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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography

@sjbastro.bsky.social

3K followers 860 following 1.6K posts

Amateur astronomer and astrophotographer, including Sirius, meteors, noctilucent clouds and aurora. Articles and pictures published in books and magazines. Been on TV and radio talking about astronomy. Always need more sleep.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 14d

The #Astronomy highlights thread for October 2025:

There is a good meteor shower visible this month in Moonless skies in the shape of the Orionids. Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) may also be a nice astrophotography target in the evening sky.

#Astrophotography #Stargazing

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 4h

One year ago today we were being treated to a very nice comet in the shape of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), visible in the west just after sunset. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Picture of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) taken on 14 October 2024. The comet is yellow-orange in colour with a bright, extensive tail. A faint anti-tail can be seen in front of the head of the comet.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 14h

That would be a pretty chaotic orbit 😄

Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 17h

The 47% lit #Moon is close to #Jupiter this evening into the morning of the 14th. Find the pair to the east in Gemini. The Moon sits between Jupiter and the stars Castor and Pollux. #Astronomy

Stellarium graphic showing the Moon close to Jupiter on 13-14 October 2025.

Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 18h

Saturn's moon Titan is occulted by the planet at 22:54 UT (23:54 BST) this evening. #Astronomy

Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 19h

Sirius season is almost here! Or really, it's already started for early morning observers. Here's a shot I captured at 4.30am on 12 October from North Yorkshire, UK 😀 #Astronomy #Astrophotography #SciArt #PhotoHour

A swirl of multi-coloured lines against a dark background. These are the colours produced by light from the bright star Sirius passing through our turbulent atmosphere. Moving the camera a little while taking a long exposure of Sirius helps to bring out the rainbow of colours. In effect, this technique 'freezes' the twinkling of Sirius to show all the colours on display. It is a fairly easy thing to do with basic camera equipment, that produces beautiful results.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 1d

Cheers. That's why I was eager to catch it, even with the Moon nearby. The next week is totally cloudy. Hope it clears after that for the comet and the Orionids.

Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 1d

A digital dark age? The people rescuing forgotten knowledge trapped on old floppy disks. www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

A digital dark age? The people rescuing forgotten knowledge trapped on old floppy disks

From lectures by Stephen Hawking to the letters of British politician Neil Kinnock – it's a race against time to save the historical treasures locked away on old floppy disks.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 1d

A capture of comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) yesterday morning under a 67% lit Moon. More of the tail captured this time, despite the moonlight. I could see the comet easily in binoculars too. I estimated it to be mag 5.7. Noticeably brighter than a few days ago. #Astronomy #Astrophotography #A6Lemmon

Image of comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) taken on 12 October 2025 at 04:28 UT. The comet is a green diffuse object in the centre of the image. Stars are around it and seen as trails due to the stacking process. Equipment and settings: Canon 250D DSLR through Evostar 72ED telescope on a Star Adventurer mount. 33 stacked images at 10s exp, 420mm fl, f/5.8, ISO-3200.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 1d

There was a perfect #Moon corona this morning - caused by passing mist. A lovely sight while I waited for the sky to clear so I could see comet Lemmon. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Concentric multi-coloured rings of light around the Moon. This is a lunar corona, caused by light from the Moon passing through mist.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 1d

It usually removes them but it can be variable how effectively they are removed. I usually just leave out those shots with bright satellites on them.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 2d

There weren't too many to be fair. Hopefully be able to stack a good few for a decent result later.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 2d

Bloomin' satellites! 🙄😄 #Astronomy #CometLemmon

A satellite trail crossing in front of comet Lemmon.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 2d

Lovely warm October day 😀

White wispy clouds against a blue sky with trees in the foreground.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 3d

A pioneering new space weather forecasting modelling suite will enable operational modelling of the upper atmosphere at the Met Office for the first time in a major breakthrough for UK atmospheric science. #SpaceWeather #Weather www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...

New space weather modelling suite enables upper atmosphere forecasting for the first time

www.metoffice.gov.uk

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Reposted by Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography

Naztronomy @naztronomy.com · 3d

Several people reached out after my last video on Siril-Comet processing that it wasn't working for their seestar data.I've posted a new video where I demo with Seestar data: youtube.com/watch?v=HnEF3yn2Ai8

#Astronomy #astrophotography #Siril @siril.org

Fixed Seestar Comet Stacking in Siril

YouTube video by Naztronomy

www.youtube.com

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 3d

And here's part 2 of the epic aurora storm one year ago this evening - Aurora Storm over North Yorkshire - 10 to 11 October 2024 (Part 2). Definitely worth a watch full screen on YouTube. Enjoy! 😀 #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Astronomy #Astrophotography youtu.be/pbN3Fmmm2a8

Aurora Storm over North Yorkshire - 10 to 11 October 2024 (Part 2)

YouTube video by North Yorkshire astronomy and astrophotography

youtu.be

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 3d

One year ago this evening - the epic Aurora Storm over North Yorkshire - 10 to 11 October 2024 (Part 1). Watch on YouTube for maximum awesomeness 😀 #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Astronomy #Astrophotography youtu.be/NmXS1bakDSE

Aurora Storm over North Yorkshire - 10 to 11 October 2024 (Part 1)

YouTube video by North Yorkshire astronomy and astrophotography

youtu.be

Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 4d

One year ago this evening - an epic auroral display visible from the UK and a lot of Europe and the US. One of the best displays I've ever seen. #Aurora #Astronomy #Astrophotography

Picture of the aurora borealis taken on 10 October 2024 at 20:55 UT, looking east-northeast from North Yorkshire, UK. The aurora is green and red and shown above a rooftop. There is a prominent red streak through the centre of the display. Shot taken with a Canon 250D with 16mm lens at 2.0s exp, 16mm fl, f/2.0, ISO-1600.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 4d

Now you've given me a craving for walnuts 😀

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 4d

Just wait until a Farage government rejoins the EU.

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 4d

Nice shot - always good to see the Orion Nebula in the context of the wider constellation.

Reposted by Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography

David Blanchflower BSc @davidbflower.bsky.social · 4d

The Belt of Orion and the Great Orion Nebula. 10 October 2025. 🔭 🧪 🎨 #astrophotography #SciArt #photography #StormHour #ThePhotoHour

Three bright stars of the belt of Orion at upper left. Orion nebula below centre. Many other star dots.

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Reposted by Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography

ange garrod @angegarrod.bsky.social · 4d

Moon moods.

89.4% Waning Gibbous gibbous moon 9th in to 10th October 2025

#moonwatch #wonders #astronomy
@virtualastro.bsky.social

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 4d

A near-complete skeleton found on Dorset's Jurassic coast has been identified as a new species of ichthyosaur, a type of prehistoric marine reptile that once ruled the oceans. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Fossil found on UK coast is unique 'sword dragon' species

Scientists say the newly discovered species of marine reptile probably met a grisly end.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 4d

Clearish for me at the moment but due to cloud over later, so probably not going to catch this one.