Messier4 Globular Star Cluster

 

Messier 4 in the constellation Scorpius. Credit: COAST Robotic Telescope,
Open University, Open Observatories, telescope.org

 

" This rather beautiful globular star cluster appears in our sky during mid-summer but very low and near to the southern horizon. The above image was captured recently, using the COAST robotic telescope, located much further south and at altitude on the island of Tenerife. The data was collected through BVR and Clear filters and was put together and processed, here at the Jodrell Plank Observatory, using Affinity Photo2 software.

A globular star cluster is a ball of ancient stars held together by gravity and usually located on the outer fringes of galaxies. Messier 4 is 75 light years across, approximately 6000 light years distant and as such is the nearest globular star cluster to the Earth. At the cluster's centre there may exist a black hole. Some of the oldest white dwarf stars in our galaxy reside in this cluster" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Altair, Tarazed and Barnard's E Dark Nebula.

The Stars; Altair and Tarazed and the dark nebula Barnard's E.
Canon 600d DSLR and 135mm Samyang lens all mounted on a
Star Adventurer EQ. A stack of 20 x1min subs at ISO800.
Image credit: Kurt Thrust and technical advice from Prof GP.

 "The Summer Triangle is a very obvious asterism in the summer sky over Lowestoft at the moment. Altair-Alpha Aquilae is the Summer Triangle star closest to the southern horizon. This part of the sky is literally full of stars, sometimes referred to as 'star-clouds' and these clouds are punctuated with dark nebulae. Dark nebulae are concentrations of dust and gas, which obscure the stars within and behind them.

The stars, Altair and Tarazed, are very different and have different spectra. This difference is obvious to the naked eye and manifest in the differences in colour. We used the spectrometer manufactured by the Observatory's instrumentation engineer, Jolene McSquint-Fleming, to obtain spectral profiles for these stars". Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory. 

Spectra Credits: Kurt Thrust and Pip Stakkert.

Castor and Pollux - Alpha and Beta Geminorum

 

The constellation Gemini with the bright blue Castor and light orange hued Pollux (both top left)
A stack of light subs captured with a Star Adventurer EQ mounted Canon 600d DSLR with a fixed Canon 50mm lens. Image Credit: Pip Stakkert

 

" The stars Castor and Pollux are quite different and appear so to the naked eye.. 

Castor looks to be a single star but is in fact six stars bound gravitationally. Two of the larger and brighter component stars are of A spectral class and dominate the combined Castor spectrum. The  127mm refractor at the Jodrell Plank Observatory is easily able to separate these two stars.

Pollux is an evolved red giant star, that having used up it's supply of hydrogen, has commenced fusing helium at its core. The change requires the temperature to rise at the core and the whole star to increase in size. Pollux is of spectral class K.

The Jodrell Plank Observatory 127mm Refractor and 3d printed transmission grating spectrometer were used to capture spectral profiles of the two stars. Even a cursory inspection, shows how different the spectra are and the marked difference in surface temperature of Castor and Pollux. Although Pollux is much cooler than Castor, it appears brighter, mainly because its diameter and consequent surface area are both much larger than the equivalents for Castor." - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory

Comparative low resolution spectral profiles with Planck Curves
 for Castor and Pollux.
Credit: Kurt Thrust and BASS Spectro software

A cropped section from the above widefield image of the Constellation
 Credit : Kurt Thrust

The Plough asterism from Alcor to Dubhe

 

Part of the Plough Asterism.
A two pane composite image captured with a tripod mounted
 un-modded Canon 600d DSLR and A Canon F1.4 f=50mm lens.
Image Credit: Kurt Thrust.

" The weather has been difficult for sometime here on the East Coast. We did not get to see the spectacular displays of the Aurora visible almost everywhere in the UK because of low fog and high level cloud. We did manage to image the huge sunspot group on the Sun's Disc which has been instrumental in the creation of the solar mass ejections and the spectacular auroral displays in the Earths atmosphere. We also managed to image the crescent Moon and the above asterism all through 'hazy' skies."  - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Image credit: Astrometry. net.

The Sun's Disc with huge sunspot group May 2024. 66mm Altair Lightwave doublet refractor with white light filter and QHY5-111462c camera. Image credit: Kurt Thrust

The Crescent Moon with earthshine over fields in Suffolk. Canon 600d DSLR with Canon F1.4 f=50mm lens. Image credit: Pip Stakkert

"Friends of the Jodrell Plank Observatory in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire very kindly sent us the following images of the Aurora taken with their smartphones" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Professor Ian Morison - RIP

 We were very sad to hear that the astronomer and astrophotographer, Professor Ian Morison died in April of this year. Although we never met this man, his books on the shelves of the Jodrell Plank Observatory are a source of constant reference and in themselves are a joy to read. His online ‘Astronomy Digest’ provided us with the latest reviews of software and equipment, which inspired us to learn and improve. His generosity in sharing his exceptional knowledge and experience, freely within the public domain, speaks well of this man of science.

George Roberts - Jodrell Plank Observatory sponsor.

The Owl Planetary Nebula

 

The Owl Planetary Nebula, Messier 97.
The COAST robotic telescope SHO filters, Mount Teide, Tenerife,
Open University, telescope.org. Images processed by Kurt Thrust

Planetary nebulae have nothing at all to do with planets. They are the glowing gas 'left overs' from stars, which having run out of hydrogen to fuse, consequently left the main sequence to end their existence as white dwarf stars surrounded by glowing ionised gas shed by the progenitor stars earlier in the process.  

The Owl Nebula may be found in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, and is approximately 2000 light years distant. The progenitor star, some 8000 years ago, swelled to become a red giant and then  over a period of time shed mass in three shells. The nebula contains hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur and is currently approximately 2 light years in diameter. At its centre a white dwarf star is condensing, with an effective temperature of 123,000K. For comparison our sun has an effective temperature of just under 6000K. So white dwarf stars are very very hot even though nuclear fusion has long stopped. Over aeons, white dwarf stars will lose their residual heat, cool to absolute zero and become cold black dwarf stars.

The Owl Nebula cannot be seen with the naked eye or with the aid of 10x50 binoculars but on a good clear night from a dark rural site, it might be glimpsed through a small telescope. - Joel Cairo CEO the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Full Moon March 2024

 

The Full Moon -24 March 2024 66mm ED Altair Lightwave Refractor and QHY5111462c colour camera. Credit Pip Stakkert.

" Very pleased with the definition and detail in this image, which was largely the result of using James Ritson's latest Lunar macro for Affinity Photo 2 in combination with AstroSharp and AstroClean. We have also attached below a high coloured version and the softer version, which did not have James' macro applied". - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Saturated colour version
Highlights the differences in albedo and changes in surface mineralogy.
Credit: Kurt Thrust