Today’s EPOD shows the asteroid Vesta leaving the head of Leo the lion as recently taken from the NFO.  Unusually both the data acquisition and the image processing for this one were carried out by yours truly.  There are a few faint background galaxies in this image which are also a feature of the constellation Leo.  Thank you Jim for putting ”Vesta leaving Leo” up on your site

Had some clear skies last night – no Moon,  and no high cloud either!  Started imaging around 10:30 p.m. and called time at midnight.  Had M87 centred on the frame, really wasn’t expecting to get this one this year (missed out the last two years due to bad weather).  It just might be clear tonight – and I need two more frames either side of M87 so that Noel can bolt this little mosaic to the bottom of the Markarian Chain megamosiac.  Only need two more good imaging nights.  Will I finally get the data this year?

Noel has just completed processing the 5 & 10-minute subs (probably around 8 hours worth in total) taken on the Hyperstar III of the Beehive Cluster – M44 – in the constellation Cancer.  At this time of the year we really only have Cancer objects in a really good imaging position as an early evening start is a little too soon for Leo.  The other problem is that there are really only two objects in Cancer worth going for – M44 & M67.  So maybe I will save M67 for next year as Leo is now getting itself in a good position and I need to get data all around M87 to add to our mega Markarian’s Chain mosaic.  Noel & Greg present you with M44 – the Beehive cluster in all its sparkly colour:

Nice clear night last night and managed to get 3-hours worth of 4-minute subs on M44 with the Hyperstar III.  Bagged a couple of asteroids (I think M44 is asteroid central as it sits just about on top of the ecliptic) – will let you know which asteroids they are if any one on the Forums identifies them (I can’t be bothered looking these things up).

Pulled up EPOD (Earth Science Picture of the Day) a couple of minutes ago and unexpectedly found the NFO image of NGC1333 looking back at me.  It really is a stunning region of space and the eerie-looking dust clouds gives the image a really sinister appearance.  Thank you Jim for putting this one up today – I think it is one of our very best so far.

Lovely clear night last night, and perfect for trying to capture the asteroid Vesta now leaving the head of Leo.  46 subs at 200-seconds per sub with the C11 and Hyperstar III – image captured and processed by Greg Parker at the New Forest Observatory.  The brightest star to the left of the image is Algieba in the head of Leo.

If it stays clear for long enough, and I’m imaging in the right place – then tomorrow sometime I should be posting up an image of the asteroid Vesta which is passing the star Algieba in the constellation Leo right now.  Apparently it is only moving about 1 arcminute every couple of hours so I will need to try and get at least 4-hours on this one if possible.  I started at 9:50 p.m. and I’ll go on for as long as possible

Several clear nights in a row recently and I concentrated on just one beautiful region – IC2169 and surroundings in Monoceros.  This reflection nebula lies just to the right of the cone nebula, in fact the red emission nebulosity over to the left is part of the cone nebula complex.  Towards the lower left is a beautiful golden open cluster – OCL494 or Trumpler 5.  9 hours in total using 4-minute subs and processed by Noel in Florida.

Clearly another landmark image for Star Vistas II

Another 4 hours of data was acquired on this object and Noel put the whole thing together which now totals some 9 hours of imaging time.  Beautiful reflection nebula NGC1333 and the accompanying dust clouds lie in the constellation Perseus.  This is one of the “busiest” regions I have ever imaged

Noel recently processed the Caldwell 10 dataset and managed to pull out that faint red cluster (IC116) over at the top left.  There are in fact a total of 7 (yes – seven) open clusters in this frame.