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Welcome to Matt's Astronomy Website. All photos and reports in this website are taken from the Bridgwater area (Somerset, UK) using the equipment as specified in the equipment section. Best picks from the gallery...
The Dumbbell Nebula (re-taken) 
My first image taken with my new modified camera. The Dumbbell Nebula is the remnents of a star that has come to the end of its life and shed its atmosphere. I'm pleased with the results of this camera and look forward to re-taking more of the deep sky targets 19x5 minute exposures taken October 2011 Planned revamp of all my Deep Sky images! Having tried some harder targets lately, I seem to be spending more and more time on them and not getting the same pleasing results. So i've decided to revisit all of my previously photographed deep sky objects throughout the coming Winter and Spring. With an improved camera and better knowlege, the images should be of better quality. I'm looking forward to returning to the brighter, more easily targeted deep sky objects again! Of course there will be a couple new targets thrown in as well A seasonal list of my planned deep sky targets can be found Here. Keep checking back on this page to follow my progress. NGC7000 - The North America Nebula
This large nebula will not fit in my camera's field of view in full so this is the 'Mexico' region of the Nebula. It is so faint that I have had to break a personal record with the longest combined exposure time I have ever taken. DSLR camera's are not good at picking out this type of nebula so I am very pleased with the result. 94x5 minute exposures over 2 consecutive nights (7 Hours, 50 minutes exposure time in total!), September 2011 M11 - The Wild Duck Cluster 
A beautiful cluster found in the constellation on Scutum. M11 gets its distinctive name as it resembles the formation of wild ducks in flight. Admittedly, this pattern is more recognisable in a telescope than photographs. 9x4 minute exposures taken September 2011 Jupiter's closest opposition 
On the 21st September 2010, Jupiter reached 'opposition'. This is where the planet is directly opposite the sun in relation to the Earth. Also, this is the closest Jupiter will be to Earth at opposition for many years. This means the planet is very slightly brighter and bigger (although hardly detectable to be honest). Always a stunning sight through the telescope as its the largest planet in the solar system. 3 of its 4 large moons are clearly seen in this image. 1000 frames stacked together from a webcam movie NGC6888 - The Crescent Nebula  click to enlarge My imaging is like buses, you wait for ages then 4 come along one after the other! A week of high pressure weather and I get my 4th image in as many days! This time an unplanned newcomer to my gallery, The Crescent Nebula found in the constellation of Cygnus. A difficult target for a dslr camera but I got some detail in there (it required 2 hours 20 minutes worth of exposure just to get this!) 28x 5 minute exposures taken September 2010 M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula  click to enlarge The Dumbbell Nebula is another example of a star that has ended its life and shed its atmosphere. These are known as planetary nebula's (even though planets have nothing to do with them) 19x 5 minute exposures taken September 2010
 click to enlarge My second ever attempt at imaging M57, better known as 'The Ring Nebula'. The remnants of a star that has died and shed its atmosphere leaving a white dwarf star in the centre. Much like our sun will begin to do in around 5 billion years time. 7x 5 minute exposures taken August 2010  click to enlarge My favourite summer constellation, Cygnus is rich with countless stars. So many that in parts it simply looks like a cloud 10x 3 minute exposures taken August 2010  click to enlarge The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to our own. Its visible to the naked eye in dark skies as a fuzzy smudge in the sky. This makes it the farthest object visible to the human eye. This photo was taken from Slapton, South Devon The '2nd' Leo Triplet of Galaxies  click to enlarge Three more galaxies found in Leo (not as bright as the Leo triplet). This cluster of galaxies contains three main galaxies and two further smaller galaxies. Top Left is M105, an elliptical galaxy with two other companions. Middle is M96 and to the right is M95 both of these are spiral galaxies Crescent Moon & Venus  click to enlarge The crescent Moon and Venus put on a fine show on 16th April as shown here. Venus is currently an 'evening star' being crowned the brightest object in the night sky apart from the moon. Look out for the bright planet shortly after sunset in the West through April and May The Bubble Nebula  click to enlarge I'm starting to target more difficult objects now and this is no exception. This beautiful nebula is called the 'bubble nebula' (for obvious reasons). Virtually invisible in my large telescope, I have never seen this with my own eyes. Thank goodness for astro-photography is all I can say! Due to the amount of exposure time required I combined exposures over 3 different imaging nights! The Crab Nebula (M1)  click to enlarge I took full advantage of a cold North Easterly with crisp clear skies on offer at the beginning of January. The Crab Nebula features the remnants of an exploded star, what's seen here is the left over shell of gas from the explosion which is ever expanding The Perseus Double Cluster  click to enlarge (Be sure to enlarge image from the auto fit to screen mode) One of my favourite deep sky objects to observe is the Perseus Double Cluster. A wonderful sight in both binoculars and modest sized scope, two clusters of stars are seen in the same field of view. Oddly, its hard to capture the visual beauty of this object with photography. 18x 5 minute exposures taken January 2010.The Great Orion Nebula & "The Running Man"  click to enlarge The Great Orion Nebula (M42) and its companion above it nicknamed "the running man" is quite probably the most beautiful area of the whole sky. Featuring immense gas and dust clouds where star formation is taking place, the nebula is the closest of its kind to our solar system and visible to the naked eye in a dark sky as a smudge patch below Orion's belt. The constellation of Orion is quite distinctive and visible throughout the winter months A composite of 30x25 second & 16x 5 minute exposures taken December 2009.The "Witches Broom"  click to enlarge I thought this would be quite a fitting addition to my gallery for Halloween month. Its more official name is the Western Veil Nebula. Part of the massive veil complex which can be found in Cygnus. This large yet desperately faint object is the remaining material and gas left over from a star that exploded in a supernova thousands of years ago. A difficult target for my SLR camera to capture requiring lots of exposure time. I got just under 6 hours of exposure time on this object (A new personal record) The Summer Milky Way   click to enlarge images These shots were taken from Slapton, South Devon. (left) A shot of the summer triangle region of the sky with milky way running straight through.Please click on it to see enlarged version. 3x 5 minute exposures (25 minutes in total). (right) The Milky Way stretching down to the horizon showing parts of the galactic centre in Sagittarius. The bright light to the left is an effect from start point light house The Great Hercules Globular Cluster  click to enlarge image This cluster is a true showpiece of the summer sky in any medium sized telescope. At a distance of about 145 light years its thought to contain several hundred thousand stars. This object is barely visible to the naked eye in a dark location, however easily visible in binoculars or a small telescope as a small fuzzy patch. The 3rd time I've imaged this object as its such an easy target which gets instant results. Please click on it to see enlarged version. 10x 3 minute exposures (30 minutes in total). Saturn 2009 
I have finally imaged 'the ringed one' this year. Mighty different to 2008 and before isn't it. The rings have closed right up taking some of the beauty out of the view. The rings will briefly completely disappear through August then the slow opening of the rings will begin. Its still a fantastic sight through a scope. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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