Hale-Bopp: The Great Comet of 1997

The Cornish Eclipse of 1999

Find Sagittarius in the Night Sky

Orion & its Neighbouring Constellations

West Wales, November 1999 (53 KB)

This two and a half minute exposure includes the easily identifiable constellation of Orion, and its neighbours Monoceros, Canis Minor, Lepus and Hydra. Arcing to the North and North-east of Orion are the zodiacal constellations of Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. The haze extending downwards to the left of Orion is a faint section of the Milky Way. The brightest star in the night sky - Sirius ( CMa or Alpha Canis Majoris) - is at the bottom of the picture. The ruddy hues of the red giant stars Betelgeuse ( Ori or Alpha Orionis) and Aldebaran ( Tau or Alpha Tauri) show well in this picture. A few star clusters and a couple of gaseous nebulae can also be seen. The photo contains six of the brightest stars in the night sky.

The approximate field of view of the picture is 76 degrees wide by 50 degrees high (using a 24mm wide-angle lens). The faintest stars visible are around 6th magnitude (the approximate naked eye limit).

For an annotated version of the photograph click here (83 KB).

From the Southern hemisphere, looking Northwards, these constellations appear inverted (68 KB).

Jupiter & Star Trails

Honiton, Devon, May 1990 (89 KB)

The camera shutter was left open for over an hour, causing the stars to leave curved trails on the film as the Earth slowly rotated. Jupiter formed the brightest trail (bottom of picture) as it set in the North-west. Jupiter was situated in the constellation Gemini. Its two brightest stars - Castor ( Gem or Alpha Geminorum) and Pollux ( Gem or Beta Gem) - are the two bright trails just to the upper left of Jupiter. The bright star Capella ( Aur or Alpha Aurigae) in the constellation Auriga is seen disappearing from view at the right of the picture. Note how atmospheric extinction causes the stars and planets to dim as they sink lower in the sky.

Approximately two-thirds up the picture, a series of faint dots can be seen horizontally across the picture. These were strobe lights from an aircraft which crossed the field of view during the exposure time.

Ursa Major & its Northerly Neighbours

West Wales, November 1999, 2130 GMT (89 KB)

The picture was taken looking Northwards from a rural location. Ursa Major (commonly known as The Plough or The Big Dipper) is seen low down in the sky along with its much less prominent neighbours Draco, Lynx, Camelopardalis and Ursa Minor.

Draco and Camelopardalis are circumpolar from latitudes north of ca. 40º North and are visible all year round from these latitudes. Similarly, Ursa Minor (the 'Little Bear') is visible all year round from latitudes north of ca. 25º North.

In Ursa Major, Mizar (UMa or Zeta Ursae Majoris) and Alcor (80 UMa) form a multiple star system. The two appear as a double star, separated by 11.8 mins of arc (0°.2), although this is a line-of sight effect and they are not a true binary system. Mizar, however, does have a genuine companion close by, but it can only be resolved in telescopes.

For an annotated version of the photograph click here (81 KB).

Comet Hale-Bopp from the Country

Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, March 30th 1997, 2130 GMT (69 KB)

One of the rare truly bright comets of the 20th century, Hale-Bopp graced our skies during the Spring of 1997. The comet was about 20 degrees high in the North-west, in the constellation of Andromeda.

The photo was a 40 second exposure using a 70mm lens at f /3.5. The film used was ISO 400.

[Click here for a detailed account of Comet Hale-Bopp's apparition.]

Comet Hale-Bopp from the City

Cardiff, Wales, March 31st 1997 (63 KB)

Another view of Comet Hale-Bopp, this time taken from a city location. The extent of sky glow from the street lights of the nearby housing estate can clearly be seen. Despite the light pollution, it is possible to detect the two tails of the comet in this picture. The dust tail is the most obvious, curving slightly towards the upper right, and there is a much fainter, bluish-coloured gas tail, facing upwards at a much steeper angle. The picture was taken just 7 hours ahead of the comet's closest approach to the Sun (known as the perihelion).

The photo was a 30 second exposure using a 50mm lens at f /3.5. The film used was ISO 400.

Orion Rising

West Wales, November 1999, 2130 GMT (85 KB)

Orion rises in the East with the V-shaped Hyades cluster (in Taurus) above it. To its West are the constellations of Cetus and Eridanus.

For an annotated version of the photograph click here (84 KB).

Orion can also be seen rising on the dates and approximate local times shown in this table (7 KB).

Orion reaches its highest point in the sky some six hours after it rises, when it crosses the observer's meridian (due South for Northerly latitudes; due North for Southerly latitudes). It sets in the West (103 KB) a further six hours later.

Lunar Eclipse

Cardiff, Wales, January 21st 2000 (3 KB)

If, when at full phase, the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow in space, an eclipse of the Moon takes place. Lunar eclipses always precede or follow a solar eclipse, with two weeks in between. Like solar eclipses, they can be either total or partial.

As the eclipse progresses, the shadow is seen to move across the Moon (in the photo shown, from upper left to lower right) until the Moon is completely immersed in the shadow. The curvature of the Earth can be seen along the line of the shadow. During totality, the Moon often turns a coppery colour due to red light being refracted from the Earth's atmosphere on to the lunar surface (ie. the combined light of all the sunrises and sunsets which are taking place on the Earth at that particular instant). Lunar eclipses can sometimes appear very dark if major volcanic activity has recently taken place on Earth.

The image is a still-frame taken from a video of the event. The eclipse is shown about 40 minutes before totality, when the Moon was about 40% in shadow.

Photographs of the Night Sky (Desktop Site)

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