The Milky Way over Cyprus

 

The summer Milky Way rising over Richard the Lion Heart's castle retreat in Northern Cyprus. Canon Ixus compact camera and Canon 600d DSLR- composite image credit: Kurt Thrust.

"The rocky nature of northern Cyprus presented many intriguing foregrounds for widefield astrophotography. On our return from a relaxing holiday in Cyprus, Pip Stakkert helped me compose this composite image using AffinityPhoto2 software. As our sponsor Anita Roberts is known to say "It's all a bit of a cheat"! To be honest it was scary enough going up the  hairpin roads in daylight. Doing it at night, in the pitch dark , was above my pay grade" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Sundogs

 

Sundogs photographed with a smartphone by, friend of the Observatory Lulu,  from water meadows south of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. 

"A sundog is a concentrated patch of sunlight, which may be seen to the left or right and sometimes both sides of the Sun. They, like sun haloes, are caused by sunlight being refracted by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere". - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Sunspot groups in white light April 2023.

 

The Sun's Disk in white light showing sunspot groups on the 19th April 2023. video clip taken with a astro-modded Canon 200d DSLR and the Observatory's 127mm Meade Apo refractor. 60 sec vide clip stacked using PIPP, AS3!, Registax6 and AffinityPhoto2. Credit: Pip Stakkert. 

Sunspot group 3282. 1000 frame video clip taken with Meade 127mm Apo refractor, x3 Televue Barlow and  QHY5-ll c planetary camera. Processed as above by Kurt Thrust.

Composite image of the largest sunspot in the 3282 group. Created from 2000 video frames by Pipp Stakkert.

Lower contrast group of sunspots including several groups; 3279, 3281,3283 and 3284. 1000 video frames captured with Meade 127mm Apo refractor and astro-modded Canon 200d DSLR. Cropped image Credit: Kurt Thrust.

All the above images were captured using an objective lens mounted Baader solar safety white light filter film. IN NO CIRCUMSTANCES POINT ANY CAMERA OR OPTICAL DEVICE AT THE SUN. SUCH WILL SEVERELY DAMAGE YOUR EQUIPMENT AND OR EYESIGHT.

" The weather in Lowestoft has been very mixed of late. The 19th of April began with the sky full of high level hazy cloud. A blustery wind  started at about 12:00 noon and the cloud disappeared. The wind was a problem, vibrating the Observatory's big refractor on its concrete pillar mount, and ruined many of the video frames. It was nice for the team to be out in daylight and sunshine. After a couple of hours in the sun my bald head was quite pink" Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Circular Sun Halo

 

"Many thanks to our sponsor Anita Roberts for taking this excellent photograph of a circular Sun Halo displaying sunlight being reflected and refracted by high altitude atmospheric ice crystals. Anita spotted this unusual occurrence and photographed it with her iPhone from the Jodrell Plank Visitor Centre.. The sun halo was easily detected with the naked eye but the colours due to refraction were better seen on the image. In all the halo lasted for over 20 minutes". Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Venus, Mercury, the Hyades and the Pleiades over fields in Cambridgeshire

 

"Many thanks to, good friend of the Observatory,  Chrissy Roberts for sending us this image of the inferior planets Venus and Mercury seen shining brightly over Cambridgeshire. An excellent image taken with Chrissy's Smartphone and cropped and denoised by our own Pip Stakkert." Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The Moon up close.

Mare Nectaris  and surrounding geology. Enhanced colour shows differences in albedo which is related to surface mineralogy. Compilations of video clips taken with the Jodrell Plank 127mm Apo Refractor and a colour planetary video camera. Credit: Pip Stakkert.

 

" Jim Lovell was 95 years old this week. For the team here at the Jodrell Plank Observatory, he represents all that is admirable in human beings.  He is a modest and courageous man, who has in his public life and achievements demonstrated best practice in leadership and team management under the most difficult of circumstances. Happy Birthday Mr Lovell you are a true inspiration for us all." - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Lovell

The Seven Sisters

 

The Pleiades  asterism in the Constellation Taurus; Jodrell Plank Observatory mini rig. Altair Lightwave 66mm doublet refractor, Canon 600d DSLR on Star Adventurer EQ mount. Credit: Kurt Thrust.

Pleiades map credit: By NASA, ESA and AURA/Caltech - Hubble Refines Distance to Pleiades Star Cluster (STScI-2004-20), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17899258

"The freeware Starnet GUI works its magic on the Pleiades asterism bringing out detail in the the reflection nebulae. This group of young hot blue stars is currently passing through a cloud of interstellar dust which reflects the starlight. The Pleiades or the Seven Sisters is a relatively close open cluster of stars and is estimated to be some 444 light years distant from the Earth. The data for the image was captured at the Jodrell Plank Observatory in 2018"-. George Hammer resident geologist at he Jodrell Plank Observatory. 

Cropped image with colour of excited hydrogen gas enhanced. Credit: Pip Stakkert

Cropped version with reflection nebulosity enhanced (Kurt's favourite)