The Western Veil Nebula (Caldwell 34)

September can bring some very nice calm-weather dark skies and last Sunday night (the 6th) was one of them. It was enough just to sit outside wrapped up in a blanket and admire the view. To get an idea of how dark the sky was I tried counting (by eye) the number of stars in the great square of Pegasus and came up with seven or eight which is not too bad. Whilst I was using my Dwarf 3 to do some imaging I contented myself by roaming round the sky with my 10x50 binoculars. A few things I found interesting. The first was that I had a really good view of the galaxy M33, which is becoming more prominent in our autumn skies now. I was surprised how bright it seemed in binoculars but it was impossible to see with the naked eye, even though I knew exactly where to look. I also had a go at viewing some double stars, something I have found difficult with bins on previous occasions. I had a look at beta Cygni which is at the head of the swan and a nice combination of blue and yellow stars (magnitudes 3.1 and 4.7). These I did manage to separate into their components which was excellent (they are 34 arc seconds apart). Another pair that I could separate was zeta Lyrae (magnitudes 4.3 and 5.9) which are 44 arc seconds apart. Very satisfying!

Back to the imaging. I chose this evening to have a go at the western part of the Veil Nebula. I have already imaged the eastern part. Here is what I obtained after 199x15s (49.75 minutes):-

The first frame was taken at 23:05 BST and the last at 00:19 on the 7th. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). There are patches of nebulosity in a lot of the frame to the left of the central bright star. The main bright patch in the centre of the field of view is the remnants of the supernova shock wave that is still traveling to the right in this frame. This part is called the Witch's Broom (or NGC 6960).

Here is a close-up of the nebula in the centre of the frame at the full resolution of the scope:-

The filamentary nature of this nebula can be seen very well in this image. It almost appears rope like. The bright star at the edge is 52 Cygni and is at a much closer distance to us. For a full description of how this nebula formed please have a look at my previous post.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

 

The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281)

Last Friday, the 4th September, we had some clear skies in the evening here in Neatishead and I was out making use of it with my Dwarf 3 smartscope. The moon was at last quarter and wouldn't rise until 22.29 BST. It now gets fully dark about 8.30pm BST. I decided I would have a go at the interestingly named Pacman Nebula in Cassiopeia and this is what I obtained after 350x15s (1 hour 27.5 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 22:12 BST and the last at 23:59. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up of the nebula in the centre of the frame at the full resolution of the scope:-

The nebula gets its name from its resemblance to the main character in the 1980s Pac-Man video game. The dark intrusion of gas and dust on the right looks like its mouth and the central bright star like an eye. This HII region of glowing gas is powered by IC1590 - the cluster of stars at the centre of this image. There are also several Bok Globules to be seen; these are small isolated darker areas of dust and gas that can be viewed against the brighter areas of nebula behind. They are often associated with areas where star formation is beginning to take place. The nebula lies at about 10,000 light years from us and close to the star alpha and eta Cassiopeiae on the sky.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 869/884, Caldwell 14)

After I had been observing the new nova in Sagitta the other night (the 25th August) I thought I would point the telescope at an old favourite - the double cluster in the constellation of Perseus. The moon was a bit more of a problem by then so a nice bright object was ideal to observe. This is what I obtained with my Dwarf 3 after 83x15s (20.75 minutes):-

The first frame was taken at 22:48 BST and the last at 23:14. The astro filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have binned the image x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up, unbinned crop of the above image:-

These open clusters are some of the finest objects in the night sky and can easily be seen with the naked eye as a faint double smudge near the sword hand of Perseus. Known also as h and Chi Persei, the upper cluster is NGC 869 and the lower is NGC 884. These objects (lying at a distance of about 7,500 light years in the Perseus Arm of our Milky Way galaxy) are relatively young and probably emerged from a single cloud of dust and gas about 13 million years ago. NGC 869 is the slightly more massive of the two but NGC 884 contains several prominent red supergiant stars (these can be seen in the above image). These are massive short-lived stars have already evolved off the main sequence. Each cluster contains about 300 stars.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

 

New Nova in Sagitta

** Update. This nova has now been given the name V488 Sagittae. **

Last night (25th August 2026) I received an alert to say that there was a new nova in the constellation of Sagitta (the arrow) and it was only discovered early in the morning by the NMW-TexasTech survey (NMW stands for New Milky Way). This new object has been given the designation PNV J19450648+1822422 and it is located at 19 45 06.48 +18 22 42.2. As it was clear I decided to go out and image it with my Dwarf 3 and here is what I obtained after 97x15s (24.25 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 22:12 BST and the last at 22:41. The visual filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have binned the image x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). 

