Forthimage – Amateur Astronomy from Edinburgh
This website is an observing log and a place where I can post my images and observations. You can find more information about the equipment I use on the About/Equipment page as well as papers I am co-author of.
Having imaged many of the obvious objects I find it more satisfying now to contribute data to various projects.
I am currently President and Webmaster of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh and some of my pictures are displayed on their Flickr page.
I contribute data to the HOYS citizen science project, ExoClock, BAA Mars, Solar and VSS sections, AAVSO, GOSA, GMN, UKMON, as well as others.
Mark
Recent posts
Sun 2022-02-08
Sun is getting high enough to see again. Very active at the moment.
Mono image, colourised as Duotone.
Object ID | Sun |
Details | 2022-02-08 11:08 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
Camera | Atik 460EX Black polymer filter, V filter |
Exposure(s) | 0.01s |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | Photoshop |
V1297 Cas eclipsing binary
No predictions for transit times for this one so trial and error. Sadly missed both peaks and dips.
Object ID | V1297 Cas Eclipsing binary in Cassiopeia |
Details | 2022-02-06 19:34 – 23:27 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Photometric V filter |
Camera | Atik 460EX @-10°C |
Exposure(s) | 620 x 15s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | AstroImageJ |

NR CAM eclipsing binary
Got both secondary and primary transits before cloud came in but had hoped to get both peaks to see if asymmetric or not which might indicate star spots. Primary transit is deeper than the secondary.
Wrote a How-To article on the ASE website about this: How to record an eclipsing binary transit light curve
Object ID | NR CAM Eclipsing binary in Camelopardalis |
Details | 2022-01-27 18:01 – 22:22 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Photometric V filter |
Camera | Atik 460EX @-10°C |
Exposure(s) | 476 x 25s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | AstroImageJ |
Finder chart and data:
AAVSO — Variable Star Plotter
V523 Cas eclipsing binary
Cloud stopped play so caught the primary transit but not the secondary. Will try this one again since it transits so fast.
Object ID | V523 Cas Eclipsing binary star |
Details | 2022-01-24 21:44 – 22:58 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
Camera | Atik 460EX @-10°C Photometric R filter |
Exposure(s) | 137 x 25s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | AstroImageJ |
HAT-P-70b exoplanet transit
This was an ALERT object for ExoClock. Lost the last 30 minutes to clouds. Quite a bright parent star which actually makes it harder. Only 10s exposures which means a lot of subs to deal with. Gives good values for Rp/Rs, no residual structure but disagrees with the only previous observation – but I would say that other observation was an unclear result from the chart.
Object ID | HAT-P-70b |
Details | 2022-01-21 10:00 – 00:34 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
Camera | Atik 460EX @-10°C Photometric R filter |
Exposure(s) | 1097 x 10s 20 each darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | HOPS |
PZ UMa eclipsing binary
Thought I’d try to catch an eclipsing binary transit since no obvious exoplanet ones to do for last night. First processed in HOPS, since that’s what I know, but that obviously wants to map an exoplanet transit onto the data. Finally processed in AstroImageJ, which charted it quite well.
Object ID | PZ UMa |
Details | 2022-01-17 21:18 – 00:12 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian R Photomeric filter |
Camera | Atik 460EX @-10°C |
Exposure(s) | 155 x 60s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | AstroImageJ |

Qatar-8b exoplanet transit
Well half a transit as clouds stopped play. Thin, changing cloud all night as well so the data looked really messy but the O-C shift is in close agreement with the two other observations on the ExoClock website. Closest in separation and magnitude comparison star 118 gave the best fit.
Object ID | Qatar-8b |
Details | 2022-01-16 17:59 – 23:03 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
Camera | Atik 460EX @-10°C Photometric R filter |
Exposure(s) | 292 x 55s 20 each darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | HOPS |
Used AAVSO plotter for comparison stars. Star list >
IC 2162, Sh 2-257 and Sh 2-254
More Tribbles… from left to right:
IC 2162, Sh 2-257 and Sh 2-254
Sh 2-256 is just below the middle one and Sh 2-258 is faintly to the left of the left-hand one.
