After so long with no activity on the surface of the Sun we now have a huge active sunspot designated AR2740 which is the twice the size of Earth.  I set up both my telescopes this afternoon and finally the clouds cleared long enough to take some images. I had to be quick because clouds were rolling across the sky!
 
For the full disc of the Sun I used a Meade 80mm refractor telescope with a solar filter attached and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens, the exposure time was 1/320th second and ISO 200. For the high magnification image I used a ZWO ASI 120MC-S camera with a 2x Barlow lens, 2000 frame AVI file stacked in RegiStax6.

Information from Spaceweather.com on the 6th May 2019
 
ACTIVE SUNSPOT: Big sunspot AR2740 is turning toward Earth and crackling with solar flares. The most intense so far registered M1 on the Richter Scale of Solar Flares.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash on May 6th.
http://www.spaceweather.com
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov
https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov

I had a lot of fun with the children who came along for the two astronomy and space sessions for Easter at the shopping centre. We put up lots of space posters to make the community room all spacey and had lots of hands on space items for the kids to touch and look at :-)
 
The children enjoyed learning about our amazing Solar System and hearing all about the different spacecrafts out there exploring the planets, my mother Pam came along to help me…thank you Mum Xxx
 
Runaway Bay Centre Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/runawaybaycentre
​

Have you ever wanted to know all about this amazing Universe that you live in?
Then come along to Runaway Bay Shopping Centre during the Easter holidays for some fun Astronomy and Space talks and activities.
 
We will learn all about the stars, planets and our beautiful Moon, and other mysteries things like black holes, galaxies and are there really aliens out there in space!
 
Learn all about the different spacecraft exploring the other planet in our solar system and how one day we may be on a journey to Mars…its all so amazing.
 
When: Wednesday the 10th April, 2pm - 3pm.
When: Monday the 15th April, 2pm - 3pm.
Ages: 6 – 12years.
 
Bookings essential.
​Book at the Customer Service Desk outside Big W.
 
Presented by Noeleen Lowndes the co-ordinator of the Stardust Junior Astronomy Club at the Runaway Bay Library and member from the Southern Astronomical Society on the Gold Coast.

Omega Centauri is a stunning globular star cluster made up of millions of stars, it’s approximately 16,000 light-years away from us and an amazing 150 light-years in diameter, it’s the largest globular cluster in our Milky Way galaxy and it’s on show now for you to enjoy high up in the southern sky.
​It’s one of my favourites objects to observe at this time of the year :-)
 
This image was taken at my Stardust Observatory at Leyburn in April 2019 with a Meade 80mm refractor telescope and a Canon 70D camera. 15 images with exposures of 90 second and ISO 800, plus 5 dark frames were stacked in DSS, and processed in PS CS4. 

The Stardust Junior Astronomy Club has just celebrated its 8th birthday on the 4th April 2019 at the Runaway Bay Library and all the children had a wonderful day.  
 
They learnt all about why stars have different colours, then we played pass the parcel and enjoyed some yummy space food that included a ‘Star Cake’ that I made…we all had a great Starlight Party :-)

Here in the southern hemisphere we know that winter is on its way when we see the Southern Cross (Crux) and other celestial wonders riding high up in the southern sky at midnight.
 
I have an observatory at a place in western Queensland where we have extremely dark skies and I'm able to capture the beauty of our night sky with just a camera and wide field lens on top of a tracking telescope.
 
This image shows the pointers to the cross known as Alpha and Beta Centauri, then the Southern Cross (Crux) in its entirety and then the pretty pink nebulous stellar area around the star called Eta Carinae known as the Eta Carina Nebula.
 
This star is in the end throes of its stellar life and it’s pumping out astronomical amounts of gas (excuse the pun J) as it fights its gravitational battle, many astronomers worldwide are keeping a close eye on this star as its one that will eventually go Supernova!
 
