Astronomy, Photography and Weather

Had a good pre dawn session this morning under a stunning sky. From 04.00 onwards I did a watch for Taurid meteors then I noticed the Zodiacal Light Pyramid in the east climbing up through Virgo and Leo. It was the classic tilted wedge shape and very distinct. The Zodiacal band extended upward from the pyramid into Cancer and beyond. It was an amazing sight. Ended up staying out until 06.30.

Well done Martin - the Zodiacal Light, along with the Gegenschein, is something I've never seen! I tried to photograph the Gegenschein once and thought I had it for a moment, but decided it was just uneven illumination by the lens I was using - something they all do to some extent.

Paul.

Thanks Paul. It was a glorious sight. It was nothing compared to my very first sightning of the zodiacal light many years ago. Back then it was intense like a triangular-shaped green aurora...that's how vivid it was. I have only seen it seven times since that period. I'm sure I could have seen it many more times but it's not observable from my back garden, so I need to go out to the country to observe it. Cameras have a difficult time with the Geg. I'm eagerly looking forward to the first good geg image by someone from this country in the near future.

Here's two of my patrol images last night while hunting for Taurids. Orion looked beautiful with Sirius sparkling like a diamond to it's lower L. Below this was the glow of M41. The second shot is of Leo and Coma Berenices. At the time the image was taken I could see the ZL light. No chance on the image though.

Had a good search for comets after this. I had a big scare at 05.05 UT...I thought I had bagged a new one!. Turned out to be a false alarm. The rings of Saturn were wonderful through the 8.5".

(http://i35.tinypic.com/23uxxmt.jpg)

(http://i36.tinypic.com/290soxf.jpg)