The Helix Nebula NGC 7293, Caldwell 63 in the constellation Aquarius.

 

The Helix Planetary Nebula -Data captured from Sicily with Seestar S30 EQ mode LP filter 60x60sec exp. September 2026

LRGB palette

Modified Dual Band SHO palette.

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.

"Unveiling the Cosmic Eye: Capturing the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) from Sicily

  - by Gary Gemini Coms Manager at the JPO.

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.

Your 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).

Location and Astrometric Details

• 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.

 Physical Dimensions and Structure

• 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.

 Stellar Evolution: How Planetary Nebulae Are Formed

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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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". 

NASA APOD:Mars the Aurora and Beehive Cluster

 

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.

Jolene's 50 lines/mm grating and prototype 3d printed holder for magnetic attachment in front of the Seestar objective lens

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.

The Cave Nebula, Sharpless 155 or LBN529 in the Constellation Cepheus

 

The Cave Nebula (Emission Nebula) Seestar S30 LP filter EQ mode 181x60 sec exposures. Credit: Kurt Thrust at the JPO.

" The Cave Nebula is riding high in the sky over Lowestoft and a clear night delivered 3 hours of unbroken photon capture from the Constellation Cepheus. The whole JPO Team thought this was an interesting and beautiful emission nebula. Kurt has been trying out the AffinityPhoto 3 freeware and James Rison's V20 Astro- macros. He used both on the above image for stacking and processing. Both Kurt and Pip Stakkert are impressed by the quality of this useful software. AFF 3 and V20 offer significant improvements and add-ons over previous iterations. Well done CANVA and James!!" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The thoughts of our Coms Manager Gary Gemini:

"Unveiling the Cave Nebula (Sh2-155 / Caldwell 9) in Cepheus

Nestled deep within the rich stellar fields of the northern constellation Cepheus lies one of the most visually striking and dynamically complex stellar nurseries in our night sky: the Cave Nebula, catalouged as Sharpless 155 (Sh2-155) or Caldwell 9. Captured here in striking detail, this celestial landscape offers a breathtaking window into the violent, creative processes of star formation.

Distance and Scale

The Cave Nebula resides at an approximate distance of 2,400 light-years from Earth, placing it firmly within the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way as part of the massive Cepheus molecular cloud complex. Across the sky, the prominent emission region spans an apparent area of roughly 50 by 30 arcminutes. Physically, the distinct, cavernous structure that gives the nebula its name stretches roughly 10 light-years across, while sitting at the edge of a much larger, sprawling complex of glowing gas and obscuring dust lanes.

Structure and Interesting Features

True to its name, the Cave Nebula is famous for its distinct, dark, hollow silhouette carved out of dense cosmic dust and gas. This dark indentation is sharply bounded by bright, glowing rims of ionized hydrogen gas (an H II region). These luminous borders are energized by intense ultraviolet radiation pouring from hot, young OB-type stars residing nearby—particularly those associated with the Cepheus OB3 association.

The region is a masterclass in mixed nebulosity, seamlessly blending three distinct types of nebulae into a single frame:

Emission Nebulae: The brilliant red and pink expanses glowing as hydrogen atoms are ionized and recombine.

Reflection Nebulae: Subtle blue regions where starlight scatters off microscopic dust particles.

Dark Nebulae: Impenetrable, dense dust lanes that obscure background stars and create the dramatic contours of the "cave".

Active Star Formation

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, Sh2-155 is a site of active, ongoing star birth. Multi-wavelength studies—including observations by space-based observatories like Chandra and Spitzer—have revealed a gradient of stellar ages across the region. The compression wave generated by radiation and stellar winds from older generation stars crashing into the dense molecular cloud (Cepheus B) is actively triggering the collapse of new material, sparking a fresh wave of protostellar evolution right along the edges of the dark cave. "

Comet 161p Hartley-IRAS

 

Comet 161p Hartley-IRAS. Seestar S30 EQ mode. 30x60 sec exposures. Credit: Pip Stakkert at the JPO.

Single 60 second exposure showing the Cometary Nucleus 'unsmeared by relative motion (very noisy) Credit: Kurt Thrust.

