Starship Asterisk*

POLAR STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53412517239_b876176ed4_k.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough For the last four days very rare Polar Stratospheric (Nacreous) Clouds have been spotted all over the UK (and now continental Europe). On January 21st I was able to follow them for th...

POLAR STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52656063587_d18bc0c7fd_k.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52657238039_0a2034a981_h.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough Rare Polar Stratospheric (Nacreous) Clouds have been spotted over the north of Scotland. I was lucky enough to see the...

YUTU https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51860747829_ca27233627_b.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough Inca astronomers referred to the Coalsack Nebula as "Yutu", a partridge-like bird native to the Andes. The two bright stars in the accompanying image belong to the Southern Cross: they are (lower...

WOLF MOON & THE BELT OF VENUS https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51838642026_bff2e79a3e_k.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough The Wolf Moon of January 2022, seen here rising through the Belt of Venus. Photographed in Elgin, Moray, Scotland on January 17. Highest resolution image here: https://www.flic...

NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS - A DETAILED VIEW https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51298054136_bf2d31fcb5_k.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough On the night of June 27/28 there was a spectacular display of Noctilucent Clouds over the north of Scotland. At times it covered more than half the sky. Here is a close up v...

SPACE CLOUDS https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51275850838_fa716efb27_h.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough On the night of June 27/28 there was a spectacular display of Noctilucent Clouds over the north of Scotland. At times it covered more than half the sky. There are still potentially six weeks of the...

ELECTRIC-BLUE PANORAMA https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50037061657_74d9eb4cb2_3k.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough The summer months are the only time you can see the high-altitude, electric-blue clouds known as Noctilucent Clouds (NLC). NLC form on the edge of space when water vapour condenses and f...

NIGHT-SHINING CLOUDS https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49992304563_62854c3f24_h.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough The summer months are the best time for seeing the high-altitude, electric-blue clouds known as Noctilucent Clouds (NLC). NLC form on the edge of space when water vapour condenses and freez...

BEAUTIFUL SPACE CLOUDS https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49959088796_6babdeb4e0_h.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough The summer months are the best time for seeing the high-altitude, electric-blue clouds known as Noctilucent Clouds (NLC). NLC form on the edge of space when water vapour condenses and fre...

A COMET AND THE DOUBLE CLUSTER https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49440787523_9c99d93022_b.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough Comet C/2017 T2 (PanSTARRS) seen here approaching the famous Double Cluster in Perseus. This image was taken remotely, from New Mexico on January 24, using iTelescope T14. The tot...

POLAR STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS - from Scotland https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49186885712_f99618bbf4_k.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough At the beginning of December a polar vortex formed in the north, resulting in low ozone values. The ozone layer temperature fell low enough to allow the formation of P...

BEACH PARTY - FOR ONE! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48283910882_d03b7db061_k.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough In order to capture this beautiful and spectacular display of noctilucent clouds on July 14, I headed down to a beach near Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth in Scotland. I was the only perso...

CHRISTMAS STAR? https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5830/22964923944_9afcddb712_b.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough Although it looks like a Christmas ornament here, Canopus (Alpha Carinae) is the second brightest star in the night sky and is, arguably, a candidate for the fabled Star of Bethlehem. Details: i...

A COMET AND A CLUSTER https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4914/31813505188_f4c7387deb_b.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough This is Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and open cluster Messier 50 imaged remotely, on October 7th, 2018, from the Siding Spring Observatory, New South Wales, Australia. Total imaging time: 18...

NOCTILUCENT PANORAMA https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1830/43446218172_ff5bb9147c_k.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough In the very early hours of June 19, clear skies over Scotland coincided with an extensive display of Noctilucent Clouds: the best one I've seen in years. This is a five-frame panorama showi...

A CAVEMAN'S VIEW https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1827/29020152058_d34b9ebf4d_h.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough In the very early hours of June 19, clear skies over Scotland coincided with an extensive display of Noctilucent (night-shining) Clouds: the best I've seen in years. Highest resolution version ...

THE JEWEL BOX https://farm1.staticflickr.com/945/42216311921_3748d8826d_c.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough The Jewel Box (NGC 4755, Caldwell 94) is a magnificent open cluster in the southern constellation Crux. To image this object I logged on remotely to iTelescope T31 at the Siding Spring Observatory ...

STAR CITY https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4619/26770146458_a0792f2490_c.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough Omega Centauri (NGC 5139, Caldwell 80) is the biggest and brightest globular cluster in the night sky. The cluster appears to us Earth-dwellers as slightly larger than the full Moon. It is actually ab...

JUPITER AND MARS https://www.flickr.com/photos/7776810@N07/24695579307/ Copyright: Alan C Tough It was worth getting up early to see Jupiter and Mars less than quarter of a degree apart. This photo was taken at 7 a.m. on January 7, 2018 from Duffus Castle in Moray, Scotland. https://farm5.staticfli...

NUBECULA MINOR https://www.flickr.com/photos/7776810@N07/33613274325/ Copyright: Alan C Tough Irregular galaxy NGC 292 (The Small Magellanic Cloud or SMC) lies about 200,000 light years away in the southern constellation of Tucana. It is the smaller of the Milky Way's two satellite galaxies. The br...

CHRISTMAS STAR https://www.flickr.com/photos/7776810@N07/22964923944/ Copyright: Alan C Tough Although this looks like a Christmas ornament, Canopus (Alpha Carinae) is the second brightest star in the night sky and is, arguably, a candidate for the fabled Star of Bethlehem. https://farm6.staticflic...

Parhelion Par Excellence https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4362/36889489451_beddf476a9_z.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough September is a good time of year to look for atmospheric optical phenomena (be very careful not to look directly at the Sun). I spotted this very bright sundog on September 3: it had a ...

A Comet Meets The Sisters https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4358/37029703215_a059330c5b_z.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough This is magnitude 11.5 comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) gliding past M45 on August 22, 2017. The image was taken remotely using iTelescope T14 in New Mexico. Hi-res version: https://www.f...

A very Partial Eclipse https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4411/36802667315_41a6a172bf_z.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough This was the view from the north of Scotland. The partial eclipse here was less than 2%. It was very cloudy over the UK and I may have been the only person in Scotland to witness this eve...

A very Partial Eclipse https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4411/36802667315_41a6a172bf_z.jpg Copyright: Alan C Tough This was the view from the north of Scotland. The partial eclipse here was less than 2%. It was very cloudy over the UK and I may have been the only person in Scotland to witness this eve...