Mary McIntyre
@marymcintyreastro
Astronomy communicator/writer, astrophotographer, space artist, 4 GMN meteor cameras, microscopy, bass player, lover of cats and cakes. Co-author of the Collin's Stargazer's Bible. Website: marymcintyreastronomy.co.uk
The #LunarX and #LunarV at 21:50 BST 21 July 2026. The #Moon was very low and covered in a layer of thin cloud so I used our #DwarfMini smartscope to capture this stack of 100 images. Oxfordshire, UK
The Sun in H-alpha at 15:58 & 16:17 BST 21st July 2026. Coronado PST and ASI120MC camera, best 50% of 1000 frame video. The sky was like soup so I extracted the red channel only for processing and left them monochrome. 1st image shows AR14493, 2nd shows AR14492 & AR14493. Oxfordshire, UK
I had such a lovely time running my #AstronomySketching #workshop for Shropshire AS on Saturday. Here are the collages showing the amazing sketches of Jupiter, crater Tycho + Jupiter produced by the attendees. So proud of everyone! Tap each image to expand the cropped preview #SpaceArt #AstronomyArt
#IC1396 the #ElephantsTrunkNebula This was taken with a #Seestar #S30Pro that I had on loan earlier this year. #Smartscope #SmartTelescope
I always enjoy spotting one of the #Condor #aircraft with the striped livery. I saw this one on Wednesday 8th July '26, it was an #A330 with #BeigeBeach livery and it was travelling from Frankfurt to New York. Canon 1100D + 300mm zoom lens, Oxfordshire UK #Aviation
Today it's 4 years since the #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope released its first batch of images. One of them was a stunning photo of the #EtaCarinaNebula and I immediately knew I had to create this #PastelDrawing of it #AstronomyArt #SpaceArt #JWST
I was getting worried because I hadn't seen Buzz-Cut Barnaby for a few days, but I spotted him on my neighbour's lawn yesterday evening. When I zoom in it looks like he is starting to grow some feathers on his neck. I love him so much!
On Sat July 18 it's the Shropshire AS summer social. I will be running an astronomy sketching workshop, suitable for all ages/abilities. Free for members, guests & first time non-member visitors. 8pm 'til late at Rodington Village Hall. Hope to see some of you there!
A bright #InternationalSpaceStation pass starting at 00:24 BST 12th July 2026. The #ISS almost occulted #Vega! This is 2 x 2 minute exposures stacked, taken with a Sony A7iii + Samyang 14mm lens. The #MilkyWay was peeping through the haze and thin cloud. Oxfordshire, UK
One more fairground related photo, this is a single 25 second shot of the #MilkyWay over the #HelterSkelter and bungy trampolines. #SonyA7iii + Samyang 14mm lens. The foreground lighting was a challenge on this one
#StarTrails over the #fairground As soon as I saw the #HelterSkelter I knew I wanted these shots. 15 minutes and 20 minutes, made up of 30 sec shots, #Canon1100D + 18-55mm lens. The monochrome versions are blue channel only to keep the foreground in silhouette
The fair is currently in our village and last night I took some long exposure photos of one of the rides to get light trails. I love how these turned out :) My next post is some atmospheric star trails over the fair...
One of the baby #Jackdaws nesting in our chimney still has no feathers on his head. I called him 'Buzz-Cut Barnaby' and he has totally stolen my heart, bless him. He looks like a micro-bald eagle!
#IridescentVapourTrails 28 June '26 Boeing 787 + 3 July '26 two different Airbus A350s. When sunlight is diffracted by tiny water droplets condensing out over the aircraft it results in bands of colour similar to coronas/iridescent clouds. Oxfordshire, UK #Canon1100D +300mm lens #AtmosphericOptics
20 minute #StarTrails + noctilucent clouds (and aircraft!) above satellite dishes. 2nd July 2026, Canon 1100D + 50mm lens, Oxfordshire UK
#NoctilucentCloud timelapse 2nd-3rd July '26 from North Oxfordshire, UK. Taken with a #SonyA7iii +24-105mm lens & #Canon1100D + 50mm lens. The structures on the 50mm lens were just stunning! This display was special (and worth being utterly sleep deprived for!) #NLC
Truly stunning #NoctilucentClouds from Oxfordshire after sunset last night (over the satellite dishes) & before dawn. Some of the most gorgeous structures I've ever captured - just wait until you see the timelapse!! #SonyA7iii #Canon1100D #NLC #NightShiningClouds
Very excited to have received my copy of Astronomy in Popular Culture. I contributed a chapter on astronomy in art and there are lots of other interesting chapters so I'm really looking forward to reading it. Available now from Amazon + other bookshops! Congrats to Brian & Katrin!
This is the reality of aircraft & satellite intrusion on our meteor cameras now. The animation shows the all night vs meteor stacks for 3 of our cameras in Oxfordshire last night. Dotted lines are local aircraft, satellites affect everyone. Image credit: UK Meteor Network/Mark and Mary McIntyre
Pretty gutted that I missed a phenomenal display of #NoctilucentClouds from North Oxfordshire this morning but I needed sleep! Our aurora/NLC camera got it. I love seeing the ribbons of mist rolling along the bottom of the hill too. Time-stamp is in GMT #NLC
On Friday 19th June at 8pm I'll be visiting my friends at Milton Keynes AS to give my talk all about #photographing #MeteorShowers. 8pm at Rectory Cottages, Church Green Rd, Bletchley. Non members are welcome! I'm really looking forward to it :-)
Go Stargazing is offering discounted solar glasses to help people safely observe the 12th August partial eclipse + raise money for Astronomers Without Borders. Limited time offer! UK postage only. Get yours here: tinyurl.com/ytx3ysb6
I had very little time to think or chose the right camera to photograph this #WaxingCrescent #Moon + #Venus #conjunction! I took this with my #SonyA7iii + 100mm lens. I wish I'd grabbed my Canon + zoom lens sooner but it clouded over again. Oxfordshire, UK
Timelapse of me creating my #MoonJoyJune pastel drawing based on one of the #Artemis2 mission photographs. Stabilo CarbOthello pastel pencils on black paper. Music by Dave Simpson #MoonJoy #MoonArt #SpaceArt #AstronomySketching
For the #NASAArtemis #MoonJoyJune art challenge on Instagram, I created some pastel drawings using one of the images taken by the Artemis crew in colour + mono. I also created a close-up of #ReinerGamma #MoonJoy #SpaceArt #MoonArt
At 13:00 BST 30 May '26 I spotted a #CircumscribedHalo. The outer part had faded by the time I'd grabbed my proper camera, but the colour subtraction shows the distinct oval halo around the outside of the circular #22DegreeHalo. #SonyA7iii + Samyang 14mm lens. Oxfordshire, UK #AtmosphericOptics
On 27th May 2026 in #Oxfordshire, UK we had the most incredible #AntiCrepuscularRays visible on and off for most of the afternoon. These photos were taken between 19:00-19:20 BST with a #SonyA7iii camera + Samyang 14mm lens #AtmosphericOptics
Between 02:56 - 03:06 BST on 4th June 2026 our aurora monitoring camera in Oxfordshire, UK caught a #moonbow! This is the first time we've ever captured one. Here are 3 still images from the timelapse video. Timestamps are in GMT/UT. #AtmosphericOptics
Between 02:56 - 03:06 BST on 4th June 2026 our aurora monitoring camera in Oxfordshire, UK caught a #moonbow! This is the first time we've ever captured one. The timestamps are in GMT/UT. #AtmosphericOptics
