Messier 29 Open Star Cluster in the Constellation Cygnus the Swan

 

Cropped images from a widefield compilation of stacked lights taken with 66mm Altair refractor and 0.6x focal reducer and field flattener using the Canon 600d DSLR. - Credit: Kurt Thrust

" Our elderly but kindly sponsor George Roberts recently acquired Professor Ian Morison's excellent book 'The Art of Astrophotography' and very helpfully placed it in the Jodrell Plank Observatory's Library for reference.  We have long admired the  Professor's widefield astrophotography and have used the excellent  advice given in his book to process the data for the above image.

The image shows the open Star cluster Messier 29 set within the wider context of the sky near P Cygni and Sadr in the constellation Cygnus. The inset image is a cropped enlargement of the cluster itself.

Messier 29 is thought to contain 50 or so stars and shines with a luminosity equal to 160,000 suns. It is has an estimated age of 10 million years as its five brightest stars are all Blue Giants. One of its stars is thought to be a binary Wolf-Rayet and Be pair. A very rare and exceptionally hot duo! It has a linear diameter across the cluster of approximately 11 light years and is thought to be between 4000 and 7200 light years distant from the Earth". - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Giant Sunspot Group

Solar Cycle 25 - Sunspot Group - Captured 08 June 2021. Altair Astro 66mm Refractor on Star Adventurer Equatorial Mount. QHY5-11 mono camera. Stack of two SER videos. Credit: Pip Stakkert.

"Pip recently processed data captured earlier in the month and has managed to bring out some of the detail in this giant group of sunspots pictured close to the solar limb. The image shows some surface granulation of the photosphere and the darkening of the solar disk towards the limb. To give some idea of scale, the big sunspot group near the top of the enlarged view below, is roughly the size of the Earth!" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

" The enlarged view of the sunspots provides hints of the churning convection cells that make up the photosphere which is visible in white light. The Sun's photosphere is composed of convection cells named granules, which are rising columns of superheated (5,800 °C) plasma. Each cell is about 1,000 km in diameter.  You can observe the the same granulation in the surface of  boiling liquids on Earth but on a much reduced scale. The solar plasma cools as it rises and then descends in the narrow spaces between the granules. This rise and fall  is repeated over and over again" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory..

Revenant of the Swan

 

P Cygni (34 Cygni) and also known as the ' Revenant of the Swan' - Hyper Giant Blue Variable Star in the Constellation Cygnus the Swan - 66mm Altair Starwave refractor with 0.6 x focal reducer and field flattener - Canon 600d DSLR at ISO 800. 3 minute RAW exposures. Credit: Pip Stakkert.

Plate solving. Credit:  Astrometry.net

"This interesting and highly luminous star is located between 5000 and 6000 light years distant and is moving away from us at nearly 9 km/sec. The star has a current magnitude of  4.8  (Absolute Mag -7.9) and may be seen from a dark site with the naked eye. This is incredible considering its vast distance from our Solar System.  P Cygni is extraordinary in many ways! It has a mass 37 times  and radius 76 times that of our Sun. It is 610,000 times more luminous than the Sun and this is the reason it can be seen from such a great distance. It is one of the most luminous stars known in the Milky Way.

The star is an irregular variable and has, over the past 500 years, shown major brightening. In recent times the variability has been less extreme and visual brightening is occurring at 0.15 of a magnitude per century. P Cygni is thought to be burning hydrogen in a shell around its core and if so is moving from hyper giant blue to red super giant stage all part of an evolutionary process as the star moves closer to its likely supernova. The life of a blue hyper giant star is short and violent and measured in millions rather than billions of years when compared with our Sun.

Because of its variability and extreme outbursts in the 17th century, the star was thought to be a recurring nova. Presumably it was named the the 'Revenant of the Swan' because it exhibited a repeated and unexpected return to life after multiple deaths or novae.

P Cygni gives it's name to a type of stellar spectrum that shows both absorption and emission in the profile. The emission line arises from a dense stellar wind near to the star, while the blue shifted absorption lobe is created where the radiation passes through circumstellar material rapidly expanding in the direction of the observer. As the star is quite bright we are hoping to use our transmission grating to obtain a spectrum later in the summer when Cygnus is on the meridian". - Kurt Thrust Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The Scorpion

 

The Constellation Scorpius - Canon 600d DSLR and  18-55 efs lens at f=18mm f/5 on a fixed tripod. ISO 6400 - 10 light exposures of 18secs stacked using Sequator freeware. Credit: Pip Stakkert.

"The constellation Scorpius the Scorpion is a favourite but unfortunately never rises high above our southern horizon at the Jodrell Plank Observatory. Pip Stakkert captured this image from an upper floor window of the Observatory Visitor Centre. Our sponsors George and Anita Roberts have spoken of the wonders of seeing this constellation at much higher declination from the dark suburbs of Christchurch New Zealand" -  Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Partial Solar Eclipse over the Jodrell Plank Observatory 10 June 2021

 

The undulating surface of the Moon can be seen in this image. The uplifted rims of countless craters create this irregular lunar silhouette.

The Partial Solar Eclipse at about maximum as observed from Lowestoft. Taken with the 66mm Altair doublet refractor with a Baader white light filter and a QHY5-ll mono planetary camera all mounted on a Star Adventurer equatorial mount. Image Credits: Kurt Thrust and Pip Stakkert.

" The weather was a bit mixed for this solar eclipse with the Sun disappearing behind heavy low level clouds for minutes at a time. Luckily, we were able to image the Moon passing in front of the Sun at about the time of maximum eclipse. On Wednesday the sky was a little clearer and we were able to capture a sunspot on the solar disk" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

" The sun is emerging from a period of low magnetic activity. Solar activity varies on a periodic 11 year cycle. The sun has been devoid of spots for some time, so it is nice to see a few sun spots indicating magnetic activity and the associated increase in auroral displays". - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory

Noctilucent Clouds

 

"The weather at the Jodrell Plank Observatory has taken a turn for the better and Kurt and  the Plank Team have been beavering away in the sunshine preparing the kit for capturing Thursday's partial solar eclipse. After sunset and during astronomical twilight we witnessed a minor display of noctilucent clouds. During summer months noctilucent or night shining clouds may be seen after the sun sets and the sky darkens. they form high in the mesosphere between 76 and 85 kilometers above the earth. They require water vapour, dust and very cold temperatures in order for them to form. Because the temperatures at altitude are so low, the water vapour aided and abetted by the dust particles becomes tiny ice crystals at such high altitudes that they are illuminated by the sun below the horizon. Seen against the darker sky the clouds appear to shine. Increases in both natural and man made atmospheric pollution aid the creation of noctilucent clouds" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

"Lets hope the weather stays fine for the partial solar eclipse. Don't forget to take a look at the sun at a about 11.00am on the10th June but always take care to protect your eyesight from the very real danger of harm. Never look at the sun, even briefly, without the use of an appropriate ISO rated solar filter and in no circumstances use a telescope or binoculars to view the sun.  A safe indirect method of viewing the eclipse is to use two pieces of card. Make a pinhole in one piece and hold it in front of the other piece,  The card with the hole in it is positioned sun-side of the other piece and moved to project an image of the sun on to the piece of card in shadow. The eclipse will show clearly along with any sunspots that are on display. Best of all this method does not require any direct viewing of the Sun and is therefore completely safe". Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory