wingeing Pom

The PacMan nebula in Cassiopeia. 18 x 30-minute subs using the Sky90 array and M26C OSC CCDs. Greg

I use a program called Registar to overlay images - it also counts the number of stars in an image - I've used it on a few occasions to count the number of stars - it is always quite a lot less than you guess Greg

I have restarted an old project ready for Winter - photomicroscopy. I have fired up the superb Helicon Focus software and the equally superb L3000BHGT research trinocular microscope - and I started off with an "easy" one that I've done before. This is Spirogyra in Conjugation, a 9-step focus stack at a magnification of 100. Greg

Apart from astrophotography I also do microphotography, macrophotography and high-speed phtotography Greg

The missus just spotted this guy on a strawberry leaf - so out cam the macro Greg

I suppose it is obvious that this lot sits in the Milky Way - but I have done a huge crop to Altair to show that all those dust grains really are stars. Greg

Had some clear skies last night which was pretty amazing as my county (Hampshire) was surrounded by thick cloud! And in fact the cloud started to roll in just as I was packing up - doesn't usually work out that way in this game. However, managed to get the left frame done, 30 x 10-minute subs so another 5-hours on the left hand frame, combined with 5 hours on the right hand frame gives me a 10-hour total on this image. Greg

And - by the way - they reckon there's an open cluster in that lot designated NGC2394. Can anyone see an open cluster in that mass of stars, 'cos I sure can't?? Greg

This is a 2-frame mosaic of the whole of Canis Minor taken with the Canon 200mm prime lenses and the Trius M26C OSC CCDs. Bottom left is Procyon, top right is Gomeissa. Now I have no idea how this happened - but the previous image I showed had Gomeissa (top right) in the incorrect orientation. However in this image - all is as it should be Greg

Here's M31 shown zoomed-out and zoomed-in. The zoomed out shot was taken with a pair of Canon 200mm lenses and ASI 2600MC Pro CMOS cameras. The zoomed-in shot was taken using the Hyperstar 4 on a Celestron C11 again with an ASI 2600MC Pro CMOS camera. Greg

Another clear night last night - even though the satellite image showed I was surrounded by thick cloud. Counting my blessings I fired up the 200mm lenses and the ASI 2600MC Pro CMOS cameras. This is the right hand frame of what will become (eventually) a 2-framer. This image shows Altair (blue), Tarazed (yellow.orange) and the dark nebula Barnard's "E", all in the constellation Aquila. This is 5-hours worth of 10-minute subs. Greg

And here's the same image cropped right in with a bit more processing. Greg

Got out last night to grab M31 with the 200mm lenses to get the whole thing in. Greg

This is all the M31 data taken on the Sky90 added to all the data taken on the Hyperstar. It is a damn shame the outer edges of the galaxy are cropped, that is why this is an on-going project. Greg

The central bright star is Sulafat - move to the right hand edge at the 3 o'clock position from Sulufat and that is Sheliak - these are the two bottom stars in central Lyra. Move 3/4 of the way from Sulufat towards Sheliak and that is M57 - the Ring Nebula. This is a composite single framer using the Canon 200mm prime lenses and the Trius M26C OSC CCDs. A total of 6-hours and 20-minutes using 10-minute sub-exposures. Greg