A father-of-three captured impressive images of Mars and the Moon using a telescope in his back garden
A father-of-three captured impressive images of Mars and the Moon using a telescope in his back garden
When you look up at the night sky from your garden, you might catch a glimpse of a few stars if you’re lucky.
But father-of-three James Flanagan wanted a better view and pointed his telescope “halfway” into space to get a closer look.
Since then, he has seen a lunar mountain range, the dusty red surface of Mars and swirling nebulae thousands of light years away, taking impressive pictures of them all.
The amateur astronomer said: “The most distant thing I’ve observed is the Markarian Chain, which is a cluster of galaxies about 55 million light-years away – so the light that formed this image left just after the dinosaurs went extinct .”
An amateur astronomer has taken a series of incredible pictures of stars, planets and distant nebulae thousands of light-years away, all from his back garden. Pictured: Full moon
He has photographed a lunar mountain range, the dusty red surface of Mars and swirling nebulae thousands of light years away. Pictured: The Orion Nebula
He added: “I’ve seen the rings of Saturn, the ice caps of Mars and the mountain ranges of the Moon, all from my back garden.”
Mr Flanagan, formerly a city councillor, also photographed the Orion and Dumbbell nebulae – huge clouds of dust and gas in space – the latter of which is 1,360 light-years away.
Within our solar system, he has observed Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and our moon in lunar eclipse – all from his home in Tankerton, Whitstable.
The former politician’s love of the stars began as a child after receiving a telescope for his birthday, but his interest was rekindled four years ago.
His telescope is equipped with two cameras – one for observing planets and another for viewing more distant nebulae and galaxies.
In our solar system, he has seen Saturn (pictured), Jupiter, Mars and our moon in a lunar eclipse
Mr Flanagan’s telescope is equipped with two cameras – one for observing planets and another for viewing nebulae and galaxies further away. Pictured: Lunar Mountain Range
Mr Flanagan said: “The most distant thing I’ve observed is the Markarian Chain, which is a cluster of galaxies about 55 million light-years away – so the light that formed this image left just after the dinosaurs were disappeared”. Pictured: A close-up of the moon showing ‘Rainbow Bay’
Mr Flanagan insists anyone can get into astronomy as many parts of space can be seen without expensive kit.
He said: “Astronomy is a pastime that can be enjoyed even without a telescope.
“If you have a fresh pair of binoculars, you’ll be able to see the four main moons of Jupiter, and if you have a good pair, you might even be able to make out the rings of Saturn.”
“And as you go through each month or season, there will be something new to see in the sky.
“For example, on December 8, there will be a period when Mars will appear very close to the Moon there are certain events that I will be watching for.
On Thursday morning, the Red Planet will be in opposition – meaning it will be positioned in the opposite direction from the sun, relative to Earth.
It will appear bigger and brighter in the sky because it will be at its closest point to Earth, about 50 million miles (81 million kilometers) away.
This will give stargazers the best view in the UK Mars offered this decade and won’t even need a telescope.
Coincidentally, at 4.58am GMT on Thursday, Mars will disappear behind the full moon – an event known as an occultation – before reappearing at 5.59am GMT.
Due to the orbits of Earth and Mars, opposition occurs every 26 months, but occultation and opposition occurring together are much less common.
Mr Flanagan added: “Seeing things like this is so awe-inspiring, it always begs the question, what is our place in this universe?”
The former politician’s love of the stars began as a child after receiving a telescope for his birthday, but his interest was rekindled four years ago. Left: Mars. Right: Lunar eclipse
Mr Flanagan insists anyone can get into astronomy as many parts of space can be seen without expensive kit. Left: Jupiter. Right: The Dumbbell Nebula
But Mr Flanagan isn’t the only one taking pictures of space this month, as NASA shared a new image of the Eagle Nebula taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The $10bn (£7.4bn) SuperSpace Telescope captured a particular feature of the nebula called The Pillars of Creation – finger-like tentacles of gas and dust that are 6,500 light-years from Earth.
They are known to be an important source of star formation, so the image is also visible many stars that are very young only a few 100,000 years old.
The pillars were imaged both in near-infrared light, which blocks out the brightness of nearby stars to show the rotating dust, and in mid-infrared light, which shows newly formed stars in orange.
The two images were then superimposed to produce a compelling picture that includes the best of both views, including the glowing edges of dust where young stars begin to form.
But Mr Flanagan isn’t the only one taking pictures of space this month, as NASA shared a new image of the Eagle Nebula taken by the James Webb Space Telescope
The $10 billion (£7.4 billion) SuperSpace Telescope (pictured) captured a peculiar feature of the nebula called the Pillars of Creation – finger-like strands of gas and dust that are 6,500 light-years from Earth.
