Stars / Astronomy / Astrophotography / Telescopes / Astro

So nice, sadly no aurora down here in the sub-tropics, they got a bit in Sydney but it didn't reach Queensland. I had to satisfy myself with some sunspot watching and looking out for those pesky CMEs.

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It's a full moon tonight
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Known as the hunter's moon it's the brightest of this year's supermoons

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It was a full moon last night
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Known as the hunter's moon it's the brightest of this year's supermoons

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Spotted that pesky comet from a moving taxi yesterday evening so had a look for it in much poorer conditions this evening. It’s quite faint now.

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Cool.

I've been trying to see it every day for a week with no luck whatsoever with naked eye, binoculars or long exposure photography as the cloud cover has been so high. Finally last night was just about able to get it on my DSLR (still couldn't see it with binos). Haven't downloaded the files to PC yet. I know they're not great, but at least I got them!

I was amazed by how clear the comet was yesterday, I guess the sky was really transparent. But we were on our way to celebrate 32 years of being married so I didn’t have the DSLR and tripod with me!

My kid set this up for the first time in a decade to look at the moon last night. I was blown away - the details on the craters. And then beneath it was a planet, that I assumed was Venus, but when I looked at it I saw tiny moons and it turned out it is Jupiter. I am awestruck!

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love it.

I would very much like to spend a night in a tent underneath a sky that has an incredible star field, with a visible Milky Way, etc.

I don't have the time or resources to visit the Atacama Desert for these purposes!

But organising a bike packing trip to somewhere that approaches it would be an awesome, bucket list type adventure.

So, any suggestions for where in a) England, b) the UK and c) Europe would be best to aim for?

I've been out in the Sahara desert and not really been able to see the milky way with the naked eye.

England, Exmoor is a dark sky site.
Wider UK: Snowdonia is a dark sky reserve as is the Cairngorms. Probably not quite bucket list criteria though!

The Southern half of the african continent was good. Otherwise check out the various dark sky sites in the UK.

Maybe look at the shetlands or Hebrides to get as far from light pollution as possible?

The Galloway Forest Park was really impressive when I went about 6 years ago. Think it was the first place in the UK to get Dark Sky status. Raiders Road was I think what we drove along which I recall being mixed terrain but don’t remember too well.

likewise, did a 3 day bike packing trip around there a few years ago. stunning skies at night and plenty of decent wild camping / hammock spots.
some great gravel riding as well.

Oooh that sounds very promising.

Thanks!

I think Kielder water is my nearest dark sky, quite nice around Northumberland.

Also check dark sky and light pollution maps, eg.

https://www.cpre.org.uk/light-pollution-dark-skies-map/

Anyone used a Pentax DSLR with Astrotracer? It uses the sensor stabilisers to track the movement of the stars to enable longer exposures. Sounds pretty neat but wondered if anyone has ever tried it.

Hope everyone is doing well
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Red alert for the northern lights/ aurora borealis tonight
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Here's the view from the tooting observatory
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Good luck

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Can't see any beavers

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Managed to get outside for 5 minutes last night to have a look at jupiter. Got a half decent view even through the terrible viewing conditions.

If I can I may get out the laptop and try a short imaging session.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/21/first-close-up-image-of-a-star-outside-milky-way-shows-supergiant-in-cocoon

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The new framing function on the S50 is great, makes the machine much more usable I think. This took an hour in not the clearest sky, I didn't realise how cloudy it had got by the end of the session. Straight out of the camera and a quick Photoshop Express edit attached.

I'm loving the look of the Vaonis Vespera II, looks like the logical next step for me after the S50.

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That's great

Woo so nice!