Mackay and SE Qld Storms & Astro | Other

Mackay and SE Qld Storms & Astro

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25.01.2022 A sad day for aviation today with the very last Qantas 747 leaving Australia for good. What a fitting send off with them drawing the flying kangaroo in their flight path!

24.01.2022 Too good not to share!

24.01.2022 Here we go Australia, comet neowise is starting to become visible for us just after sunset. This was taken by my friend Kevin here in Mackay. Each night it will gradually become higher in the sky but it's moving away from the sun and also the Moon is coming so it'll become dimmer each night Comet neowise is located in the North West just after sunset

24.01.2022 Hi all, Here's my first sighting of Comet Neowise taken at Crediton west of Mackay tonight! Unfortunately I got fogged out for over an hour before it cleared enough to get an image just before it set. ISO6400, F2.8, 30s, 70mm on Sigma 70-200mm, Pentax K-3. Tracked with Star Tracker.

23.01.2022 Look at this beast of a storm near Moranbah at the moment! Far out Dan that's a cracker!

23.01.2022 Storms are starting to fire up East of the Eton Range. How's it looking at your place? Fingers crossed for a bit of rain from them!

21.01.2022 The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula[1][2] (catalogued as Messier 17 or M17 or NGC 6618) is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745. Charles Messier catalogued it in 1764. It is located in the rich starfields of the Sagittarius area of the Milky Way. The Omega Nebula is between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diamete...r. The cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter and has a mass of 30,000 solar masses.[3] The total mass of the Omega Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses.[4] It is considered one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions of our galaxy.[3] Its local geometry is similar to the Orion Nebula except that it is viewed edge-on rather than face-on.[5] The open cluster NGC 6618 lies embedded in the nebulosity and causes the gases of the nebula to shine due to radiation from these hot, young stars; however, the actual number of stars in the nebula is much higher - up to 800, 100 of spectral type earlier than B9, and 9 of spectral type O,[citation needed] plus over a thousand stars in formation on its outer regions.[3] It is also one of the youngest clusters known, with an age of just 1 million years.[6] (Source: Wiki) Imaging telescopes or lenses:GSO 10" F5 Imaging cameras:ZWO ASI1600MM Pro-Cool ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool Mounts:Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Goto NEQ 6 PRO GOTO Guiding telescopes or lenses:ZWO Off Axis Guider Guiding cameras:Orion SSAG Software:PHD GUIDING , Photoshop CC Filters:ZWO 36mm 7nm OIII , ZWO 36mm 7nm Ha Accessory:ZWO 7 position 36mm filter wheel Dates:July 29, 2020 , July 30, 2020 Frames: ZWO 36mm 7nm Ha: 93x300" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm 7nm OIII: 48x300" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 Integration: 11.8 hours Darks: ~50 Flats: ~25 Flat darks: ~50 Avg. Moon age: 10.02 days Avg. Moon phase: 76.40% Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 4.00 Link to Astrobin full sized image: https://www.astrobin.com/full/czj4v4/0/

21.01.2022 Let's Welcome the Mackay dome to Season 2020 2021 Just like Townsville, Mackay has its own dome, it's not quite as strong as Townsville's but it manages to do the job most days. In next week's 'Did You Know's I'll give you a peak at what makes the dome so effective :D :D :D

20.01.2022 A huge achievement for SpaceX! SN5 just successfully completed a 150m "hop" only moments ago!! Well done!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJR4gZBLMNw&t=36m20s

19.01.2022 Hi all, here is Jupiter and Saturn taken last night on my telescope. Jupiter was imaged at 6250mm zoom and Saturn was imaged at 3125mm. I did start to shoot Saturn at 6250mm however cloud came over so had to abort. These are my first planetary images in years! Seeing was average.

16.01.2022 Last night after weeks of waiting for this night, the stars aligned, the clouds cleared and I imaged Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 next to M64. This was a dream shot for me and I did not expect it to turn out as good as it did! 4 hours of processing was involved to stack the comet and stars and get the image to where I was happy with it all. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did capturing it! Imaging telescopes or lenses:GSO 10" F5 Imaging cameras:ZWO ASI1600MM Pro-Cool ZWO ASI1...600MM Pro Cool Mounts:Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Goto NEQ 6 PRO GOTO Guiding telescopes or lenses:ZWO Off Axis Guider Guiding cameras:Orion SSAG Software:PHD GUIDING , Photoshop CC Filters:ZWO 36mm Green Filter , ZWO 36mm Red Filter , ZWO 36mm Blue Filter Accessory:ZWO 7 position 36mm filter wheel Dates:Aug. 4, 2020 Frames: ZWO 36mm Blue Filter: 10x30" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Green Filter: 10x30" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Red Filter: 10x30" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 Integration: 0.2 hours Darks: ~50 Flats: ~25 Flat darks: ~50 Avg. Moon age: 15.59 days Avg. Moon phase: 99.24% Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 4.00 Fullsized image here at Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/full/gsuhst/B/

14.01.2022 Hi all, here's Comet C/2020 F3 from Crediton, west of Mackay tonight just on sunset, plus a stacked image as it was getting darker (24x30s). Unfortunately tonight looks like it'll be the last night for me as the moon is really starting to wash out the tail on it now. You can still capture the comet just after sunset looking NW, however it's getting more dim as it moves away from the sun. Details: Pentax K-3, ISO1600 Sigma 70-200mm @ 70mm... Tracked on Star Adventurer mount See more

