Author Archives: paul

Touptek 54mm 2″ filter draw – initial review.

There is no information about this filter draw on Touptek’s website although I did find a reseller with basic outer dimensions and an installation video by Touptek! – none of it linked to by Touptek’s own website. That being said, … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy Gear, Equipment | Comments Off on Touptek 54mm 2″ filter draw – initial review.

Touptek ATR533C – IMX533 Cooled DSO Colour Camera. An Un-Boxing and First Light

(Updated with first light results 06/08/24)) Touptek cameras are very good performers and they seem to get rebranded by almost everyone. They are also priced very competitively, particularly if you buy direct. Finding out what you get in the box … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy Gear, Equipment | Comments Off on Touptek ATR533C – IMX533 Cooled DSO Colour Camera. An Un-Boxing and First Light

M101 Supernova SN2023ixf

In May of 2023 a new supernova was reported in galaxy M101. M101 is easy to image from my house and is big enough in the sky that a lot of detail can be resolved. Supernovas often appear brighter than … Continue reading

Posted in Deep Sky, Galaxies | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on M101 Supernova SN2023ixf

Society and “truth”, Peter and Pete – a sad reflection

Growing fear/distrust leads to sad outcomes such as Peter & Pete. Continue reading

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged | Comments Off on Society and “truth”, Peter and Pete – a sad reflection

The Whale and the Hockey Stick

This is NGC 4631 and NGC 4656-7 better known as the Whale and Hockey stick galaxies. Imaged over several nights 21-25th April 2022, I managed only a few hours total due to bad weather.

Posted in Deep Sky, Galaxies | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Whale and the Hockey Stick

The Sadr region – first light for my Samyang 135mm F2 lens and home brew mount.

This is a “first light” image taken with my new wide-field setup. Here we have the star Sadr in the constellation of Cygnus. Using narrowband Ha (56mins) and Oiii (30mins) filters I’ve captured the glowing dust in the region surrounding … Continue reading

Posted in Deep Sky, Nebula | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Sadr region – first light for my Samyang 135mm F2 lens and home brew mount.

Messier 51 in 2022

I’ve taken a shot at Messier 51 again. Compared to Messier 51 and first light for my Orion Optics 250mm rebuild from last year it is more successful: Conditions were much better and my guiding is considerably better with <> … Continue reading

Posted in Deep Sky, Galaxies | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Messier 51 in 2022

NGC 4725 and NGC4747 have collided

This is NGC 4725 and cohorts. It looks NGC 4725 had a tangle with 4747 and neither came off well. Imaged from the 22nd to 25th March, total integration time was 9 hours and 15 minutes, (2h20 Blue, 2hr53 Green, … Continue reading

Posted in Deep Sky, Galaxies | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on NGC 4725 and NGC4747 have collided

The Tadpole Nebula in Auriga – IC410

IC410 is a dusty star forming region about 12,000 light years away. I’ve finally grabbed enough O3 to attempt an HOO combination. This time of year, the nebula stays above the neighbours’ trees for about 2 hrs after dark. I … Continue reading

Posted in Deep Sky, Nebula, Open Cluster | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Tadpole Nebula in Auriga – IC410

Messier 106 and the faint fuzzies

On one of three clear nights in February, I managed to capture this amazing image: Just three hours of RGB data has captured a host of bright and many faint galaxies. Some of the faintest detected are very red indicating … Continue reading

Posted in Deep Sky, Galaxies | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Messier 106 and the faint fuzzies