Object ID | Nebulae Orion |
Details | 2022-01-03 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC IDAS D3 |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 15 x 300s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP Photoshop |
NGC 1333
A reflection nebula in Perseus. No. 1 on the HOYS target list. Tricky one to process because of all the dust around which is easy to lose in the background. As always, more subs would help.
Object ID | NGC 1333 |
Details | 2022-01-04 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC IDAS D3 |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 20x240s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
NGC 891 Silver Sliver Galaxy / Caldwell 23
Object ID | NGC 891 / Caldwell 23 |
Details | 2022-01-03 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Altair Astro Tri-band filter |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 15x300s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
M42 CCD Rc
Was setup for an exoplanet transit but cloud got in the way, so took 4 frames M42 with the R-Cousins filter and CCD camera again. Not bad!
Object ID | M42 |
Details | 2022-01-05 20:51 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
Camera | ATIK 460EX mono Baader Rc filter |
Exposure(s) | 5x180s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Photometry of Dwarf Nova in Gemini TCP J07094936+1412280 29
Still learning here but more consistent now with reprocessed data. Using AAVSO chart X27541GQ, comparison star 127, V mag. 12.701.
250mm f4.8 Newtonian
QHY168C @-15°C // Green channel only
29-12-2021 21:55 UT // TG mag. 12.48 // 540s
31-12-2021 23:31 UT // TG mag. 12.90 // 90s
01-01-2022 21:58 UT // TG mag. 13.29 // 90s
03-01-2022 21:58 UT // TG mag. 13.68 // 150s
04-01-2022 20:42 UT // TG mag. 13.88 // 150s
Dwarf Nova in Gemini TCP J07094936+1412280 2022-01-01
Better conditions for photometry. V mag 13.29
31-Dec-2021 poor conditions, no image, gave 13.1
Main image is full colour (enhanced) but photometry using green channel only
Object ID | TCP J07094936+1412280 |
Details | 01-01-2022 21:58:55 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS D2 |
Exposure(s) | 3x30s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | Pre-processed, stacked and channels separated in Siril Photometry in AstroImageJ Composition in Photoshop |
Dwarf Nova in Gemini TCP J07094936+1412280
Reported on 28 Dec 2021
britastro.org/node/26461
TCP J07094936+1412280
Photometry using AstroImageJ gave me on V mag of 12.3. Comparison stars may not be the best.
Main image is full colour (enhanced) but photometry using green channel only
Object ID | TCP J07094936+1412280 |
Details | 29-12-2021 21:55 UT |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C IDAS D2 |
Exposure(s) | 3x180s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | Pre-processed, stacked and channels separated in Siril Photometry in AstroImageJ Composition in Photoshop |
2021 Images
These are most of my images from 2021. Always feels like there are no clear skies in Scotland but clearly there are. Also did a lot of HOYS data on top of this – I am now up to 808 images submitted to the database. Only 1 exoplanet transit in 2021 though as there were very few long spells of clear skies and you need at least 4-7 hours for those.
NGC 7142 and NGC 7129
Strong Moonlight interfering but an unexpected clear night so all good. Nice sharp open cluster and 7129 is a HOYS object I image a lot.
Below is a less processed image showing the Moon gradients. By processing them out you definitely lose details.
Object ID | NGC 7142 Open Cluster NGC 7129 Cepheus |
Details | 2021-12-16 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC IDAS D3 |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 20 x 280s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP Photoshop |

Sh2 157 Lobster Claws
Another Tribble visible in this one. As well as the main Sh2-157 nebula, there are other interesting objects in this picture:
Open Cluster NGC 7510
Open Cluster Cl Mrk 50
And the Tribble is LBN 111.14.00.72
Object ID | Sh2 157 part of Lobster Claws NGC 7510 Cl Mrk 50 LBN 111.14.00.72 |
Details | 2021-12-10 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Altair Astro Tri-band filter |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 25x300s darks, flats, bias |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Pillars of creation
Not the famous ones in the Eagle Nebula, but still areas where stars are being created. These cold molecular pillars, generically known as elephant trunks, are areas of cold, dense gas, often associated with star formation. Research suggests they rotate, over periods of a few million years, as a semi-rigid structure, causing them to twist and change shape over time.
