Mount Penteli twilight colors

Mount Penteli is a mountain in Attica, Greece, situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its highest point is the peak Pyrgari, with an elevation of 1,109 m. On Christmas day I decided to visit the top of the mountain and take some images of the twilight colors. Images captured with Canon EOS 450d and Canon EF 24mm f/3.5 USM lens. Enjoy the beauty of the twilight colors.

 

Getting closer... Jupiter and Saturn

Dedicated skywatchers are preparing to break out their telescopes and brave cold weather for a conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter that has not been clearly seen in centuries. The conjunction will occur on December 21 2020, causing some observers to dub it the “Christmas Star” due to the Christian tradition that a “star” guided the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem to see the newborn Christ.

The “Christmas star” that was seen at the time that Christ is believed to have been born could have been a similar conjunction between Venus and Jupiter.

The last time that Saturn and Jupiter were this close was in 1623, but stargazing conditions were not suitable for viewing the conjunction at the time. Viewing conditions were more favourable 794 years ago, in 1226, when the last close conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn was clearly seen.

Although conjunctions between Saturn and Jupiter actually occur about every 20 years, it is exceedingly rare for them to be this close. In this one, Jupiter and Saturn will be within 0.1 degree of one another, which is less than 1/5 the apparent diameter of the full Moon.

Here you can see some images of Jupiter and Saturn conjunction.

Optics: Canon EF 85mm f/4.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 25, 2020

Location: Penteli mountain (1109 m) - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 800

Optics: Canon EF 24mm f/3.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 25, 2020

Location: Penteli mountain (1109 m) - Greece

Exposure: 2.5 sec, ISO 100

Optics: Canon EF 24mm f/3.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 25, 2020

Location: Penteli mountain (1109 m) - Greece

Exposure: 2.5 sec, ISO 100

Optics: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 22, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 200

Optics: Canon EF 85mm f/4.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 22, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 200

Optics: Canon EF 24mm f/3.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 22, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 100

Optics: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 19, 2020

Location: Korinthos - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 400

Optics: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 18, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 400

Optics: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L USM lens

Mount: Vixen Sphinx

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 16, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 13 sec, ISO 100

Optics: Canon EF 85mm f/4.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 16, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 200

Optics: Canon EF 24mm f/3.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 16, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 100

Optics: Canon EF 24mm f/3.5 USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Dec 7, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1 sec, ISO 200

Mars & The Moon Conjunction October 2020

 

Tonight, Oct. 3rd, the Harvest Moon and Mars are in conjunction, less than 1 degree apart for sky observers. The Moon is nearly full, and bright red Mars is only days away from its closest approach to Earth, making the conjunction extra bright and beautiful.

Technical details:

Optics: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L USM lens

Mount: Digipod A 2541P Tripod, Manfrotto 496 RC2 Ball Head

Camera: Canon EOS 450d

Date: Oct 3, 2020

Location: Kifisia - Greece

Exposure: 1/400 sec, ISO 100

NGC 6914

 

NGC 6914 lies 6,000 light-years away in Cygnus and is a very rare region in which one can see all three classes of nebulae, red emission, blue reflection, and dark obscuring, within a very small expanse of sky. The broad expanse of hydrogen gas is re-emitting red hydrogen alpha light as a result of ionization from the ultraviolet light from several hot stars of the Cygnus OB2 association. These stars also illuminate the blue reflection nebulae of residual dust from their formation. The entire tableau silhouettes numerous dark nebulae also being sculpted by the stellar winds emitted by these stars.

Technical details:

Optics: Vixen VC200L @ f/6.4
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)
Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: Ha,L,R,G,B
CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Cygnus
Date: Aug 22, 2020
Location: Korinthos - Greece - Albireo Observatory 1
Exposure:
L=10x600 sec bin 1x1
R=10x300 sec bin 1x1
G=10x300 sec bin 1x1
B=10x300 sec bin 1x1
Ha=4x900 sec bin 1x1
Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias 

NGC 2276 & NGC 2300

 

An odd couple lives some 100 million light years away. Here we find a spiral galaxy, NGC 2276 on the top, and its neighbor NGC 2300 on the bottom. Space scientists conducting a study of ultraluminous x-ray sources (ULXs) looking for intermediate-mass black holes using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory believe they have found a candidate. An interesting object, called NGC 2276-3c, located in an arm of spiral galaxy NGC 2276, appears to have the right characteristics.

Technical details:

Optics: Vixen VC200L @ f/6.4

Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)

Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM

Camera: SBIG ST2000XM

Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9

Filters: L,R,G,B

CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius

Constellation: Cepheus

Date: Aug 21, 2020

Location: Korinthos - Greece - Albireo Observatory 1

Exposure:

L=10x300 sec bin 1x1

R=10x300 sec bin 1x1

G=10x300 sec bin 1x1

B=10x300 sec bin 1x1

Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias 

NGC 891

 

In long exposures made with great telescopes, the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891 looks like a flying saucer pitching sharply through a city of suns. The galaxy's supernatural appearance was naturally befitting for the television series The Outer Limits, which fathered the vast science-fiction genre we enjoy today. In size and mass NGC 891 is comparable to our own Milky Way. Its rotational velocities - the orbital speeds of stars, gas, and dust around the galaxy's core - are also very similar to those in our galaxy.

Optics: Vixen VC200L @ f/6.4
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)
Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: L
CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Andromeda
Date: Aug 20, 2020
Location: Korinthos - Greece - Albireo Observatory 1
Exposure:
Lum=10x600 sec bin 1x1
Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias 

Comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise)

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a long period comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was an 18th-magnitude object, located 2 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth.

