2020
 
The year 2020 was announced as an exceptional planetary year with a long period favorable to the observation of Venus during winter and spring and the opposition of Mars in October with the planet at more than 52 ° in height ( at latitude 43 ° N) and an apparent diameter of 22.4 ''. In contrast, Jupiter and Saturn, close to each other, remain very low on the horizon at 24 ° and 26 ° respectively. 
 
I changed my Altaïr gpcam2 224c planetary camera running at USB2 for a gpcam3 running at USB3. Combined with an SSD drive, the acquisition speed has been significantly increased. 
 
I also bought a ZWO asi290mm monochrome camera and a manual filter wheel. This set will film the Moon in green or IR, Saturn in IR, Venus in purple or IR and Mars in red or IR. 
 
For the processing of planetary images, I now use the "Astrosurface" software, provided free of charge by Lucien: http://astrosurface.com/ 
 
I acquired through the Webastro classifieds a Bresser 152/1200 achromatic refractor at a very reasonable price. The chromaticity of this refractor is really moderate and the viewing comfort is incomparable. It will mainly be used for lunar observation and photography. 
 
Unfortunately, the weather in 2020 was not very favorable to astronomy. The days were mostly sunny and the nights cloudy. This situation was especially marked in summer, with high temperatures causing a lot of turbulence and the appearance of nocturnal clouds coming from almost daily thunderstorms over the Pyrenees. 
 
The year 2020 saw the passage of two beautiful comets: C / 2017 T2, visible only with instruments and the beautiful C / 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) visible to the naked eye and magnificent with binoculars (see planetary gallery 2020) 
 
For the first time I was able to picture Mercury, it was really difficult given the turbulence and proximity to the Sun. 
 
Finally, I made a video "Balade dans l’espace (Walk in space)", a walk from the Moon, through our solar system, our galaxy and then through space to meet distant galaxies. This video is based only on the photos shown here. It is visible in the "Galleries" section 




                                        2019 

 The main novelty at the beginning of this year 2019 is the purchase of a short focal apochromat refractor: TS Optics 80ED f7, with a 0.8x reducer. The resulting focal length of 448 mm allows me to obtain images of large stellar fields, a small jewel that must be fully exploited in the summer sky, rich in extensive nebulae. 
 
My planetary precessing technique has continued to evolve. The use of AstraImage software facilitates the quality of the result of the images. The use of a selective infrared filter (742nm), has allowed me to start a series of shots of close-ups of the lunar surface of a much better quality than before. A new section of this website is now dedicated to the Moon. 
 
The visualization of an extra-galactic supernova, that is, visible in another galaxy other than ours, is a rare phenomenon. After having had the opportunity to photograph one in the galaxy NGC 6946 in 2017, I was lucky at the end of April and I was one of the first to see that of the galaxy M100 located more than 55 million light years (see gallery of galaxies 2019). 



                                                      2018 
 
The new TS Optics tube is very pleasant to use. The mechanism for adjusting the two mirrors is smooth and efficient, which greatly facilitates collimation. The focuser is solid, but I regret some hard points, maybe there is a setting to make. 
 
The quality of the photos is much better; the recurring tilt on the images obtained with the GSO has disappeared. The new photos of the Witch Broom Nebula and Iris Nebula testify it. 
 
Unfortunately, the weather in the south of France has been particularly detestable this year, hence the low number of photos. 
 
The acquisition of an ADC for the planets was very useful as the three planets were very low in the sky. I had to be contending with their passage between the cedar and the big oaks of the wood, which fortunately corresponds to the meridian. 
 
The long-awaited opposition of Mars was spoiled by an enormous storm that completely obscured the ground for more than a month. 
 
We can see some details on the surface of Ganymede in Jupiter's photo from June 25, of which I am very satisfied. 
 
Sauveur Pedranghelu (Ryo) has given me precious help in the processing of planetary photos, and I really appreciate it. 
 
The passage of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner was a highlight. It crossed an area of the sky very rich in stars and clusters, which made the processing of photos very complex due to its speed. 
 
                                                       2017 
 
This year was rich in discoveries thanks to a mild weather. Progress in shooting and processing images is obvious. This is a result of constructive criticism and discussions with members of the Webastro forum. We can appreciate the difference between pictures of M51, M33 and NGC891 and the ones previously taken in 2016. 
 
                        Do not miss
 
- The supernova SN 2017eaw appeared in the galaxy NGC 6946. You should know that all the stars appearing in the picture, and generally all visible stars, belong to our galaxy, the Milky Way. But here, we see a star from another galaxy, which is exceptional. The phenomenon lasted only a few months, although the star is still detectable in September 2018. Compare with the 2016 photo. 
 
- The comet 41P / Tuttle passing near the galaxy M 108 and the planetary nebula M97 (see planets page). In this image, three objects are located at very different distances: the comet in our solar system is twenty two million kilometers away, the planetary nebula M97, which is in our galaxy, is at 2000 light-years and the galaxy M108 is nearly 50 million of light-years away. 
 
- The background of M97 is very rich in distant galaxies. We can notice the cluster of galaxies Hickson 50 located two billion light-years and a quasar located more than eight billion light-years away. The light that comes from this object was emitted well before the birth of our sun 4.5 billion years ago. This information was reported to me by a Webastro member, Vlaams59.  
 
2016: The year of beginnings, learning and discovery, and it has continued this way until today. A lot of satisfaction and hope for these first images certainly imperfect but for which I would have never thought to obtain such results.