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MESSAGE OF THE MONTH
Scope and glory
I’m a total newbie to astrophotography and got a Dwarf II smart telescope in October last year. After reading your review of it (First Light, January 2024), I thought I’d show you what I’ve been able to capture. The Dwarf II is limited to deep space and not so good for planets, but the recent app and firmware updates have improved the targets available and image quality, and I’ve really enjoyed using it. It’s a great scope and a fantastic intro to astrophotography.
Here (right, bottom) is my best image so far, of NGC 7000, the North America Nebula, put together from 3,000 sub-frames taken over several weeks. These were captured in my back garden, in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, with a Bortle 6–7 sky. Naturally, capturing the target is just the start of the job and the processing is where the time and effort is spent. For this I used Siril, GIMP and Photoshop Express on my phone. Thanks for a great magazine!
Adrian Bealing, via email
Thanks for sharing your image, Adrian. It’s fantastic to hear that your journey into deep-sky imaging has been so rewarding! – Ed.
This month’s top prize: two Philip’s titles
The ‘Message of the Month’ writer will receive a bundle of two top titles courtesy of astronomy publisher Philip’s: Nigel Henbest’s Stargazing 2024 and Robin Scagell’s Guide to the Northern Constellations
Winner’s details will be passed on to Octopus Publishing to fulfil the prize
Tweet
Sam Binding@sambinding • 26 January The full Moon this morning over Clifton Suspension Bridge. It was almost too light by the time the Moon dipped down far enough, and despite a sneaky bank of cloud on the horizon it was just about visible. @skyatnightmag
Blazing a trail
Being an absolute beginner to astronomy, I was so pleased with my first use of the solar filter on my Seestar S50 that I wanted to share the image with you. It was taken on 15 January at 12:30pm in Ravenshead, Nottingham. I must have been in the right place at the right time!
Tracie Noad, via email
Final chorus
I don’t think any article about music sent into space (Field of View, February 2024) would be complete without a reference to Runrig. The last track on their final album ‘Somewhere’ features ISS astronaut Laurel Clark chatting to Mission Control about her cho