The nova is marked by the green line. The orangey looking bright star to the left of centre is delta Sagittae and the next brightest star to the far right is alpha. The following chart and stellar comparison sequence comes from the AAVSO (and so I hope they don't mind me reproducing it here):-

The labels in this chart identify the comparison stars magnitude so 81 is actually 8.1 visual magnitude. There are stars labelled 71, 73 and 77 that look to be as bright as the nova so that means roughly that the nova has a magnitude of around 7.1 to 7.7. This agrees with the follow-up photometry that has been done.

All text and images (except from the AAVSO) © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Eastern Veil Nebula (Caldwell 33)

Saturday night (the 22nd August) we had a nice clear evening and the gibbous waxing moon was low down in the south east. The evenings are beginning to darken again and it now gets fully dark by 10pm BST. I went out with my Dwarf 3 just after that time and decided to have a go at photographing the eastern edge of the Veil Nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. This is Caldwell 33 and it is made up of NGC 6992 and NGC 6995. Here is what I obtained after 218x15s (54.5 minutes):-

The first frame was taken at 22:23 BST and the last at 23:46. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up of the nebula in the centre of the frame:-

It certainly is a very pretty object! NGC 6992 is the upper part of the nebula and NGC 6995 is the lower part that curves back on itself. This cloud of shining gas results from a Type II supernova that exploded around 15,000 years ago. What we see here is only part of the whole structure (the Cygnus Loop) which measures something like 3.5 x 2.7 degrees on the sky. During the time since the star exploded the ejected material has been expanding outwards into interstellar space. What we see here is the shell of the shockwave interacting with the local interstellar medium. Ribbons of hot gas are produced - some parts are emitting the red hydrogen alpha line but others are producing the green emission line of ionised oxygen (it looks blueish here). In the wider-field image above you can make out other smaller patches of nebulosity to the right which are a part of the loop.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026  

The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380 and Sh2-142)

Last night (the 21st July) was one of those really nice still summer evenings when, with a bit of clear weather, you get a glorious view of the Milky Way. This is because, when it finally gets dark enough about 11.30 BST, Cygnus, through which the Milky Way travels, is quite high up in the south. I was quite pleased to see a number of nebulous patches low over our hedge which were possibly exciting objects like the Lagoon Nebula or the Eagle Nebula. I will have to get round to cutting some of the elder to get a better view! In the end I didn't have much time before it clouded over but I had a go at something at a much higher altitude and this was what has been called the Wizard Nebula in Cepheus. The moon was at first quarter but was low in the south west. This is what I obtained after 152x15s (38 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:45 BST and the last at 00:31 on the 22nd. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation and brightness of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close-up of the nebula and star cluster in the centre of the frame:-

NGC 7380 actually refers to the young open star cluster that sits above the nebula in this image. The stars in this loose cluster formed between 4 and 11 million years ago and have emerged from the dust and gas that is surrounding them. The nebulosity is referred to as Sh2-142 in Sharpless's catalogue. The red colour comes from ionized hydrogen and most of the ionizing radiation comes from DH Cephei - a close pair of massive O-type stars. The cluster is about 8,500 light-years from us in the Perseus arm of the Milky Way. I suppose it gets its name of the wizard nebula because there is what looks like a wizard's pointed hat in the lower centre of the image and I guess his arms (with long sleeves) are stretched out either side whilst he creates an explosion of colour in the middle! Who knows!

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Pelican and North American Nebulae

The hot dry weather has been continuing for quite a few weeks now and last night was clear again but with the odd bit of patchy thin cloud. As Cygnus is relatively well placed by late in the evening I had a go at the area of nebulosity that is near the rear of the swan and not far from the brightest star in the constellation, Deneb.The Pelican and North American nebulae lie close together on the sky and form part of a large area of ionized gas. Here is what I obtained after 260x15s (1 hour 5 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:58 BST and the last at 01:27 on the 10th. The duo-band filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). 

