GerryC
LightNews LightNews
gapc.bsky.social
GerryC
@gapc.bsky.social
520 followers 2.9K following 180 posts
I am a retired Biology/Science teacher from Adelaide. I am now trying my hand at astrophotography, learning French and reading Ancient History. Zoo volunteer and bird lover. He/him. I follow a lot of scientists. There is no obligation to follow back
Posts Replies Media Videos
gapc.bsky.social
Hey #seestar users. Here is the latest Space Koala video on how to get the polar alignment as accurate as possible in EQ mode.
youtu.be/mdaczIbmDbM?...
#astrophotography #astronomy
Seestar EQ Mode Trick: How I Get a Perfect Polar Alignment Everytime
YouTube video by The Space Koala
youtu.be
September 5, 2025 at 12:17 PM
gapc.bsky.social
Nice find in somebody's "back yard" in Queensland.
#paleantology #fossils #AgeOfDinosaurs

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
Neighbour uncovers near-complete 7m fossil on western Qld property
Discovered on an outback station by a neighbour and potentially 100 million years old, the fossil will be put on display at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum in Queensland.
www.abc.net.au
August 25, 2025 at 10:59 PM
gapc.bsky.social
This is a Seestar version of the Eye of God or NGC 7293. It is a plantary nebula, found about 650 light years from Earth. 🔭#astrophotograpy #seestar #astronomy
The Eye of God or NGC 7293 really does have an eye shape. The central part is a circular shape with a green hue. There is another middle circle outside of this with a light coloured dust and then the outer part gives it the eye shape and is a darker orange colour. There are a moderate number of stars through and around the nebula.
August 15, 2025 at 7:08 AM
gapc.bsky.social
This is a trial of one of my first star clusters, M6. I've done a bit to try and highlight the nebulosity around the stars, but I might have overdone it. Still, it looks nice. 🔭 #astrophotograpy #astronomy
M6 in this image is a group of around 20-30 stars that are about 1600 light years from Earth. It is not a tight cluster, and some of the stars form V shapes. They are surrounded by a blue nebulosity. In the top right-hand corner is more nebula, although it is more of a traditional brown-orange colour.
August 4, 2025 at 1:22 AM
gapc.bsky.social
My version of the Lagooon Nebula. If only I had $680 million! Can you arrange it @vrubinobs.bsky.social?
🔭🧪
M8 or Lagoon nebula. 4,000 light years from Earth, it looks like the head of a horse that is on fire. The 'snout' is at the base of the nebula and has a red-orange bridge of dust. The 'eyes' are about halfway up the image and, at least, the left 'eye' is looking right at you! The forehead is a lighter orange colour with a set of stars in the middle of the 'forehead'. The rest of the head trails off into dust on the left hand side. The nebula is surrounded by many stars but there are about 20 stars featured prominently on the 'head'.
June 24, 2025 at 6:25 AM
gapc.bsky.social
My latest image of the Carina Nebula. It's 7500 light years from Earth. It was taken over 3 delightfully clear nights here in Adelaide. Still working on my processing techniques - this is a trial using Peter Zelinka's 2025 Workflow.
The Carina Nebula consists of three major parts that look a bit like a pinwheel. The top 'wedge' is a reddish plate of dust with what looks like a dinosaur head of slightly brighter dust on the side. The bottom right 'wedge' is still mainly red but consist of two pieces, the top of which looks a bit like a crocodile head with teeth and the bottom is just a rectangula blob of dust. The middle left 'wedge' is the brightest and most spectacular part. It is triangular in shape and the central part of the triangle is very bright with lots of stars. There are lots of stars throughout the image. It is hard to describe but I hope I did it some justice.
May 16, 2025 at 10:57 PM
gapc.bsky.social
The Trifid Nebula, M20. This is the compilation of four nights of work on the Seestar S50. This is becoming a favourite for me. #astrophotograpy #seestar #astronomy
This is the Trifid Nebula which is about 4100 light years from Earth. It is a rounded shape with the top half looking like an orange ball with numerous cracks on the surface. The 'ball' sits on a green base. It is surrouded by stars from our Galaxy and include other dust elements in the top right of the photo and lighter sections of orange dust throughout.
May 7, 2025 at 5:10 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Just finished processing the Firebird Nebula. I used EQ mode, mosiac mode and planning mode over two nights and captured 545, 20-second images. Click on the image to get the full impact. Starless version to follow.
#astrophotography #seestar #astronomy
This is the Firebird nebula although you would have to use your imagination to see a bird in the image. This 'bird' appears to have a small head with two eyes near the centre of the image and then streaks of dark pink colour on the top of the 'wing' with a darker colour on the underside. The rest of the image consists of streams of light and dark coloured 'clouds' of dust that extends from, surrounds and reaches into the 'bird'. There are hundreds if not thousands of stars in the image looking, for the most part like tiny pinpricks of light.
April 9, 2025 at 5:32 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Just finished processing this NGC 3324 Nebula. 320 20-second subs on the Seestar S50. I don't know if I have overdone it, but I am pretty happy with it. Long live nebula season!
#astrophotography #seestar
This is NGC 3324, also called the Gabriela Mistral Nebula. The image mainly contains stars, including a cluster of stars near the bottom. The nebula itself looks like a round fireball with the left half of the 'ball' a bright red colour. This slowly fades across the right half of the 'ball', which then seems to disintegrate on the edges. There are some other wisps of the nearby Carina Nebula featuring in the top and left corner of the image.
April 3, 2025 at 11:03 AM
gapc.bsky.social
youtu.be/7oubo6Wdazw?...
I just watched a video on the evolution of flight in birds. I thought it was very good, but I don't know enough to know how authentic it is. Can any #bird or #feathered_dinosaur experts weigh in? #paleontology #evolution
Ancient Earth: The Mystery of the Feathered Dragons
YouTube video by Best Documentary
youtu.be
April 3, 2025 at 10:51 AM
gapc.bsky.social
M83 (Southern Pinwheel Galaxy). 1300+ 20sec images using Seestar S50 in the new equatorial mode. I'm still working on my processing but I'm very pleased with this!
Southern hemisphere galaxy called M83 or the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. It is 15 million light years away from Earth. This photo was taken with the Seestar S50 smart telescope and shows a central bright 'bar' of stars. It has around four swirls of stars radiating from the centre. It shows tinges of red throughout.
March 26, 2025 at 5:53 AM
gapc.bsky.social
NGC 2024 or the Flame Nebula, with a cameo from the Horsehead Nebula. I took it with my Seestar over two nights using the relatively new Planning feature. #astrophotography #Seestar
The flame nebula is in the bottom middle of the image. It looks like an upside-down tree in this photo because it was taken in the Southern Hemisphere. Essentially, it is some stars that are shining through some dust or gas that are giving it a red colour, but some of that colour is blocked by other dust which looks like the outline of a tree.
March 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
gapc.bsky.social
This the NGC 1365 or the Great Barred Galaxy. 56 million light years from Earth. Nine hours of exposure on my Seestar. #astronomy #astrophotography #galaxy
The galaxy sits about half-way down the image. There is a bright centre with two bright but short lines of stars running above and below the centre of the galaxy. Then there is a 45 degree curve line of stars from the top of the top line to the left and the bottom of the bottom line to the right.
February 5, 2025 at 3:49 AM
gapc.bsky.social
It still amazes me that I can take a photo of this galaxy (the Southern Pinwheel) even though it is 15 million light years away. #astronomy #galaxy #southernhemisphere
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy is a spiral galaxy photographed from Adelaide, South Australia. It is 15 million light-years from Earth.
January 27, 2025 at 7:30 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Mount Taranaki in New Zealand. Little snow or cloud. Not a great photo but fantastic to see live.
Mount Taranaki, New Zealand in the background. Former volcano.
January 6, 2025 at 7:40 PM
gapc.bsky.social
Happy ‘Making Gravy’ day to all the Aussies out there, especially those not able to get home for Christmas

