Super Blood Moon

Super Blood Moon

  September 28, 2015    Unknown

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It has been all over the news for the past day or so, but for those that missed it this morning was a rare opportunity to see a Super Blood Moon.  Whilst lunar eclipses are fairly common, the last total eclipse observed in the UK was in 2008 and the next will be in 2019.  However, what made this one particularly impressive was the fact it coincided with a Super Moon - the moon being at its minimum distance (perigee) to Earth, which means it appears 14% bigger and brighter.

My image of the Super Blood Moon

The name Blood Moon comes from the rust coloured appearance of the moon during totality, due to the small amount of light hitting the moons surface being filtered by the extremities of the earths atmosphere, removing the blue wavelengths and leaving a red coloured shadow on the moons surface.

Although totality was at 03:11 BST in the UK, the event started at 02:00, so it was an early start to make sure the telescope and camera were set up in time. I used the QHY8L CCD camera, attached to my Altair Wave 115ED refractor to ensure I had a good shot of the entire Moon's surface.  I started with exposures of just 0.001 seconds, but after totality I had to increase this to 25 seconds to capture the full detail of the surface.  I took 76 images to begin with, at 30 second intervals, which I processed using Time Lapse Assembler to create a short time lapse as the eclipse approached totality.  I then switched to single shots to get some detailed still images.

It might have been an early start, but it was an incredible sight and well worth the lack of sleep. If you missed it, don't worry - there will be another opportunity in 2033!

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Catching The Eclipse

Catching The Eclipse

  March 20, 2015    Unknown

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I missed out on the last opportunity to witness a solar eclipse in the UK, so I have been awaiting today's 98% partial eclipse with much anticipation. I had planned ahead and purchased my solar eclipse glasses well in advance, to avoid disappointment, so it was just typical that the British skies were overcast this morning. However, I was not going to give up so easily and so after a quick check of local weather forecasts, I jumped in the car with my family and we headed about 20 miles north of where we live in hope of clearer skies. It would seem luck was obviously with us today, because just before the peak of the eclipse at 09:25, the clouds started to break up and we caught a wonderful glimpse of the sun through a gap - a crescent slither of light in the sky. It was possible to get a couple of photographs between the clouds, but the heavy overcast sky somewhat reduced the overall effect of the eclipse - the sky did not darken as much as I had expected, for instance. However, these events don't happen very often in the UK, so I was pleased I was able to take my family to witness it live on this occasion.

Partial Solar Eclipse - 20 Mar 2015

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Catching the GRS!

Catching the GRS!

  February 17, 2015    Unknown

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Having fixed the rotation of Jupiter in Stellarium a couple of nights ago - see my previous posts - I noticed that there was a convenient Great Red Spot (GRS) transit this evening to test the software out, so I went out with the specific intention of checking that the prediction was accurate.

After slewing my Altair Wave 115 refractor to the rough position of Jupiter using Stellarium, I accurately aligned the system using AstroTortilla and there it was - I had Jupiter slap bang in the middle of my field of view. I then swapped my camera for the QHY IMG132E planetary camera and added the Tele Vue 2 x Powermate for extra magnification. After a little playing around with the focusing I could clearly see the GRS at meridian, meaning that Stellarium had accurately predicted the transit.

The image below is the result of the best 400 frames from an 87s AVI, stacked using AutoStakkert 2 and processed in RegiStax 6. Not a bad image for a 4.5" refractor! - click on the image to see a better quality version on flickr.

Jupiter and the Great Red Spot, with 2 of Jupiter's moons - Io (bottom) and Callisto (top)

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Jupiter and Europa

Jupiter and Europa

  February 08, 2015    Unknown

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After a long run of bad weather I finally managed to get outside this evening and do a little imaging with my new scope - the Altair Astro Wave Series 115 ED F7 Triplet refractor.
After an initial alignment using Astrotortilla, I swapped the main camera for my QHY IMG132E planetary imaging camera together with a Tele Vue 2x Powermate and slew the scope to Jupiter. After focussing as best as I could I was quite impressed with how much detail I could see on my laptop screen and how little atmospheric distortion there was - a particularly rare still night. I then set about capturing several 89 second AVI files, averaging 20fps, which although significantly less than than the camera is capable of is about as much as my system will allow.
Once back inside (it was -2 outside) I set about processing the files. Firstly I stacked them using AutoStakkert 2 - taking the best 50% of the frames to make a single image. I then loaded it in RegiStax 6 and auto aligned and balanced the colour to get rid of a slight blue tinge on one side of the planet. I then adjusted the wavelets, which is a process that pulls out the finer detail in the planet's surface - I don't know how it works, but it does the job!

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Once in a Blue Moon

Once in a Blue Moon

  August 21, 2013    Unknown

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The summer is great - I love the warm weather and long evenings, but they are no fun for an astrophotographer as it never really gets dark enough. So I am glad that after a break of a couple of months, I am finally able to get out in the garden imaging again.

Last night I set up early in anticipation of the full moon, which also happened to be a Blue Moon. These are relatively rare - hence the expression 'once in a blue moon'. The term Blue Moon is more often used to describe the second full moon in a calendar month, however, traditionally the term refers to the third full moon in a season that contains four full moons - hence why last night was a Blue Moon.

The August 'Blue Moon', taken 20 Aug 2013

This photo was taken using my astro-modded Canon EOS 1000D, attached to my Sky-Watcher Explorer 190MN Pro. The image was captured on my MacBook Pro using Craig Starks' Nebulosity 3 and processed using Adobe Lightroom 5.

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