I thought I’d gather some closeups of them together from my recent images. The Pelican and Elephant Trunk nebulae are areas that I study along with the Hunting Outbursting Young Stars (HOYS) Project.
NGC 7822 narrowband
Homebrew false colour palette to help bring out the different regions. Interesting “pillars of creation” shown in the inset. Not the famous ones in the Eagle Nebula, but this object, along with the Elephant trunk nebula, also have similar features. A young star forming region in Cepheus, contains Sh2-171 and cluster Berkley 59.
It contains one of the hottest known local stars (marked) BD+66°1673, a O5V eclipsing binary. This star illuminates much of this nebula and forms the “pillars”. It is 45,000K and 100,000 time more luminous than the Sun.
Object ID | NGC 7822, Sh2-171, Berkeley 59 |
Details | Emission nebula Cygnus 2021-12-05 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Tri-band |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 20x300s d,f,b |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Sh2-237 and IC417 Spider and Fly Nebulae
Another Sh2 object. Clouds stopped imaging so only 8 captured.
Object ID | SH2-237 (left-fly) IC 417 (right-spider) Spider and Fly nebulae |
Details | Nebulae, Auriga 2021-12-01 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Tri-band |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 8x300s d,f,b |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
NGC 7538 Tri-band
Looking for more obscure objects again. This is a young star forming region, contains masers too. Very close to the Bubble Nebula but just across the constellation boundary in Cepheus. In the Perseus arm of the Milky Way.
Object ID | NGC 7538 |
Details | Open Cluster and Nebula Cepheus 2021-11-24 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Tri-band |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 28x300s d,f,b |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
NGC 6939 & NGC 6946 / C12 Fireworks Galaxy
Cepheus near the border with Cygnus. Bright Moonlight causing some background gradients.
NGC 6939, discovered by William Herschel of course, is quite old for an Open Cluster, between 1 and 1.3 billion years. It also lies about 400 parsecs above the galactic plane, a little unusual for Open Clusters as they are usually within the plane of the galaxy, hence the alternative name of Galactic Clusters.
NGC 6946 (also discovered by William Herschel) is about 25 million light years away and resides in the Virgo Supercluster. It’s known as the Fireworks Galaxy because it seems to be a hive of supernovae; ten have been observed in the 20th and 21st centuries alone. This is about 10 times the rate observed in our own galaxy, even though the Milky Way has twice as many stars. In fact more supernovae have been observed in this galaxy than any other.
During 2009, a bright star within NGC 6946 flared up over several months to become over one million times as bright as the Sun. Shortly thereafter it faded rapidly. Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that the star did not survive, although there remains some infrared emission from its position. This is thought to come from debris falling onto a black hole that formed when the star died. This potential black hole-forming star is designated N6946-BH1. The progenitor is believed to have been a yellow hypergiant star. Wikipedia
Object ID | NGC6939 & NGC 6946 / C12 Fireworks Galaxy |
Details | Galaxy and Open Cluster Cepheus 2021-11-20 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Tri-band |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 25x300s d,f,b |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |
IC5070 Pelican Nebula in narrowband
A star forming region I often image for the HOYS project. Bright moonlight but narrowband keeps most of it out of the image.
Object ID | IC5070 Pelican Nebula |
Details | Emission nebula Cygnus 2021-11-20 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Tri-band |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 30x300s d,f,b |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |

The Tribble Nebulae NGC1624/Sh2-212 and Sh2-211
An obscure one in Perseus. The larger is open cluster inside an emission nebula NGC 1624, also known as emission nebula Sh2-212, the smaller Sh2-211. Now known as the Tribble Nebulae after “Star Trek: The Trouble with Tribbles”. The dark patch top right is the dark nebula Barnard 20.
Object ID | The Tribble Nebulae NGC1624/Sh2-212 and Sh2-211 Dark nebula Barnard 20 |
Details | Open Clusters Emission nebulae Perseus 2021-11-12 |
Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Tri-band |
Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
Exposure(s) | 15x300s d,f,b |
Capture | NINA |
Processing | APP, Photoshop |