Faculae but no Sunspot

Observation of the Sun today. Some observers mentioned a small sunspot but I could not observe this. At the limb some minor faculae which I could see both with solarfilm and H-Alpha. 

Halo

Almost 360' Halo around the Sun.

Bright Prominences on the Quit Sun

On May 30, 2020 some observations of the Sun, which is still "quit". Near the surface different prominences of which one big one.

Crew Dragon DM-2 Launched

Today May 30, Crew Dragon DM-2 on top of a Falcon  9 rocket was launched on time from Space Kennedy Center.

Lunar X and Lunar V during daylight

Lunar X and Lunar V are both optical features on the Moon. Both the letter "X" and "V" can be observed for a few hours before first quarter and near the terminator. It can be seen due to the effect of sunlight and shadows of the rim of different mooncraters. 

Today I took some time to find both Lunar X and Lunar V. According the literature the phenomenon could be seen on May 29, 2020 UT13-15h (Lunar X) and UT15-17h (Lunar V).

This is still during daytime and a challenge with all the sunlight around. But is a good learning for the upcoming (June 17) lunar occultation of Venus.

After sunset I took again some pictures of the moon and found out that Lunar V and even Lunar X was visible. 

Launch Aborted

Launch athe borted of Crew Dragon DM2 on the Falcon 9 at T-20 due to weather conditions.

T-45min Before Launch Crew Dragon

T-45min before launch of the Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon Capsule from the SLC 39A.

Moon

Famous Ghost of Jupiter NGC3242

Earlier on April 21, 2020 I took some pictures of NGC3242, a planetary Nebula, known as the famous Ghost of Jupiter. It's magnitude is 7.3 but it shows up low above the horizon. I could not get the central star as I only could make 2 pictures due to blocking by a tree. The planetary nebula is located in constellation Hydra and about 4800 light years from Earth.

Settting with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5, ISO 6400 and 2x60s exposure time. Stacking and editing with CS4. 

Preparation for Herschel 400

I did complete the PSA (Periodical System for the Amateur Astronomer) earlier this year and I hope to complete the Messier list this summer with only 3 objects to do. 

As I was looking for a next challenge I started to read a book I bought back in 2017 :  Stephen James O'Meara's Herschel 400 Observing Guide. 

My objective is not to get all 400 object done, at least not for now :) But I mad a selection of interesting object. So this is what I will be observing and making pictures :

* 24 Planetary Nebulae

* 38 Double Objects (Galaxies and/or Starcluster) - as within the view field of my TAL200K f/8.5

* 10 Interesting Object eg. Antennae Galaxy

I already have completed the observation of 70 Herschel 400-objects of which most are part of the Messier List and PSA list. 

Start of Astronomical Twilight

As from this week untill the weekend of July 21st, skies will not get fully dark as the Sun will not go below 18° of the Horizon. This is what's called Astronomical Twilight. 

Venus - Mercury Traject May 19-23, 2020

Mercury and Venus at the evening sky during the last 5 days. As weather was good I was able to make pictures of this traject. On May 19, Mercury was South of Venus; on May 23, Mercury was North-West of Venus. 

All pictures taken with Nikon D7500 and Nikon 18-200 lens (95mm). 

Venus - Mercury May 23, 2020

Open and clear sky this evening with Venus and Mercury low above the north-western horizon. Since yesterday, Mercury is now North of Venus.

Halo

A beauriful, almost 360' Halo around the Sun this afternoon.

Venus Mercury May 21

Last night Venus and Mercury at the evening sky. Some clouds and plane trails made it difficult to track both planets at the same time.

Venus - Mercury Traject at the sky May 19, 20, 21

The last 3 days both Venus and Mercury are visible after sunset. They are getting closer and closer as seen on the pictures - of course not in space. 

All pictures taken with Nikon D7500, 95mm and ISO100. 

NASA SpaceX Demo-2 with Astronauts on Wednesday May 27

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad at Launch Complex SLC 39A. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission is the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to launch at 22h33 local time (GMT+1) on Wednesday, May 27 at the Kennedy Space Center. A new era of human spaceflight is set to begin as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil to low-Earth orbit for the first time since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. 

Final editing of Supernova SN2020jfo in M61

My collegue Walter from Astronomy club Helios challenged me to rework my picture of M61 with Type 2 Supernova SN2020jfo. Walter edited the picture using Software Denoise Al. CS4 was used to approach this base as best as I can. 

The result is the best so far. As described earlier, the picture is the result of two sessions, May 16 and May 20 with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5 setting ISO 6400, 90x60s exposure.

Halo

High clouds and thus some nice 360' halo's around the Sun.

Venus and Mercury after sunset

This evening Venus and Mercury 30 minutes after sunset.

