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 telscope, I have never seen this with my own eye's. 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!

I'm taking full advantage of this cold North Easterly with crisp clear skies on offer. The Crab Nebula features the remnents of an exploded star, what's seen here is the left over shell of gas from the explosion which is ever expanding

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.

The Great Orion Nebula (M42) and its companion above it knicknamed "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 Orions belt. The constellation of Orion is quite distinctive and visible throughout the winter months

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)
 

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
 

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 fussy 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).
 

NGC4565 Edge on Galaxy click to enlarge image One of my favourite galaxies to photograph. NGC4565 in the constellation of Coma Berenices is a reasonably bright galaxy and quite large, making it one of the easier galaxies to photograph. The edge on view is quite stunning with the dust lane clearly visible cutting through its core
The Leo Triplet Galaxies click to enlarge image Three galaxies in Leo which can all been seen in the same field of view. Nicknamed the 'Leo Triplet', these three galaxies are officially known as M65 (top right), M66 (bottom right) and NGC3628 (Left). This improved photo includes exposures taken this time last year and a whole bunch of new exposures totalling a little over one and a half hours exposure time	M81 Spiral Galaxy click to enlarge image A spectacular spiral galaxy in Ursa Major. One of the brighter galaxies in the Northern sky, this galaxy has a companion which is just out of frame (a photo of both together can be seen in the gallery) 18x5 minute exposures.
The Pinwheel Galaxy click to enlarge image This pretty 'face on' spiral galaxy is thought to be around 20 million light years distant. I cannot even see this galaxy through my telescope, however long exposure photography brings it out quite nicely as long as you know where to point the camera!	The Whirlpool Galaxy click to enlarge image A well known spiral galaxy probably made famous by its perfect flat on view and neighbouring companion that appears to extend off from the main structure. Hubble has famously taken some very stunning photo's of this galaxy. There have been many estimates of its distance from us ranging from 15 to 31 million light years!

I have finally imaged 'the ringed one' this year. Mighty different to last year 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.
 

The Pleiades (also known as the 'Seven Sisters') is the closest star cluster to our solar system, easily visible to the naked eye. The cluster can be seen up high in the Southern sky during late winter. In this photo you can see clouds of nebulosity in behind the stars. These are very hot, young stars hense their blue colour.

The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy highlighted by the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. The aim of the Year is to stimulate worldwide interest, especially among young people, in astronomy and science under the central theme "The Universe, Yours to Discover". IYA2009 events and activities will promote a greater appreciation of the inspirational aspects of astronomy. Click the Logo to visit the UK website for more info on upcoming events

On 1st December, the three brightest objects in the night sky converged in a small area of the South Western horizon putting on this stunning show for all to see. Brilliant Venus (below the moon) had just come out from behind the moon during this event. Jupiter can also be seen above and to the right. On the right hand picture a widefield shot shows the trio with St Mary's church in the distance

My latest photo of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). The most distant object visible to the naked eye and the closest galaxy to our own. Various shots ranging from 2-5 minutes in length totalling 2 hours of exposure time.

My third attempt at capturing the International Space Station was once again successful. Out of a 2 minute movie containing over 2000 frames only a mere 2 frames had captured the station in full. Unfortunately 2 solar arrays were not reflecting any sunlight however Shuttle Atlantis is docked there somewhere but can't pick it out in either photo.

Overhead shot

Eastern sky shot (setting)

My shot from Bridgwater ISS - 12 December 2007

NASA shot from space Latest NASA photo of the ISS

My second attempt at capturing the International Space Station via webcam has been very successful. The above left photo was created from a movie taken with webcam attached to dobsonian telescope. The space station passed directly over the Southern UK which made it pass in a dead straight line from West to East right overhead. This made it easier than last time for me to keep it in view as I only had to move the telescope in one axis to keep up with it. I am delighted with the results. Above right picture is a current photo from NASA as a comparison

Crescent Moon & Venus