+and-

This evening there was a constant haze which meant no "proper" astronomy (or so I thought).
And then...
I popped out onto the balcony to check conditions and was greeted by THIS.
The moon and Jupiter were ringed by a stunning Lunar halo.
Halo's are created when bright light from the Sun is reflected off the Moon (usually a full moon but in this case it was a First quarter 55%). The light is then refracted by thin Cirrus clouds, high in Earth's atmosphere which causes the ring (similar to a rainbow).

Glorious ain't it?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3rd January 2025

The evening started really well. There were crystal-clear skies. I tried to capture early pics of Luna and Venus but found Venus really challenging even with a moon filter. I did however get some FANTASTIC shots of the moon by attaching my phone to Dobby. Taken just using my Pixel 7a Taken using Pixel 7a attached to spotting scope. Taken using Pixel 7a attached to Dobbie, using various lenses and maginfications. These final pics were taken unaided at 7.30pm, just as the sky became hazy. Note the really bad light pollution that I have to contend with every night! This was zoomed in and edited. In Addition I had a viewing session looking East, through the bedroom window. I did manage some good views of the rich Star fields around Orion and also viewed the nebula. Finally, I located Mars but the view was disappointing at any magnification. Finally I went out onto the West-facing balcony with my binoculars and clearly saw a meteor shooting low across the North-Western sky, shooting down at...
Read more

Binos

Got the collimation spot on now on the 10x50s. Jupiter was sharp but it's moons were almost invisible as it was low down in the sky. I'm almost terrified to touch these binos now in case I disturb the focus so I've left them on the tripod.
Read more

Who Needs A Telescope?

Three beautiful images of the sky, looking south from the balcony. Orion and the surrounding area. Jupiter is top/right and Sirius is bottom/left. Orion closer up. Betelgeuse, at the top, is a distinct reddish colour. The Pleiades (7 Sisters) Only 5 stars are clearly visible here but there are many in the group which can be seen even through binoculars. Jupiter is top/left.
Read more