 Comments »
The last few weeks have been tough: 144P/Kushida has been virtually non-existent and my deep sky observing has just gone straight out of the window. However, much to my relief Thursday night offered a clear spell, albeit a short one. The sky transparency wasn’t all that great, but I certainly wasn’t complaining - you take what you can get under these kind of circumstances.
I decided that I wasn’t going to squander any of my precious time chasing after Kushida when I could be catching up with my deep sky observing. My targets for the night were Messier 35, an open cluster in Gemini and Messier 103 and Messier 52, both open clusters in Cassiopeia. I set up the tripod from about 22:40 UT and was just finishing mounting my Bresser 10×50s when a cloud layer rolled in over the western horizon and quickly obscured the sky. To add to that, it also began to rain so I had to pack up and head indoors to wait and hope for the skies to clear.
Somebody up there was listening because within half an hour the clouds had drifted away leaving behind them a reasonably clear sky. I headed back out at around 23:20 UT, this time just with the 10×50s hand held and immediately trained them on Gemini. By using the stars Tejat and Propus as a guide, M35 wasn’t at all hard to find and instantly jumped out at me from the 7° FOV. At a magnitude of 5.3 M35 is a fairly bright DSO and under suitable sky conditions the open cluster can even be made out with the naked eye. Through my bins the cluster offered a wonderful view with some subtle granularity, but that could possibly have been down to the atmospheric conditions. After spending some time studying M35 I moved on to Cassiopeia, but not before stopping to take in some of the sights in Auriga. Namely M36, M37 and M38 which for me are just some of the finest distant open clusters observable in the night sky. If you’ve not looked at these three open clusters before, do so - you won’t be disappointed.
Finding M103 in Cassiopiea was no hard task as the open cluster sits quite close to the star Ruchbah, but at magnitude 7.4 M103 is not as vivid as M35 in Gemini and is not quite as dense. I’d have to agree with Harlow Shapely who classified M103 as a loose and poor cluster, but while M103 lacks the pizazz of M35 it still makes for a noteworthy observation. Messier 52 on the other hand proved to be a harder nut to crack as it remained elusive to me no matter how many times I swept out from the star Caph towards the constellation Cepheus. Visibility really wasn’t tack sharp and some thin fractocumulus clouds were impeding my view so my lack of success was probably down to that.
As the conditions steadily declined I decided to wrap things up and return to M52 at some future point when the weather proved to be far more agreeable. I’d also like to return to M35 and M103 with the 25×100s but that’s for another time. For the moment I’m happy I was able to get out and score two DSOs off the list and take in some satisfying observations.
Tags: 144P/Kushida, Auriga, Bresser 10x50, Caph, Cassiopiea, Cepheus, Gemini, Harlow Shapely, M103, M35, M36, M37, M38, M52, Propus, Ruchbah, Tejat, Weather
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The skies were clear, the seeing was good but some how my observing session early on Tuesday morning quickly became undone. I headed outside at 01:30 UT and set up the tripod and mounted the 25×100 bins. My session, I decided, was going to be split between the constellations Perseus and Cancer; the sole intention here was to grab a few Messier objects to add to the list as well as take a closer look at the double star Eta Perseii and NGC 1499 (The California Nebula).
The first hurdle that became apparent was the position of Perseus. Riding high in the sky I realized that observing was going to be difficult. Not a problem if your a scope user, but if your using bins then be prepared for some major neck strain! I was simply left with two choices: try to observe Perseus at this position or give up - I chose the latter. Reluctantly I moved on to my next target: the constellation of Cancer.
Turning the binoculars south east I began hunting down Cancer but soon found myself sinking in the nebulous orange miasma that light pollution produces. Here I was looking for M44: The Beehive Cluster or Praesepe as it is also known. I was also set on observing M67, a condensed open cluster that can be found near the star Acubens. The only problem was that Cancer was playing hide and seek with me. I could easily make out the top of Leo as it slowly rose out of the east, but try as I might, Cancer just eluded me.
Looking on the positive side of the session, I had an impressive view of the heavens with The Pleiades, The Hyades and The Orion Nebula easily visible with the naked eye while the constellations Auriga, Taurus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Draco, Ursa Major, Leo and Orion were all on show and looking stunning. To add to this, at 02:00 UT I also managed to catch Saturn climbing over the roof tops which is always a pleasing sight, however, my 25×100 bins don’t resolve any real detail on the planet itself, so I was content just to gaze at it unaided.
