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Another Once in a lifetime Comet. C/2014 E2 Jacques
Malc's Astro Page - 08/20/14 - 17 days ago
We have been treated to a few bright comets over the last year and IQ Option once again treated to another dance across the heavens. A possible collision event somewhere deep in the Oort cloud has sent another cosmic interloper to grace our skies. Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques is a long period comet of approx...
perigee-syzygy
Malc's Astro Page - 08/11/14 - 26 days ago
I am trying to refain from using the term "Supermoon", as it seems to inspire some strange questions from those whom think my interest in Selenology is being a member of the Celine Dion fan club.No it won't start earthquakes.No it wont cause a Tsunami.No the world will not...
M27.
Malc's Astro Page - 07/27/14 - 41 days ago
After capturing some swan nebula data. I refocussed and aimed high to the ever enigmatic IQOption Dumbell nebula. 5 x 20 sub frames, calibrated in axim DL and photoshop processed has produced a nice image with good colour. Unfortunatly I do not have full dome automation and closed the shutter and went...
M17 The swan Nebula
Malc's Astro Page - 07/27/14 - 41 days ago
It has been a very long time since we have had a decent run of good weather here. Plus I have just started 2 weeks holiday with some clear skies so things are really looking up for us astronomers literally !!We all know how low the constellation of Sagittarius is from the UK, I can...
The dogs go hunting.
Malc's Astro Page - 05/24/14 - 105 days ago
As mentioned in the previous post this was the first time in a month the kit had been powered up. A fellow Breckland AS member has emailed an alert stating a new type II supernova has been discovered near the core of the barred spiral galaxy M106 in Canes Venatici (the hunting dogs). A quick set up ...
M13
Malc's Astro Page - 05/24/14 - 105 days ago
A test of the set up was required. So I rebalanced and ran PHD of a target much lower in declination than M106. I wanted something bright and easy so M13 was an easy choice to make rising nicely in the North east. I ran the guide programme for 5 minutes with no issues. Fingers were crossed and I...
Camelopardalids
Malc's Astro Page - 05/24/14 - 105 days ago
Apologies for the lack of posts. Me, like the rest of the UK has suffered for a month now with the dreaded cloudouts IQOptions . However excitement and tension across the astronomical world had reached a pinnacle last night with a new meteor shower called the Camelopardalids. We knew the peak would hit about...
Mars
Malc's Astro Page - 04/18/14 - 141 days ago
This must have been the 4th Tuesday in a row for me to get over to the Observatory at Great Ellingham. A great opportunity was taken with good seeing I set about to image Mars. I was not happy with the images taken the previous week, Seeing was very poor and @f20 offered no...
A bay of rainbows
Malc's Astro Page - 04/13/14 - 146 days ago
Without a doubt my favourite area on the lunar surface. Every capture of the bay of rainbows I try to tease out a little more detail. Not the most favourable of seeing as I ran 3000 frames. Processed in registax with my favoured wavelets setting. I think this is the most detail I have managed. My...
Deep, Deep,Very Deep
Malc's Astro Page - 04/07/14 - 152 days ago
My previous post of M97 & M108 required further inspection as I could see numerous faint fuzzies about 20 in all. I have highlighted the brightest in boxes and spent a great deal of time finding a desiganation for them. trawling through known to me and some obscure catalogues like MCG ...
M97 & M108
Malc's Astro Page - 04/02/14 - 157 days ago
First of all this will be my 200th post and I just want to thank all those who are new and regular visitors to my blog. Despite being circumpolar for us in the UK and visually through the scope an easily...
M88
Malc's Astro Page - 03/29/14 - 161 days ago
Between 50 to 60 million light years away lies M88 a member of the virgo cluster of galaxies. An Sbc galaxy inclined by 64 degrees to our line of sight. My 3 hour 20 minute image shows some nice structure in some tightly wound spiral arms. A dozen plus more Ngc &...
More Mosaic fun
Malc's Astro Page - 03/22/14 - 168 days ago
Taken 8th March with my home set up using the FLT-110 and the ASI 120MC.This was the first test and I had set the gain to 0. It has made the capture lack detail and contrast and also underexposed. So a little experimentation will be required to increase the level of details captured during...
For The Record
90 Millimeter Observatory - 03/16/14 - 174 days ago
At the end of my last post I mentioned a few things you should list in your logbook when observing open clusters so you could reference the information later and compare it to a more recent observation of the same object. That sparked an idea for this post and, as I thought more about it, I...
Celestron C9.25
Malc's Astro Page - 03/13/14 - 177 days ago
Tuesday night was a good night with reasonable seeing. We that is Myself and fellow BAS Member Richard Harmon had a second opportunity to have an imaging session with his Celestron C9.25. Using the societies new Ioptrom IEQ45 mount (same as my own)We tested and were happy with the balance /...
