Caught the most distant amateur‑reachable astro-object again — quasar #APM08279+5255, 12 BLY away and boosted to mag 15 by gravitational lensing. Managed it even near a full Moon. And now I learn #Seestars can nail it too. Happy hunting!! #astrophotography🔭

So it's a #NewYear and time for a bit of #astroexercise! Get out of the armchair and work those muscles with #TheRunningMan and a #LittleDumbbell lifting?🤣💪🏻 #astrophotography #astronomy #EAA 🔭

This is surely just sky light pollution- and from a Science Centre!! Sad. Yes i get the “PR appeal” to the public around “we are here” but since it’s about this and not (i understand) a science experiment, then what’s to stop every Shopping Mall doing the same? @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

I foolishly believed the forecast🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️😩 #astrophotography 🔭

Now THAT is how to write a final episode.. ( #GoT looking at you) 👏👏👏 #strangerthings #strangerthings5 #ibelieve

I spent last night chasing #NGC488. The wind sent many subs into the bin but as I finally got the Gx behaving, a satellite came across the core as if stepping up to the oche at the current #DartsWorldChampionship. I half‑expected it to shout “One hundred and eighty!” 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️ #astronomy #astrophotography

#OTD: 25 December 2003, ESA's Mars Express entered orbit around the ‘Red Planet’, the first European spacecraft to do so, after a journey lasting 205 days and covering 400 million km 🧪🔭 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @esa.int @sci.esa.int @operations.esa.int

Really odd noticing how the #Trump Peace Prize from #FIFA is morphing into #Vecna #MindSlayer #StrangerThings 🤔😱

King Charles' unusually outward-looking Christmas message was packed with messages and symbols Closed out by Ukrainian singers with British military musicians, he spoke of "compassion and reconciliation" and the need "to ensure that right triumphs over wrong" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/w...

If there is one thing i dislike in astro observing it’s having a clearing night sky but with a gusty wind. I might as well not bother - but it’s the hope that kills you 😩 So if Santa is out tonight he’d better have seat belts!! Meanwhile - Merry Christmas Bluesky 🎄🎅🏼 Wishing you all clear skies …

The thing about art is that it can be interpreted by the viewer as they wish, especially when the artist gives no comment. I choose to interpret the latest Banksy as a statement on the importance of astronomy… 🔭

On my walk around my village yesterday it seems I encountered Spring - already 🤦🏻‍♂️ #snowdrops

#3i/ATLAS is a timely Christmas Present for our Solar System and appears to be very ancient indeed. With closest approach last night and clear skies, I managed to catch this alien visitor. I reckon its Santa 🎅🏻 anyway 🤣 ... #astronomy #astrophotography🔭 #stillacomet

A bit of seasonal fun with two "Christmas images". First the #ChristmasTreeCluster #NGC2264 and connected #ConeNebula altered to mix RGB and SHO palettes across a 2 panel mosaic and then #M42 which always shouts "Its a turkey!!" at me when I catch it 🤣 #astrophotography #astronomy #EAA 🔭

I’ve been through a lot worse than anything Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth can throw at me. And I'm not backing down, because this isn't about me — it's about you and every American's First Amendment right.

Dr Paul Bate @ukspaceagency.bsky.social announces at #Appleton2025 that the #Beagle2 programme will be celebrated in 2026 with the installation of 10 plaques around UK linked to UK and Europe’s first successful landing of a probe on another planet.👏👏👏 #spacepolicy #space @esa.int

Big #sunspot action - turning towards Earth - so maybe significant aurora in a week? Let's see. Sun wasn't playing nicely with clouds and trees for me so no chance to use my planetary camera but the 8" SCT at FR 0.7 was fine for the "big picture" #ar4294 #sunspot #sun #astronomy

🔭☄️

Saw #TheLastFiveYears #musical @theatreroyalbath.bsky.social #Ustinov yesterday- such an intriguing way to present the evolution of a relationship. Brilliant performances by all (esp. #MarthaKirby #GuyWoolfe. The separate London revival next year will have to work hard to top this effort.

#BathAbbey looking good for #Christmas (in November 😉🤦🏻‍♂️) yesterday …

Too late to the party to catch the breakup of #comet #2025K1ATLAS possibly because i needed shorter exposures to catch the moving multiple nucleus, given the speed this tracks across the sky. Just two pieces in my image. #astro #astronomy 🔭

Was asked to give a 30 min talk to my @ukspaceagency.bsky.social Alumni about my back-garden astronomy imaging today. It did drift on a bit to 40 mins but @robertmassey.bsky.social @royalastrosoc.bsky.social @astroroyalscot.bsky.social may be pleased to note that I left them with a firm last slide!

It's been 3 years since I had a crack at this one - #Messier33 or the #Triangulum Galaxy. Last night I caught this for an hour. One of the three biggies in our Local Group of galaxies, alongside Milky Way and Andromeda, M31. Just about fits my field of view.