By 02:45 UT I packed up and headed for the warmth of my bed. I was disappointed with my lack of success with Perseus and Cancer, but putting that aside I did enjoy the chance to be back out star gazing. The lack of observing flexibility has got me thinking about investing in a new telescope, but I’ve not decided anything firm yet. For the moment It’s really just a case of wait and see.
Tags: Acubens, Andromeda, Auriga, Cancer, Cassiopeia, Collinder 50, Draco, Eta Perseii, Leo, M42, M44, M45, M67, M76, Orion, Praesepe, Saturn, Taurus, The Beehive Cluster, The Hyades, The Orion Nebula, The Pleiades, Ursa Major
Posted in Observing | 3 Comments »
The forecast at the Met Office held out - early Monday morning delivered crisp, clear skies with the odd cloud drifting overhead. I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity like this so promptly geared up to capture another and possibly better star trail image.
The target for the session was the constellation of Orion as it rose over the roof tops towards the south east. Having positioned the tripod and the camera I decided to take a few test shots to make sure that I was focused on infinity as well as frame the image as best I could considering the urban landscape (the backyard).
The final image is a result of thirty six 30 second exposures taken at 24mm using an ISO of 800 with an F/Stop of 4.5. I had originally taken forty six exposures but towards the end of shooting clouds began rolling in and spoiled the view. The exposures were put together in Startrails and post processed in Photoshop.
Orion can be seen rising at the very centre of the picture - I even managed to capture part of The Hyades in there too which can be seen at the top of the shot, again near the centre. All in all I’m pretty happy with my second star trails attempt, but would love to do longer trails, which means either taking more exposures or experimenting with longer exposures, F/Stops and ISO speeds. Certainly food for thought.
After capturing all the exposures that would make up my final star trails image, I decided to go for a wander across the sky using the Bresser 10×50 binoculars. I chanced my luck and decided to see if I could catch a glimpse of NGC 7000: The North America Nebula in Cygnus. No such luck - I’m beginning to think that the skies around Falkirk and Stenhousemuir just aren’t dark enough.
Having no joy with Cygnus I moved on to a current favorite of mine: Auriga and the delights of M36, M37 and M38. I viewed these three open clusters through the Strathspey 25×100 binoculars a few weeks back and I wasn’t disappointed. The view through the 10×50s was no less thrilling if not more stunning. Beautiful deep sky objects and ones I’m certainly going to be observing a lot more in the future. From here I swept over to The Hyades and The Pleiades in Taurus for a quick glimpse but I just couldn’t stop myself from coming back to these two amazing open clusters again and again during the course of my morning observations.
Reluctantly I soon turned my attention to the majesty of M31: The Andromeda Galaxy. No matter how many times I see it, it is always a wondrous sight to behold, but I almost broke my neck viewing it as the constellation itself was positioned almost at the zenith. Moving down towards the constellation Triangulum I eventually found M33, making it only the second time I have seen this fantastic yet elusive galaxy. I spent quite a while in this part of the sky, sweeping backwards and forwards from M31 and M33 just drinking in the mesmerizing view.
Before long I finally surrendered and focused the binoculars on the splendor of M42: The Orion Nebula. Yes I’ve seen The Orion Nebula many,many times before, but it still never fails to make an epic impact on me. Wheeling around to Ursa Major I thought I try and hunt down M81 and M82 but eventually just began browsing around the sky aimlessly. At this point I gradually wound things up and decided to head for the warmth of the house. Unfortunately I never managed to see or capture any Orionids or Taurids, but there is always next time.
Tags: Andromeda, Auriga, Collinder 50, Cygnus, DSLR, M31, M33, M36, M37, M38, M42, M45, M81, M82, NGC 7000, Orion, Orionids, Star Trails, Taurids, Taurus, The Hyades, The Orion Nebula, The Pleiades, Triangulum, Ursa Major, Weather
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I thought I’d share a shot that was originally destined for the recycle bin, but after some tweaking in Photoshop I decided to save this uninspired picture from such a grim fate.
While it’s not the most eye-poping picture ever taken, there is something about it that has grown on me. Perhaps it’s the element of dynamism - the blurred streak of the clouds whisking across the sky as the stars rise. Taken at the start of October, the constellation Auriga can be seen over the eastern horizon right in the centre of the picture. The G class star Capella can also be seen shining brightly in the centre of the frame. It wasn’t a cloud free night as can be seen in the photograph - I was eventually forced to take a brief pause in my session before I could continue shooting again. The picture was taken at ISO 800 using a 30 second exposure with an F/Stop of 4.5 and a focal length of 26mm.
Tags: Auriga, Capella, DSLR, Photoshop
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