Society News – Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Dartford

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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

3rd February 2026

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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.

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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.

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Below is a wonderful card made by the pupils in appreciation of our visit last week.

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The Trifid Nebula by Richard Bohner

2nd February 2026

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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.

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The Moon

2nd February 2026

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Two great images of the Moon taken by George Buckberry using a Dwarf3 smart scope.

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A Waxing Crescent Moon on the 23rd January 2026. 22.8% illuminated. Ref:https://theskylive.com/moon/2026-01-23

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A Waxing Gibbous Moon on the 27th January 2026. 65% illuminated. Ref:https://theskylive.com/moon/2026-01-27

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More deep sky images taken using a Dwarf3 smart scope

30th January 2026

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A super selection of deep sky images taken by member George Buckberry using a Dwarf3 smart scope on the 3rd & 5th January 2026.

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The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. Ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula

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A close up of the Crab Nebula.

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The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.878 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way. Ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulum_Galaxy

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Bode's Galaxy (also known as NGC 3031 or Messier 81) is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_81

The galaxy above it (centre top of image) is the Cigar Galaxy also known as Messier 82.

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The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosette_Nebula

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The Elephant's Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A) is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light-years away from Earth. Ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant%27s_Trunk_Nebula

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Latest ExoClock Observations by Simon Dawes

22nd January 2026

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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. It was discovered in 2016 by the XO planet search team.

XO-6b orbits XO-6, a faint 10th magnitude star in the constellation Camelopardalis.

XO-6b is classified as a hot Jupiter. The planet has an orbital period of just 3.8 days and an average orbital separation of 0.082 astronomical units. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XO-6b

EPIC 246851721 b is a gas giant exoplanet, 3x the mass of Jupiter, it takes 6.2 days to orbit its (F-Type) star and is 0.07229 AU from its star. It was discovered in 2018.

The F-type star EPIC 246851721 is a star in the constellation of Taurus. EPIC 246851721 distance from Earth is 1224.38 light years away.

Simon said ''It's the shallowest transit I've attempted at 5 milli-mag. on a mag 11 star.''

WASP-33b is an extrasolar gas giant planet orbiting the A-type star HD 15082 in Andromeda. It was the first transiting planet discovered to orbit a Delta Scuti variable star. Its mass is 2.093 Jupiters, it takes 1.2 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0239 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2010.

KELT-2Ab is an extrasolar gas giant planet that orbits the F-type star KELT-2A approximately 440 light-years away in the Auriga.

Its mass is 1.7 Jupiters, it takes 4.1 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.05497 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2012.

Qatar-1b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a a metal-rich K dwarf star in Draco. Its mass is 1.294 Jupiters, it takes 1.4 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.02332 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2010 and was the first planet discovered by the Qatar Exoplanet Survey.

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Aurora seen last night

20th January 2026

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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 image on the right was taken by member Honor Wheeler from Dartford using a Canon M6II, Rokinon 12mm lens, set at ISO800, f8, and 6sec.

Honor said 'The aurora was difficult to see visually but my camera picked it up. A lot of light pollution reflecting off the clouds also didn't help but any aurora seen from home is a nice, unexpected bonus.'

Member Martin Crow from Burnham - on - Crouch, Essex managed to capture some images of the Aurora through gaps in the cloud on his iPhone. On the right are 2 of his images.

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New Dwarf3 presentation by George Buckberry

20th January 2026

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| 11:51 am

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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 Astronomy & Resources' page where you will find the link.

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George Buckberry Further Adventures with a Dwarf 3

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The Sun & Full Moon – 3rd Jan 2026

6th January 2026

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| 4:04 pm

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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.

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Sun & Full Moon by Honor Wheeler.

Taken using a Dwarf3 smart scope taken from Dartford.

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The Sun by George Buckberry.

Taken using a Dwarf3 smart scope taken from Hextable.

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The Full Moon by George Buckberry.

Taken using a Dwarf3 smart scope taken from Hextable.

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Full Moon rising by John Howarth taken from Bexleyheath.

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Full Moon rising by Gary Hunt taken from the Isle of Sheppey.

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Full Moon rising by Kevin Smith taken from Deal, Kent.

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Full Moon rising by John Archer taken from East Sussex.

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Full Moon by Dominique Ferrand taken from London.

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Full Moon by John Archer taken from East Sussex.

Taken using a Dwarf3 smart scope. The photo is made up of a stack of 20 images.

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The Horsehead and Flame Nebula

6th January 2026

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| WebMistress

| 1:57 pm

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 Dwarf3 smart scope. The Horsehead Nebula is located in the centre of the images and the Flame nebula is located at the top middle of the images.

The Horsehead Nebula, also known as Barnard 33, and its companion, the Flame Nebula, sit near the star Alnitak in Orion's Belt.

The Horsehead Nebula is a small dark nebula located about 1,375 light-years from Earth and is located just south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt and is part of the much larger Orion molecular cloud complex within the Orion B cloud. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of its resemblance to a horse's head.

The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission nebula also in the constellation Orion. It is about 1350 light-years away. The Flame Nebula also lies within the Orion B cloud of the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.

The bright star Alnitak the easternmost star in Orion's Belt, appears very close to the Flame Nebula in the sky. But the star and nebula are not physically associated with one another. Alnitak lies 1260 light-years from Earth.

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