Announcements
A whistle stop beginners course in Astronomy coming to CMHASD for members soon
Contact Dr. Mike Rushton for more information about the course and becoming a member at secretary@crayfordmanorastro.com.
Please note this course is for members only.
The Dick Chambers Observatory – Status
The observatory and telescope are ready to use by members for visual observing. The telescope is fitted with an eyepiece. Any questions please direct them to Keith, Steve, Simon and Andy.
Gallery
A selection of images, photos and observations taken by CMHASD members
Other Images
Sun | Comets | Mercury | Venus | Atmospheric Optics | Meteors | Auroa and NLC | Moon | Minor Planets | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Messier | Caldwell | All Deep Sky | Conjunctions | Transits | Solar Eclipse | Lunar Eclipse | Wide Field |ISS & Space Junk | Exo-Planets
Society News
The Heart Nebula (IC1805) by Honor Wheeler
A stunning image of the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) taken by Honor Wheeler on the 25th February 2026 using a Dwarf3 smartscope.
The Heart Nebula is a vast emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia located approximately 7,500 light-years away in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way. It glows with a characteristic red light from ionized hydrogen gas, spans roughly 300 light-years and resembles a human heart in appearance.
Star Trails by Honor Wheeler
A fantastic image of Star Trails by Honor Wheeler taken on the 24th February 2026 using a Dwarf3 smartscope.
Lunar Corona
A great image of a Lunar Corona and Jupiter taken by member Gary Hunt on the 27th February 2026.
Jupiter is the dot on the right hand side of the Moon at the 2 o’clock position.
February’s deep sky images
A superb selection of deep sky images taken by members during February 2026.
Part of the Pleiades (M45) taken by Diane Clarke using a Seestar s50 smartscope on the 25th February 2026.
The Orion Nebula (M42) taken by Diane Clarke using a Seestar s50 smartscope on the 25th February 2026.
The Sun
Two images of the Sun taken using smartscopes on the 4th February 2026.
Taken by Jim Burchell using a Seestar s50.
February’s Moon images
A great selection of Moon images taken by members during the month of February.
Crescent Moon taken on the 22nd February 2026 by John Archer using a Dwarf3 smart scope.
Waxing Gibbous Moon by Neil Webster taken on the 28/02/2026.
The Moon was 11.38 days old and 92.1% illuminated. Neil used a AA 115mm APO, EQ6 R, ZWO ASI290MM and R/IR Filter to acquire the image.
6 frames. Each 90s x 32fps. Stitched in Microsoft ICE Firecapture, AutoStakkert and Photo Shop.
IC443 The Jellyfish Nebula by George Buckberry
A stunning image of IC443 – The Jellyfish Nebula taken by George Buckberry.
The Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443) is a supernova remnant located in the constellation Gemini. This nebula is approximately 5000 light-years from Earth and is estimated to be roughly 70 light-years in size.
Solar Halo’s by Jim Burchell
Two superb images of the same Solar Halo taken by Jim Burchell on the 17th February 2026.
Orion’s belt by Danny Pearce
A stunning widefield view of Orion’s belt by Danny Pearce taken on the 28th Feb 2026. Danny used an Askar FRA400 on a HEQ5 mount with .7x reducer to give a FL of 280mm. The camera was a PlayerOne Poseidon-M mono (IMX571) and a Ha filter was used.
Jupiter by Simon Dawes
Two images of Jupiter taken by Simon Dawes. Seeing was poor on both nights but still great images were achieved.
Taken on the 2nd March 2026; using a Celestron Edge 11HD telescope, Mesu e200 mount and QHY colour camera.
Latest deep sky images taken from the 11th to 15th March 2026
Here are the latest fantastic deep sky images from members taken from the 11th to the 15th March 2026.
M81 (and M82) by Jim Burchell
Huge Sunspot AR4366
Hot off the press – 2 images of the Sun showing the enormous Sunspot AR4366; taken on the 4th February 2026. The image on the left was taken by Jim Burchell using a Seestar s50 smart scope and the image on the right was taken by George Buckberry using a Dwarf3 smart scope. Both taken from the Dartford area.
AR4366 has unleashed dozens of solar flares including a powerful X8-class flare on the 1st February 2026. Most sunspots never produce even one X-flare but this week, giant sunspot 4366 has fired off six; the latest being an X4.2-class explosion on the 4th February.
Below is a diagram of the sun with the sunspots labelled and an image of just AR4366. Both these images were taken from the website spaceweather.com.
”The image of the Sunspot AR4366 was taken by amateur astronomer James Kevin Ty on Feb 3rd from his backyard observatory in Manila. “This sunspot started as an inconspicuous pore just a few days ago. Since then it has grown hugely in size!” he says.