The North American Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is in the lower left of the frame. The dark 'bite' taken out of it is supposed to represent the Gulf of Mexico. In the upper centre right of the picture is the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). This can be seen a bit better in the following rotated and cropped version below:-

As Ruben Kier says in his '100 Best Astrophotography Targets' the long beak looks more like the head of a prehistoric Pterodactyl than the head of a bird but one can get the idea. The nebula is about 1,500 light years from us.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026

The Dumbbell Nebula M27

For the first time since May I have been able to go out and observe with my Dwarf 3. The night before last (the 8th July) the sky was pretty clear after a hot day and the moon was one day past last quarter. The summer triangle is now obviously prominent in the south east and one object I haven't photographed for a while that appears in the midst of this triangle of bright stars is the Dumbbell Nebula M27 in the constellation of Vulpecula. We are still in a period when astronomical twilight lasts all night but it seemed to me that the sky was dark enough to make observing worthwhile (I could, for example, see parts of the Milky Way).

Here is the result of 198x15s (49.5 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:49 BST and the last at 00:57 on the 9th. The astro filter was employed and the gain was set to 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2 (please click on the image to see a full-size view). Here is a close up of the object using the unbinned data:-

The beautiful colours of this object have been picked up well in this image. Notice also the density of stars in the background. This is because the object is close to the Milky Way. This object is a fine example of a planetary nebula and is the result of an old star (a red giant) shedding its outer layers of dust and gas. This is what we can see in the form of a shell of material which surrounds the remnant of the original star (now a white dwarf). The red colours some from hot ionized hydrogen (the H-alpha Balmer line) and the blue colours from doubly ionized oxygen. The nebula is about 1360 light-years away and is approximately 2 light-years in diameter. Its age is estimated to be 9,800 years.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Great Hercules Cluster M13

It has been nearly two weeks since I was last able to carry out some observing. The last few days we have had some quite hot weather for May but only last night (the 24th) was the sky free from high level cloud and good enough for me to get the Dwarf out again. Even so, I had to contend with the Moon at one day past first quarter and a less than dark sky. I was initially going to observe NGC5907 which currently has a supernova in it but there was a problem with tracking due to it being near the zenith, so I gave up with it. Instead I had a go at an old favourite, the globular cluster M13 in Hercules. This is what I obtained after 125x15s (31.25 minutes) of observation:-

The first frame was taken at 23:47 BST and the last at 00:42 this morning. The astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2. Here is a close up of the object using the unbinned data:-

This cluster has about 500,000 stars in a region which is about 150 light years across. The brightest stars seen are evolved red giants. Going back to the wider field image there is a prominent galaxy to the left of M13 and this is NGC 6207.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

Caldwell 1 (The Polarissima Cluster)

I was lucky again with the weather last night as it cleared after a somewhat windy and showery day. In fact the wind dropped completely and at about 11.00pm BST the sky was dark and clear. I again went for an object that was suggested by the Dwarf 3 Atlas and this was Caldwell 1 (the Polarissima Cluster or NGC 188). This open star cluster is actually in the constellation of Cepheus but is very close to the North Celestial Pole and so never rises nor sets. This is what I obtained after 296x15s (1 hour 14 minutes):-

The first frame was taken at 23:13 BST and the last at 00:43 this morning. The astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2. Here is a close up of the object using the unbinned data:-

At an age of about 7.8 billion years, this is one of oldest open clusters that we know of in our galaxy. In most circumstances a cluster this old would not have survived as a physical unit as it would have been dissolved by the interaction of its members with the disc of the galaxy. However, C1 lies well above the plane and so has survived more or less intact. 

