Bathurst Observatory

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A recent image of Galaxy NGC 253. I have been playing with a few settings, hope you enjoy!
NGC 7793, also known as Bond's Galaxy about 12.5 million light years away.
A lazy spiral galaxy. NGC 300 is located about 6 million light years from our own Milky Way galaxy. It is part of the Sculptor group of nearby galaxies. It is not quite as large as our own galaxy, but close in size. At least while I've suspended tours pending the highway reopening next year, I am getting some work done in the observatory. A new updated drive controller installed yesterday.
I set up my oldest telescope on the 18th. This telescope I made in the mid 1980's and was my first telescope. It is still highly capable of great images, such as the Moon!
The Helix Nebula. A dying star shedding its outer layers. Still progressing with our equipment updates while our tours are suspended due to the highway closure.
Eagle Nebula. Recent image I forgot I had taken while testing the new camera!
Nebula (star forming region) M17, the Swan Nebula, recently imaged with the new equipment!
Comet 10/P Temple is faintly visible in binoculars between Aquarius and Fomalhaut. It is some 63million km from Earth, but still the best pass this comet has had since the 1960's. Of note in this image is the faint line marking the orbital debris shed by the comet.
Something I haven't done for a while. I imaged the planet Venus in twilight on the 2nd of August. Venus is currently the very bright object in our western sky after sunset. The planet itself generally looks a bit disappointing through a telescope. As it is totally covered in clouds of carbon dioxide, you can't see any surface features. We also see it somewhat from behind, hence why it shows phases.
Here is another recent image from the new wide field telescope. This is the Cat's Paw Nebula! Waiting to do more testing once the moon has past full. I am also taking this break in tours to update the technology in the observatory! Hopefully the closure of the highway isn't the full year they are saying it will be. Tours will resume once the highway reopens.
First image from the new wide field telescope and camera of the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae. This was a test of the system and the frames were a bit shorter than I plan in the future. But it does show the quality of the new scope and camera. The processing of the images is very different and I have to learn again!
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