" The Seestar S30 struggled with this small and faint comet, currently between mag +11 and +14, which is also cruising fairly low in the sky in the Constellation Pegasus. It is a periodic comet and is due to return in 21 years time. The image appears to show a tail but this is a visual effect due to relative motion and the length of exposure over 30 minutes" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Report by Gary Gemini Coms Officer at the JPO

Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS

Captured: October 11, 2026

Overview & Physical Characteristics

• Nucleus Size: Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS possesses a remarkably compact solid core, with an estimated nuclear diameter of approximately 0.4 km (assuming a standard low albedo of 0.04).

• Coma and Morphology: Surrounding the nucleus is an active, diffuse dust coma spanning roughly 1 to 3 arcminutes in apparent diameter. Depending on thermal outgassing activity, it displays a condensed central region typical of periodic comets undergoing solar heating.

• Spectral Profile: The spectrum of 161P is characterized by a combined solar reflection continuum blended with distinct emission bands from volatile gas species and fine silicate dust particles released as sub-surface ices sublimate.

Current Trajectory & Distance

• Distance from Earth: As of mid-October 2026, the comet is positioned at a geocentric distance of approximately 0.57 AU (~85.5 million kilometers), following its recent closest approach to Earth on October 2, 2026, at 0.50 AU (~75.3 million kilometers).

Orbital Mechanics

• Orbital Period: 161P follows an elongated periodic orbit with a period of 21.46 years.

• Perihelion and Aphelion: Its perihelion distance ($q$) is 1.27 AU (bringing it just outside Earth's orbit and inside Mars), while its aphelion distance ($Q$) stretches outward to roughly 14.19 AU, carrying it far beyond the orbit of Saturn.

• Eccentricity and Inclination: The orbit features a high eccentricity of 0.836 and a retrogradely inclined plane of 95.8° relative to the ecliptic, giving it a unique dynamical path through the inner Solar System.

" We have recently downloaded a copy of the freeware AffiityPhoto3 and James Ritson's Astro V20 macros that run within it. The above image is the first we have processed using some of the many features offered by this excellent software. First impressions are very good indeed!" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The Far Side

 

The Far Side of the Moon. NASA APOD based on Lunar Prospector mosaic imagery from 2011 onwards.

" I decided to post this NASA mosaic because it shows how different the Lunar far side is from the near side, which we gaze upon from Earth. Also we will never be able to image it from the Jodrell Plank Observatory because the Moon is tidally locked to present the same face to Earth (more or less and other than at the limbs). - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Autumnal treats await!

 

The Pleiades and crane jib juxtaposition. Google Pixel 8a smartphone handheld. Handshake compensation by AI.

" Beautiful night last night in Oulton Broad. Jolene, our engineer, captured this rather unusual view of the Pleiades" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Stickney Crater on Phobos

 

Credit: NASA APOD

Explanation: Stickney Crater, the largest crater on the martian moon Phobos, is named for Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, mathematician and wife of astronomer Asaph Hall. Asaph Hall discovered both the Red Planet's moons in 1877. Over 9 kilometers across, Stickney is nearly half the diameter of Phobos itself, so large that the impact that blasted out the crater likely came close to shattering the tiny moon. This enhanced-color image of Stickney and surroundings was recorded by the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed within some six thousand kilometers of Phobos in March of 2008. Even though the surface gravity of asteroid-like Phobos is less than 1/1000th Earth's gravity, streaks suggest loose material slid down inside the crater walls over time. Light bluish regions near the crater's rim could indicate a relatively freshly exposed surface. The origin of the curious grooves along the surface is mysterious but may be related to tidal stresses experienced by close-orbiting Phobos or the crater-forming impact itself. - NASA

"Unfortunately, our Director Kurt during his recent holiday in Sicily, contracted the latest version of Covid, which bearing in mind his ongoing  chronic immune system illness, has knocked him for six. Consequently, posts to the blog have rather dried up. I was very interested in this close up view of the Martian Moon Phobos posted by NASA as a APOD and thought I would share on the blog " ,- Joel Cairo CEO Jodrell Plank Observatory