Many jewels are in the night sky just waiting to be discovered with a small telescope from your backyard. And a beauty is in the Constellation of Lyra, called the Ring Nebula. This Ring Nebula is a "planetary nebula".
WHAT IS A PLANETARY NEBULA?
Early telescopes were not that great in the 1780s. English astronomer William Herschel who described these nebulae as resembling planets. French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in January 1779 described his observations of the Ring Nebula as :
"very dim but perfectly outlined; it is as large as Jupiter and resembles a fading planet"
Astronomers with better telescopes and observations learned that the Ring Nebula was "no moon. It's a space station.” Sorry wrong reference, Obi-Wan Kenobi! This is no planet, but a nebula from a former bright star.
A "planetary nebula" is formed when a medium sized-star like our Sun, during the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf, expels a vast luminous envelope of ionized gas into the surrounding interstellar space.
Image Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The central star ran out of hydrogen fuel long ago and shed its atmosphere to space, where it is being ionized by the white star in the middle (planetary nebula). This is the expected fate of our Sun at the end of its life.
French astronomer Charles Messier discovered this nebula while searching for comets in late January 1779 and it has been given the designation of Messier 57 as part of his catalog of discoveries in the night sky.
Hope you enjoy this amazing jewel. Also my 2025 Astrophotography Wall Calendar is available. Great for your desk, an aspiring space astronaught in your family, or friend. Check is out at my online store. Thanks for your support and take care! -Erik
Image taken on October 24, 2024 by Erik Swindlehurst
The holidays are just about here! Looking for some unique gift ideas for the space enthusiast? It has been another great year for Astrophotography, from the Aprils total solar eclipse, fascinating nebulas, and the magnificent Moon.
First available is my 2025 Astrophotography Wall Calendar. It has the top images that I took in detail with my telescopes (one Comet image from my Canon R10 camera). You can see more details about the calendar at my online Astrobortle Store. All printed in the USA and not mass produced overseas.
I also created a number of Canvas Wall Art images with my telescope images. Their products are made from high quality canvas and inks that are visually stunning. All the images that I am offering are mine and taken this year. I have a number of these canvases already in my home, and they are amazing! I am currently working on my 2025 AstroBortle calendar as well.
If you are interested in getting an amazing and unique gift for yourself, a family member, coworker, or friend, please click the link below. Thanks for your support of my work as an Astrophotographer.
So far this year, Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas has been the comet of the year. This comet was discovered on January 9th, 2023 at the Purple Mountain Observatory in China. It was later verified by the ATLAS system in South Africa in February 2023. ATLAS stands for Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System.
Image by Erik Swindlehurst
Astronomers believe that the comet's origins is from the Oort Cloud. The Oort cloud is a theorized to be a vast cloud of icy planetesimals surrounding the Sun at distances ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 AU (0.03 to 3.2 light-years).
NASA / JPL-Caltech (Public Domain)
Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas passedby the Sun on October 9th, 2024 and it immediately reached it's brightest magnitude. I took a few pictures of the comet with my Google Pixel 8 phone using "night sight" that uses a six second exposure. I got better images with my Canon EOS R10 Camera using a tripod.
Image by Erik Swindlehurst
Image by Erik Swindlehurst
WHAT IS A COMET?
A comet is a fascinating celestial object composed primarily of ice, dust, and rocky material. These “dirty snowballs” orbit the Sun and are best known for their spectacular tails, which become visible when they approach the Sun and start to heat up.
Key Features of a Comet:
Nucleus: The solid core made of ice and rock, typically a few kilometers across.
Coma: A cloud of gas and dust that forms around the nucleus when the comet gets close to the Sun.
Tails: Comets have two types of tails. The dust tail is made of small particles and curves away from the comet’s path, while the ion tail is made of gases that are ionized by the Sun’s radiation and always points directly away from the Sun.
Comets originate from two main regions in our solar system:
Kuiper Belt: Located beyond Neptune’s orbit, home to short-period comets that take less than 200 years to orbit the Sun.
Oort Cloud: A distant, spherical shell surrounding the solar system, where long-period comets come from. These comets can take thousands of years to complete an orbit.
Comets are like time capsules, holding material from the early solar system, which makes them incredibly valuable for scientific study.
Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas coma is believed to be 130,000 miles across. That means that our planet Earth fit in the coma over 16 times. The tail of this comet is measured at 18 million miles. It would take 11 days for Earth to traverse the distance of this comet's tail!!
I created a YouTube short video if you are interested in seeing more of this comet. If you want to see this comet again, you'll have to wait over 80,000 years. Until next time, take care.
