Multiple milestones in astronomy have reshaped our understanding of the universe: from Apollo 8’s Earthrise photo to Copernicus’ heliocentric model, Galileo’s observations, Hubble’s expanding universe, and Penrose’s cyclic cosmology theory….
Comet Alignment and Processing in PI
Dean Ashton discusses his two-month exploration of a new approach in PixInsight for comet processing, combining the PI Comet Alignment and StarNet2 processes. He explains his workflow and details the composition and colors of various comets captured with a Nikon Z6 camera….
Cygnus Rift Widefield
Last night I tried a widefield approach with the camera gear I already have. I used the Laowa macro lens at 100mm and F4 capturing 2 hours at ISO 800. The EQ mount was an Explore Scientific Iexos 100 PMC Eight. No calibration frames used in WBPP in PixInsight. There was plenty of coma creeping towards the middle for quite a distance, A little of this has been cropped but the remainder has been…
Our Spotty Sun gives a Spectacular Multi-Colour Night Show
We have just passed the Summer Solstice on 21st June where our Sun reached its highest point in the sky and gave us the longest day of the year. But back in May the Sun kicked out more than just sunlight. You may have seen in the news that around the world the night sky was lighting up in multi colours. On the evening of May 10th you may have even been out yourself…
Long Distance Gibberish
Image Credit: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov In 1977 when at college in Coventry I met a very nice fellow student and my world changed. In 1982 we got married. Since then on odd occasions she says I talk gibberish. She’s usually right. Another world changing event occurred in 1977. The launch of the space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 that took advantage of a rare lining up of the outer planets. These craft delivered many surprises…
Chronology of a Cornish Aurora 10/11th May
It’s been a while since we saw a Auroral display like this in Cornwall, but on the night of 10/11 May, many club members from as far as South and West in Newlyn, to as North and East in Carnewas were treated to one of nature’s greatest lightshows. But’s let go back a few days and show the progression of Sunspot AR3664 which produced the spectacular display we saw a few days later. We…