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Roland Gooday

@misplacedphotons.bsky.social
833 followers 101 following 121 posts

Astrophotographer, photographer and occasional cat biographer

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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I'm still raiding the Liverpool Telescope data archives for stuff to process. Here's the less often imaged NGC5850 using data from the r, V + B filters collected between 2014-21. Getting the data to balance in RGB was a bit of a challenge with this one. #space #astronomy #pixinsight #science
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Older data from the 2m Liverpool Telescope in La Palma Spain is publicly available for download. I thought I'd have a play with some M74 data. For an approximation of RGB I used the r, V and B filters. #space #astronomy #science #pixinsight telescope.ljmu.ac.uk/archive/cgi-...
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A reprocessed NGC6946 from August, using the latest version of PixInsight and RCAstro processes. Skywatcher Esprit120 | ASI1600mm | CEM70. #NiNA #PIXINSIGHT #SPACE #SCIENCE #ASTRONOMY
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A view from my new wide-field refractor. M33 from a few nights back. I had a ZenithStar. Things went wrong after I added a focus motor. I spent a very long time trying to fix this. It didn't work out. Aksar65PHQ, thank you for existing. Finally, a flat field! #space #astronomy #science #askar
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In a brief respite from relentless space photos, allow me to introduce you to Hermione, our rescue cat. #cats #tortoiseshell #catsofbsky
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Ok, so I was tempted to image the SN in NGC7331, but wanted to follow through with some more data on M33 from last night. Updated image (4hrLum, 1hr+R,G,B), plus a comparison between the 120mm triplet and a very good 65mm quintuplet. #science #astronomy #astrophotography #space #pixinsight
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A couple of hours on M33. Then it clouded over. #astrophotography #astronomy #pixinsight #science #skywatcher #ASI1600mm
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Here's NGC 6946, aka the Fireworks Galaxy as imaged over the last few evenings. Grabbing some more data this evening as the skies are still clear here in the UK. ~9hrs LRGB | ASI1600mm | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #space #astronomy #science #astrophotography #PixInsight
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Always working to improve my images, even if the weather and ever increasing levels of space junk would have otherwise. Here is an unscientific comparison between images taken just under 2 years apart with slightly different gear. This is NGC7129, the Cosmic Rosebud #science #space #astronomy
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
SH2-82 The Little Cocoon Nebula, as imaged from my driveway a few nights back Details: 6 hours LRGB Esprit120 | ASI1600mm | CEM70 NINA | PixInsight Oxfordshire, UK #science #astronomy #space #
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I don't want to give the impression that all I do is wander around taking pictures of Sanctuary Knockers, but here's one from Stratford upon Avon, on Saturday. Worth a Google. This one reminds me of Agent Smith for some reason. #history #medieval #nikon
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
This is the Sanctuary Knocker at Durham Cathedral. Until 1624 it was possible to claim sanctuary with it, if you happened to have committed a grave crime for good reasons, such as murder in self defense. I happened to be there for my daughters last concert as an undergrad. #history #durham
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Just realised that I forgot to post this image from 11 May. This is the less often imaged NGC 4725, which is actually quite a pretty galaxy in Coma Berenices. I only managed a couple of hours of imaging time on it. #science #deepsky #astronomy #pixinsight #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
A slice of the Cygnus star cloud, including the Tulip Nebula, SH2-101. It doesn't get fully dark now here in my part of the UK. This is a composite image, with Lum from the main scope mono camera and RGB from a OSC on a small refractor on top, approx 4 hours in total. #space #science #astronomy
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Another M101, this time from 21st to 23rd April using an old mono camera. Some small but noticeable improvements over a modern OSC. ASI1600mm microlensing artifacts are a bit of a pain to process out, to be fair. Esprit120 | CEM70 | NINA | PixInsight #astronomy #science #astrophotography #space
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
M100, as imaged between 23rd - 25th April. We only have a few hours of astronomical darkness here in the UK at this time of year, but we've had a run of clear nights recently. Details Esprit 120 + flattener | ASI1600mm Pro | CEM70 NINA | PixInsight #Astrophotography #Science #Astronomy #Space
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Hi, here's the Leo Triplet of galaxies from last night. I took a few days off work this week and for some inexplicable reason the UK weather has actually turned out ok. Esprit 120 | ASI1600mm | CEM70 ~3 hrs Luminance, 1 - 1.5 hrs each R,G,B #Science #Astronomy #Astrophotography #PixInsight
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
M63 Sunflower Galaxy I wasn't happy with the colour in my previous processing run, so I got some more data, and reprocessed. ASI1600mm | Skywatcher Esprit 120 | CEM70 230 x 120s L, 97 x120s R, 97 x 120s G, 109 x 120s B Acquired with NINA, processed in PixInsight #Astronomy #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