Jason and the Argonauts
90 Millimeter Observatory - 03/12/14 - 178 days ago
Another one of my all time favorite movies tells the tale of a legendary Greek hero who leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece. Their ship, the Argo, was once represented by a large constellation in the southern sky call Argo Navis and was only one...
Lunar 100
Malc's Astro Page - 03/10/14 - 180 days ago
Objects in the Lunar 100 are arranged from the easiest to view to the most difficult. This is more systematic than the haphazard approach that produced the Messier list. Indeed, just by knowing a feature's Lunar 100 number, you have some idea of how easy or challenging it will be to see. For...
Fire in the sky.
Malc's Astro Page - 02/27/14 - 191 days ago
Came home from work to a starry sky above. Whilst eating my tea weather forecast came on. Look out for tonight Aurora they said seen as far down as Devon.I am quite lucky to have fields behind my house and a un polluted sky. So I grabbed the camera and took these. My first Aurora from Norfolk.Taken ...
A duo of galaxies & a supernova
Malc's Astro Page - 02/14/14 - 204 days ago
Still shining bright supernova 2014j looks amazing. Weather forecast for the next week or so pretty shocking again. I would love to capture it 1 morre time as it fades into the background. I am very happy with the depth of detail captured.
Amateur Astrophotography Ezine
Malc's Astro Page - 02/12/14 - 206 days ago
We are all aware of the way social media platforms have changed communication around the world. So many different ways in which we can bring our hobby not only to your own towns / clubs & societies but to the world. This has been done recently by...
More from our nearest neighbour.
Malc's Astro Page - 02/12/14 - 206 days ago
Sunday was a day of work for me. Finished early enough to roll back the roof for what was about an hours break before the clouds rolled across at around hrs. This is the first time I have used my William Optics GT 81 triplet refractor for lunar imaging. The focusser on the scope is wonderfully...
RosetteAgain
Malc's Astro Page - 02/06/14 - 212 days ago
The weather has been awful for most of the UK this last few weeks and I feel for those in my county of birth in Somerset. It has given me the chance to reprocess my 8 hour image of the Rosette nebula. Stacked with calibration frames using Maxim DL. As mentioned before I am using my new learnt...
Reprocessed B33
Malc's Astro Page - 02/05/14 - 213 days ago
I started again from scratch and had a complete reprocess of the Horsehead nebula. Combined now will calibration frames it is certainly a good deal cleaner. Plus I believe practice makes perfect and I am getting more adept at being more subtle with the techniques of Photoshop, less each time is...
M82 Nova Wide field.
Malc's Astro Page - 01/26/14 - 223 days ago
For 2 nights in a row we have been treated to clear skies. I have treated my camera again to the amazing supernova in the nearby galaxy of M82. I wanted a wide field shot of the area. Here is the result of 2 hours of exposure in 10 minute sub frames. I am very happy with the dust lanes in M81. ...
Supernova 2014J
Malc's Astro Page - 01/24/14 - 225 days ago
Sometimes the luck just holds. Well this time anyway. If you wander back through my blog or find my post on M95 april 2012. The avid nova watchers will remember the eruption in M95 sn2012aw. This happened just as I started at work a set of nights. We only do 2 sets a year and could not believe my...
The Horsehead Nebula.
Malc's Astro Page - 01/12/14 - 237 days ago
With a magnitude -11.8 moon causing a little concern. I thought I would have a play. I have imaged the Horsehead a few times before so I was not banking on a perfect image. I must admit though I am again impressed with the sensitivity of the camera and scope. I captured 3 hours in 20 minute...
The Giraffe
90 Millimeter Observatory - 01/05/14 - 244 days ago
So, I havent posted anything since June 30, 2013. Sometimes things like work takeover life and we have to muscle through it and put the things we love aside and just get the job done. That said, the project is complete and its time to resume living again. As January begins, were right in the middle ...
Rosette 8 Hours
Malc's Astro Page - 01/01/14 - 248 days ago
Rosette Nebula The skies were surprisingly clear last night allowing me to take another 3 hours of 20 minute sub exposures. Totalling now 8 hours, Work is still progressing. I still want to play with some layer masking to highlight those dust lanes and outer edges of the nebula. There is no...
A work in progress
Malc's Astro Page - 12/30/13 - 250 days ago
As per my previous post I had a second night of beautiful clear skies. I had a few issues with plate solving though. Loaded a previous nights frame and solved it. asked the scope to goto and it was out by over a degree???? Some manual moves to frame it gave me an opportunity to gather another 3...
Winter Project. Rosette Nebula.
Malc's Astro Page - 12/28/13 - 252 days ago
This is a processd image from last night. 2 Hours worth of data in 10 minute subs. I would like to collect at least 6-8 hours plus calibration frames. No calibration frames taken as yet. I see the way I ...