Astrophotography has been an enjoyable hobby that provides lots of learning experiences. This past week I worked on imaging the last quarter Moon during the morning hours from 9AM-11AM. Why during the day? Parents of small children know that getting a good night's rest can be quite the challenging at times. As a result, I have very few pictures of the Moon after the full Moon. This is because..
The Last quarter Moon rises after midnight and sets at Noon
The Waning crescent Moon rises at 3AM and sets at 3PM.
So what are the challenges to daytime astrophotography?
TELESCOPE ALIGNMENT
During the evening hours, I always to a polar alignment on my telescope so the telescope software has the ability to find any stellar object in the sky. During the day, this is not possible. I do my best to align my telescope with true north and let the software slew my telescope to where it thinks the Moon is located. Then I have to eyeball it by finding the Moon in the sky visually.
The primary challenge of daytime astrophotography is the brightness of the sky, making it difficult to get enough contrast in your images of the Moon. Second, it is really hard to get a sharp focus on the Moon because of the daytime brightness and various atmospheric conditions. Poor atmospheric conditions blur your image and creates distortions in your images. Finally, weather conditions can always mess up an imaging session. Depending on your season and location, clouds can ruin an imaging session.
Once I have found the Moon visually, I use the lowest magnification eyepiece with my telescope to help me located the Moon in the sky. Once located, I center up the Moon in the eyepiece and use the tracking feature of the telescope. For these images, I used my ZWO ASIAIR Mini Wi-Fi Camera Controller to track the Moon.
LUCKY IMAGING
For this project, I mainly used the lucky imaging technique. Lucky Imaging is where you take hundreds or thousands of images over a short timespan with short exposures to minimize poor seeing conditions in the atmosphere. In short, I took videos of the Moon. I took two minutes videos that created around 1000 images (the camera took around 8.5 high-resolution frames per second).
Using AutoStakkert! software on my computer, I am able to take best images from those video files to produce a high-resolution image. By combining multiple images and making some modification in the contrast, sharpness, orientation, and color through Adobe Photoshop, I am able to get some descent daytime images of our Moon in its last Quarter.
I hope this has been a good explainer on how to take daytime images of the Moon with a telescope. Until next time, clear skies.
The Sun on July 31, 2024, Image Taken with my Lunt 40mm Solar Telesope
The Sun has been very active this year, reaching the near peak of its solar cycle. On July 31st, I finally had a break in the non-stop clouds and rain over the past month and took the above image of the Sun. 261 Sunspots were visible on the face of the Sun. So, what exactly are sunspots?
SUNSPOTS
Sunspots are dark, planet-sized regions that appear on the surface of the Sun. They are formed due to the complex magnetic activities happening inside the Sun. Here's a more detailed explanation:
1. **Magnetic Fields**: Sunspots are formed when concentrations of magnetic fields from deep within the sun well up to the surface. These magnetic fields are like loops of rubber bands, with one end attached to the north pole and the other to the south pole.
Image of prominence. Earth added to give perspective. Taken June 24, 2024 with my Lunt 40mm Solar Telescope
2. **Differential Rotation**: As the sun rotates at different speeds, with the equator rotating faster than the poles, a "differential rotation" is created. This causes these magnetic loop "rubber bands" to get more wound up (both tighter and more complicated).
3. **Formation of Sunspots**: Eventually, the magnetic fields "snap," rise and break the surface. This disturbance in the sun's magnetic field forms pores that can grow and join together to form larger pores, or proto-spots, that eventually become sunspots.
4. **Appearance**: Sunspots consist of a central darker region, known as the umbra, and a surrounding region, known as the penumbra. They appear dark because the magnetic fields get in the way of energy and heat being transported from inside the Sun to its surface.
5. **Temperature**: The central dark region, the umbra, is about **6,300 degrees Fahrenheit (3,500 degrees Celsius)**, whereas the surrounding photosphere is about **10,000 F (5,500 C)**.
6. **Solar Cycle**: The frequency and intensity of sunspots visible on the surface indicate the level of solar activity during the 11-year solar cycle that is driven by the sun's magnetic field.
261 Sunspots on July 31, 2024. Image taken with my Lunt 40mm Solar Telescope
It's important to note that while this is the generally accepted theory, scientists still don't fully understand how sunspots form.
Interested in looking at some sunspots? Grab those solar eclipse glasses before gazing at the Sun. You might be able to spot a few if you are lucky!
The Moon is the easiest object in the day and night sky to gaze upon. When the moon is fully illuminated, it is called the "Full Moon". The Full moon takes place every 29.5 days, or roughly once a month.
