Comet 2009 R1 McNaught

..just a quick one to show what we have in the skies now. Here's last Saturday night's showing of the comet that's set to brighten and pop its head over the dawn horizon during June 2010. As the comet was low in the sky it is not a very deep image. It was quite unusual to be looking at the constellation Andromeda in May.

Pillars of creation.

The black serpent from space

Here is the Snake nebula in Ophiuchus (Barnard 72). I snapped it Saturday night (may 22-3) at about 1 am. It is awesome to see what look from a distance like vast clouds of stars that stop abruptly at some mysterious black boundary. And what's more it's in the shape of a snake! And here the snake is slithering across the heavens towards another even blacker shape. For this picture it was useful to have my remote shutter control timer, so I could go off and drink tea while about 30 x 15" shots were being taken on the 20" scope at f/3. Thanks Keith!