Harvest Moon

 

Harvest Full Moon. Seestar S30 captured from Sicily.

" The Harvest Moon heralding the changing seasons Summer to Autumn" - Kurt Thrust on holiday in Sicily.

Solar Disc 29_09_2026

 

The Solar Disc in white light. Seestar S30 3d printed combination filter Green and Baader Astro Solar film ND50.

" Very little solar activity showing in white light today. Two small sunspot groups and thermal cell granulation.". - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Image Credit: SOHO solar Observatory.

Mu Cephi

 

Mu Cephi, Cepheus. PIRATE robotic telescope BVR filters. Tenerife. Data credit: Open Observatories, Open University, telescope.org.

" Mu Cephei (Herschel’s Garnet Star) is a bright red supergiant with spectral type M2 Ia. Its line profile spectrum is heavily dominated by low-temperature molecular absorption bands and neutral metal lines, featuring a red-dominated continuum profile.

Key Spectral Characteristics

• ​Molecular Bands (Titanium Oxide - TiO): The most prominent features are deep, sawtooth-shaped TiO absorption bands (especially near 4954 Å, 5167 Å, 5448 Å, 5847 Å, 6158 Å, and 7054 Å). These create sharp flux drops toward shorter wavelengths with gradual recoveries toward the red.
• ​Neutral Metal Lines: Numerous absorption lines of neutral and weakly ionized heavy elements, including Fe I, Ti I, V I, Na I (D doublet at 5890/5896 Å), and Ca I.
• ​Hydrogen Balmer Lines: The H alpha line (6563 Å) typically appears as a complex, asymmetric absorption profile that can show weak variable emission or circumstellar wing distortion due to ongoing mass loss and chromospheric pulsations.
• ​Infrared Continuum Peak: Energy output shifts strongly into the red and near-infrared consistent with its low effective temperature approx 3,750 K.
• ​Infrared Dust Features: Mid-infrared line profiles show silicate emission features arising from a cool, expanding circumstellar envelope of dust." - Gary Gemini Coms Manager at the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Neptune

 

Neptune centre almost enveloped in moonlight from the nearby full Moon. Seestar S30 . Credit: Kurt Thrust from Sicily.

" The planet Neptune is pretty big in the terms of the Solar System but in the Cosmos is just a whiff of ice and gas". - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory

The Swan Nebula

 

The Swan Nebula or M17 and NGC 6618 in the constellation Sagittarius. Seestar S30 in EQ mode and LP nebula filter. 60x 30 sec exposures. Captured  from Sicily. Credit: Kurt Thrust.

" The Swan Nebula is generally below our southern horizon in Lowestoft. Kurt being on holiday, at a much lower latitude of 38 degrees North, enabled this short capture using the 'travel friendly' Seestar S30 smartscope. 

The Swan Nebula is a bright Hll emission nebula located within the constellation Sagittarius. It spans some 15 light years in diameter and is 5000 - 6000 light years distant. Much like the Great Orion Molecular Cloud, the Swan Nebula is the location of active star formation. The open star cluster NGC 6618 is embedded within the nebula and contributes to stellar radiation, which ionizes the hydrogen gas and makes it shine". - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory. 

The curvature of the Earth

 

Get up high enough and you can clearly see the Earth is not 'flat' - Google Pixel 8a smartphone.

"Just saying " - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

New Crater on the Moon

 

" We dont often post images from other sources but we were intrigued by this one from NASA. It shows a newly created and recently discovered crater on the Moon" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

"Officially named McGetchin after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin.

The crash left a crater, 728 feet wide, that spans the length of two football fields. And at 141 feet deep, the crater could fit three vertically stacked yellow school buses.

Scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude happens on the Moon about once in a century or even longer". - NASA