Tessera

GerryC

@gapc.bsky.social

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

199 Posts626 Follower 3171 Folgt

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Nova, the 39 year old Lyrebird at Adelaide Zoo, puts on an amazing vocal display. #birds #australianbirds #lyrebirds #adelaidezoo youtu.be/RJkP8p8HVZY?...

Nova the Lyrebird: Adelaide Zoo’s Master Mimic | You Won’t Believe These Sounds

YouTube video by Zoos SA

youtu.be

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Seestar builds a telescope array of S50s and S30s for a primary school. www.seestar.com/blogs/news/s... #astronomy #astrophotography #seestar #telescopearray

From One Telescope to Twelve: Building a Smart Telescope Array for STEAM Education

Discover how PLKFLPY Primary School transformed astronomy education by building a smart telescope array using Seestar S50 and S30 Pro telescopes, empowering students through hands-on STEAM learning, a...

seestar.com

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 4mo ago

reneweconomy.com.au/home-battery... Australia has installed (with Government rebates) 300,000 home/business batteries in 9 months! South Australia will achieve 100% net renewables by 2027. #renewables #netzeroherewecome #australia #batteryrebate

Home battery rebate numbers surge past 300,000 as storage shields grid from overseas shocks

Australia setting battery records across the market as home energy rebate passes a new milestone and Bowen credits storage for shielding grid from overseas shocks.

reneweconomy.com.au

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Here's the Tarantula nebula...with stars this time. #astronomy #astrophotography #seestar #tarantulanebula

See my inadequate description of the starless version of this photo. In this one we we the stars and there are lots of them because we are on the edge of the Milky Way

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 7mo ago

This is a starless view of the Tarantula nebula, found around 160,000 light years from earth. If you want more information the Wikipedia entry is illuminating. #astrophotography #astronomy #seestar

The centre of the Tarantula Nebula is very bright and it looks like it has a number of clouds exploding from the centre bright region.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The difference between taking an image of the Orion Nebula (M 42) for two minutes and taking if for ten hours! Both done with the Seestar S50 and are taken eighteen months apart! #seestar #astronomy #astrophotography #orionnebula #M42

The picture shows two images taken with the Seestar S50 telescope. The one on the left shows the central star surrounded by a dark pink half halo. On the right of it is a dark are then a brigher area which looks like a horn (upside down). It is a stack of 12 photos taken over two minutes.
The second photo is the same nebula but it is a stack of 1200 images taken over 10 hours. It shows much more detail in the halo - swirling clouds of dust, still mainly pink but with reds, greys and whites mixed through it. The 'horn on the right now also has much more detail and it now looks like a scary face with half a mouth and one eye!

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Just recieved some greeting cards from @rachelhollisart.bsky.social in the post. Thanks so much Rachel. This female superb wren was the first one I saw and it looks stunning. As a bird lover, I can highly recommend her work.

This is print of a female superb wren by Rachel Hollis. It is a small bird but fills up this screen. It is predominately plain brown in colour, with a white breast and reddish bill and lores. Her long tail points up at almost 90 degrees to her body.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 11mo ago

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

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 11mo ago

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.

abc.net.au

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 12mo ago

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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'.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · last yr.

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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.

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

Nice. Yes, come to Australia and see the Nebulae as they should be! Btw, do you use any tracking hardware?

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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

GerryC @gapc.bsky.social · 2y ago

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