Another Catch-Up Post

Not sure if anyone is still following this blog due to its inactivity. Not even sure if people really blog anymore, or just FaceBook and Twitter all the time instead, or whatever.

Been an eventful few months. The death of a close friend, a new job, a trip back home to Australia and a move to a new home. Some of these things I have experienced in the last few months have led me to live a little harder, chase some more dreams, value some things that I haven't on the past.

Anyway, astronomy...

Last month I was able to set my sights on Saturn with my relatively new astro imager, a ZWOASI120MC. Managed to capture a lovely shot, as seen below.

Image details:

 - Celestron C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope

 - Celestron CGEM mount

 - ZWO ASI120MC camera

 - Celestron 2X Barlow

 - 800 frames stacked in Autoskakkert2

It's the best image of Saturn I've ever captured. The conditions were probably 3-4/5, so a better image isn't far off but I now have to wait for next year. 

I've also been working on some wide field shots. We have moved out into the country, and have a property with spectacular night skies (bortle 3-4). The Milky Way is clearly visible, and the ability to shoot from my back yard is first-class. Below is a star trail shot I took with a lightning storm along the horizon.

As a result of moving out into the country, I have the ability to build an observatory which I am n ow in the middle of. More of that in the next post...