April Observing Report

I had a few imaging opportunities at the beginning of the month over the new moon period. My first target was the Leo Triplet, a target that has been long awaited. I am delighted with the results given that I could only manage 30 second exposures. These 3 galaxies reside in the constellation of Leo which is in a part of the sky quite far from the pole. This means that this part of the sky is moving slightly faster than other parts of the sky that I have photographed, teaching me a lesson about what exposure times I can get away with in different parts of the sky. My second target was recommended in the observing notes of my local astronomy society. Its a galaxy that I had never seen before visually or photographically so I did not know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised as my first shot revealed a slim, edge-on view spiral galaxy with dark dust lane running right infront of its core. Hardly any real time was spent photographing or viewing for the rest of the month due to bad weather timing and the now long days with true darkness not arriving until around 9:30 - 10pm.