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

IC 2574 (Coddington's Nebula)

Last night (the 10th May 2026) we had one of those really clear and dark spring nights. It was marvellous! The Moon was one day past last quarter and didn't rise until 03:03 BST this morning. One of the suggestions that came up on the Atlas in the Dwarf 3 was Coddington's Nebula (IC 2574) in Ursa Major which I had never heard of before, so I decided to try it. This is what I obtained after 432x15s (1 hour 48 minutes) of observation:-

The nebula is the object in the centre of the image. The first frame was taken at 22:36 BST and the last at 00:47 this morning. The astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2. Here is a close up of the object using the unbinned data:-

This is not actually a nebula in our galaxy but a galaxy in its own right. This dwarf spiral galaxy was discovered by Edwin Foster Coddington in1898 and is an outlying member of the M81 group of galaxies. This galaxy looks like a nebula because of the large amount of star formation that is taking place within it and that gives the galaxy its blue and red appearance (the red colour coming from HII regions). Interestingly, the visible component of this galaxy contributes very little to the overall mass of the galaxy meaning that the majority of the mass is in the form of dark matter (this accounts for 90% of the mass at the last measured velocity point - see Martimbeau and Carignan 1994). This is true of most dwarf spiral galaxies and makes them ideal objects to test theories of dark matter.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026  

Globular Cluster M3

Last night (the 8th May 2026) we had some more clear weather after having had a period of unsettled conditions. These poor conditions coincided with the full Moon, so it wasn't too much of a bother. Today the Moon is at last quarter and it didn't rise until about 02:35 BST, so it didn't interfere with my observations last night. My object for inspection was the globular cluster M3 which lies on the southern border of the constellation of Canes Venatici next to Bootes. We are getting close to the time now when there is no complete darkness all night and so my observations started quite late in the evening. Here is what I obtained after 475x15s (1 hour 58.75 minutes) of observation on the Dwarf 3:-

The first frame was taken at 22:20 BST and the last at 01:01 today. The astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. Auto parameters were used in Stellar Studio. I have increased the saturation of the image in Photoshop and binned it x2. One thing that I did was to restack all the images in Mega Stack because, weirdly, the automated process for this had included a number of frames that had satellite trails and this was ruining the picture. So I went through all the images again and deleted those with noticeable trails before I restacked. The resulting image is quite letter boxy and this is due to field rotation in the alt-az mode. Stellar Studio crops out parts of the image that have been badly affected by field rotation.

M3 is a pretty spectacular cluster as you can see from the image. Here is a cropped version of the unbinned image:-

What is satisfying here is how so many stars have been resolved almost to the centre of the cluster. M3 is a very fine object and only appears to be somewhat fainter than the famous M13 cluster in Hercules because it is further away (it lies at a distance of 10.4 kpc as apposed to M13's 7.4 kpc). Amazingly there are 250,000 stars contained within a radius of 11 light-years of its centre. Compare this with the fact that there are only 12 known stars within 10 light-years from our sun. It would be very interesting to look up at the night sky from a planet orbiting a star in the core of M3! I am sure it would be like looking at a piece of black velvet studded with thousands of diamonds.

Going back to the wide-field image above, there is another interloper to the upper centre right and this is the galaxy NGC 5263. 

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

The Coma Cluster (Caldwell 35)

My final image from last week was taken on the 24th April 2026 using my Dwarf 3. I decided to try a much more difficult and faint object and this was the Coma Cluster of galaxies in Coma Berenices. This cluster appears as number 35 in Patrick Moore's Caldwell Catalogue and the galaxies in it are located 300 million light years from us. On the 24th the Moon was at first quarter and it didn't set until 03:43 BST on the 25th, so light from it was making observation more difficult. Added to this, towards midnight a mist arose which terminated my observing. Here is what I obtained after 368x15s (1 hour 32 minutes) of observation:-

 

The cluster is the faint collection of objects near the centre of the image. The first frame was taken at 22:25 BST and the last at 00:21 on the 25th. The Astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. The image was processed in Stellar Studio using auto settings and binned x2. Here is a more close up version using the unbinned image:-

The cluster is dominated by two supergiant elliptical galaxies, NGC 4889 (left of centre) and NGC 4874 (right of centre). It looks like there is a swarm of stars surrounding these two objects, but these are in fact galaxies (the cluster contains at least 1000 bright ellipticals). Below I have attempted to label some of the brighter galaxies in the full frame image (click to enlarge):-

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

M51 (The Whirlpool Galaxy)