M63, this time with added colour Esprit 120 | CEM70 | ASI1600mm ~5hrs Lum, 2hrs each R,G,B #pixinsight #astronomy #science #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
A first look at some M63 data from last night. I'm hoping to grab some more data this evening so that I can process the full LRGB image tomorrow. Details ~3hrs Lum x 120s ASI1600mm | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #astrophotography #pixinsight #space #science #astronomy
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
M97 Owl Nebula + M108 Surfboard Galaxy, 14th March. Not much time between clouds, but the end result came out okay given the short integration time. ASI1600mm 1hr x 180s Lum ~20min x180s R,G,B Esprit120 | CEM70 #science #astrophotograpy #astronomy #pixinsight
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Finally a clear night, albeit somewhat moonlit. Here's the first colour image from my (new to me) mono camera, which may not make sense now that I read that back to myself. These are Bode's galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82), with a hint of integrated flux nebula. #space #astronomy #astrophoto
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
It's still cloudy so I'm reprocessing old data. This is M101 from March. In the original version, I used the wrong dark calibration files. I really like the new multiscale adaptive stretch in PixInsight. If you haven't used it yet, it's worth a look. 307 x 180s | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
A reprocessed Mesiier 33, using OSC data from earlier last year, plus December's luminance data from my new, but old, mono camera. Esprit120 | ASI1600mm | Altair 26C | CEM 70 | Pixinsight #science #astrophotography #astronomy
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
So I picked up an old mono camera on eBay. I don't have any L-RGB filters yet, so no colour images just now. Hoping to do great things with it in 2026. Here are some test shots taken over the last few evenings. #science #astronomy #space #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
NGC 1333 Great to have my mount back after repair. 84 x 180s Altair 26C | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #science #astrophotography #astronomy #space
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Our nearest galactic neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy, isn't really very pretty. Way back when, Apple pulled a satellite galaxy, M110 bottom right, out of its wallpaper for OSX to make everything more aesthetically pleasing. #science #astrophotography #astronomy Zenithstar 61ii | Altair 26C | CEM70
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
This is something of a target rich environment for amateur scopes. The Dear Lick Group and Stephan's Quintet from yesterday evening, Oxfordshire, UK 115 x 180s Altair 26C | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #science #astronomy #astrophotography #skywatcher
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Messier 33, from last night 146 x 180s | Altair 26C | Esprit 120 | CEM70 Oxfordshire, UK #space #astrophotography #astronomy #science
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Cygnus region, with Crescent and Veil nebulae Somehow managed to get COVID again, but summoned just enough energy to put a regular camera out on the driveway. Feeling better now anyway. Nikon Z6 + 85mm 1.8S | iOptron SkyTracker 106 x 60s | ISO 800 @f4 | BackyardNikon | PixInsight #astronomy #space
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
NGC 6888 again, from a few weeks back Details: 174 x 180s | Altair 26C + dual band filter | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #astrophotography #space #astronomy
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
NGC 6946 from last night. I've processed it to show up the foreground dust from our own Galaxy. I think that I may still have some internal reflection issues to fix though. Details: 116 x 180s | Altair 26C | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #astrophotography #space #science #skywatcherusa
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
NGC 6888 Crescent Nebula, from southern UK. Still battling guiding issues. The CEM70 mount is not really living up to expectations, it's just too high maintenance. I miss the EQ6R. 10 x 300s | Altair 26C | Skywatcher Esprit 120 + L-Extreme | iOptron CEM 70 #space #astronomy #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Sh2-155 Cave Nebula, from southern UK. Good to be back outside with a telescope and camera now that darker skies are here again. Excuse the dust bunnies, my scope needs a clean. 35 x 180s | Altair 26C (IMX571) Skywatcher Esprit 120 | iOptron CEM 70 #space #pixinsight #astronomy #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Just back from a trip to Rencontres Astronomiques du Printemps 2025 with some good astro-friends. The skies there were so much better than at home. This is around 5 hrs of data on M51 through an Esprit 120. #astronomy #astrophotography #pixinsight #space #skywatcher
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Hello Blue Sky, things have been less than sub optimal recenty. My mount died, sent it off, got it back, it's mostly okay. But it's really not great. In this line of work, you absolutely have to track below 1 arc second RMS, half that is better. Currently struggling >.8 RMS. Anyway, reprocessed M106
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
NGC 3718, NGC 3729 + HCG 56, from last night (UK)
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
I thought it would be interesting to compare last year's Whale Galaxy image with this year's. I'd be interested to know what people think.
