Astronomy, Photography and Weather

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Took this image of Orion before 03.00 BST this morning. The waxing gibbous Moon was low in the SW. Ended up staying out until 06.00 comet hunting but the sky was not that good. Lots of hazy cloud around. Anybody else get up to much?

Sky didn't clear till ~11pm, had a session from 11:30 pm to 1 am, gave it a couple of hours for the Moon to set, after that observed from 3 am till 5am in conditions which were reasonable to start but with gradually increasing high cloud. Gave up early as it was obvious the cirrostratus was spreading and thickening.

High cloud on the Sun all day, even though there was a clearance of most of the sky. The cirrostratus is back this evening though, in fact it's almost altostratus where the Moon is , there is a band of clear sky in the NW but not enough to be usable.

I set up at about 1am when the Moon was getting out of the way and did a few shots while just scanning the heavens with my binoculars. As the night wore on, the skies became clearer and I only packed up when dawn approached. Today has been clear all day, though I'm aware there is a band of cloud coming down from the north west. This last week has been the best all year for observing and imaging.

Nice shot Martin. The evening started clear, by about 2000, the moon was beginning to fade in the mist, and by about 2230 cloud all over...

Great shot Martin!! was looking at Orion on Saturday night myself..  No pictures though! I was just looking...  :)

That is one *sweet* photo.  Beautifully framed and really shows off the dramatic nature of Orion.  Many congrats.

Many thanks for all the comments and for sharing your observations.

Cheers Dave, I must get out and take more constellation shots. I will be busy on the Orionids maximum so I'm hoping for clear skies.

I agree with you, but I like it more when it goes together with Lepus and even Columba, that makes Orion to stand straight and in maximum elevation.
Anyway, nice shot, Martin  :)

ooou... Orionids  :) ...I'm also hoping to have some clear nights

Great image martin when are the orionids are they mon morn ?

Thanks Roman and Jonathan. The Orionids peak on the 20/21st, Mon/Tue. There's another thread with more details here. Pity it will arrive when a big Atlantic depression with wind and rain hits at the same time. I will be watching anyway if there's clear spells.

Here's two images I took of Orion last night. One wide field at 28mm, the other zooming in a bit. ISO800, 30 sec's.

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Funny Martin, I had the same idea but a bit earlier ;D
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Nice shots gents. One of the members here (who has only posted a few times - 'James Astro Chatter) took a nice shot of Orion using a star burst filter. The star colours and showing Barnards Loop also adds to the appeal of the shot which you will see here (http://astrochat.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8041&start=0)

Nice image John. You had the same idea then, Orion is just too tempting isn't it. The last few nights have showed this constellation off at it's most brilliant!.

Andy, thanks for the link. Send James my compliments on such a stunning capture!!  :)