Jupiter this evening

Even though the seeing was poor I put my scope outside to observe the Great Red Spot (GRS). The passing of the GRS was around 20h30 UT. My observation was completed around 21h30. I used my ASI224MC camera with barlow x2 on TAL200K f/8.5. Pictures are stacked using AutoStakkert and final editing with CS4.

Red Sunset

Sunflower Galaxy Messier M63

Sunflower Galaxy Messier M63 (NGC 5055) in constellation Canes Venatici is located about 23,5 million light years from Earth. This picture was taken using Nikon D7500 with TAL200K and stacked by DeepskyStacker. Final editing completing with CS4. Total of 18 pictures and a combined exposre time of 550 seconds.

Virgo Clsuter M84 M86

Parts of the Virgo cluster can be seen in the constellation Virgo. On May 8th, I made some pictures of M84 and M86 which are part of Markarian's Chain (8 Galaxy's within 1,5°). On the picture I'm able to count 7 Galaxy's. Pictures are stacked using CS4 and edited afterwards.

Circumscribed and 22° Halo around the Sun

Today, around midday, the Sun was seen with a 22° Halo and adjacent a Circumscribed Halo. Both Halo's have the red color towards the center of the Sun.
The 22° and Circumscribed  Halo's are developed when Sun light enters one side of a hexagonal columnar ice crystal and exits through another side. The light is refractec when it enters the ice crystal and once again when it leaves the ice crystal. The difference between both Halo's is the fact that  22° Halo are formed within random distributed crystals and Circumscribed Halo's when the crystals are merely horizontal oriented.

White = 22° Halo / Blue = Circumscribed Halo

The shape of the Circumscribed Halo also changes depending the height of the Sun at the sky. When the sun is low, the two “arms” of the upper tangent arc form a sharp angle. As the sun gets higher, they get closer and closer to the 22°-halo. At the same time they become longer, joining the lower tangent arc at a sun elevation of 32°. The complete ring now being formed is called the circumscribed halo. It touches the 22°-halo above and below the sun. First the circumscribed halo is of an oval shape. At increasing sun elevations its shape becomes more and more circular and gets closer to the 22°-halo. At a sun elevation of 70° the circumscribed halo almost covers the 22°-halo. 

Halo 22°

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Almost perfect halo around the sun in #averbode #scherpenheuvel

Globular Cluster NGC 5466

In the constellation Bootes we can find the globular cluster NGC5466, which is about 51800 light years away from Earth.
The object is rather faint and on top the seeing was poor (May9 0h46 UT) . As a result more light pollution came into the picture.

Satellite passing NGC5466