Dave Keep

@astrodave63

Astronomy | Astrophotography | Physics | Mathematics | Member of the British Astronomical Association.

143 Siguiendo356 Seguidores385 Publicaciones

Bluesky

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Dave Keep@astrodave63· 27d

Some very different spiral galaxies: NGC 1365, the Fornax Propeller Galaxy, and NGC 5078 in Hydra. The spiral NGC 5101 can be seen to the top left of NGC 5078. These images were processed by me using Siril, GraXpert, Starnet and Gimp. Data credit: Telescope Live. #astrophotography #photography

A double-barred spiral galaxy set against a black sky peppered with stars.

A side-on spiral galaxy with a central dust lane and a smaller spiral galaxy to the top left. Both set against a black sky peppered with stars.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jul 8

A couple of celestial delights: M68, a globular cluster in Hydra, and reflection nebula IC4605 in Scorpius. These were processed by me using Siril, GraXpert and Gimp. Data credit: Telescope Live. #astrophotography #photography

A globular cluster with primarily white, blue and yellow stars set against a black background peppered with more stars.

Reflection nebulae in Scorpius. The bright star near the bottom is Antares which is responsible for illuminating the surrounding nebula. To the right of Antares is the globular cluster, M4. Bluish reflection nebulae can be seen above Antares, together with some dark nebulae. This area is part of the Ophiuchus Molecular Cloud.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jul 4

This was taken by me during the partial solar eclipse on 29 March 2025.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jun 23

Colourful marigold and petunias in my garden today. All photos taken by me with a Canon 700D DSLR and a Canon 100mm macro lens. #photography #nature #flowers #macrophotography

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jun 21

Summer Solstice Moon. The Moon looks great even during the daytime. I took this today using a Canon 700D DSLR at 18h 30m UT. Some minor processing with Gimp. #astrophotography 📷

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jun 14

I’m going too. 😀

A boarding pass for the forthcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· May 15

Cloudy skies for me so time to practice some image processing. This is a reflection nebula in Monoceros called the Angel Nebula (NGC 2170). I processed this using Siril, GraXpert, Starnet++, Veralux and Gimp. Data credit: Telescope Live. #astrophotography #photography

A nebula illuminated by nearby young stars giving it a ghostly appearance. The colours are primarily soft blues and whites which result from the reflection and scattering of starlight off dust particles. Together with several dark dust lanes and a red emission area, this nebula is noted as an active star-forming region.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Apr 23

Last night’s #Moon (22 April 26). Taken by me using a 4 inch refractor and a ZWO ASI 174MM camera. Software: SharpCap, Autostakkert, ICE, Registax and Gimp. #astrophotography #photography

The Crescent Moon showing the dark grey lunar seas and the lighter highlands peppered with craters.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Mar 28

Very interesting read, Damian. I’ve owned this book since the 1970’s. It’s a bit battered and bruised but I still use it.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Mar 27

The #Moon is currently a Waxing Gibbous and looks stunning tonight. If you get a chance, go out and take a look, weather permitting of course. I took this photo with my Canon 700D DSLR and 600mm lens. Slightly sharpened and cropped in Gimp. #astrophotography #photography

A waxing Gibbous Moon with dark grey areas representing the lunar seas, and the lighter grey areas representing the highlands. The image is peppered with craters, especially towards the bottom.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Mar 25

The Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) in Sagittarius. This is a LRGB image processed by me using Siril, GraXpert, Starnet++ and Gimp. Data: Telescope Live/Alistair Scobie. Integration time: 1h 18m. #astrophotography #astronomy #photography #PhotoHour #StormHour #sciart #nebula

There are three nebulae here: the red emission nebula, the blue reflection nebula and the dark nebula which gives the nebula its distinctive 3-lobed look. The nebula is set against a black sky peppered with stars.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Mar 18

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy in Hydra. This is a LRGB dataset I downloaded from the #Telescopelive website and processed it myself using Siril, GraXpert, Starnet++ and Gimp. #astrophotography #photography Data credit: Telescopelive/Judith Prana.

A spiral galaxy with blue spiral arms set against a black sky peppered with stars.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Mar 2

The Waxing Gibbous #Moon from 28 February 2026 at 20h 55m UT. This was taken with my Canon 700D DSLR and 600mm lens. Processed using Gimp. #astrophotography #photography #SciArt

The Waxing Gibbous Moon. The dark grey areas are the lunar seas, with a bit of colour, while the lighter grey areas are the lunar highlands. Towards the bottom of the photo are numerous craters.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Feb 26

The Waxing Gibbous #Moon. I took this on 25 Feb 2026 using my 4 inch refractor and ZWO ASI174MM camera. Software: SharpCap, Autostakkert, ICE, Registax and Gimp. #astrophotography #photography #PhotoHour

The Moon with dark grey lunar seas and light grey highlands, peppered with numerous craters.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Feb 20

If you have a clear SW/W horizon you should be able to spot the Moon, Saturn, Mercury and Venus after sunset. A nice photo opportunity. #astrophotography #photography

An image of the blue twilight sky showing the position of the Moon, Saturn, Mercury and Venus.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jan 28

Tonight’s waxing Gibbous Moon. Taken with a Canon 700D and 600 mm lens. Processed using Gimp and iPhone. #astrophotography #photography

A waxing Gibbous Moon showing the dark- coloured lunar seas and the light grey highlands peppered with numerous craters.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jan 28

Managed to take a quick photo of the waxing Gibbous #Moon last night (27 Jan 2026) during a clear period. I took this with a Canon 700D DSLR and 600mm lens. Some minor processing using Gimp. #astrophotography #photography

This photo shows the waxing Gibbous Moon, about 69% illuminated. It consists of the light grey highlands and the much darker grey lunar seas or Maria.

