One of the finest examples of an 'edge on' view spiral galaxy. Simply known as NGC4565 (its catalogue number), it is located in the constellation of Coma Berenices. This area of the sky is literally riddled with galaxies, many of which are visible in amateur telescopes. I was told that this is a good galaxy to photograph but at the time did not know what it looked like. As you can imagine I was pleasantly surprised with what appeared on screen.

Three galaxies in the constellation of Leo all of which can be seen in the same field of view. The group of galaxies is roughly 35 million light years away. The galaxies are identified as M65 (top right), M66 (bottom right) and NGC3628 (left). As the constellation of Leo is a long way from the pole star, this area of sky moves more quickly. As a result, I could only manange 30 second exposures. Any longer and I get star trailing. I'm sure with a little more time taken on aligning the mount I can improve on these exposure lengths.

A distinctive planetary nebula resembling two wide eye's looking back at you in the sky. Quite a strange object both photographically and visually through a telescope

The closest open cluster to our solar system is well known as 'The seven sisters', easily visible to the naked eye for which at least 5 or 6 stars can be seen with the naked eye (I've never counted 7 myself). Through a telescope many more stars are revealed amongst the main 7 bright stars. In behind the stars is cloudy nebulosity which you can only see a hint of in this photo.

This Nebula represents the left over gas and material from an exploded star.

These two galaxies in Ursa Major are in gravitational combat with each other and m82, the cigar shaped galaxy, is the one loosing the battle hence its irregular shape.

The closest galaxy to the Milky Way at a staggering distance of 2.2 million light years. That means the light from this photo has taken 2.2 million years to reach my camera! Taking photos of galaxies really is like looking in to the past.

My first photo of 2008 and first taken through the 250px telescope mounted on the EQ6 Synscan mount. The Orion Nebula is the closest star forming region to our solar system. The colourful clouds of dust and gas are collapsing in to create bright new stars. It is these very stars which illuminate the immense clouds for us to see in all their glory.

The Dumbbell Nebula (M27), is a planetary nebula. This is the result of a star that reached the end of its life and the remaining shell of 'star material' is expanding outwards. The left over dwarf star can be seen in the center of the nebula in this photo. Taken with DSLR and 120mm refractor.

The Ring Nebula (M57) is a fascinating object. Another example of a planetary nebula that through a telescope looks like a tiny grey smoke ring hanging in the sky. In this photo some colour comes out. The ring is made up of a glowing shell of gas and plasma formed by certain types of stars at the end of their lives. There is a very faint central star in the middle however it would take a very large telescope to capture it in a photo leave alone view it.

Two Galaxies that can be found in Ursa Major. M81 to the left is a large spiral galaxy with a bright core. M82 to the right is an irregular galaxy, a messy pulp of exploded stars and violently colliding gas. It is also known as 'the cigar' due to its shape. Both galaxies are locked in gravitational combat with each other. 9x90 second exposures at ISO 800. I really need to try longer exposures next time to reveal M81's spiral arms which are sadly hidden in this image

The Great Hercules Cluster is a globular cluster of stars containing several 100,000 stars. This object can just be seen with the naked eye in a dark moonless sky resembling a dim fuzzy like star. A showpiece object through a telescope. These two images were created from a composite of 18 exposures ranging from 30 to 60 secs taken with the Canon 400D DSLR camera attached to telescope.

The Double Cluster in Perseus is one of my favourite objects to view in the sky. A photograph never seems to be able to capture the richness of these clusters when viewed in an eyepiece. Taken with Canon EOS 400D connected to telescope, 2x 60 sec exposure, ISO 800/1600

M35 - A pretty open cluster in Gemini easily revealing around 50 stars in the eyepiece. The cluster actually consists of a few hundred individual stars. A composite of multiple 30 second exposures taken with the Canon 400D / telescope.

The richest of the three open cluster's in the constellation of Auriga, M37. Thought to contain over 500 stars. 9x1 minute exposures taken with Canon EOS 400D

My first Digital SLR image of the Whirlpool Galaxy. Using the DSLR nicely shows the surrounding area with M51 'hanging' in the sky. A better picture can be found further down the page. I need to practice more to get a better quality image of this magnificent deep sky object. Multiple images totalling around 15 minutes of exposure time.

M42 - The Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula. Seeing this photo appear on my camera's LCD screen was my proudest astro-photography moment to date. 3 minute exposure, ISO 1600 with Orion Skyglow filter attached to camera

The Orion Nebula. A composite of 3 images taken at 1,2 and 3 minute exposures on the same night as the left image. Processed in ImagesPlus Software.

M13 - The Hercules Cluster contains several 100,000 stars and can be just seen with the naked eye in a dark moonless sky resembling a dim fuzzy like star. Taken using a Meade Deep Sky Imager, Meade software and finalised in Paintshop Pro

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy. In all its glory again taken with the Meade DSI.

M82 - A side on view galaxy also taken with the Meade DSI.