Short nights? Warm weather? Must be summer!


My new logo - courtesy of graphic design genius Amy Platkiw


Looking back on my list of blogs, the last update from Astroshed@Sawley was 28th April 2018. So.....did I just give up? Declare the nights too short and simply go to bed? Nope - I got busy!!

 I took an early holiday in May. A cruise along the Norwegian Fjords had been planned for a while....so I took the opportunity to dismantle my mount and telescope and send the mount into Rother Valley Optics for a full service, re-grease, new bearings and a belt mod. Given the waiting list and turn around time for this service was 3-4 weeks, heading into the summer seemed to be the right time to do this with light nights etc - so I went for it! And then went on holiday! 

 Even while I was away I managed to get some lunar images. Check this out! A fantastic moonrise over Nordfjord taken from the upper deck of Cunard's Queen Victoria. It was early, mind! I stood next to the galley night shift when I took this picture. They were just finishing the prep of the breakfast buffet and were up on deck with camera phones taking it all in. The smell of fresh croissant, danish pastries and exhaust fumes lingering off the back of the ship is a curious but heady mix that could only mean I was up at 4:30am to observe the trip along Nordfjord into Olden, just as the Captain had advised, but only a handful of passengers had heeded. Quite simply, stunning.

Moonrise over Nordfjord

Back from holiday, I had time to contemplate where I was going to take the Astroshed next, equipment wise. During galaxy season, I'd struggled with my Skywatcher 150 Mak to get the exposures I wanted. These scopes are absolutely killer for lunar, planetary and other bright objects but too slow for faint galaxies. So I decided to take a tactical upgrade and picked up a 2nd hand Celestron C8 SCT

Celestron C8

So, why is it a tactical upgrade? Well, it's adaptable. Firstly, it's a powerful f10 scope as it stands - so a great swap for the 6-inch Mak so I can do lunar and planetary even better. Secondly, I already have a f6.3 focal reducer for an f10 SCT which kind of worked on my old Mak but is a great match for this scope - so I get a faster scope and reasonable reach with focal length for next year's galaxy season. Finally, it is Faststar compatible, which means I can go wide-field and even faster with the use of a Starizona Hyperstar lens; f2 to be precise. This is a long term ambition. The Hyperstar lens is twice the price I paid for the scope at £960 but, given the vague weather we have in the UK and the improvements in one-shot colour cameras, speed is of the essence with this hobby. Makes sense? I know several that would disagree - I'll tell you when I get there.

 Anyway, the mount came back from Rother Valley Optics and boy, what a difference. It's smooooth!! PHD guiding is now regularly 0.17-0.20 and the graph is flat as a pancake. Can't complain - it's practically a new mount! If you have a HEQ5\6 and want an improvement in your mounts performance, go to Rother Valley Optics - they really know what they're doing.


But what about the results?

 Well, summer is still summer! I'm burning the candle at both ends to get some imaging done so I'll share some of the recent stuff with you now. Tell me what you think. As you can see below I've spent a lot of time in and around the constellation Cygnus, mostly with my Altair Astro 72ED-R refractor for a wide-field view but Cassiopeia and Andromeda are starting to put an appearance an the nights are starting to darken so I'll be using the SCT a lot more. The only thing missing at the moment is a wide-field Milky Way shot. I have one chance left when I visit Cornwall around New Moon in September.

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy

Crescent Nebula (NGC6888)

 North America Nebula (NGC7500) and Pelican Nebula (IC5070)

Veil Nebula Complex

Bubble Nebula (NGC7635)


......and finally!

 Yours truly made the astro-press! Well, the hotshot section of Sky at Night magazine to be precise, for my image of Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina craters. Check out July edition of the magazine. Rather proud of that small achievement



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