Rework Galaxy M61 and Supernova SN2020jfo

Rework of Tiff 16bit picture from M61 and Supernova SN2020jfo. The result is sharper and colorfull. 

Venus - Mercury getting closer - May 19-23 2020

Last evening but also the next 3 evenings, Venus and Mercury will be "meeting" each other. Not in space of  course but as seen from Earth. 

My weather station VWR200

Supernova SN2020jfo in Galaxy M61

Last night I took time to make more pictures of Galaxy M61 to capture supernove SN2020jfo. Total exposure of 60x60s ISO6400 with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5/ Stacking with DeepSkyStacker of both pictures of last night as from May 16. This results of a total exposure of 1h30m. Final editing using CS4.

Siamese Twins or Butterfly Galaxy

NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 are part of the Butterfly Galaxy or also known as the Siamese Twins. Both galaxies are located in constellation Virgo and about 60 million light years away from Earth. Together with NGC 4564 (55 million light years from Earth) they are all part of the Virgo Cluster.

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 10x60s exposure time. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Picture uploaded in Astrometry - see results.

Galaxy NGC 4526 or NGC 4560

Galaxy NGC 4526 (also listed as NGC 4560 - see astrometry) is located in constellation Virgo and is part of the Virgo Cluster and about 55 million light years away from Earth. 

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 16 minutes exposure time (16x60s). Stacking using DeepSkyStacker and final editing with CS4.

Galaxies NGC 4550 & 4551 - Clockwise / Counterclockwise movement

Galaxy NGC 4550 is located in constellation Virgo and is part of the Virgo Cluster, about 50 million light years away from Earth. An interesting fact is that NGC 4550 has stars which move counterclockwise and another part of the stars move clockwise.

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 10x60s. Stacking using DeepSkyStacker and final editing with CS4. 

Galaxy NGC 4535

Galaxy NGC 4535 is located in constellation Virgo and part of the Virgo Cluster and about 54 million light years away from Earth. 

Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 15x60s. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Supernova SN2020jfo in Galaxy M61

A Supernova SN2020 jfo is found in Galaxy M61. This galaxy M61 is located in constellation Virgo and about 52 million light years away from Earth. Galaxy M61 part of the Virgo Cluster and is one of the largest members of the Cluster. 

The supernova SN2020 jfo is a type 2 nova. Type II supernovae like 2020jfo involve the sudden and violent collapse of a supergiant star when its nuclear fuel gas tank hits empty. With no heat and pressure in the core to battle back the crushing hand of gravity, the star implodes. The infall rebounds at the core, creating a shock wave of such ferocity that it rips through the star and blows it to bits in a titanic explosion 100 million times brighter than the Sun. No wonder we can see these things in our backyard telescopes (source Sky & Telescope)!


Picture was taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Setting ISO6400 and 31x60s. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing in CS4.

Sun in H-alpha

This morning the Sun in H-alpha and with some bright prominences. Picture taken afocal (10mm) with Nikon D7500 and SolarMax3 d70/400 f/5.7 DS BF15. Setting ISO100 and 1,3s exposure time. Editing using CS4.

Venus 12% Illuminated

This evening Venus is still very bright and shining after sunset. I made some pictures using my TAL200K f/8.5 telescoop with ZWO224MC camera and ADC (Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector). Pictures are stacked using Autostakkert! and final editing with CS4.

Antennae Galaxies NGC 4038/4039

Reworking my picture from Antennae Galaxies NGC 4038/4039.

Antennae Galaxies NGC 4038/4039

Galaxies NGC 4038/4039 also know as the Antennae Galaxies are located in constellation Corvus and about 45 million lightyears away from Earth.

The Antennae Galaxies are an example of colliding galaxies. In better circumstances and longer exposure time it should be possible to see the antennae. Yesterday conditions were moderate with Moonlight (75%) and 100% relative humidity.

Setting: Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5; ISO 1600 and 21x60s exposure time. Stacking with DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

Galaxies NGC 4762 and NGC 4754 - Use of PAE

Both galaxies NGC 4762 and NGC 4754 are located in constellation Virgo and both are part of the Virgo Cluster. NGC 4762 is located at a distance of 60 million lightyears from Earth; NGC 4754 about 53 million light years.

Setting: Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5, ISO3200 and 46x60s exposure time. Stacking using DeepSkyStacker and final editing using CS4.

The equatorial mount and Synscan v4 was connected to my PC and Stellarium software. After 3 star allignment the mount was set to a nearby star and again corrected via PAE, Point Accurancy Enhancement.  The nearby star was centered and via menu Utililty, PAE corrected. This was a great help to located the galaxies.

Moon, Venus Compilation

Moon and my Weatherstation

Evening Moon and Da Vinci Glow

Moon with Earthshine also know as The Da Vinci Glow, Venus and my Weather Station.