youtu.be/iYqIF2XkqKU?...
Paul Kelly - How To Make Gravy (Official Video)
YouTube video by Paul Kelly
youtu.be
December 20, 2024 at 9:44 PM
gapc.bsky.social
I was very lucky last night to hear the wonderful Professor Joy Reidenburg talk about whales and whale anatomy. Here she is, neck deep, dissecting a dead whale that had been washed up on a beach.
youtu.be/g234Rfga2ro?...
I Am Anatomy Whale Scientist Joy Reidenberg, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
YouTube video by American Association for Anatomy
youtu.be
November 20, 2024 at 6:26 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Finally got the Horsehead Nebula over a couple of nights. Happy with the result although it's a bit dark. #astronomy
This is the Horsehead Nebula (IC 434). This is an emission nebula which means that a horsehead-shaped gas cloud is blocking light from behind so it looks like the head of a horse. Two big stars from the Orion constellation are featured at the middle-right and bottom of the photo. The nebula is a red colour and is about 1200 light years from the Sun.
November 19, 2024 at 4:51 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Three Blackbird (Turdus merula) chicks happily sleeping. They are not native here in Australia but, as a bird lover, I am happy to call them 'acceptable'.
You can see the heads of three young Blackbird chicks inside a very comfortable and solid nest
October 23, 2024 at 7:31 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Good to hear from Victor AND Candy Ambros about the discovery of microRNA through the BBC Science podcast this week.
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s...
Nobel convergence
Podcast Episode · Science In Action · 10/10/2024 · 38m
podcasts.apple.com
October 11, 2024 at 9:54 PM
gapc.bsky.social
Nice. Yes, come to Australia and see the Nebulae as they should be! Btw, do you use any tracking hardware?
September 29, 2024 at 9:30 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Very moving visit to see Lucy at the National Museum of Ethiopia by The Leakey Foundation’s Meredith Johnson

leakeyfoundation.org/podcast/cust...
Custodian of the Ancestors
What is it like to be responsible for the safekeeping of the ancestors of everyone in the world? In this episode, we travel to the National Museum of Ethiopia to see our most famous fossil relative – ...
leakeyfoundation.org
September 23, 2024 at 10:26 PM
gapc.bsky.social
JWST has now imaged this protostar (L1527), the disk, and the outflows around it in both near-infrared and mid-infrared light. Great pictures.

bigthink.com/starts-with-...
JWST shows a new side of planet formation
Just 460 light-years away, the closest newborn protostars are forming in the Taurus molecular cloud. Here are JWST's astonishing insights.
flip.it
September 23, 2024 at 7:52 AM
gapc.bsky.social
Trentham falls, Victoria, Australia. One of the best explanations of local geology that I’ve seen.
September 18, 2024 at 11:15 PM
gapc.bsky.social
@naztronomy.bsky.social
Just wanted to say 'thanks' Naz for the very fair review of the Seestar posted on the 23rd of August. I like astronomy and this is the first time I have been able to take photos of stuff that I have only dreamed about. And now I want to do more because of the Seestar.
September 1, 2024 at 10:45 AM