Lee Jennings

Avid photographer, who loves Astronomy, Astrophotography, fell walking and newly addicted Aurora hunter.

[🔭AstroBackyard @AstroBackyard]

The 'Crescent Nebula' in Cygnus is a beautiful bubble of glowing gas, and one of the most dramatic summer targets to photograph.

This area is shaped by powerful stellar winds from a massive Wolf-Rayet star, creating a delicate shell of hydrogen and oxygen gas.

I captured this from my backyard using a new astrophotography telescope I am reviewing - and I am super happy with the way it turned out 📷 (gear pic in the comments)

Camera: https://t.co/V8MCcCelBW
Mount: https://t.co/A7sFmwS4m2
Telescope: https://t.co/qw3b8vbvgJ

Image Details:

228 x 300-seconds
19 Hours Total Exposure

Processing Guide:
https://t.co/Oa6TuvV1R0

[Lee Jennings @Timelesslee1]

@AstroBackyard Cracking!

[Lee Jennings @Timelesslee1]

@ClarksonsFarm1 Was great that Starmer got the boos at the Royal Variety show last night, hope he was watching 🤣

[ZWO @zwoastro]

🎄 A festive capture from Craig McDearmid — the Christmas Tree Nebula!

20 hours of 600s SHO from County Durham. England

Gear used:
ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
ASI120MM
ASIAIR Plus
SkyWatcher Esprit 100

#ChristmasTreeNebula #Astrophotography #ZWO #ASIAIR #ZWOEFW #DeepSkyPhotography

[Piers Morgan @piersmorgan]

This is one of the most heroic things I’ve ever seen. Risking his own life to save others. What an astounding act of courage. Who is this guy?

[Chuck's Astrophotography @chucksastropho1]

My latest capture - a reflection nebula (VdB 15) in the constellation Camelopardalis, part of a large dust cloud known for its bluish glow, reflecting light from bright supergiant stars. I used my Celestron RASA telescope, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and an Antlia L-Filter.

[🔭AstroBackyard @AstroBackyard]

The Witch Head Nebula! 🌌

This is my latest photo of the haunting Witch Head Nebula, captured through a small telescope under dark skies.

It's a reflection nebula that glows primarily by reflecting the light of the nearby bright star Rigel in Orion (you can't miss it in this image!)

The Witch Head is extremely faint (low surface brightness) and requires a long integration time or very dark skies to do justice.

This is a popular winter astrophotography target for anyone shooting with a wide-field refractor - it's HUGE!

For this picture, I captured 180-second exposures (60 in total) from the dark skies of the Winter Star Party in Florida.

If the skies are clear where you are, this would be an excellent target for tonight 🤓

Image Details:

60 x 180 seconds (3 Hours total)

Equipment Used:

Camera: https://t.co/YhQcWAA7j8
Telescope: https://t.co/LdNHsHt90O
Mount: https://t.co/5hcH3yYMIf

[Lee Jennings @Timelesslee1]

@OctopusEnergy My friend had an NPG service alteration carried out yesterday, following this octopus energy were booked in to relocate the meter, this didn’t happen and still hasn’t happened. The family have two disabled children. Disgusting service!

[Michael Bradbury @MrMBB333]

THE SUN JUST DID IT AGAIN — AND THE TIMING IS HARD TO IGNORE 💥
Another massive burst of plasma erupted today — right after a new Earth-facing coronal hole appeared.
Multiple solar events are stacking at once, suggesting something bigger may be unfolding.
#MrMBB333 #SpaceWeather

[All day Astronomy @forallcurious]

NEWS🚨: A large wave of energy is coming toward Earth after a major 8.1 M class solar flare accompanied by a smaller 1.1 M class flare was released by the sun.

[ZWO @zwoastro]

30 hours on the Horsehead Nebula — captured under Bortle 2 skies
Photographer Erik Flinck used his Takahashi 106, ASI6200MM Pro, and SHO palette for this stunningly creative take on a classic winter target.

#ZWO #ASI6200 #HorseheadNebula #DeepSkyAstrophotography #SHO

[Vincent Ledvina @Vincent_Ledvina]

Tonight, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a G3 (STRONG) watch for December 9 and a G1 (minor) watch for December 10 due to a coronal mass ejection (CME) that is directed at Earth. Auroras may be seen further equator ward than usual Monday night. Let me break down what is happening including aurora chances. Strap in for a deep dive.

**First, what happened?**

The active region that gave us the big G4 storm in November is back on the Earth-facing disk and fired off an M1.1 and M8.1 flare today. Both flares were eruptive, although the M8.1 CME looked far more impressive and Earth-directed.

CMEs are eruptions of material from the Sun that travel into space. They travel through the solar wind like a big gust and if they hit Earth can transfer energy to our magnetic shield, disturbing it and causing geomagnetic storms. Geomagnetic storms cause the auroral ovals to expand to lower latitudes, causing places that usually don’t see the northern and southern lights to see them.