At the bottom of the image is an unusual dark streak known as the Doodad nebula, I was very happy to have captured this funny named object too :-)
 
This image was taken at my Stardust Observatory on the 10th March 2019 with a Canon 70D camera and a 18-400mm Tamron lens set at 23mm and F4.5 (the image is slightly cropped).
​
​There were 12 x 3 minutes images stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and ISO1600. The camera was being tracked on top of a larger telescope set up in the observatory.

I used my Meade LX200 10inch to track the camera piggybacked on top of the telescope which was at a very difficult angle (upside down) so it was a bit of back breaking work to focus the camera.
But it was worth it as I got the pictures :-)

~ Australia Post coin sets for the 2019 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing ~
 
The Royal Australian Mint has issued two coin sets in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission for 2019. I’ve taken a couple of pictures so you can see them; I’ve also added a little astronaut just for fun :-)
 
I was very excited to see both sets at the post office and brought both of them for prosperity and remembrance. Please see the information below explaining what’s in the sets, just call into any Australia Post Office or order them on line… but be quick as sometimes they sell out very quickly.
 
2019 is the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission, when astronauts Neil Armstrong, ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins flew to the Moon, and Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon’s surface. The Mint commemorates this historic event with this striking set of proof coins.
 
Coin details: Sets include two unique coins: a 5 cent coin representing the Moon with the Apollo 11 landing site, and a $1 coin representing Earth and the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station. The first time that the 5-cent coin has been changed in a year set.
 
Presentation: Packaged in a beautiful presentation folder or presentation cases with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.
 
Mint: Royal Australian Mint
Finish: Proof
Mintage: Unlimited
Reverse designer: Stuart Devlin, Horst Hahne, Adam Ball
Obverse designer: Ian Rank-Broadley
 
https://shop.auspost.com.au/collectables/coins-and-banknotes/royal-australian-mint/2019-year-sets

The sky was perfectly clear last month at Leyburn at my Stardust Observatory to capture these pretty galaxies in the constellation of Leo.
 
This group of large spiral galaxies are about 35 million light-years away and are well seen even in quite a small telescope. You can find them by running a line of sight between the stars Regulus to Denebola, and closer to Denebola the galaxies are located between the stars Cherton, Theta Leonis and Iota Leonis.
 
If you would like to find out more about these galaxies in Leo please go to this excellent website
​ for Messier objects at:
https://www.messier-objects.com/leo-triplet/

The images were taken with a Meade 80mm refractor telescope and a Canon 70D camera, which was tracking on top of a Meade 10inch LX 200 telescope, 15x4 minute subs and 5x4 minute darks were captured
and stacked in DSS and processed in PS CS4 :-)

We are away at the moment at the beautiful coastal town of Lennox Heads in NSW and staying close to the beach, which faces east. So I was very excited not to miss out on viewing the SuperMoon rise up from the ocean at sunset.
​
On my way to the beach I looked behind and saw this beautiful sunset. While taking the pictures there was a rustle in the bushes close by and there also enjoying the sunset was a lovely water dragon lizard bathed in the golden sunset glow lounging on a rock… so I got a photo of him too :-)

There were lots of people on the beach waiting for the Super Moon to rise and when it did it looked so pretty above the waves, as it rose higher it left a lovely pathway of moon light on the wet sand.

Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and an 18-400mm lens, which was hand, held. Sunset image, lens set at 400mm, ISO320 and exposure 1/500th second. The vertical Moon image, lens @ 89mm, ISO1600 and 1/125th second, horizontal Moon image lens @ 56mm, ISO6400 and exposure 1/40th second.

I’m at my Stardust Observatory at Leyburn this weekend taking images of the night sky. I was just about ready to go to bed when I looked out at the dawn sky and saw this magnificent view of the planets all aligned up the eastern horizon at 4.20am with the gorgeous colour of daylight.
 
It was still dark enough to see many stars including the constellation of Scorpius with the stars from the Milky Way just starting to fade, it was very beautiful to see and very tranquil after a whole night up taking pictures of galaxies :-)
 
I took the image with a Canon 70D camera and a Tokina 11-16mm wide lens @12mm on a camera tripod, ISO 800 with a 13-second exposure.
 
(Pictures of the Leo Triplet of galaxies coming soon when they are processed)