The solar surface is showing a lot of activity, with active sunspot AR 4048 being the most spectacular!
 
Images were taken with a Seestar S50 telescope with attached solar filter. Twenty images captured then stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.

​Woohoo!
After all the shocking weather with Cyclone Alfred we managed to have a beautiful clear evening for the partial lunar eclipse here on the Gold Coast in QLD Australia on the evening of the 14th March 2025.
 
I’ve viewed many lunar eclipses but this is the first time I’ve seen one in eclipse as it rises in the eastern sky, I wasn’t sure where it was going to come up and I got so excited when I saw it above the rooftops of the houses :-D
 
I couldn’t use my telescope because the eclipsed Moon was so low in the sky, so I used my trustee Canon 70D with Tamron 18-400mm lens with 2x teleconverter making a focal length of 1280mm.
​Camera setup was on a static camera tripod.
 
Ten to fifteen images were captured of each phase then stacked in RegiStak6 and processed in PS.

~ Our Sun today on 14th March 2025 with lots of Sunspots ~

We had a lovely clear day today; this was after all the shocking weather with Cyclone Alfred, so out came my little Seestar S50 telescope to take a picture of the Sun ;-D
 
Tonight we are going to be blessed with a partial lunar eclipse just after the Sun has set its going to be exciting to see what it looks like rising low in the Eastern sky already eclipsed…I hope it stays clears!
 
Twenty images were captured, then stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.

We had been watching this cyclone for the past week as it travelled out at sea off the coast of Queensland as a Category 2 cyclone! Then on the 7th of March, Cyclone Alfred turned toward the coastline near the Gold Coast. We were right in the firing line, with the southern trailing arms of the storm producing winds at over 130km hour, it hit our coastline during the night of the 8th, the house was shaking and the wind sounded like a freight train! Oh My!!!
 
The last time the Gold Coast got a direct hit from a cyclone was over fifty years ago so we were very lucky indeed that it crossed just north of us near Morton Island and was downgraded to a Category 1 as it crossed over the islands to the north of us…Wow the power of nature, it’s so mighty :-o
 

~ Large active sunspot AR 3998 heading toward the western limb of Sun 24th February 2025 ~
 
We had a very rare clear sunny day to view this large sunspot AR 3998 on the surface of the Sun, image taken with a Seestar S50 telescope. Twenty five images were captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.

Had to be quick this evening to take some pictures of the Moon because of all the cloud, I grabbed my little Seestar S50 and within 5 minutes it had found the Moon and I was off and running taking pictures…it’s an awesome little telescope for the Sun & Moon when your trying to out smart the weather. I’m so happy with it :-)
 
Last night (12th February) was full Moon and it was raining, this is the Moon tonight at 15 days old, which is classified as a waning gibbous, you can see a tiny portion in shadow to the top. (This is the view we see from the southern hemisphere, with south to the top and north to the bottom)
 
If you tweak the saturation in Photoshop you can bring out the coloured hues that are from the different minerals embedded in the regolith on the surface of the Moon.

​(This is not added; it’s really there) don’t overdo the saturation or it doesn’t look natural!
 
The bluish colours are from areas high in titanium, and the darker orange/brown areas are rich in iron and other oxides. The bright white reflective areas around the ejecta craters I believe are from aluminium and other bright minerals like magnesium, calcium and silicon.
 
Images were taken with a Seestar S50 telescope, 25 images were stacked in Registak6 and processed in PS.

~ The Moon a la natural ~

Finally got a break in the clouds to capture some images of this huge sunspot AR 3981 on the surface of the Sun…it’s a beauty :-D
 
Images were taken with a Seestar S50 telescope with attached solar filter; twenty images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed n PS.
 

Large sunspot AR 3961 now on the western limb of the Sun.
 
There are a few smaller sunspots sprinkled across the surface but other than that, the solar surface is now looking quite quiet. I’ve had to take these images through some high cloud today, as I wanted to get AR 3961 before it disappeared from view.
 
Images were taken with a Seestar S50 telescope with attached solar filter; twenty images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed n PS.

We were not expecting that!
 
I grabbed my husband and camera and raced up to the top of Mt Tamborine to try and see if we could see the comet…. and Wow, I spotted the comets tail still in the very light twilight sky, which was amazing. As it got a little darker it came out in all its glory :-D
 
It was a bit smoggy from a bush fire low on the horizon, and I think that’s why the coma area of the comet was glowing a golden colour.
 
Images were taken between 7.30 – 8pm 20th January 2025, with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-40mm lens on a tripod with exposures from a couple of seconds up to 30 seconds; ISO was from 200 to 1600.

We are having a heat wave at the moment at 35degrees so so hot to be taking pictures of our Sun! But there is a huge sunspot AR 3961 right in the middle of the solar surface, this is one we’ll have to watch out for as its been reported as one of the biggest active sunspots of Cycle 25.
 
Images were taken with a Seestar S50 telescope with attached solar filter; twenty images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed n PS.