Last Thursday (the 23rd April 2026) the continuing good weather meant that I could observe another classic spiral galaxy, M51 The Whirlpool. Like the Whale and the Hockey Stick and M63 this object is also found in Canes Venatici and is located not far from the end of the tail of the bear, Ursa Major. I observed this object three years ago at about this time of year and also back in 2016. Here is what I obtained after 357x15s (1 hour 29.25 minutes):-

All I can say is wow, what a difference! The first frame was at 22:36 BST and the last at 00:35 on the 24th. The Astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. The image was processed in Stellar Studio using auto settings. The saturation was increased in Photoshop and the image binned x2. Here is a more close up version using the unbinned image:-

The full impact of this impressive galaxy can be seen in detail. M51 consists of two galaxies that are gravitationally interacting. The larger NGC 5194 is the one designated as M51; the smaller one to the left that is literally being pulled apart is NGC 5195. This is very clear in this deeper image where you can see streams of stars and dust that are being thrown into space (see the reddish light above and below NGC 5195). The spewed matter is probably coming from the spiral arms of both galaxies.

Going back to the wide-field image above, there are a number of other galaxies that can be seen within the frame and I have marked them with the following annotated version (click on the image to see the full size version):-

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

NGC 4565 (The Needle Galaxy)

Continuing on with the run of good weather we have been experiencing recently, last Wednesday, the 22nd April I was able to turn my attention to another galaxy in Coma Berenices, NGC 4565 which has been nicknamed the Needle Galaxy. NGC 4565 lies close to the North Galactic Pole, a direction which is perpendicular to the plane of our galaxy and so is free from the obscuration of the galactic disc. This explains why so many more galaxies are clearly visible in this direction. Add to this there is the Virgo Cluster of galaxies that lies along the southern edge of this constellation and into the northern part of Virgo. The Moon was only two days to first quarter, so whilst causing some light interference, it wasn't too much of a worry. Here is what I obtained after 296x15s (1 hour 14 mins) of observation:-

The Needle is in the centre of the frame and, as you can see, its sharp shape comes from the fact that this spiral galaxy is seen edge on. There is another large object seen at the far right of this image and that is NGC 4494 - a large elliptical galaxy. The first frame was taken at 22:41 BST and the last at 00:13 on the 23rd. The Astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. The image was processed in Stellar Studio using auto settings. The saturation was increased in Photoshop and the image binned x2.

A more close up view of this galaxy is shown below (using the unbinned image):- 

I have increased the sharpening in this version. You can see clearly the central bulge of the galaxy and a dark dust lane that traverses it. Interestingly, the disc does not appear to be symmetric about the galaxy's centre. There upper half of the disc extends out further than the lower half. This may be due to interaction with other galaxies. There is another galaxy visible to the right and this NGC 4562.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

M100 and associates

On the same evening I was photographing the four day old Moon (the 21st April 2026), I also had a go at imaging the spiral galaxy M100 in the south-west part of the constellation of Coma Berenices. M100 is one of the largest and brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Here is what I obtained with the Dwarf 3 after 448x15s (1 hour 52 minutes):-

M100 lies at the centre of this frame (click on the image to obtain a better view). The first frame was taken at 22:10 BST and the last at 00:32 on the 22nd. The gain was 60 and the Astro filter was employed. The saturation has been increased in photoshop and the image binned x2. Here is a cropped version of the unbinned image:-

The nice spiral nature of the arms can be seen more clearly, as can a number of other galaxies in the same field (particularly NGC4312 at the lower right). In fact the whole image above has numerous galaxies in it and I have produced an annotated version below:-

I haven't labelled all the galaxies in this image, just some of the brighter ones (again click on the image to get a better view).

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

Crescent Moon

On Tuesday (the 21st April) of this week the clear weather continued and the four day old Moon hung attractively over the western horizon. Before carrying on with my deep sky adventures I thought I would use the Dwarf 3 to photograph it. This is what I obtained at 21:47 BST:-

 

The Dwarf takes 20 frames (in this case with a shutter speed of 1/160s and gain 10) and then stacks them to obtain a better resolution image. I have cropped the original. This is the raw, unprocessed image - I felt that the one obtained in Stellar Studio looked a bit over sharpened. This is actually how the Moon appears to the naked eye with North up and West to the right. Below, I have annotated one or two features of interest:-