Nice to see #Tyntesfield @nationaltrust.org.uk keeping up with their annual #pumpkin display 👍👏🎃

Next up from the processing stack - #Caldwell27 or the #CrescentNebula (although for me it's a "brain"!) I am constantly amazed that we can, relatively quickly, catch such objects from a back garden - amateur astronomy really has changed over the last 5 years 🤯 #EAA #astrophotography #astronomy 🔭

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble” - well it's about bubble and witches so I'll call that Halloween. I'm catching up with processing and so this one seemed appropriate for tonight. #Caldwell11 #Bubble #astrophotography #EAA #astronomy 🔭 #halloween 🎃

Had a chance to see an art exhibition yesterday linked to #EmmaTalbot work. She made two references to “space” in her piece -one was that satellites spread misinformation and the other that satellite debris reins down on us. I feel the Space Industry needs to improve its narrative !!!

50 years ago i watched #rickwakeman play “Myths and Legends of King Arthur” at Wembley Arena -on ICE! He lost a lot of money on that show! Last night I watched the last night of his tour showcasing “Myths” plus his “Six Wives of HenryVIII” album @bristolbeacon.bsky.social -timeless!! 👏👏👏🤘🎹🎹👑

So I got partly lucky with #CometLemmon. It dipped between houses and the weather was variable, so I only achieved 20 mins on the target - a pity since its tail structure deserved so much more time! Nicely green for #Halloween ! #astronomy #astrophotography 🔭 See you again in 1300 yrs 🤣

Showed folks #comet #C/2025A6Lemmon through my 80x20 binos tonight (iphone eyepiece pic added) but some seemed more excited to see a string of satellites passing overhead. I do fear for our skies -a canvas for drive-thru entertainment and a “fast food” spectacle seems to be its future 😩 #astronomy 🔭

This year's 60 min attempt at #Elephant'sTrunkNebula #IC1396 #LDN1105 #EAA #astro #astrophotography looks more like a wholly mammoth?! 🔭

Informative talk👇 -human spaceflight as a (US) civil religion vs science. However most tech advances claimed for human spaceflight -such as (yes) semiconductors, computing, and materials science -were primarily driven by defence, industrial, and satellite programs, not crewed missions. #spacepolicy

Some spooky spectral treats on the run-up to #Halloween... As usual just quick total exposures - #WizardNebula (see a hint at the end) #GhostNebula (a bit more obvious?) and #Mirach'sGhost - an elliptical caught in the glare of Mirach #astronomy #EAA #astro #astrophotography #halloween woooo!!!

Even better Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton 🙈☺️

Well it's done. 3 talks delivered on the past, present and future of our Galaxy. A privilege to have the retirement time to research and present them to audiences that enjoy the subject matter. But my Marvin jokes could do with some improvement! #u3a #astronomy #space #scifi

Playing around with #Saturn by adding a small 1.5X Barlow to my camera optical train. Seems to catch just a touch more detail than without. 5mins video and best 10%... #astro #astrophotography

Quick image of tonight's observation of the recent August #supernova in #NGC7606 #SN2025vzq (catchy memorable name!) located in #Aquarius #astro #astrophotography

No doubt all the US “space colonists” and fans of “fantasy TV” like “For All Mankind” are in seventh heaven, having voted in this appalling Administration to address their one single issue. Sometimes you REALLY need to see the bigger picture guys… 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️👨‍🚀🚀

All done! #Gromit3 #GromitUnleashed #Beagle3 was of course the best one 😉

Had a business trip to #London yesterday and a chance to wander around the canal area just outside #Paddington Station- literally just beyond the taxi entrance. What a transformation over recent years…

Could imagine “But hey we’ve got 10 new astronauts so things are looking up at NASA”🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

Another night with #Saturn but also #Neptune #astro #astrophotography

It's been a while since I imaged a planet but #Saturn is getting more amenable for an evening (vs an early morning) observation. Still not managed a grab of Titan's shadow but really weird to see such a thin ring! Added a separate Saturn over it's exposed in the moon shot #astro #astrophotography

Not the best of images but last night I did manage to catch the shadow of Titan on Saturn’s cloud tops. 🔭

Watched @davidgilmour.com “Concert at Circus Maximus” at #thevue tonight (released as a “cinema experience”). Simply marvellous. Boy can that guy still make a guitar sing! Last chance to see this is on Sunday. Go! His daughter is also a revelation 👏👏👏 What a family… @peterlewis55.bsky.social

Gave a talk on the @science.esa.int #GAIA mission—framed as an Indy-style romp through galactic archaeology.‘GAIA and the Kingdom of the Cannibal Galaxy’ and yes, there may have been a whip! Fun way to make proper motion and stellar dynamics feel a bit more... adventurous 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️ #astro #astronomy

My birthday present has arrived- i might be busy for a while!! #astro

Sorry UK astrobuds, i have finally received my new battery kit for my rig. Expect cloud and rain for weeks… 😂🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ #astro

Well i’ll take that as a win, hanging out of a top floor window… #iphone #lunareclipse 🤣🤣🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ #moon #lunar #astro

How’s the #lunareclipse working out for you all? Got a chainsaw?🤣