This is my first attempt at photographing a moving space object. I chose the ISS as I knew what time it would be over and where in the sky I would see it because I have observed it before. Unfortunately the best place in my garden that I could photograph it had a street light just underneath the path of the ISS. This has caused the picture to be very grainy and I couldn't use contrast to pick out the ISS very well. Next time I might try a different location.

First DSLR pic using telescope.

This is my first processed image of the Moon taken on 13th of February 2011 with my DSLR and Newtonian reflecter.

Testing new DSLR.

Using the money I got for Christmas I bought a new DSLR to try my hand at astrophotography. I have yet to buy a T ring adapter so that I can use my telescope as a lens but I have been testing the camera with wide angle shots of constellations. This picture was my first attempt. As you can see there is a lot of light pollution.

Bradford Robotic Telescope.

I've not done much observing lately because I've started a Natural Science course at Open University but I thought I'd share these picture I took using the Bradford Robotic Telescope .

                                                                 M17 The Swan Nebula.

                                                                               M16.

                                                         The Moon (like you didn't know).
These pictures are all copyrighted by Bradford University.
Enjoy ;)

                                                   

M31 Sketch on 18th August 2010.

This is my latest digital sketch. It's of the Andromeda galaxy, M31 and is converted from a sketch I did last night (18/8/2010).
The seeing wasn't perfect because the gibbous Moon was visible at the time.
I used my 130mm Newtonian Reflector at a magnification of X36.
This is the first time I have observed M31 with my telescope and I was pleased with the result.
Also last night I tested a new 4mm eye piece by observing Jupiter.
I was very excited to be able to see most of the bands as at lower magnifications I've not been able to see any detail. I will attempt to sketch Jupiter at a later date.

Perseids observation 12th August 2010

I decided to record what I could of the Perseid meteor shower tonight. I started at 20:47gmt and finished at 22:17gmt. I recorded each time that I saw a meteor to the minute in GMT. I also gave it a brightness score of bright, moderate, or feint and stated if the meteor left a trail. Lastly I recorded the direction it was traveling away from the constellation Perseus. Location LAT=51degrees LON=52' 00"N.

Perseid's on 12th August 2010 20:47gmt to 22:17gmt

Time in GMT	Brightness	Direction
20:47	Bright	West
21:03	Feint	East
21:29	Moderate	West
21:31	x2 Moderate	NE
21:40	Moderate	West
21:41	Moderate	South
21:44	Moderate	SW
21:46	Bright+Trail	West
21:47	Bright	West
21:48	Moderate	North
21:52	Bright+Trail	SW
21:56	Moderate	East
21:58	Bright	North
22:00	Bright+Trail	South
22:02	Bright	SW
22:02	Feint	NE
22:04	Bright+Trail	West
22:04	Moderate	East
22:10	Feint	East
22:17	x2 Feint	NE

At 22:17gmt Cold, tired, needing the loo and having been attacked by a spider, I decided to call it a night.

I've just completed editing this sketch of M81 that I made on the same night as the M82 sketch.
I'm a bit happier with this 1 as I managed to create a subtle glow around some of the stars. I still wish I'd made some written notes to go with this at the time so I could have got the colours right.
Also next time I will wipe down the scanner before I scan the sketch because there are time when I'm not sure if I've drawn a star or if its just a piece of dust.