Each Full Moon has been given a name. The names of the full moon has its origins rooted in human cultures around the world. Here in North America, the names of the moon come from Native American culture, Colonial America, and other traditional sources. These names were used to track the seasons and reflect nature’s signs. Here are the commonly used full moon names for each month:
January: Wolf Moon - Named after the howling of wolves during this time of year.
February: Snow Moon - Reflects the heavy snowfall typically seen in February.
March: Worm Moon - Named after the earthworms that appear as the ground thaws.
April: Pink Moon - Named after the pink wildflowers that bloom in early spring.
May: Flower Moon - Represents the abundance of flowers during this month.
June: Strawberry Moon - Named after the strawberry harvest in June.
July: Buck Moon - Named for the time when male deer grow new antlers.
August: Sturgeon Moon - Named after the sturgeon fish that were abundant during this time.
September: Harvest Moon - Reflects the time of the main harvest.
October: Hunter’s Moon - Named for the time when hunting was easier under the bright moonlight.
November: Beaver Moon - Named after the time when beavers are active in preparation for winter.
December: Cold Moon - Reflects the cold winter nights.
STURGEON MOON - AUGUST 19, 2024
On August 19th 2024,, we will experience the Sturgeon Moon. This name originates from Native American tribes, particularly those around the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, where the sturgeon fish were most abundant during this time of year.
Sturgeon at Night - AI Generated by Adobe Firefly
The sturgeon is a large freshwater fish, often referred to as a "living fossil" due to its ancient lineage. The Sturgeon Moon is also known by other names such as the **Grain Moon**, **Corn Moon**, **Lynx Moon**, and **Lightning Moon**, reflecting various cultural and seasonal aspects.
This year, the Sturgeon Moon will peak on August 19, 2024, and it also be a supermoon. A supermoon is when the Moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit and can appear brighter and larger in the night sky.
HARVEST MOON - SEPTEMBER 16, 2024
Harvesting at Night under Full Moon - AI Generated by Adobe Firefly
The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox, which falls this year on September 22nd, 2024. Unlike other full moon names, the Harvest Moon is not tied to a specific month but rather to the timing of the equinox. This means it can occur in either September or October, depending on the lunar cycle.
One of the unique features of the Harvest Moon is that it rises soon after sunset for several consecutive nights, providing an abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening. This extended period of moonlight was historically beneficial to farmers, allowing them to work longer hours harvesting their crops, hence the name "Harvest Moon".
This year, the Harvest Moon will appear on September 16, 2024, and will reach its peak illumination at 10:34 PM EDT on September 17, 2024.
So, if you get a chance, check out the full moon and snaps some pictures! Until next time, happy moon observing! Take care, -Erik
Congratulations on getting your new telescope! Or maybe you are about to get a new telescope? You are about to discover and explore the hidden treasures in the night sky up close.
You probably have a few questions like how do I set up a telescope? In this blog update, lets review some basic terms that you need to know, and some general steps on how to to set up a telescope. My name is Erik, and I am an amateur astrophotographer.
Before we get started, a good place to start is with the manufacture's instruction manual or any videos they may provide online.
ALTITUDE AND AZIMUTH
So let's start first with some general terms. Altitude and Azimuth.
ALTITUDE and AZIMUTH are part of a local coordinate system on how we find the apparent location of celestial objects in the night sky. All measurements are expressed in degrees.
ALTITUDE, or ALT for short, stands for the altitude or elevation axis. On the horizon is the zero degrees altitude or elevation on the axis. Directly overhead is the zenith at 90 degrees altitude. Halfway in-between is 45 degrees.
AZIMUTH is "the direction of a celestial object from the observer, expressed as the angular distance from the north (Oxford Dictionary)."
In the northern hemisphere, we use Polaris to help find the celestial north pole, denoted as zero degrees north. Go clockwise 90 degrees from the celestial north, you will reach the 90 degree point, or East. Another 90 degrees clockwise is south at 180 degrees. Another 90 degrees clockwise is 270 degrees or West.
This coordinate system works best with Alt-Azimuth mounts. After initializing and star-aligning your mount, armed with your local position and time, you are able to slew your telescope to the apparent location of celestial objects that are potentially viewable from your location that is above the horizon.
For example, if the Moon is halfway up the horizon, by telling your APP or hand-controller to find the moon, its apparent position may be 210 degrees in azimuth and 45 degrees in altitude.
DEGREES
Before we move on, lets talk about degrees. It is helpful to know that degrees are further divided into arc-minutes. There are 60 arc-minutes to a degree.