SUNSPOT ARCHIPELAGO: Sunspots are magnetic islands on the sun. Sunspot AR4366 is a complete archipelago. Scroll down to scan more than 200,000 miles of island chain.
The island metaphor is apt. Sunspots are buoyant concentrations of magnetism that float on a sea of solar plasma. Archipelago 4366 consists of one big island twice as wide as Earth plus dozens of lesser isles ranging in size from US states to small planets.
AR4366 is currently facing Earth.” Ref:Spaceweather.com
CMHASD at Wentworth School – 28th January 2026
CMHASD Secretary Dr. Mike Rushton wrote ”On Wednesday 28th January 11 members of the Society were involved in our annual outreach visit to Wentworth School. 73 children from Year 5 were split into four groups who rotated through four preplanned tasks.
One involved a short talk on general astronomical topics with some visual aids. The second was a short slide show of images taken in the main by our members. The third in the gym involved everyone running around in circles to demonstrate the movements of all the planets in the solar system. The fourth was observing. We were lucky that in a week of bad weather we had a clear night. With six telescopes (2 reflectors, 2 refractors and 2 smart scopes) everyone saw the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, the Orion nebula and the Andromeda galaxy. All of this was well received and fun for us, the teachers and the children.”
Below is an article about our visit to Wentworth School in their newsletter.
This is the final image of the Orion Nebula the children saw developing on a Dwarf3 smartscope by Dr. Mike Rushton. It is made up of a total of 196 images, each 15 seconds long in exposure.
This is the final image of the Andromeda Galaxy the children saw developing on a Seestar S50 smartscope by member Diane Clark.
Below is a wonderful card made by the pupils in appreciation of our visit last week.
The Trifid Nebula by Richard Bohner
A fantastic image of the Trifid Nebula taken by Richard Bohner in July 2025 from Cottonwood in Arizona, USA.
Richard used a Seestar s50 smart scope to take the image.
The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region in the north-west of Sagittarius about 4100 light-years from Earth.
More deep sky images taken using a Dwarf3 smart scope
A super selection of deep sky images taken by member George Buckberry using a Dwarf3 smart scope on the 3rd & 5th January 2026. The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of...
Latest ExoClock Observations by Simon Dawes
These are the latest Exoplanet transits that member Simon Dawes has observed for the ExoClock project. To find out more about the ExoClock project click here. XO-6b is a transiting exoplanet, orbiting the star XO-6 around 760 light years (230 parsecs) away from Earth....
Aurora seen last night
Last night Aurora was spotted over the UK and 2 CMHASD members managed to image it through the clouds. Apparently the CME, X1.9 ‘Halo’ solar flare that sparked this aurora took only 25 hours to reach Earth! Usually CME’S take 3 to 4 days! The 1st...
New Dwarf3 presentation by George Buckberry
Member George Buckberry has written another presentation about his recent experiences with the Dwarf3 smart scope. To see a copy of his presentation click on the link on the right. To see George’s previous presentation about the Dwarf3 go to the ‘New to...
The Sun & Full Moon – 3rd Jan 2026
The 3rd of Jan 2026 saw the 1st Full Moon of the year and several members got out their scopes and cameras and took some lovely images of the Moon. Some members also took the opportunity to image the Sun that day too. Sun & Full Moon by Honor Wheeler. Taken using...
The Horsehead and Flame Nebula
Below are 2 images of the Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula taken by member George Buckberry. The 1st on the 31st Dec 2025 having only 17mins and 45 seconds of total exposure and the 2nd on the 1st Jan 2026 having 1 hour and 15mins total exposure; both taken using a...
The Sun & Moon – 31st Dec 2025
The Sun & a Waxing Gibbous Moon (89.7% illuminated and 11.64 days old) taken on the last day of the year 2025. The Sun by Honor Wheeler taken from Dartford using a Dwarf3 smartscope. 50 stacked images and processed in Snapseed. The Sun taken by George Buckberry...
Congratulations to…..
Congratulations to Simon Dawes, Martin Crow and Gary Hunt on the latest paper published by the ExoClock project of which they are co authors ”ExoClock Project IV: A homogeneous catalogue of 620 updated exoplanet ephemerides” To see a copy of the paper...
Congratulations
Congratulations to Honor Wheeler for her superb Lunar Eclipse image taken on the 7th September 2025 being shown at the BAA (British Astronomical Association) Society Meeting sky notes and in their Lunar section too! Honor acquired the image using a Canon M6II,...
The Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula taken by George Buckberry on the 1st Jan 2026 using a Dwarf3 smart scope. This is a brilliant image as it was acquired just after a total of 15 mins of exposure. Just shows what smart scopes can do! ”The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier...