Comet PanStarrs, The Sombrero Galaxy, and Porrima.

I have waited and waited and waited to turn my eyes onto PanStarrs, the comet that has delighted those from lower northern latitudes over the last month or so. For us northerners it’s taken longer to get into view, and for me especially because I have streetlights and roofs to the north. However, it’s now high enough to spot in the evening when there’s no moon, although too dim for the naked eye. 

Joy of Spring

I’ve been suffering a bit from workload these past 1.5 years. One of the consequences is not being able to get out with the telescope as much as I used to. However, last Wednesday, a clear dark sky coincided with, well me just saying “sod it” and going stargazing. I am glad I did.

Gorgeous galaxies and mars maria.

Clear skies the last couple of days have given mixed fortunes. Yesterday transparency was fabulous, but seeing wobbly, whilst the couple of nights before that were the opposite. But between them, I managed to see quite  a lot.

More marvelous mars and some spring galaxies

The last couple of nights were mostly cloudless, moonless, but with curiously poor transparency (including lots of sky glow). Nonetheless I made the best of conditions to look up some galaxies and of course, the red planet.

Mars, secret deep galaxies and clusters

After the weather forecast promised clear skies on Friday, it was cloudy. On Saturday the forecast was for cloud: but it was clear. So out I went.

February planetaries, clusters and galaxies. NGC 2371, NGC 2438, NGC 3166

Yesterday, on a clear, dark but cold and wobbly night, I tried to track down some faint fuzzies.

December Delights: M42, The Crab nebula (M1), and The Perseus Lenticular (NGC 1023)

This December has not been the best month of stargazing for me: although the weather was OK at times, I was just too tired from work on many clear nights, and I had other competing demands such as sending in my butterfly records before Xmas. So I took the chance last night when, a front having just passed over, the sky was gorgeously clear.

Wide field digital sky photos

Me-other-half has got herself a new digital camera, and this got my little brain working. A couple of nights ago I borrowed it to take some long exposure photos of the sky at night, just to see what came out. Here are a couple of the results.

The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281), the Fiddlehead Galaxy (NGC 772), and the Misty Clover Cluster (Trumpler 37)

Yesterday on a very cold but clear night, I hunted down three deep sky objects on the Hidden Treasures List.

Copernicus Crater, NGC 7789, NGC 6939, NGC 6946

On 7th October (going back a bit I know), I finally sketched Copernicus crater.