2020 has been a pretty strange year but the stars and planets carry on regardless including December’s Jupiter and Saturn conjunction – an event I had in my diary for […]
3 Hours on Mars: 8 October 2020
Another clear night. I have got my planetary imaging workflow down to a tee now. Once the roof has rolled back and the telescope aligned, I can have Mars in […]
Clear Skies Over Tharsis
Wednesday 14 October 2020 With the skies clearing after work, it was time to head to the observatory to catch Mars – now a few days past opposition. After rolling […]
5 Volcanoes Visible from My Garden – on another planet
Here is a derotated image from 13 September of Mars under quite exceptional centred between Solis Lacus and Tharsis. Arsia Mons seen as a bright region, I assume as the […]
The Curious Incident of the Cloud in the Nighttime
I staggered to the observatory with mug of tea in hand after the horrors of an 0300 alarm clock. Thank goodness for summer leave. The clear forecast, unfortunately, had been […]
Venus through the C11
9 April 2020 Week 3 of the Cov-19 lock down. Luckily it has coincided with a period of clear albeit, somewhat hazy, skies. With no need to commute, I can […]
Venus and Jupiter with 150 Mak 6 June
Quick dodge of the clouds yesterday evening to catch Jupiter being photobombed by Europa and Venus approaching half-phase. Note Great Red Spot just starting to appear round the limb. Europa […]
Halos, aurora, the Moon & Uranus
Last Tuesday I visited the always welcoming Wiltshire Astronomical Society (WAS) for a talk by Mary McIntyre that described the variety of light shows that are created in the atmosphere. […]
Jupiter 4 December 2016
My first look at Jupiter since May, caught very early on Sunday morning with a new-to-me C11. The sky was getting light so I used the IR filter to pull […]
June 5 – Mars and Saturn
Keen to carry on observing Mars after a fantastic few nights in Cyprus, I excitedly watched the weather forecast. A fine sunny day with hot sunshine turned into a lovely […]