Total Lunar Eclipse

Lunar eclipses are more frequent than solar eclipses, but it has been some time since I last photographed one. As … More

2026-02-17 Solar 90D 200mm 1600th f 4.5 ISO 100

The Sun

Today’s Sun using my new DSLR, a Canon EOS 90D, for its first test shot.

Health Update 2

Since My Last Post I’ve been re-admitted back into hospital two more times since my first post over a month … More

Health Update

Hi all. This is just to let you know that I have been in hospital for two months. Many of … More

Nova in Vela!

Novae appear on average once every year or two. I recently posted about the “Nova in Lupus!” and now, only … More

NASA’s Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

Tidbinbilla, Australian Capital Territory

Colourful Conjunction

Regulus and Mars A few days ago I took this image of the star Regulus with the planet Mars sailing … More

Nova in Lupus!

We’ve been waiting over a year for the much-anticipated “Blaze Star” (T Coronae Borealis) to go Nova and we’re still … More

Feeling Lonely… Again

I’m no poet. I’m just an old fella who wanted to put my feelings about the Universe into poetic verse. … More

A Dying Star in the Vela Constellation

Planetary Nebula NGC 3132

Mt Stromlo Observatory

Located just outside Canberra, Australia’s capital city.

An AI view of Cosmic Focus

This article has its genesis in a post over at Disperser Tracks where, in this article, an AI site was … More

Gum 39

A Bright Nebula in the Southern Constellation of Centaurus

A Strange Object in the Carina Constellation

IC 2220 Toby Jug Nebula

Saturn’s Ring Tilt

On March 23, 2025, Earth passed through the extended plane of Saturn’s ring system. Because the rings are incredibly thin, … More

An Active Galaxy

130 million light years away

An Ancient Spiral Galaxy

Celestial Splendour in Pyxis NGC 2613

Photographing Our Cosmic Neighbour

Imaging the Large Magellanic Cloud with a DSLR camera and Star Tracker

Cloudy Adventures

This session I optimistically set up my telescope under thick 90% cloudy skies, based on reliable forecasts that the clouds … More

Orion Nebula

M42 The Orion Nebula is an amazing object and one of the best in the sky but I’ve imaged it … More

Blue Ring Confusion

The above image was not taken by me. Credit Pexels Free Photos. The photo’s relevance or otherwise will be explained … More

Thor’s Helmet

NGC 2359 A Nebula in Canis Major Our Summer here in Sydney seems to be following a similar pattern to … More

2024 Review

It’s time to look back at some of my favourite images taken over the past twelve months on Cosmic Focus. … More

The Heart of the Milky Way

Taken with a DSLR camera mounted on a star tracker.

Star Trails

Having taken star trails of up to about 15° rotation many times in the past, I wanted to obtain an … More

Pair of Galaxies

Messier 77, aka Cetus A or NGC 1068 This is a three hour exposure of the barred spiral galaxy M77 … More

47 Tucanae

A Bright Globular Cluster in Tucana NGC 104, Caldwell 106 The Sun sets late here on a December evening and … More

NGC 1313

An unusual galaxy in Reticulum NGC 1313 is sometimes called the Topsy-turvy Galaxy and with such an intriguing title, I … More

Tarantula Nebula

NGC 2070 in Dorado Caldwell 103 If any astronomical object truly inspires me, it is the Tarantula Nebula. It appears … More

Messier’s Biggest Mistake?

Charles Messier was a pioneer of nineteenth century astronomy. He created the now world famous Messier List to help other … More

Venus

Yes, Venus displays phases, just like the Moon. This is a recent telescopic image of the inner planet Venus, taken … More

The Spare Tyre Nebula

IC 5148 A Planetary Nebula in Grus The Spare Tyre Nebula is a doughnut shaped astronomical object located in the … More

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

It’s been a long wait but finally I got a cloudless evening sky with a clear view of Comet A3, … More

Milky Way Wide Field

The above feature view looks northwards from the Milky Way nucleus (top left). The light pollution of Western Sydney becomes … More

Grus Quartet

Four galaxies for the price of one!

