Comet ... and ANTI-TAIL !!

Comet ... and ANTI-TAIL !! 🥰💪

So, had to get out there as the moon is getting "bigger" each night and interferes as you can imagine.

We all saw the comet and its tail with the naked eye, though it was very dim. Extra special as it was the FIRST TIME for my wife and daughter to ever see a comet! ❤️

Well, I shot this from my backyard here in Las Cruces two nights ago (15 Oct 2024) using my DSLR and a single 15sec exposure. If you look (very) carefully, you can make out the "anti-tail" ... a hint of something going in the opposite direction as the tail (in "front" of the comet).

What is the anti-tail? Well I'll copy in a description from Space.com:

"New photos of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS appear to show a faint "anti-tail" pointing away in the wrong direction. The puzzling extra limb is the result of a rare illusion that is only possible when our planet is in a certain position."

#astronomy #comet

Milky Way --- zoomed in!!!

On the same (earlier - aka, June) shot of the MW from my backyard, I mentioned I also captured a "zoomed in" version - extending the lens to a relatively longer focal length (70mm vs 18mm or 24mm, for example).

Again, with my T3i and on the SkyWatcher tracking mount. I'll include an extra image here to help orient the view together with the (labeled - I think I have them correct 🙂 ) result of the shot.

You will see some familiar objects in here - some (such as the Eagle Nebula) I captured from Cruces with my TOA-130 at much longer focal length (1000mm) back in 2017.

Back to the present: This was 26x1min exposures --- no darks/flats.

#astronomy #milkyway

M81 - Bode's Galaxy!

M81 - Bode's Galaxy (from my backyard in Las Cruces)
Distance: 12 million light years

Bouncing back to a LONG focal length (about 2000mm), here is my latest result using my largest scope, the 12" RC Truss-tube! Easily my best ever result imaging this object over the past decade...aperture and mount are everything.

http://jeffjastro.com/dso/M81_30Apr24.htm

More details at the link.

#galaxy #LasCruces #deepSky

Milky Way - Saturday night (Las Cruces, New Mexico)

Here is the Milky Way over our house LAST NIGHT (10 Aug 2024)...
#milkyway #galaxy #lastnight

California - Disneyland and Beach

After my girls returned from China, I flew to Los Angeles, California to meet them at LAX. Re-uniting at the airport was like out of a wonderful movie. The next two days, my wife and I took our "little princess" to Disneyland as well as the California seaside. What a beautiful trip with two beautiful girls. I'm a lucky guy...
THIS is what life is all about.

M82 - Cigar Galaxy (a starburst galaxy)

Hi all, here is:
M82 - Cigar Galaxy (a starburst galaxy)
Distance: 12 million light years

Captured from my backyard in Las Cruces, New Mexico USA
Details here: http://jeffjastro.com/dso/M82_13Feb24.htm

Milky Way - from Las Cruces

Here are two results from one night in my backyard ... I have more info/details on my Facebook Science page for both of these. They are not yet on my main astro site, tho :)

https://www.facebook.com/jeffjastrocom