The waxing moon and Venus are putting on a show tonight. #science #astronomy

The planetary nebula M27 in the constellation Vulpecula. #science #astronomy

This is M102, the spindle galaxy, in Draco. I'm not all that happy with the way it turned out. It's just too small for the equipment I have upstairs. I had to crop it to the point where it pixelates if you try to look at it too closely. But I spent like […] [Original post on backend.newsmast.org]

This is NGC 6820 in the constellation Vulpecula. It's one of my favorites with its very distinctive single pillar. #science #astronomy

The globular cluster M92 in Hercules. #science #astronomy

A wide-field image of the Sadr region in Cygnus. #science #astronomy

The galactic center moving over DarkSkyLand last night. I wanted to try out my new wide-angle lens. #science #astronomy

And this is a starless version of those three nebulae in the galactic center. Left to right: NGC 6604; M16, the Eagle Nebula; M17, the Omega Nebula. #science #astronomy

This is NGC 6604 in the galactic center. This is a close-up view of one of the nebulae that was in that extremely wide field image I posted last night. #science #astronomy

This is an extremely wide field image of part of the galactic center setting over the trees. It's only half an hour, and I'm trying to gather more of it, but the fog has other ideas. The two very bright nebulae are M17, the Omega Nebula, and M16, the […] [Original post on backend.newsmast.org]

Those big active regions are rotating away, and I thought it was going to leave the sun very quiet. I think you can see why I thought so. Now this big puppy is coming around the bend, and it's already released an X-flare. #science #astronomy

We've had a lot of fog during the day, so I haven't been able to keep tabs on these monster active regions. Here's what they were doing while I was away. There was an X flare today, but it's not enough for all but the highest latitudes, aurora-wise. And […] [Original post on backend.newsmast.org]

This is the globular cluster M56 in Lyra, under a nearly full moon. I was testing out a different and much more automated capture software. Otherwise, I would have waited for a darker night. #science #astronomy

You see the largest of the dark black sun spots? Left of center? That's about the size of two Earths. Maybe a little bigger. #science #astronomy

Still watching this monster active region, now called AR4478. Not only is it huge, but it has the strongest magnetic complexity. Could be interesting. Unfortunately, this would be a bad time to watch aurora displays because the moon is so full. #science #astronomy

Another look at that new active region on the sun. Now that it's rotated into better view, it's even more interesting than I thought.

There is a formidable-looking active region rotating into view on the eastern limb (far left edge) of the sun. Might prove interesting. I'd really love one more of those bizarrely-far-south aurora displays before we head towards solar minimum. That […] [Original post on backend.newsmast.org]

The globular cluster M10 in Ophiuchus. There was a little too much moon going on last night, but I grabbed this anyway. #science #astronomy

The waxing moon tonight. #science #astronomy

Somehow I thought I had posted this already. This is also from last night, and it's a closer look at the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex taken with a very small telescope instead of a camera lens.

This is two hours of the Owl Nebula that I took a couple of weeks ago, thinking I would have time to finish it. #science #astronomy

A very wide view of the moon with Jupiter and Venus last night, setting over the western hills. This is just a cell phone pic. #science #astronomy

The crescent moon with Jupiter not long after sunset last night. #science #astronomy

A very wide view of the massive Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. I made a dumb mistake that cost me almost three hours of precious dark sky. So this is only about four hours of this. More would have been nice. #science #astronomy

M63, the Sunflower Galaxy, in Canes Venatici. I've been sitting on 8 hours of this for about a week, thinking I could get another 4-hour night. Another 4 hours would have helped. But the weather is just not cooperating. #science #astronomy

The past four nights of the Jupiter-Venus conjunction. They will now move gradually apart. #science #astronomy

M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, in Canes Venatici. #science #astronomy

This is NGC 4565, the Needle Galaxy, in Coma Berenices. #science #astronomy

The Jupiter-Venus conjunction last night. If you missed it, it's going on tonight as well. #science #astronomy

I thought today's sun was an interesting example of how active regions often form in lines or bands. #science #astronomy

Last night I was able to frame Jupiter and Venus through my 106mm Takahashi scope. And they continue to appear closer together. Also, last night I got four of Jupiter's moons. #science #astronomy

The globular cluster M12 in Ophiuchus. #science #astronomy

Jupiter and Venus hovering over the trees last night. This was taken with my smallest telescope, my little RedCat 51. They'll just keep getting closer together through about the 9th. If you can get in close enough, you can see three of Jupiter's moons. #science #astronomy

A quick cell phone pic of Jupiter and Venus shortly after sunset tonight. They're headed for a conjunction on the 8th and 9th of this month. You can watch them getting closer and closer to each other in the western sky each night. #science #astronomy

The full moon with the star Antares last night. #science #astronomy

Here's a better look at that active sunspot region that was just rotating into view day before yesterday. It's called AR4455 now. It just let off an M-flare, and the chances for stronger flares look pretty good. Maybe auroras at higher latitudes. #science #astronomy

On the very eastern limb of the sun today (far left), above center, you'll see a new sunspot rotating around. The link will take you to what it did yesterday if you're interested. Pretty sure this is the old AR4432. When it comes around a little more […] [Original post on backend.newsmast.org]

The sun remains interesting, gradually on its way to solar minimum but taking its time. The biggest active region here, AR 4446, was considered a monster region when it was on the non-earth-facing side. It's decaying now, but still fired off 16 C-class […] [Original post on backend.newsmast.org]

It's clear tonight, which makes me wish the moon would go away so I could do some deep sky photography. But it won't, so... #science #astronomy

The galaxy NGC 2026 in mostly iffy sky conditions. #science #astronomy

This is a small, faint planetary nebula in the constellation Hercules. It's called Abell 39, and sometimes informally referred to as the Hercules Bubble Nebula. I don't believe I've ever tried it before. #science #astronomy

The moon and Venus last night, between sunset and dark. #science #astronomy

M88 in the Virgo/Coma Berenices galaxy region. #science #astronomy

A trio of galaxies interacting in the constellation Virgo. This is actually ten hours of exposure time, which should have yielded a much better result. But the sky has been kind of misty. I almost didn't share this, but I hated to waste the ten hours. #science #astronomy

Hi Fediverse! I’m Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of 45+ novels, wrangler of lots of pets including a dog, two cats, two horses and a mini horse. Most relevant to this space is my absolute passion for astrophotography, which I’ve been working hard at for […] [Original post on backend.newsmast.org]