The Small Magellanic Cloud

The SMC is one of the jewels of the Southern sky.

M53

A Messier object orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy – and a short article about the Messier Catalogue.

Riches of the Southern Milky Way

A wide field view of the spectacular Southern Milky Way and the barren South Celestial Pole.

The Star Adventurer Part 2

Eliminating Star Trailing
in Wide Field Astro-photography.
My previous article, The Star Adventurer Part 1, was about the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer in its most basic form. This second post builds on that and will show how I am redeploying processes which were developed using my refracting telescope to improve the basic Star Adventurer performance.

Helix Nebula

141 words, 1 minute read time

The Star Adventurer Part 1

Long exposures with a DSLR Camera. Purpose: Simply mounting a camera to a standard (i.e. non-motorised) tripod will limit the … More

Moon & Venus Conjunction

A beautiful sight faced me as I was setting up my telescope. I couldn’t resist a couple of quick images … More

Milky Way Widefield

342 words, 2 minutes read time.

Dumbbell Nebula

242 words, 1 minute read time.

The Milky Way in Centaurus

564 words, 3 minutes read time.

Southern Cross

Crux Constellation Crux is the smallest of the eighty-eight constellations but is an iconic southern constellation. It lies in the … More

Lagoon Nebula

M8 in Sagittarius NGC 6523 & NGC 6530 One of the most beautiful nebulae in the whole sky, M8 is … More

Hidden In Plain Sight

Open Star Cluster NGC 5823 Caldwell 88 in Circinus (and Lupus) An open cluster of relatively young and loosely gravitationally … More

IC 4628

A Bright Nebula in Scorpius Coming towards the end of an evening session at Cosmic Focus Observatory, I had an … More

First Quarter Moon

. . . Also Spica & The Return of Venus Many of my fellow amateur astro-photographers tend to ignore the … More

The Blaze Star

Thermo-nuclear explosion in our sky, coming soon. 💥

Afternoon Moonrise

Not quite . . .

Globular Cluster NGC 6352

Caldwell 81 in Ara Image exposure:30 minutes Image Size:77.1 x 51.4 arc-min Image date:2024-06-03 Peering between (and well beyond) the Milky … More

The Rim Nebula

A big bright nebula in the constellation of Ara

Car Headlights in a Snow Storm

A pair of unrelated objects, just four arc-minutes apart

The Jewel Box

The sparkling Jewel Box cluster and a wide field view of the Southern Milky Way

Pons-Brooks

2 minutes read time.

M88 and Friends

The Coma-Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Twenty-five galaxies in one image!

Eta Carinae Nebula

The mother of all nebulae

First Quarter Moon

Imagine

Gum 23

A large wedge shaped emission nebula, sliced by lanes of obscuring dust

Comet P12/Pons-Brooks

A happy ending to a search which began seven decades earlier . . .

Seagull Nebula

An HII hydrogen cloud, 200 light years across.

2024-04-04-m95-m96-galaxies-stack_765frames_23867s2

Galactic Twins

An associated pair of spiral galaxies in the constellation of Leo.

Sirius

The brightest visible star in the night sky, circled by a stunning blue and green atmospheric ring phenomena.

Moonset

The Moon holds a special place in our lives, influencing romance and evolution, as well as astronomy.

Omega Centauri

…this whopping giant ball of stars which orbits the disc of the Milky Way galaxy at a distance of about 16,000 light years.

Conjunctions 2024

A tabulation of upcoming planetary conjunctions.

Look Back

An image capturing a rare close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, showcasing their similar apparent diameters and proximity.

Burning Bright

Against the stark blackness of interstellar space, the abundance backdrop of Milky Way stars are shining bright. In the middle, they seem to have caught alight, burning like a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night.