Winter Solstice Eve's Moon

The near full moon on the eve of the Winter Solstice here at the Gondwana Stars Observatory. The image is taken afocal through the eyepiece of a 5 inch reflector.

Gondwana Stars

Inside the Gondwana Stars Observatory there are a couple of small observing intruments. The observatory has another 2 large Dobsonians that were not set up on this evening.

Conjunction

The great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21, 2020. The apparent position of Jupiter and Saturn next to each other (conjunction) in the sky has not been seen this close for approximately 400 years. This was a truly once in a lifetime event. And this photo captures it almost exactly as it looked to the eye through the eyepiece. Taken with a TeleVue 101is at 540mm, with 4x Powermate.

Comet 21P Giacobini-ZInner

A shot of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner from this morning about 4am. This one is in colour and stretched to try to bring out the tail a little more. A stack of about 20 frames, 20 seconds each, ISO3200 and assembled in Nebulosity. Taken with my TeleVue 101is at 540mm focal length. The cluster M35 is on the right of frame.

TeleVue To Go

A telescope set up and waiting for the darkness to reveal the wonders of the Universe.

The Baker

The original Baker Telescope at the Ballarat Observatory.

Smartphone Astrophotography

This photo was taken with a smartphone looking into the eyepiece of a telescope (afocal). The phone is not smart enough to capture this photo by itself. The crescent moon was a pretty sight among the thin cloud from the top of the Maleny range.

Far, Far Away

This is a truly remarkable instrument for catching photons from galaxies far, far away. An Astro-Physics 305mm, f3.8 Riccardi-Honders Astrograph.

Trifids

The Trifid Nebula, M20, as seen from Mount Isa last night. Taken with a TeleVue101is f5.4 refractor and standard Canon 60D.

Telescopes

A closer view of the telescopes used on the night.

Telescope

A telescope belonging to the Mount Isa Astronomy Group. This is the scope I used to take a photo through from a previous post.