One of the most prominent seas is the Mare Crisium which you can see to the right. To its left is the Mare Tranquillitatis with the brownish-grey Palus Somni (Marsh of Sleep) on its eastern edge.

Above the Mare Tranquillitatis we find the Mare Serenitatis, above which you can see two prominent craters: Aristoteles (top) and Eudoxus.

On the far left of the Moon is Oceanus Procellarum and the Mare Insularum with its prominent crater, Copernicus (filled with shadow). To the right of Copernicus is the smaller crater, Eratosthenes.

At the top of the image you can see the dark-floored crater Plato, above which is the Mare Frigoris.

The centre of this image is dominated by the impressive crater chain: Ptolemaeus (top), Alphonsus and Arzachel. The region below the crater chain is heavily cratered, the most notable craters here are Tycho and Clavius.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jan 26

After a week of relentless cloud and rain, the Moon finally came out to play. I took this photo of the Crescent Moon on Saturday (24 Jan 2026) using my Canon 700D DSLR and 600mm lens. Cropped using Gimp. #Astrophotography #PhotoHour #Photography

This photo shows the waxing Crescent Moon, about 34% illuminated. It consists of the light grey highlands and the much darker grey lunar seas or Maria.

The most prominent of the seas is the Mare Crisium which you can see to the right. To its left is the Mare Tranquillitatis with the brownish-grey Palus Somni (Marsh of Sleep) on its eastern edge.

Above the Mare Tranquillitatis we find the circular and partially hidden Mare Serenitatis.

There are many craters shown here; the most prominent being the crater chain seen on the lower left of the Mare Tranquillitatis. The chain consists of three craters (from top to bottom): Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina.

The two prominent craters above and to the right of the Mare Serenitatis are (left to right): Hercules and Atlas. The large circular crater, Posidonius, can be seen on the Mare Serenitatis' eastern edge.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jan 18

Have you got your boarding pass, Steve?

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Oct 23

@epiphanyappleseed.bsky.social Spotted this in November’s edition of the #skyatnightmagazine 👏

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Sep 26

I've had a go at imaging the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) using my #Seestar S50 smart telescope. This is just 50 minutes integration. I will add more data in due course. Processed with Siril, GraXpert, Starnet++ and Gimp. #astrophotography #PhotoHour #photography

A colourful nebula in a dark sky peppered with stars.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Sep 16

I shall reach the grand old age of 65 this coming Sunday. I’ve decided I need a new hobby so I’ve bought a #Yamaha #Pacifica #electricguitar 112v. Time to make some noise. 😀🎸 #musicsky #rockmusic #guitar

An electric guitar on a stand in the corner of a room.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Sep 1

Those of you who own a #Seestar may like to know that there is a firmware update available to download. Details below. #astronomy #astrophotography

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Aug 30

I’ve been learning how to use Siril, GraXpert, Starnet++ and Gimp to process Astro images. I downloaded free Seestar data from Abdur Astro’s YouTube channel and this is my first attempt at processing the Orion Nebula (M42) using that data. 😊 #astrophotography #PhotoHour 📷

A red-pink gaseous nebula set against a dark sky peppered with white stars.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jul 6

Also reminds me of the Rosette Nebula. (Photo credit: NASA)😀

A red gas cloud in the shape of a rosette set against a black sky filled with stars.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jun 19

It’s been a while since I last posted a photo on here. This is today’s Sun in white light. Taken with a 4 inch refractor and ZWO ASI 174MM camera. Software: SharpCap, Autostakkert, ICE, Registax and Gimp. Some nice spots on view. #astrophotography #StormHour #PhotoHour 📷

The yellow disk of the Sun showing a few dark sunspots.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Jun 1

I’ve received a couple of red alerts from my #aurora app. Not much use during the daytime but if it keeps this up then tonight could be interesting. #astronomy #sun

Dave Keep@astrodave63· May 6

Last night’s Moon. A partially cloudy sky here last night so for quickness I used the #Seestar S50 smart telescope instead of my usual gear. #astrophotography #PhotoHour #StormHour 📷

The Moon. Light grey in colour with darker grey patches representing the lunar seas. There are numerous craters across the surface.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· May 3

Last night’s Moon. 4 panel mosaic taken with a 4 inch refractor and ZWO ASI 662MC camera. Software: SharpCap, Autostakkert, ICE, Registax and Gimp. #astrophotography #PhotoHour #StormHour 📷

The Moon. Grey in colour and peppered with numerous craters. The darker areas are the lunar seas.

Dave Keep@astrodave63· Apr 29

Today’s Sun in white light. AR 4079 is a large active area on its way round, see here. Imaged using a 4” refractor and ZWO ASI 174MM camera. X3 barlow lens for the close-up. SharpCap/Autostakkert/ICE/Registax/Gimp. #astrophotography #StormHour #sunspots #sun 📷