Star Vega

The bright star Vega in Lyra with Bahtinov mask.

Globular Cluster M80

Low above my southern horizon I could observe the globular Cluster M80. It's  located in the constellation scorpius and about 32000 light years away from Earth.
As the picture was taken low above the horizon and having the impact of city lights the picture is not fantastic. Picture was taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Settings are ISO800 and 30s with a total of 4,5 minutes exposure. The raw format was converted to DNG format and stacking using DeepSkyStakker. Final editing and cropping in CS4.

Omega Nebula M17

The Omega Nebula or Swan Nebula (Messier M17) is located in the constellation Sagittarius and about 5000 light years away from Earth.
The picture is taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Total exposure of 15 minutes : each picture exposure time 30s and ISO1600. Raw pictures converted to DNG and stacked using DeepSkyStakker. Final editing in CS4. The line below is the track of an airplane.

Lagoon Nebula M8

The Lagoon Nebula, Messier M8 is an interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius and about 4100 light years away from Earth.
The picture was taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5, with settings : ISO3200 and exposure of 19 minutes (each picture 30s). Stacking using DeepSkyStakker and final editing using CS4. On the left, open star cluster NGC6530.

Dumbbell Nebula M27

Messier M27 or Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula in the constellation vulpecula. It's located at a distance of about 1227 lightyears from Earth.
The picture was taken with Nikon D7500 on TAL200K with ISO6400 and 40 minutes exposure. Raw files converted to DNG and stacked using DeepSkyStakker. Final editing with CS4.

Apollo 11 - movie reviews

50 years ago, on 20 July 1969 (UT20h17), the Eagle module from Apollo 11 landed at Tranquility Base. Hours later, at UT02h56, Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first man to walk on the Moon.

Recently I watched two movies going back in time. The first one is "First Man". The movie is a bioptic of Neil Amstrong and follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. The movie gives insight on the life of Neil Armstrong, his family and other astronauts.

The other movie is "Apollo 11" and a documentary film. It tells the story of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, the first spaceflight from which men walked on the Moon. The film consists solely of archival footage, including 70 mm film previously unreleased to the public, and does not feature narration, interviews or modern recreations. The Saturn V rocket, Apollo crew consisting of Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins, and Apollo program Earth-based support staff are prominently featured in the film.

What a picture, but the movie gave even a shot taken from this ring - WOW

I saw Apollo 11 at the IMAX theatre in Brussels with two Helios friends. Personally this is my favorite and really amazing as the images and the sound gave a feeling being part of the launch and mission. Some part of the film I never saw before or I did not even knew. So a must-see-movie.

Dozens of rows with engineers sitting in form theis "desks", mosthly double seated - I Never saw this before!

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Current Thunderstorms and lightning : see this website for live coverage blitzortung.com

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