Hi all, First outburst of this recurring nova since 1966! and has been highly awaited

www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-436

Keith..

Well done to you all who got a view, I know the weather did not help for some which was a real pity. I got a wonderful view of it here in east Cavan, even at minus 13.5C it was worth it. I could follow the eclipsed moon all the way to my horizon.  I have to say I was really lucky as the fog last night was really bad.

Here is a taste of what the scene was like over the snow-covered fields 

Just after totality
www.webtreatz.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-102

The eclipsed moon setting
www.webtreatz.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-101

And right at moonset from my site, this was really hard to see as it seemed the moon was getting ever darker, and with the brightening sky, this eneded off a lovely show
www.webtreatz.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-100

Keith..         

   
 
 

Hi all, have any of you tried this lately from the GalaxyZoo team?

www.milkywayproject.org/

If you have some free time, did you ever wish you could make an actual genuine discovery or contribution to science? Here is your next chance which uses Infra red data from the spitzer space telescope to study our milkyway.

On my first night I found this 'hamburger' object 
talk.milkywayproject.org/science/discussions/DMZ10009hq

It's upper right of centre. Whay do you think? It's very addictive

Keith..

Lovely shots there John, I too was out this morning at 7am and too saw the ISS

At -10C man it was cold 

Keith..

Well folks,  This morning we were treated to a great conjunction of both the Moon and Venus before dawn, added in was an even rarer sight of a snow covered land for scenery. I took this shot at 7am in minus 10 C temperature form rural Cavan deep in the Snow    Seldom was the sky so clear, both Venus and the Moon were incredible!

http://www.webtreatz.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-99

Keith..

Well guys, I made an attempt to observe and photograph this new comet at 5.30 to 6am this morning under good clear skies, however I could not detect it with even my 20x90mm binoculars.

I also got a sot of it nearby with Saturn, I haver to say the comet is very disappointing, showing itself as a very small colourless object, no tail, if fact it looks like a very distant globular cluster.

Keith..

Thanks for making the effort to show us that shot Paul, and thanks Martin for the charts, unfortunately I was fogged out this morning

So by that shot it's 9th-10th magnitude then, i'll try again in he morning. Did you visually get a look Paul, any tail seen?

Keith..

I'll try in the morning, hopefully with an image to start the day off 

Keith..

Hi guys, thanks for the nice comments, hy yes I sent it to spaceweather, but S&T now that's an idea 

Keith..

Hi all, tonight I managed to have a look at this encounter between the famous and beautiful 'Double Cluster' and Comet Hartley2 which now happens to be passing by our neighbourhood

Here is a rough and ready shot I have put together with 27 minutes exposure total before the clouds brought an end to the view. I found the comet not so bright again, but from the shot you can clearly see it's movement over the course of just one half hour 

www.flickr.com/photos/79652716@N00/50603...es/l/in/photostream/

Keith..

Thanks Gents, I'm very happy with the result of it all. I am living here in Cavan, my home is located in very dark skies at night 

My set up is simple - I took this shot on August 15th under very clear skies, this is a stack of 25 x 4minutes exposure and 15 dark frames at ISO800, f3.5 using my canon 40D (unmodified) and my 24-70mm L lens at 32mm, all this was mounted on a very accurately polar aligned astrotrac mount.

Processing was with Photoshop just apply a little median filter which brings out the dust better.

As for Rho Ophiuchus - it's on the list 

Keith..

Lovely shot Paul, just nice & natural looking, I see that Jupiter is really coming on so bright now, as for Uranus, I hope to have alook at it tonight

Keith..

Hi all, I'm always taken aback when viewing these constellations of the summer milkyway either by naked eye or with binoculars when seeing the amount of galactic dust running through them. Here is a shot of the area showing the dust, and it leaves your mind wondering at what is hidden benind.

As you can see, the dust reddens the starlight of billions of stars beyond. Either side of the dust are countless blue (and possibly younger) stars located in the next spiral arm of our galaxy looking inward. This is 25x4min shots. I'd love sometime to go even deeper   

www.flickr.com/photos/79652716@N00/49272...es/l/in/photostream/

Keith..

Hi all, I came across this, as the title says, a must see:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/07/stormy_skies.html

Keith.

Hi John, that a very pleasing on the eye shot, it's quite soft too, I think that it compliments the neblosity well.

Keith.