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
The Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631) and the Hockey Stick Galaxy (NGC 4656/NGC4657), as imaged last night (UK) 93 x 300s Esprit 120 | Altair 26C | CEM70 NINA | PHD2 #PixInsight #Space #Astronomy #Astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Messier 88 and surrounding sky, as imaged last night, UK 72 x 300s | Esprit 120 | Altair 26C Acquired with NINA | PHD2 Processed in #Pixinsight #Science #astronomy #space #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
M100 + NGC 4312 from last night, UK 6.5hrs (78 x 300s) | Altair 26C | Esprit 120 | CEM70 NINA | PHD2 | PixInsight #Space #Astrophotography #Science #Astronomy
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Having another run at M101 now that it's looking as though we may have some clear, moonless nights ahead of us. Here's the first ~8 hours' worth. 157 x 180s | Esprit 120 | Altair 26C | CEM70 #pixinsight #science #astronomy #astrophotography
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Messier 63, Sunflower Galaxy, as imaged last night. The data was pretty dreadful, so had to work at this one. I'd love to attempt this one in clearer skies. For example, with the neighbour's garage lights out. 133x180s | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #PixInsight #Astronomy #Astrophotography #Science
Sunflower galaxy, from a back yard in the UK
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
M66, M65 and NGC 3826 aka the Leo Triplet from last night This data was hard earned as guiding was bad, and I am still getting up to speed with NINA. Still not entirely convinced by any of the autofocus routines. 44 x 5 mins | Altair26C | Skywatcher Esprit120 #astronomy #astrophotography #science
An image of a group of three galaxies in Leo, taken from a back yard
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Added some more data to my M81/M82 session to try and get a little more IFN. Somewhat challenging to process as I'm in a Bortle 5 area. 13.25hrs x 180s Esprit 120 | Altair 26C | CEM70 #astrophotography #astronomy #science #pixinsight
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Lugged all my telescope gear to a field 20 miles away to capture an ISS lunar transit. 12:05am, Oxfordshire UK, somewhat cloudy #astronomy #science #NASA Altair 26C @ 0.5ms | Esprit120 @F7
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
I collected a few more hours on M51 last night, so here's a reprocessed version. 340 x 180s Esprit 120 | Altair 26C | CEM70 #astronomy #astrophotography #pixinsight #science
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I've had the telescope out on the driveway for 5 nights in a row now, which is unprecedented. I now have a good idea what it would be like to have an permanent observatory, which sadly I don't (nowhere to put one). Here's M94 from last night. 130 x 180s | Esprit 120 | CEM70 #astronomy #science
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
The UK weather is being unusually kind just now. Here's a planetary nebula and a few galaxies, from last night. M108 (Surfboard galaxy), M97 (Owl Nebula) 176 x 180s, Oxfordshire UK Skywatcher Esprit 120 | Altair 26C | CEM70 #PixInsight #Astronomy #Astrophotography #Science
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Roland Gooday @misplacedphotons.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Messier 106 and a fair few other galaxies, some quite distant, from last night 4hr39m x 180s, Oxfordshire UK Esprit 120 | Altair 26C | CEM70 #astronomy #astrophotography #science #skywatcher
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