My observatory is already giving me a lot of pleasure.  I bought a second-hand pier and an adapter plate over the summer so, now the nights are getting longer, my observatory is up and running at a moment’s notice.

As night falls and I roll the roof back, the bats are visible, flittering against the dark blue sky.  The children call them flutter mice which I think has a lovely ring to it.  Once darkness has fallen, I look out of the observatory to the Milky Way rising over the treeline with a smile on my face.  The neighbourly tawny owls are often heard calling to each other while the stars turn slowly overhead.

I can see Mars laughing at me through the trees.  It is so low I cannot observe it and miss the views we had from the Mons Observatory in Tenerife.  Instead, I am working my way through the Herschel 400 my on-off project for the past few years.

September’s clear night have seen me tick off 9 deep sky objects (some not in the H400) including 2 sketches.  That’s Aquila and Delphinus complete – and the beautiful sights of the beautiful Veil Nebula (with the UHC filter), M27 the Dumbbell Nebula and M11 the Wild Duck open cluster.

NGC 6751 Planetary Nebula Aquila

NGC 6741 Planetary Nebula Aquila

NGC 6760 Globular Cluster Aquila

NGC 6781 Planetary Nebula Aquila ~ The Ghost of the Moon

NGC 6755 Open Cluster Aquila

NGC 6756 Open Cluster Aquila

NGC 6834 Globular Cluster Delphinus

NGC 7006 Globular Cluster Delphinus

NGC 6905 Planetary Nebula Delphinus ~ The Blue Flash Nebula