January before last I tried drawing the crater Atlas as I saw it though my 4 inch refractor. Vallis Rheita looks like a tectonic valley but is actually formed from an overlapping chain of impact craters.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

NGC 4631 and NGC 4656 (The Whale and the Hockey Stick)

Last Sunday (the 19th April 2026) the weather was dry and clear and the Moon was two days after new. As we get ever closer to May the twilight impinges more and more on our evening sky. On this particular night astronomical twilight ended at about 22:15 BST, so quite late! My target for this evening was the pair of galaxies NGC 4631 and NGC 4656 in Canes Venatici, nicknamed the Whale and the Hockey Stick. Here is what I obtained after 408x15s (1 hour 42 minutes) of observation on my Dwarf 3:-

The first frame was taken at 21:59 BST and the last at 00:10 on the 20th. The Astro filter was employed and the gain was 60. The image was processed in Stellar Studio with auto settings and the saturation and sharpening were increased in Photoshop. The image is binned x2. For obvious reasons, the Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631) is the one in the upper centre of the frame and the Hockey Stick (NGC 4656) is the one below. Here is an unbinned cropped version of this image:-

The two galaxies do look remarkably like their moniker's. The Whale is an edge-on spiral galaxy and it has a smaller elliptical galaxy NGC 4627 floating above its back. The Hockey Stick galaxy is another edge-on barred spiral galaxy that has been distorted by gravitational interaction with the Whale. In fact both galaxies have been affected by this encounter as star formation has been induced in both. If you look closely at the Hockey Stick (click on the image) you can see a faint band of blue stars stretching off to the left of the blade.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

NGC 4361 (The Lawn Sprinkler Nebula)

On the same night I observed M63 (the 7th April 2026) and before I had my meltdown with the BAA, I had another go at the Deep Sky Section's Object of Interest. For April, this was NGC 4361 which is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Corvus (the crow). This is quite a difficult object to observe because Corvus only scrapes the horizon from our latitudes in the UK. For the first part of my observation (77x15s) I used the Astro filter in the Dwarf 3 (first frame was at 23:37 BST and the last at 00:02 on the 8th). Even then, I was looking through the branches of my neighbour's apple tree! For the second part (240x15s) I used the Duo-Band filter (first frame 00:04 BST and the last 01:18). This was more successful as by then Corvus had moved into uncluttered field of view.

To combine the results I used the majority of the second observation. Then for a small section around the nebula I replaced it with the combined results added together 50:50. Here is the result:-

The nebula is the small bluish object in the centre of the frame (click on the image to get a better view). Here is a crop of the image:-

I am quite pleased with the result. I think the nebula gets its name because it looks like an old-fashioned lawn sprinkler - one which had two arms that were rotated by the pressure of the water. If you can imagine looking down on such a sprinkler from above I think the two arms are at the 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock positions (though the one at the 5 o'clock is more obvious). 

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026 

New observation of M63 (The Sunflower Galaxy)

M63 in the constellation of Canes Venatici (the hunting dogs) is a magnitude 8.6 spiral galaxy that lies somewhat northwest of the brightest star Cor Caroli. It makes an isosceles triangle with this star and beta Cvn (Chara). I have observed this galaxy before back in 2021 when I used my 4 inch refractor to take some images. This time I wanted to have a go with my Dwarf 3 smartscope. Since the beginning of April we have had a good run of dry sunny weather and two and a half weeks ago, on the 7th April 2026, I obtained this image of the galaxy:-

The image is based on 383x15s (1 hour 35.75 minutes) of observation. The first frame was taken at 21:31 BST and the last at 23:33. Midpoint 22:32 BST. During the exposures the gain was set to 60 and the astro filter was used. Subsequently, the image was processed in Stellar Studio with auto settings. Finally, the saturation and sharpening have been increased in Photoshop and the final image binned x2 (click on the image to see the full-sized version). At this time the moon was 3 days until last quarter and wouldn't rise until 02:26 BST on the 8th.

M63 is a fairly large (12x8 arc minutes) object and contains lots of tightly wound spiral arms. Here is a cropped version of the unbinned image:-

Some of the detail in the centre of the galaxy has been lost due to over exposure but an idea of the tight spiral arms in the lower part of the galaxy can be seen.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026