Forthimage: Amateur Astronomy from Edinburgh
This website is a place where I can post my images purely for the fun of it. You can find more information about the equipment I use on the About/Equipment page. To give me something to aim for, I have set up pages to get as many Messier and Lunar 100 objects as I can. The Deep Sky page is for objects not in Messier’s catalogue and includes some more recent lists such as the Caldwell and Finest NGC catalogues.
Light pollution is a serious problem for amateur astronomy here on the edge of Edinburgh, Scotland, so this is a battle of photons vs sodium! Please come back and visit as the site develops, I make lots of mistakes, the weather gets worse and the skies get brighter.
I am currently President and Webmaster of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh and some of my pictures are displayed on their Flickr page. I also contribute data to the HOYS citizen science project, ExoClock and the BAA Mars section.
Mark
Recent posts
Jupiter 2021
This will get updated as I add Jupiter images throughout the season instead of one post each.
Jupiter 2021-07-18 Ganymede shadow transit
First planetary observations of the season. Still low altitude but about 20 degrees now. Ganymede shadow transit
| Object ID | Jupiter |
| Details | 2021-07-18 01:19:35 UT |
| Telescope | Skymax 180 180mm f15 |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC UV/IR block filter |
| Exposure(s) | 120s .ser video, 70fps 48% frames 1.5x Drizzle |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | AS3, Registax 6, Photoshop |
Discovered I had 4 frames I could do an animation of the Ganymede shadow transit with.
Saturn 2021-07-18
First planetary observations of the season. Still low altitude
| Object ID | Saturn |
| Details | 2021-07-18 01:24:48 UT |
| Telescope | Skymax 180 180mm f15 |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC UV/IR block filter |
| Exposure(s) | 120s .ser video, 70fps 30% frames 1.5x Drizzle |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | AS3, Registax 6, Photoshop |
Sunspot AR2833
With darker edges
| Object ID | Sunspot AR2833 |
| Details | 2021-06-22 |
| Telescope | 180mm f15 Mak-Cass Baader Solar Film |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Mare Serenitatis L18
With darker edges
| Object ID | L18 Mare Serenitatis with dark edges |
| Details | 2021-06-17 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Northern Lunar crescent tip
Just a general crescent view
| Object ID | Lunar crescent |
| Details | 2021-06-14 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Sun 2021-06-01
Single image with QHY168C full 250mm with black polymer filter
Sun 2021-05-22
| Object ID | Sun |
| Details | 2021-05-22 10:47 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Black polymer filter |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | .ser video |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | AutoStakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Yet more lunar features for the ASE Lunar-100
Added to the ASE Lunar 100 Project
| Object ID | Posidonius, Gruithuisen, Hortensius Domes Fra Mauro formation, Prinz Rilles |
| Details | 2021-05-22 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Even more lunar features for the ASE Lunar-100
Added to the ASE Lunar 100 Project
| Object ID | Theophilus, Cyrillus, Catharina Taruntius, Cauchy Region, Rheita Valley |
| Details | 2021-05-17 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Sun 2021-05-11
Single image with QHY168C with black polymer filter
More lunar features for the ASE Lunar-100
Added to the ASE Lunar 100 Project
| Object ID | Aristarchus, Schroter’s Valley, Babbage, J. Herschel, Gassendi, Mare Humorum, Schickard, Sinus Iridum, Grimaldi (2021-04-25) |
| Details | 2021-04-24 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Lunar features for the ASE Lunar-100
Added to the ASE Lunar 100 Project
| Object ID | Clavius, Copernicus, Davy, Alphonsus and Plato |
| Details | 2021-04-21 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 60s .ser videos |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | Autostakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Crescent Moon 2021-04-15
Single shot, QHY168C
Sun 2021-04-14 12-22-53UT
Single image with QHY168C with new black polymer filter
Eartshine 2021-04-14
I’ve got really far behind posting on my own website as the ASE stuff got in the way.
C3 NGC 4236
Added more data to this one but still very tricky. More horrible gradients to deal with. The IDAS P2 LP filter is no longer doing it’s job with the change in LP sources round here. Have now bought the IDAS D3 to see if that is any better as it deals more with LED lighting.
| Object ID | C3 NGC 4236 Draco |
| Details | Mag. 10.5 Size 121′.9 × 7′.2 2021-04-12 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS P2 |
| Exposure(s) | 20x180s, 25x300s 10/50 gain/offset darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI |