Catherine Ryan Hyde

Author by day and by trade. Amateur astrophotographer by night.

Public Key

npub16925xmw74tcnfu6y5gzs7wtw885wueq2h80ss6yhkg7uld32appqxyz7a4

NIP-05 Address

catherineryanhyde_at_astrodon.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsdz42rdh024uf57dz2ypg089hrn68wvs9tnhcgdztmy0w0kc4wssspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qrxam05

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub16925xmw74tcnfu6y5gzs7wtw885wueq2h80ss6yhkg7uld32appqxyz7a4

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Last Notes

2024-09-17 14:43:08

An experiment with the double star Albireo. I'm working on a simple system that will create diffraction spikes with my big refractor. An interesting outcome but next time I'll use thinner wire.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/113/153/421/227/968/414/original/a39e02460bb19a93.jpeg

2024-09-08 14:39:32

This is NGC 7814, sometimes called the Little Sombrero Galaxy. Unfortunately the fog came in last night and kept me from getting as much of this as I wanted. I might be able to post a better version tomorrow, depending on sky conditions.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/113/102/446/199/441/051/original/fbf6b3a3ec272a1d.jpeg

2024-09-06 21:47:57

I'm hoping to work on this more tonight. This is NGC 7479, the Propeller Galaxy, in Pegasus.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/113/092/806/110/628/759/original/a3fc499be1cede7e.jpeg

2024-08-20 13:33:06

Last night's Super Blue moon.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/994/601/107/208/312/original/8565e9185b0e957f.jpeg

2024-08-19 18:51:14

A very active sun today. The larger of these sunspots are two, three, even four times the area of the Earth.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/990/189/762/224/416/original/ff5d94db2924c9ae.jpeg

2024-08-15 13:51:26

And this is the conjunction through a much smaller scope, so you're seeing it more the way you might if just observing. The big open star cluster in the lower left is NGC 1746.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/966/361/600/737/924/original/0a7e2fda07b05aea.jpeg

2024-08-15 13:05:27

Another look at the conjunction. Through the bigger scope, and without trying to capture surface details of Jupiter. In other words, I let the bright planet get blown out to bring out everything around it.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/966/180/908/756/316/original/afe7f706854cb573.jpeg

2024-08-15 13:04:14

2024-08-14 14:37:05

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@npub1yp8…kf75 Yes. All three of those dots are Jupiter's Galilean moons.

2024-08-14 12:45:19

And here's a better view of the conjunction through a medium-size telescope. How lucky am I that the sky was clear at the coast, where it's usually foggy in the summer?
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/960/439/255/990/255/original/fe13b60bacb2b334.jpeg

2024-08-14 12:39:13

Here's a quick smartphone image of the Jupiter/Mars conjunction, to give you an idea of what it looks like with the unaided eye. They are right in the center, with the Pleiades above and the V-shaped Hyades toward the right side of the frame.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/960/415/383/306/676/original/cc98f0f1ca13b39e.jpeg

2024-08-12 18:45:45

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@npub17p8…sw24 They were all between 1:30 a.m. and dawn, so I didn't see any in real time. I needed the sleep.

2024-08-12 16:55:19

Here's one with two meteors just getting started. And those two images are really the best of what I got.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/950/097/226/048/384/original/6d1b2c7f13bb1734.jpeg

2024-08-12 15:07:36

First Perseid meteor from last night with my all-sky camera. If you're not familiar with the concept, this is a 180-degree fisheye lens pointing straight up, so every edge of the circle is horizon. There are others with Perseids, but this one is especially bright.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/949/674/104/827/607/original/1b1fc9aacc86efd8.jpeg

2024-08-11 18:16:13

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@npub17hj…7a0r Thanks, Bob!

2024-08-11 14:09:53

I worked a little more on the Ring Nebula last night, but that coastal fog is never far behind.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/943/785/004/240/150/original/680c45758cadc8b7.jpeg

2024-08-11 14:08:55

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@npub17hj…7a0r Thanks! I like it too, but it's really a bit too small for even my biggest scope, which is only 152mm.

2024-08-10 19:05:29

This is one large active region.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/939/284/976/807/638/original/c56ec9af2836bcb8.jpg

2024-08-10 16:54:35

I took this image of the moon because the sky at 8:30 last night was half covered in fog, and I figured it was the only image I would get.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/938/770/290/743/580/original/3450203fb2111185.jpeg

2024-08-10 14:19:55

What I was able to do in the two or three fogless hours last night. This is the tiny (from here) but beautiful M57, the Ring Nebula. In the starless version, you can just barely see the outer shell of gases. Also the small galaxy IC1296 is visible in both.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/938/161/581/694/342/original/9a1eb1ffbede900d.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/938/161/723/128/679/original/ac43e49b9aa92336.jpeg

2024-08-10 03:00:45

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@npub1w6q…xk7c No. I'm using a tracking mount. I mean the filtering is different from a day-use camera to pick up the hydrogen reds. I started out with an auto-track camera, but it's pretty limiting.

2024-08-09 20:40:52

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@npub1w6q…xk7c This was taken with a reflector. A Takahashi 130 Epsilon. And as always, an astro-modified DSLR (Nikon D810A).

2024-08-09 20:39:38

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@npub17p8…sw24 :-)

2024-08-09 17:20:20

Starless M31. Somehow the detail seems richer to me without stars, at least for certain objects.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/933/209/242/892/119/original/0abe4488de2251a5.jpeg

2024-08-09 16:44:47

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@npub17p8…sw24 Should be down around midnight, which is when the good viewing starts anyway.

2024-08-09 16:44:15

From the observatory last night, M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/933/067/351/620/851/original/b6d7c64747aa591d.jpeg

2024-08-09 14:36:50

The crescent moon last night, shortly after sunset.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/932/566/322/636/489/original/fa864a588c8c3061.jpeg

2024-08-08 14:22:50

I got about an hour and a half of the Eastern Veil Nebula, and then the fog came back in. I didn't have this framed quite right, so hopefully I'll get another chance at it soon.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/926/848/942/328/671/original/f797478ea2a3632c.jpeg

2024-08-07 16:36:35

The huge active region 3780 seems to have grown and intensified a bit since I snapped its photo yesterday.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/921/712/532/743/268/original/0698ff70dac8f203.jpeg

2024-08-06 16:49:10

The solar surface is positively wild today. Two X flares in two hours. Lots of activity up there.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/916/099/746/018/330/original/627de609082b3241.jpeg

2024-08-06 14:46:07

Miracle of miracles, it was clear all night last night. At the coast! This is M27, the Dumbbell Nebula.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/915/614/905/185/494/original/049bb09d7902292f.jpeg

2024-08-05 16:56:48

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@npub1w6q…xk7c Thank you!

2024-08-05 16:56:35

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@npub17p8…sw24 Only in the capture. I was fast asleep.

2024-08-05 16:56:04

Here's the do-over of that image of the globular star cluster M13. Without completely overexposing the core this time.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/910/464/544/354/327/original/657797671f98270c.jpeg

2024-08-05 14:38:53

My first halfway decent image with my all-sky camera. A meteor over the eastern horizon. Probably a Delta Aquariid. Bring on the Perseids this weekend. I'm ready.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/909/925/064/918/295/original/e1d8965783abdeba.jpeg

2024-08-04 16:43:29

From the observatory last night, the Heart Nebula.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/904/752/646/483/384/original/78bc45a2307af196.jpeg

2024-08-02 16:23:40

In terms of the sheer number of active regions, if not necessarily their size and power, this is among the more active solar surfaces I've observed.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/893/350/268/418/185/original/c140516765e72b0b.jpeg

2024-07-30 17:20:00

There was quite a parade of asterisms and planets just before dawn. Almost directly above the moon is the Pleiades. To the right and slightly above the moon is Mars. On the right is the V-shaped Hyades. And to the lower right of the moon, Jupiter.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/876/584/727/564/686/original/bd47886a7bdb11ed.jpeg

2024-07-30 15:14:52

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@npub17p8…sw24 Downright humbling.

2024-07-30 15:14:13

Another try at the Ghosts of Cassiopeia, this time with slightly longer, guided exposures, and with the reflector scope, which creates the lovely diffraction spikes on bright stars. The bright star here is Navi.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/876/077/352/908/784/original/3590d3735b46f9a4.jpeg

2024-07-30 14:25:42

The International Space Station flying over, not long after sunset.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/875/897/657/335/687/original/25ff576e98173ac4.jpeg

2024-07-28 18:38:20

How's this for a complex set of active regions on the sun? We have a cannibal CME (coronal mass ejection) headed our way, so possible auroras for northern folks Monday and Tuesday nights. Click this link if you don't know what a cannibal CME is: https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates/
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/865/556/821/213/208/original/3c8ed78c104e5844.jpeg

2024-07-28 18:35:27

How's this for a complex set of active regions on the sun? We have a cannibal CME (coronal mass ejection) headed our way, so possible auroras for northern folks Monday and Tuesday nights. Click this link if you don't know what a cannibal CME is: https://earthsky.org/.../sun-news-activity-solar-flare.../
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/865/556/821/213/208/original/3c8ed78c104e5844.jpeg

2024-07-28 17:21:47

I still have a lot to learn about this all-sky camera. But anyway, here's the Milky Way stretched from horizon to horizon while the moon rises in the southeast.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/865/267/246/717/750/original/19a5d7cab9f36ccc.jpeg

2024-07-28 15:12:36

This is a technically flawed image. The idea with globular clusters is to avoid overexposing their bright core. But I accidentally left one of the settings on the default. Anyway, this is M13, and it still has aesthetic value.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/864/758/804/763/260/original/6f063641b4b0379e.jpeg

2024-07-25 14:41:34

M17, the Omega Nebula, again. Unfortunately I was only able to add a little less than an hour to what I showed you yesterday. The rest were just pictures of fog. Still, it added a bit more detail and clarity. Fog is pretty dense right now and I'm not confident of another night with this, but we'll see.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/847/650/309/156/046/original/47bad6a4d447eb0a.jpeg

2024-07-24 12:48:26

The moon when I woke up this morning.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/841/543/115/649/615/original/f3d58a5c515c372f.jpeg

2024-07-21 17:53:44

The open star clusters NGC 663 and 654. Not much else was going to hold up under that bright moon.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/825/756/679/922/663/original/dda01dc5c46478a3.jpeg

2024-07-02 15:09:34

Crescent moon with the Pleiades, just before dawn this morning.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/717/527/244/068/885/original/f684111cf9303f25.jpeg

2024-05-12 21:48:20

This is a very wide view of the Sagittarius Star Cloud, with the bright Omega Nebula in the lower left.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/430/317/409/747/279/original/413b677bc54db14c.jpeg

2024-05-10 17:29:36

Here's a question I don't get to ask often. Do you still have your eclipse glasses from last month? If so, step outside and look at this monster active region AR3664. You can literally see it with nothing but safety eyewear.
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/112/417/975/427/540/179/original/08ad44953a242f34.jpeg

2024-02-18 21:17:49

Is anybody else being totally spammed with discord dot gg links? From a different bot account every time sol I can't block them? And with the link in an image so I can't filter them? They're filling up my mentions and bugging the crap out of me and I have no idea how to make it stop.