Your best photos submitted to the magazine this month
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
Bode’s Galaxy, M81
Alex says: “Bode’s Galaxy is a favourite I return to each year. I recently upgraded my scope and wanted a big target to fill the field of view, and M81 was perfect. It’s a wonderful, bright object and rises high to the zenith at this time of year. I took this image from my home observatory (the ‘BLT’), an octagonal self-build, which I designed, with a rotating and retractable roof. Living on a hill I don’t have the greatest southern aspect for winter targets, but this object in the north is accessible.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC camera, Celestron 11-inch EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, iOptron CEM60 mount
Exposure: 75x 120” Software: APP, Photoshop
Alex’s top tips: “Shooting at a long focal length relies on a good focus and guiding. To help achieve focus I used a ZWO EAF (Electronic Automatic Focuser) connected to an ASIair Pro. For guiding I used an off-axis guider and a ZWO ASI174MM Mini guide camera to pick out suitable faint stars. I also added a UV/IR cut filter to the guide camera to tighten up the guiding. The processing was tricky due to the galaxy’s bright core. I used a starless layer to boost the galaxy and Photoshop layer masks to brighten the spiral arms without blowing out the core.”
First full Moon of 2022
Sérgio says: “The Moon rose at the same time as sunset, with red hues brought on by the low Sun.”
Equipment: Canon R6 mirrorless camera
Exposure: ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/320” Software: Lightroom, Photoshop
The Jellyfish Nebula
Martin says: “Adding a HyperStar lens meant I could image faint objects faster than before.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, Celestron 11-inch EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro mount
Exposure: Ha 20x 300”, OIII 20x 300”, SII 10x 300”
Software: DeepSkyStacker, Photoshop
The Pleiades
Mark says: “With more integration time I was able to capture the small galaxy UGC 2838, which is 300 million lightyears away, and that just blows my mind!”
Equipment: ZWO ASI183MC camera, William Optics RedCat 51 refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Exposure: 169x 3’
Software: PixInsight, Photoshop
Jet refuelling
Steve Bowden, Muston, North Yorkshire, 19 January 2022
Steve says: “I grabbed my camera, ran outside and jumped on the picnic table to capture this early morning Moon with a McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender refuelling an F-15 Eagle.”
Equipment: Canon 5D MkIII DSLR camera, Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens
Exposure: ISO 640 f/6.3, 1/1600”
Software: Topaz DeNoise
Jupiter
Debbie says: “I captured Jupiter at last!”
Equipment: ZWO ASI224MC camera, Celestron NexStar 8SE
Exposure: 10”–3’ videos, 5,000 best frames stacked
Software: RegiStax, AutoStakkert!
The Heart/Fish Head Nebula
Jamie says: “I decided to keep a lot of the green that the SHO Hubble Palette creates, which is a bit different to the reds that people commonly use.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED Pro refractor and NEQ6 Pro mount
Exposure: SII 55x 600”, Ha 59x 600”, OIII 42x 600”
Software: PixInsight, Photoshop
Colourful night
Tomáš says: “As the Northern Lights appeared above the horizon and extended slowly over the sky, I made this panorama with the Milky Way and rising Moon.”
Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR modified, Sigma Art 28mm lens, Leofoto Ranger LS-284C tripod
Exposure: ISO 6400 f/2.2, 13”
Software: Lightroom, PTGui, Photoshop
The Baby Eagle Nebula, LBN 777
Catalin says: “The individual frames didn’t show much detail, but after stacking the first two nights’ subs I was amazed at the amount of dust and tiny galaxies around it.”
Equipment: QHY 268C camera, QHY 268M camera, Takahashi FSQ-85EDX refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro mount
Exposure: 16h total
Software: APT, CCDStack 2, PixInsight
The Seagull Nebula – Abdulmohsen Alreesh, Kuwait, 3 February 2022 – Equipment: ZWO ASI2600mm camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED refractor, iOptron CEM40 mount 
Sunspot AR 2936 – Jamie Cooper, Northamptonshire, 31 January 2022 – Equipment: ZWO ASI290MM camera, Sky-Watcher 80ED refractor, homemade full aperture AstroSolar film solar filter 
Sunspot AR 2936 in close-up – Jamie Cooper, Northamptonshire, 31 January 2022 – Equipment: ZWO ASI290MM camera, Sky-Watcher 80ED refractor, homemade full aperture AstroSolar film solar filter 
The Moon – John Short, Whitburn, Tyne and Wear, 7 February 2022 – Equipment: Nikon P1000 bridge camera 
M78 and NGC 2071 – Mike Read, Corsley Heath, Wiltshire, 20–30 January 2022 – Equipment: QHY268M camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount 
Mineral Wolf Moon – Dan Fleetwood, Rugby, 17 January 2022 – Equipment: Canon 250D DSLR, Celestron NexStar 8SE 
The Helix Nebula – Prabhu, Mleiha, UAE, 28 November and 8 December 2021 – Equipment: ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera, GSO 8-inch Ritchey–Chrétien, Sky-Watcher EQ6 mount 
M66 – Mark Shelton, Marston Green, Birmingham, 15–19 January 2022 – Equipment: ZWO ASI6200 camera, Celestron C14 Edge Schmidt-Cassegrain, Paramount MX+ mount 
The Rosette Nebula – Nigel Arnold, York, 4–14 January 2022 – Equipment: QHY268M camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED refractor, Celestron CGX mount 
Jupiter, the Crescent Moon, Saturn and Mercury – Cath Adams, Shifnal, Shropshire, 5 January 2022 – Equipment: Canon Kiss X4 DSLR, Miranda tripod
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