NEOWISE is known for being the brightest comet in the northern hemisphere since Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997. It was widely photographed by professional and amateur observers and was even spotted by people living near city centres and areas with light pollution. While it was too close to the Sun to be observed at perihelion, it emerged from perihelion around magnitude 0.5 to 1, making it bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Under dark skies, it can be seen with the naked eye and might remain visible to the naked eye throughout most of July 2020. As of July 28, the comet was about magnitude 4.5, but binoculars are required near urban areas to locate the comet. The comet is getting further from the Sun and Earth, and a brightening waxing gibbous Moon is interfering with dark skies.

Here you can see some images of Comet Neowise from my observatory

Optics: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L

Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)

Camera: Canon EOS 450D

Constellation: Ursa Major

Date: July 26, 2020

Location: Albireo Observatory (Korinthos, Greece) 

Exposure: 5x30 sec

Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias

Optics: Vixen ED 81s

Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)

Camera: SBIG ST2000xm

Constellation: Ursa Major

Date: July 25, 2020

Location: Albireo Observatory (Korinthos, Greece) 

Exposure: 1x120 sec, L filter

Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias

SH2-124

Not much can be said or read about Sh2-124 molecular hydrogen cloud in the north-east Cygnus frontiers. It is pretty large emission nebula, but not too bright. The whole area is filled with the hydrogen, so every place you look you can see red. Not much science work has been done there, it is even not certain which stars are responsible for exciting hydrogen to shine in red. Pretty mysterious nebulosity.

Optics: Vixen ED81s @ f/5.2
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)
Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: Ha
CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Cygnus
Date: July 10, 2020
Location: Sekoulas - Ileia - Greece - Albireo Observatory 2
Exposure: 
Ha=12x1200 min bin 1x1
Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias

Cygnus Wall

The Cygnus Wall is a ridge of star-forming gas and dust about 20 million light-years long in the North America Nebula, NGC 7000. Like a mountain range carved by the erosion of water and wind, the Cygnus Wall is shaped by the energetic radiation of the young, hot stars nearby. The dark shapes that snake through the ridge are cooled gases and dust, the birth place of new stars.

Optics: Vixen ED81s @ f/5.2
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)
Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: Ha
CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Cygnus
Date: July 09, 2020
Location: Sekoulas - Ileia - Greece - Albireo Observatory 2
Exposure: 
Ha=12x1200 min bin 1x1
Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias

IC 5076

IC 5076 (vdB 137, DG 165, Ced 185, LBN 394 and others) is a reflection nebula located approximately 5,700 light-years away in Cygnus. The stars around it appear to also be cataloged as open cluster NGC 6991.

Optics: Vixen ED81s @ f/5.2
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)
Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: L,R,G,B
CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Cygnus
Date: July 08, 2020
Location: Sekoulas - Ileia - Greece - Albireo Observatory 2
Exposure: 
L=8x600 min bin 1x1
R=6x600 min bin 1x1
G=6x600 min bin 1x1
B=6x600 min bin 1x1
Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias

Around Gamma Cygni (HaLRGB)

Supergiant star Gamma Cygni lies at the center of the Northern Cross, famous asterism in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Known by its proper name, Sadr, the bright star lies at the bottom of this gorgeous skyscape, featuring a complex of stars, dust clouds, and glowing nebulae along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The field of view spans almost 4 degrees (eight Full Moons) on the sky and includes emission nebula IC 1318 and open star cluster NGC 6910. Left of Gamma Cygni and shaped like two glowing cosmic wings divided by a long dark dust lane, IC 1318's popular name is understandably the Butterfly Nebula. Above and left of Gamma Cygni, are the young, still tightly grouped stars of NGC 6910. Some distance estimates for Gamma Cygni place it at around 1,800 light-years while estimates for IC 1318 and NGC 6910 range from 2,000 to 5,000 light-years.

Optics: Vixen ED81s @ f/5.2
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)
Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: Ha,L,R,G,B
CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Cygnus
Date: July 06-07, 2020
Location: Sekoulas - Ileia - Greece - Albireo Observatory 2
Exposure: 
L=8x900 min bin 1x1
R=6x600 min bin 1x1
G=6x600 min bin 1x1
B=6x600 min bin 1x1
Ha=3x1200 min bin 1x1
Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy

Optics: VixenVC200L @ f/6.4
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro (belt mod)
Guiding: ST-237 guide chip of SBIG ST2000XM
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Filter Wheel: SBIG CFW9
Filters: L
CCD Temperature: 0 degrees Celsius
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Date: June 12-14, 2020
Location: Albireo Observatory I - Korinthos, Greece
Exposure: L=200 min bin 1x1
Calibration: Darks, Flats, Bias

The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy. At only 30 million light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies on the sky. Its companion is an eliptical galaxy known as NGC 5195.

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse - 10 Jan 2020

Optics: Vixen ED81s @ f/7.7
Mount: Vixen Sphinx
Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Location: Kifisia-Greece
Date: 10 January 2020

A penumbral lunar eclipse took place on 10 January 2020. It was the first of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 2020. In a penumbral lunar eclipse, only the more diffuse outer shadow of Earth – the penumbra – falls on the moon’s face. This third kind of lunar eclipse is much more subtle, and much more difficult to observe, than either a total or partial eclipse of the moon. There is never a dark bite taken out of the moon, as in a partial eclipse. The eclipse never progresses to reach the dramatic minutes of totality. At best, at mid-eclipse, very observant people will notice a dark shading on the moon’s face. Others will look and notice nothing at all.