Forthimage – Amateur Astronomy from Edinburgh
This website is a sort of 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.
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.
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, as well as others.
Mark Phillips
Recent posts
NGC 752 / C28 Open Cluster
Looks ordinary but lots of interest in there if you dig a bit deeper – obviously not all associated with the cluster but just in the fov. Includes a fair number of galaxies, spectroscopic binaries, X ray sources, galaxy groups, radio sources, ir sources, stars with high proper motions. The cluster itself contains about 258 stars, mostly low mass in the main sequence or red giant stage. About 1300 ly away and just on the edge of naked eye visibility at mag. 5.7.
| Object ID | NGC 752 / C28 |
| Details | Open Cluster Andromeda Mag.5.7 Size 75′ 2021-11-01 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC IDAS D3 |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 10x180s d,f,b |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Sh2-86 with cluster NGC 6823
Contains a pillar
| Object ID | Sh2-86 with cluster NGC 6823 Vulpecula |
| Details | 2021-11-03 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC Altair Astro triband filter |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 18x300s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
NGC 7008 Fetus Nebula
A planetary nebula with a diameter of 1 ly and about 200 ly away (Wiki says 2800 but parallax says 15.7mas ~200ly). Another William Herschel discovery. You can see the central star is still quite bright but is now a cooler white dwarf. There’s a nice double star system just top right of the nebula, although I suspect from their parallaxes (2.13 mas and 1.97 mas) it’s not a binary system. The nebula is much closer with a parallax of 15.7 so not associated with the double star.
| Object ID | NGC 7008 |
| Details | Planetary Nebula Cygnus Mag. 12 Size 1.4’x1.1′ |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC IDAS D3 |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 7x180s d,f,b |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Sun 2021-10-25
A blustery day but still nice interest on the Sun
| Object ID | Sun |
| Details | 2021-10-25 11:33:04 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | QHY168C |
| Exposure(s) | Single shot 0.001 ms |
| Capture | SharpCap |
| Processing | Photoshop |
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
The comet visited by Rosetta. Low down in the Edinburgh murk.
| Object ID | 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko |
| Details | 2021-12-14 22:28 – 00:10 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC, IDAS P2 |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 14x180s, darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
M33 tri-band
Only a small window available to take this. Narrowband brings out the emission regions and clusters well I think.
| Object ID | M33 Triangulum Galaxy |
| Details | 2021-10-09 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Tri-band filter |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 14x300s darks, flats, dark-flats |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Sun 2021-10-06
Single shot.
| Object ID | Sun AR2880 (right), AR2882 (left) |
| Details | 2021-10-06 10:07:25 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | QHY168C IDAS-D3 filter |
| Exposure(s) | 0.9ms |
| Capture | SharpCap |
| Processing | Photoshop |
Callisto and Ganymede shadow transits
Poor seeing so not much detail visible on Jupiter so concentrated on the shadow transits. Seeing comes in and out through the session. 13 frames in an animation. Satellite visible is Ganymede. Callisto is much further out and so the Ganymede shadow catches up with that of Callisto.
| Object ID | Jupiter, Callisto and Ganymede |
| Details | 2021-10-04 19:06 – 20:08 UT Seeing II |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC UV/IR block |
| Exposure(s) | 13 .ser videos 90s each at 82 fps |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | AutoStakkert, Registax, Photoshop |
ISS Lunar transit 2021-09-21
Fortunately was covering the correct part of the Moon.
| Object ID | ISS / Moon |
| Details | 2021-09-21 21:25UT Start(UT)=212502.937 Mid(UT)=212511.749 End(UT)=212520.561 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | Duration=17.624s @57fps |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | SER Player, Photoshop |
M31 tri-band test
Test to see if imaging M31 in tri-band is worth it. Yes! Detail in there that I haven’t seen in other images I’ve taken. Planning a 6 pane mosaic of the galaxy.
| Object ID | M31 Andromeda Galaxy |
| Details | 2021-09-07 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Tri-band filter |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 10x300s darks, flats, dark-flats |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Sh2-155, C9 Cave Nebula
Horizontal banding sorted. Camera into USB 2 not 3, and not through a USB hub.
Not very happy with the processing.
| Object ID | Sh2-155 / C9 Cave Nebula |
| Details | 2021-09-02 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Tri-band filter |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 20x300s darks, flats, dark-flats |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Saturn 2021-09-01
Altitude is still an issue. No more than 10°
| Object ID | Saturn |
| Details | 20201-09-01 21:54 UT Seeing 6/10 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian 2x 2″ ED Barlow |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 120s .SER @90 fps |
| Capture | FireCapture |
| Processing | AutoStakkert 3, Registax, Photoshop |
Jupiter 2021
This will get updated as I add Jupiter images throughout the season instead of one post each.
IC 1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula
One I often observe for HOYS but purely for imaging this time. Some horizontal banding noise from somewhere – to be resolved.
| Object ID | IC 1396, Elephant Trunk Nebula |
| Details | 2021-08-14 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Tri-band filter |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 15x300s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
IC 5146 Cocoon Nebula
First DSO for a while
| Object ID | IC 5146 Cocoon Nebula, C19 |
| Details | 2021-08-13 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian Tri-band filter |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 15x300s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
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