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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.
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| Two grating holders and one hood 3d printed in the Clean Room at the JPO. |
" Our engineer, Jolene McSquint-Fleming, has moved the project from 'prototype' to 'proof' status. The 'Low resolution spectrometer will comprise of three parts: the grating holder, a holographic printed transmission grating and a hood to minimise stray light and reflections. The 3d printed holder was made using 'ferrous' infill PLA so will affix magnetically to the Seestar S30 in front of it's objective lens. A 4 mm. wide strip of holographic diffraction grating will be bonded with super glue to the studs on the holder. The grating will only partially cover the Seestar's lens and sensor to ensure the Seestar goto and guidance system continue to function and to avoid frame rejection because of false star movements detected. The hood printed from PETG will be painted internally with BLX3.0 light absorbing black paint and glue bonded to the other side of the holder. We intend to manufacture three units using gratings of : 50lines/mm, 80lines/mm and 100lines/mm. We are hoping our collaborator Professor Chrissy H will write a 2d spectral processing app, which does not require both Zero and First Order spectra to be on the Seestar camera sensor at the same time. Both the 50 and 80 lines/mm units allow both spectral orders to fit on the S30 sensor if diagonally orientated. The unit has been designed for use with the S30 but may work as well or better with the S30 Pro and S50 Pro. Subject to this unit working well all details and files will be made available open source." - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
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| The Helix Planetary Nebula -Data captured from Sicily with Seestar S30 EQ mode LP filter 60x60sec exp. September 2026 |
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| The Helix Nebula captured by ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). Credit: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit |
" Kurt captured the above images in less than good conditions for astrophotography. The Moon was near full, the hotel lights were full on and Etna, (16 km distant), had just erupted dumping fine ash into the upper atmosphere." - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
Captured from a balcony from Sicily using a Seestar S30 smart telescope, these images showcase one of the night sky's most iconic and photogenic targets: The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), also catalogued as Caldwell 63. Often colloquially referred to as the "Eye of God" or the "Eye of Sauron," this celestial masterpiece offers a vivid glimpse into the ultimate fate awaiting Sun-like stars.
The stacked processing highlights the object through two distinct visualization techniques: the RGB Palette (displaying natural broadband colour rendering with striking outer red rings and inner blue-green ionization cores) and the Dual Band SHO Palette (emphasizing narrow-band sulphur, hydrogen-alpha, and oxygen emissions)
Constellation: Situated in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius.
Distance: Approximately 655 light-years (200 parsecs) from Earth, measured with high precision by the Gaia mission. This proximity makes it one of the closest planetary nebulae to our solar system.
Angular Size: Spans an apparent diameter of roughly 16 to 20 arcminutes (extending up to 25 arcminutes in its outermost faint halos). To the observer, it covers an area in the sky roughly half the diameter of the full Moon.
True Spatial Extent: Physically, the main luminous shell measures approximately 2.5 to 3.0 light-years across, while faint outer halos extend even further into the surrounding interstellar medium.
Morphology: While it appears deceptively like a simple glowing ring from our perspective, three-dimensional kinematic and infrared studies reveal that the Helix Nebula is actually a complex bipolar structure (or a dense barrel-shaped torus) viewed at an inclination angle.
Cometary Knots: High-resolution observations of the inner rim reveal tens of thousands of dense, finger-like gas structures known as "cometary knots," each featuring a dense neutral core and a tail pointing away from the central star.
Despite their misleading historical name, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. The term was coined by 18th-century astronomers because early, low-resolution telescopes made these round, glowing green-blue disks resemble gas giant planets. In reality, they are luminous tombstones marking the death throes of intermediate- to low-mass stars (between roughly 0.8 and 8 solar masses).
The creation of the Helix Nebula followed a specific evolutionary sequence:
The Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) Phase: Millions of years ago, the progenitor star exhausted the hydrogen fuel in its core and expanded into a red giant, subsequently entering the AGB phase where its outer envelope swelled enormously.
Mass Ejection: Unstable thermal pulses caused the star to gently pulsate and shed its outer layers into space at stellar wind velocities ranging between 30 to 40 kilometers per second. This expanding gas shell formed the massive shroud of hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, and oxygen we see today.
The White Dwarf Remnant: Once the outer layers drifted away, the bare stellar core was left behind. This exposed core collapsed into a scorching white dwarf (visible near the exact geometric center of the nebula), with a surface temperature exceeding 110,000 Kelvin.
Fluorescence and Ionization: The newborn white dwarf emits intense, high-energy ultraviolet radiation. This radiation ionizes the surrounding expanding shell of gas, stripping electrons from atoms and causing them to fluoresce brilliantly. The distinct colour zonation—such as the inner blue region ionized by high-energy helium and oxygen, contrasted with the outer red hydrogen-alpha and nitrogen ring—is a direct thermal and chemical response to this intense stellar radiation field".
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| NASA APOD Great Image! |
" Last night Jolene McSquint-Fleming, the JPO Engineer, was out testing the latest iteration of her 50 lines per mm diffraction grating based spectrometer for use with the Seestar S30. Apart from testing the device, developing a standard capture methodology was part of last night's experimentation. She also captured spectra and background star-fields for a range of stellar spectral types". -Joel Cairo CEO of the JPO the UK's most easterly Astronomical Observatory.
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| Jolene's 50 lines/mm grating and prototype 3d printed holder for magnetic attachment in front of the Seestar objective lens |
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| Zero and First order spectra for the star Scheat in Pegasus |
"Exciting news breaking: friend of the JPO, Prof Chrissy H, is working with Jolene 's data to create a low res stellar spectroscopy app which does not require both zero and first order spectra to be on the camera sensor to enable calibration. If this works it will be made available open source as will the 3d print spectrometer grating holder files" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