And there are 60 arc seconds to a 1 arc-minute. So the apparent location of a celestial objects have a precise location that is always moving, due to the rotation of the Earth, or their own movement in space. So going back to our moon location, its apparent azimuth position tonight at this very moment might be 210 degrees, 30 minutes, and 29.5 seconds.
We also express the apparent width of objects in the night sky in degrees as well - like the Sun, Moon, planets, galaxies, nebulas, constellations, etc..
So far example, the Sun is approximately 1/2 degree apparent width or 32 arc minutes.
The moon has an apparent width of 29.4 and 33.5 arcminutes depending on its orbit, similarly at 1/2 a degree wide. As we just recently witnessed across North America, the moon was at the right spot in its orbit to give us a total eclipse on April 8th.
MORE ON CELESTRIAL NORTH
It is important to note that celestial north is not the same as true north or magnetic north. Celestial north is around 1 degree off of true north. However, magnetic north varies greatly due to your location on Earth due to magnetic declination. Magnetic declination is the angular difference between true north and magnetic north. Here just south of Atlanta, magnetic north is over 5 degrees west of true north.
CELESTRIAL SPHERE
Lets talk about another coordinate system that is used by astronomers and equatorial mounts. Let's start with the coordinate system we use here on Earth, Latitude and Longitude.
Latitude measures the distance north or south of the equator. It is expressed in degrees. 0 degrees latitude is equal to the equator. 90 degrees North is equal to the true north pole. 90 degrees South equals to the true South pole. The poles are where the Earth spins on it's axis.
Longitude measures distance east or west from the prime meridian. The prime meridian is an imaginary line from Greenwich, England, dividing the Earth into two hemispheres - West and East. It is measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds.
For astronomy, the sky has a similar coordinate system. There is a celestial north pole and a celestial south pole. Halfway in-between the north and south poles is the celestial equator.
DECLINATION
To help find objects in the night sky with this system, we describe celestial objects either north or south of the celestial equator in degrees. If the object is south, we use negative degrees. So for example, Antares is negative 26 degrees and 29 minutes, south of the celestial equator.
RIGHT ASCENSION
Right ascension is similar to longitude on Earth and the prime meridian and Greenwich, England. The "meridian" on the celestial sphere is determined on where the Sun falls on the celestial equator at the Spring equinox. The 360 degrees circle around the sphere is subdivided into 24 parts called hours. So as each hour passes, one hour advances on the celestial sphere. Actually slightly a little less at 10 seconds each hour. One solar days is 24 hours where one sidereal day is short 4 minutes of that. This is why the constellations are just a little further west at the same time each night, unless you live at the true north or south poles.
Equatorial mounts are polar aligned with the celestial poles. One the telescope has slewed to its declination location and right ascension location, the mount can track the object on one axis, adjusting for the rotation of the Earth.
So in astronomy, we use altitude (ALT) and azimuth to find objects in the sky. Based on your exact location and time, this coordinate system is used by your telescope mount to find objects in the night sky.
TELESCOPE MOUNTS
Telescope mounts fall in two categories. Alt-Azimuth (Alt-Azi) and Equatorial mounts (EQ).
ALT-AZIMUTH MOUNTS
Alt-Azimuth mounts are great for observation and planetary imaging. They are perfect for beginners. Some companies sell their telescopes that are attached with these types of mounts - like the Celestron Nexstar series. Some alt-azimuth mounts come with a hand controller. Others utilize an app from your mobile device. And still others like my Sky-Watcher SolarQuest alt-azimuth Solar Mount use both GPS and a HelioFind solar finder to locate and track the sun during the day. And more basic mounts are moved manually by adjusting knobs or through cables.
Setup is generally easy with an alt-azimuth mount. When setting up your equipment, ensure it is on stable ground. I normally get my equipment away from streetlights or the road. Next you want to extend the individual legs on your tripod to ensure your mount is level.
After providing power to your mount, go through the set-up process on your hand-controller or app. After performing a basic star alignment process, you are ready to go and explore the night sky.
If you are getting into this hobby, I recommend alt-azimuth mounts. They are mostly affordable and easy to setup. Strain-wave mounts like the ZWO AM3, AM5, the new Sky-Watcher Wave 100i and 150i and many others can operate in both alt-azimuth and equatorial modes.
EQUITORIAL MOUNTS
Equatorial mounts (and strain wave mounts operating in equatorial modes) are for both astronomers and astrophotographers. Once polar aligned, these mounts are able to track objects in the night sky for an extended period of time with higher accuracy. Depending on the mounts, they can also be moved through a app, hand-controller, or manually through knobs and/or cables.
I'd like to review my setup for my Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Computerized Equatorial Mount. This equatorial mount has a 30 point payload capacity, hand-controller with a 42,900 object database, a built-in polar scope with an illuminator, two 11-pound counterweights, dovetail saddle.
