"Production moves on in the JPO Clean Room under the close supervision of Jolene McSquint-Fleming our engineer. The next related activity will be the capture of data from a range of stellar spectral types. We await a clear night in Lowestoft for this work to be undertaken. Professor Chrissy H will use this data in preparation of a dedicated processing app."- Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
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| Comet Irene amongst the Star clouds of Sagittarius. Credit: Original data Rob Wadd reprocessed to show nebulosity |
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| The Constellation Ursa Major ,the Great Bear over the Auroral Glow and Norwegian Glacier. Image Credit: Maisy Roberts. |
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| Newly discovered Comet. Euclid Space Telescope. Image Credits: ESA snd the Sky@Night. |
" This discovery is particularly interesting in that Euclid was not purposed to find comets, the comet found has a non ecliptic trajectory which is unusual and that this is the first comet discovered by a space telescope. We live in exciting and interesting times" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory the UK's most easterly Astronomical Observatory.
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| M11 Open Star Cluster. Seestar S30 in EQ mode. 15x60sec exp. |
" Kurt found this data on the Seestar internal drive and was one of the last data captures from his hotel balcony in Giardini Naxos Sicily and September 2026.
The Wild Duck Cluster seen at the centre of the image is one of the densest populated clusters with an estimated 2900 stars. It is located just over 6000 light years distant from the Earth. The bright central stars are arranged in a 'V' shape, reminiscent of a flight of ducks!". - Joel Cairo the CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
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| El Gourdo image credit NASA, ESA and CSA |
" We occasionally come across interesting images which are so fabulous that we repost them. This JWST image of a massive group of galaxies in the Constellation Phoenix is visible in the southern hemisphere. Neither Kurt or myself had heard of this group so this was a first for us" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
Observations relating to the above JWST image made by Gary Gemini the JPO's Coms Officer:
JWST View of El Gordo
"This image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) shows El Gordo (officially named ACT-CL J0102-4915 or SPT-CL J0102-4915), one of the most massive and extreme galaxy clusters in the cosmic universe.
Location & Constellation
Constellation: Phoenix (a constellation in the southern sky).
Distance: Located approximately 7.3 to 7.6 billion light-years away from Earth. The light captured in this NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image left the cluster when the universe was only about half its current age (around 6.2 billion years after the Big Bang).
Key Features & Fascinating Details
"El Gordo" Means "The Fat One":
The cluster was given the nickname "El Gordo" (Spanish for "The Fat One") by astronomers due to its immense size and mass. It contains hundreds of individual galaxies and is estimated to have a mass equivalent to 3 quadrillion (3×1015) suns. It is the most massive galaxy cluster known to exist in that cosmic era.
Gravitational Lensing (Nature's intoCosmic Telescope):
Because El Gordo is so colossal, its gravity bends and warps the fabric of spacetime around it. This creates a gravitational lens that magnifies, distorts, and stretches the light from even more distant galaxies lying far behind it into long streaks and arcs.
Prominent Arcs in the Image:
The Fishhook (El Anzuelo): The bright reddish/orange curved swoosh seen toward the upper center/left is a background red giant galaxy whose light has been severely lensed into an arc. JWST's instruments revealed that its red hue is caused by vast amounts of cosmic dust.
The Thin One (La Flaca): Near the middle-left of the cluster is a razor-thin, pencil-like streak created by another background galaxy distorted by the cluster's mass.
A Collision in Progress:
El Gordo is not just a static cluster; it is actually two giant galaxy clusters colliding and merging together at high speeds, spewing superheated gas into intergalactic space.
JWST Diffraction Spikes:
The sharp, eight-pointed bright stars in the foreground are stars within our own Milky Way galaxy. Their distinctive starburst pattern is a signature artifact produced by JWST's hexagonal mirror alignment".
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| The LVST (Lowestoft Very Small *radio* Telescope) display screen. The two raised dB single lines, showing yellow and red, far right of screen, represent two meteor plasma reflections occurring in real time and quick succession. |
"Kurt is recovering from COVID and is now testing negative for the infection. As a consequence, his enthusiasm for astronomy has returned and today he has been in the JPO Clean Room assisting Jolene McSquint-Fleming in the fabrication of the bits and pieces for the Seestar Low resolution spectrometer.
Whilst they were in there, The LVST, software defined radio meteor detector was pinging away as radar waves from the French military installation at Dijon were reflected from ablation plasma as meteors entered the atmosphere somewhere south of Lowestoft. There is some debate as to whether this is the result of forward or back scatter. If the former, the meteors are between Dijon and Lowestoft and if the latter they are located south of Dijon. What was noticeable was the recorded data showed very little change in frequency for their duration. This implies, from lack of Doppler Shift, that the track of the meteor was not moving radially with respect to Dijon or Lowestoft .
The weather has not been good over the last few nights but our sponsor, Anita Roberts did see an early morning yellow 'Fireball meteor ' moving from west to east and fast over Lowestoft earlier this month". - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory - The UK's most easterly astronomical Observatory.
"Last night we completed the 3d printing of spectrometer parts and today Kurt painted the inside of the 3 spectrometer hoods with ultra black acrylic paint. Another and final coat of paint will be applied tomorrow, followed by assembly"- Jolene McSquint-Fleming JPO engineer.