12.01.2022 Looks like we could receive some welcome rain overnight! Image courtesy of the OCC weather centre

12.01.2022 The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Apple Core Nebula, Messier 27, M 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1227 light-years.[1] This object was the first planetary nebula to be discovered; by Charles Messier in 1764. At its brightness of visual magnitude 7.5 and its diameter of about 8 arcminutes, it is easily visible in binoculars,[5] and a popular observing target in amateur telescopes. (Source: Wiki) Imaging telescopes... or lenses:GSO 10" F5 Imaging cameras:ZWO ASI1600MM Pro-Cool ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool Mounts:Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Goto NEQ 6 PRO GOTO Guiding telescopes or lenses:Orion ED80 F7.5 Guiding cameras:Orion SSAG Software:PHD GUIDING , Photoshop CC Filters:ZWO 36mm Green Filter , ZWO 36mm Red Filter , ZWO 36mm Blue Filter , ZWO 36mm Luminance Filter Accessory:ZWO 7 position 36mm filter wheel Dates:Aug. 17, 2020 , Aug. 18, 2020 , Aug. 20, 2020 , Aug. 21, 2020 , Aug. 22, 2020 Frames: ZWO 36mm Blue Filter: 50x120" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Green Filter: 50x120" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Luminance Filter: 80x300" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Red Filter: 50x120" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 Integration: 11.7 hours Darks: ~50 Flats: ~25 Flat darks: ~50 Avg. Moon age: 12.95 days Avg. Moon phase: 6.07% Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 4.00 Basic astrometry details Astrometry.net job: 3789173 RA center: 19h 59' 35" DEC center: +22 43' 12" Pixel scale: 0.620 arcsec/pixel Orientation: 4.119 degrees Field radius: 0.257 degrees Full size image here on Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/full/p8pmtm/0/?real=&mod=

11.01.2022 Here's tonight's Magnitude -3.6 ISS (International Space Station) pass over Marian. It certainly was a bright one! 128 images stacked taken at 10mm on my Pentax K-3

11.01.2022 NGC 6822 (also known as Barnard's Galaxy, IC 4895, or Caldwell 57) is a barred irregular galaxy approximately 1.6 million light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Part of the Local Group of galaxies, it was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884 (hence its name), with a six-inch refractor telescope. It is one of the closer galaxies to the Milky Way. It is similar in structure and composition to the Small Magellanic Cloud. It is about 7,000 light-years in diameter. (sou...rce: Wiki) Imaging telescopes or lenses:GSO 10" F5 Imaging cameras:ZWO ASI1600MM Pro-Cool ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Cool Mounts:Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Goto NEQ 6 PRO GOTO Guiding telescopes or lenses:ZWO Off Axis Guider Guiding cameras:Orion SSAG Software:PHD GUIDING , Photoshop CC Filters:ZWO 36mm 7nm Ha , ZWO 36mm Red Filter , ZWO 36mm Blue Filter , ZWO 36mm Luminance Filter Accessory:ZWO 7 position 36mm filter wheel Dates:Aug. 9, 2020 , Aug. 10, 2020 , Aug. 15, 2020 , Aug. 16, 2020 Frames: ZWO 36mm 7nm Ha: 50x120" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Blue Filter: 50x120" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Green Filter: 48x120" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Luminance Filter: 69x300" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 ZWO 36mm Red Filter: 50x120" (gain: 120.00) -10C bin 1x1 Integration: 12.3 hours Darks: ~50 Flats: ~25 Flat darks: ~50 Avg. Moon age: 23.43 days Avg. Moon phase: 38.95% Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 4.00 Basic astrometry details Astrometry.net job: 3762253 RA center: 19h 44' 58" DEC center: -14 48' 54" Pixel scale: 0.884 arcsec/pixel Orientation: 179.895 degrees Field radius: 0.487 degrees Full sized image here on Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/full/0tdrba/0/?real=&mod=

09.01.2022 Tonight begins a full 6 days in a row of bright and very bright international space station (ISS) passes. Look towards the South at 7:10pm for a bright star moving across the sky. Be quick tonight though because it's only visible for a few minutes before it disappears into the Earth's shadow. ISS passes for the Mackay region: Monday September 7th 7:09-7:11pm, magnitude -2.1 - bright Tuesday September 8th 6:23-6:24pm, magnitude -1.7 - bright... Tuesday September 8th bonus pass 7:58-7:59pm magnitude -0.8 - moderately bright Wednesday September 9th 7:10-7:14pm, magnitude -3.5 - very bright Thursday September 10th 6:23-6:26pm, magnitude -3.6 - very bright Friday September 11th 7:13-7:15pm, magnitude -0.7 - moderately bright Saturday September 12th 6:24-6:27pm, magnitude -1.6 - bright See more

08.01.2022 Happy Spring everyone! Storm season is just around the corner. I've been a bit quiet with my Astro posts lately - The reason? Well I've sold my NEQ6 Pro mount to make room for a behemoth of a mount, the CEM70! This monster will be bolted to a pier in my observatory. The beauty of this new mount is that it will allow me to carry up to 31kg of payload compared to 20kg the NEQ6 Pro had (I was at 22kg so was majorly overloaded). The wind performance of the CEM70 should be a lot better as well. Hopefully it should arrive sometime this week or early next week! (Image: ioptron.com)

08.01.2022 Happy days!! An astrophotographers dream when you get a guiding graph so flat. This is my telescope currently imaging, running flawlessly. Hopefully the breeze stays away!

04.01.2022 5 years ago today I imaged the Andromeda Galaxy. This is one massive galaxy!

01.01.2022 There's a chance the Mackay storm season could begin this evening! Crossing everything that we get something later tonight. Early signs are quite promising of a decent storm season this year with La Nina ramping up.