Setting up these mounts have some common steps. However, your setup may vary. Please reference your instruction manual.
I normally set up my equipment one the sun is no longer shining on the spot where my telescope is going to be setup, but prior to complete darkness.
1. Find a good spot. Once again, look for dry, stable ground. Select an area that has a good view of the night sky while avoiding any unwanted lights.
2. Start with magnetic north (northern hemisphere). I use a compass to help me locate the approximate location of magnetic north. Since I know that my magnetic declination in my location is about 5 degrees to the west of true north, I'll point my mount and telescope about 5 degrees to the right (clockwise) to approximately true north. This is a great starting point.
3. Level the mount. My HEQ5 features a bubble level. I carefully extend or retract the tripod legs until the bubble is in the middle of the inner marked circle.
4. Assemble your support equipment. Since I am home, I run an electrical extension cord to my equipment. Otherwise, I would use a portable power supply. At this point, I usually set up a portable table and place my accessories there, like eyepieces, filters, covers, etc..
5. Attach your telescope. Be sure that all knobs are tightened, especially on the mount prior to placing your telescope on the saddle. You could not want your telescope optical tube coming lose or flopping unexpectedly.
6. Attached counterweights (if needed). If your telescope and attached accessories is going to strain the motors on the mount, or be unbalanced when moved, attach your counterweights. Be sure to tighten any screws so those weights do not move.
7. Balance your telescope. This is a two-step process. It involves positioning your telescope and counterweight rods horizontal the ground. You want to move your counterweights so that your rig is balanced. By releasing the RA lock lever, you can test to see if your rig is balanced.
The other test is whether your telescope is balanced in the saddle attachment. Carefully release the declination lock lever. If your telescope rig sags to one side of the other, relock the declination lock lever. Move your telescope forward or backwards and check the balance again.
8. Focus your telescope. If your eyepieces or imaging cameras have never been focused, I normally take this opportunity before complete darkness to focus my telescope. I'll try to find a radio antenna or other object in the distance to focus my telescope on. In my area, there is a communications antenna several miles away. I'll normally point the telescope at the top of the antenna on the red light. Once that is centered and focus, I'll ensure that any attached guidescopes, finderscopes, or starfinders are centered as well. Adjustments are normally made through screws and/or with hex wrenches.
WAIT FOR DARKNESS
Now I wait for darkness. Since my equipment was inside the house earlier, I like to my equipment some time to get acclimatized to the ambient air temperature. Once the night has hit nautical twilight, the brightest stars should be apparent in the night sky.
1. Focus. If my telescope needs to be focused, I'll take this opportunity to point the telescope to a bright star and focus. I'll cover Bahtinov mask and electronic focusers in another video.
2. Find Polaris (northern hemisphere). You can find the Polaris star in the northern hemisphere by using the end of the cup on the "Big Dipper". You are looking for the "Little Dipper" in Ursa Minor. Polaris is at a altitude that equals your latitude in the northern hemisphere. Atlanta is approximately 34° North in Latitude. Polaris for me is 34° in altitude near magnetic north. Using my hands, that is three fists and a half up the sky from level ground.
Photo Credit: NASA
3. Polar Align your Telescope. With my mount, I can utilize a polar scope reticule in the mount. By using the included hand-controller or any APP on my mobile phone, I will make manual adjustments to the mount by hand cranking both the Altitude Adjustment T-bolts and Azimuth Adjustment Knob to place Polaris in the exact location in the reticule.
When you have the ZWO ASIAIR Plus WiFi Camera Controller, polar alignment is even easier. Select the polar alignment (PA) tool in the app. The app plate solves the sky using your main imaging camera. Then it commands the mount to rotate and repeats the plate solving process. Once it is done, the app will tell you where Polaris. By manually adjusting the altitude and azimuth adjustment bolts and/or knobs, you can reach polar alignment. Never been easier to polar align.
Now that my equipment is setup, I am ready for the exciting part - observing and imaging the night sky. It takes some time to get used to this process. You may have challenges along the way. I know I did! Have patience. With repeated practice, it will get easier.
I hope this episode was helpful. If your interested in learning more about astronomy and astrophotography, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Be sure to check out my video on this very topic.
Also, if your like me, there are no telescopes stores my area, not even in my state. I purchase all my astronomy gear and solar viewing gear from High Point Scientific. They have a huge inventory of astrophotography cameras, solar telescopes, solar eclipse viewing glasses, and more. By using the High Point Scientific link below in the description, you can help this channel. Thank you for your support.
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