The kind of activity we experienced today is normal and expected around solar maximum. We are currently in the decline of solar cycle 25 but still in an active phase of the Sun, so Earth-directed CMEs, big solar flares, and large geomagnetic storms are nothing to be surprised or concerned about.

**When is it happening?**

The CME that launched at Earth today has been modeled by agencies like NASA and NOAA. NOAA SWPC is the official space weather forecasting agency for the United States and forecasts an impact time for the M8.1 around 5 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) on December 9. All scientific forecasts and discussions are done in UTC, so make sure to convert these times to your appropriate time zone.

5 UTC on December 9 translates to Monday night for North American chasers. CME forecasts have a roughly 7-hour uncertainty window, so we may see the CME arrive as early as Monday afternoon or late as Tuesday morning (speaking for North American time zones). An impact according to current model predictions would be ideal since typically the immediate hours after impact, the initial “shock” to Earth’s magnetic shield causes auroras to ramp up suddenly.

However, there is no telling what will happen when the CME impacts, and there is always a possibility (even if it’s small) for the CME to MISS EARTH! It has happened before. My advice? Keep expectations low and hopes high, and then you will not be disappointed if nothing happens. Forecasting a CME arrival at Earth is like trying to forecast a hurricane landfall on the U.S. east coast using only a few satellite images of a storm off the west coast of Africa… it’s hard!

Activity may last into Tuesday night if the CME is strong enough, but Monday night is “the night” to be watching space weather and following me for real-time updates on conditions.

**Who will see aurora?**

No one can tell you this. View line maps can’t tell you this, the predicted Kp index can’t tell you this, and the graphic included with this post can’t tell you this. No one can answer your “Will I see aurora in -insert state- on Monday night?” question at this time. There are too many unknowns to make any kind of concrete statements.

Let’s go over the ingredients we will need to have on Monday night to achieve the estimated G3/STRONG geomagnetic storm strength and widespread auroras across the U.S.:

First, the CME needs to impact. This is self-explanatory. If it misses, we get nothing.

Second, the CME needs to have enough strength to create a large geomagnetic storm. This is more nuanced, but some CMEs have a magnetic field that just doesn’t “agree” with ours, and beyond an initial shock, our magnetosphere would remain unscathed by such an impact. Watch the Bz during the CME impact for south/negative values. This means the energy from the CME is flowing into Earth’s magnetic shield and charging up the auroras.

Third, it needs to be clear! A lot of the northern tier of the U.S. may be cloud-covered Monday and Tuesday nights. Even strong auroras can’t penetrate thick, overcast clouds. If you can’t drive or fly to a clear place Monday night or Tuesday night, unfortunately, you have a low chance of seeing the aurora. But, you can still follow along with aurora webcams and chase the aurora… virtually! Check out my site for a long list of webcams around the world you can tune into when activity ramps up: https://t.co/HKiImyY5Dt .

If we have all three ingredients on Monday night, there’s a good shot most of the U.S. will see auroras at some point.

When exactly people will see aurora is hard to say, but during substorms which are short flare-ups of auroral activity, you may see the aurora increase in brightness and height. This can increase auroral visibility dramatically.

For example, even if the auroral oval itself is resting over the northern U.S. (which is quite extended from its usual area), a large substorm can cause the aurora being generated there to be seen hundreds of miles equatorward close to the U.S.-Mexico border. This has occurred during many of the large storms we’ve seen in 2024/25.

As we prepare for Monday night and a potential geomagnetic storm, I have some recommended reading for you all to get ready:

First and foremost, download my free e-book on aurora chasing: https://t.co/hRZXJPnyz2

You will want to learn about substorms, too: https://t.co/AAUBmhYCZg

Bookmark this webcam page to monitor live views of the aurora from around the world: https://t.co/OZU97ouTfE this can be very helpful to detect substorms happening in real-time and see how all the space weather data streams and activity are actually translating to real-world views on the ground.

(Post last updated Sat, Dec 6 9:45 pm AKST)

[Volcaholic 🌋 @volcaholic1]

Whoahhhhhh, damn! Kilauea 👀👀

She melted the other camera!!

[Astronomy Vibes @AstronomyVibes]

“Every atom in your body was once part of a star that exploded. And the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. You are all stardust.”

— Brian Cox

[All day Astronomy @forallcurious]

🚨: An EARTH-FACING M8 SOLAR FLARE just erupted, and it has launched a massive SOLAR TSUNAMI in real time at incredible speed.

The shock wave expanded rapidly from the blast site, marking one of the most energetic solar events observed lately.

Since the eruption came from the side of the Sun aimed directly at Earth, the surge of charged particles and radiation is now streaming toward our planet.

A burst like this can:
• Intensify auroras
• Disrupt satellites, communications, and GPS
• Drive geomagnetic activity sharply higher
• Increase atmospheric and ground level energy

This eruption is remarkable for both its scale and speed. A dramatic reminder of how active the Sun can become without warning.

[Kevin Earp 🔭🌜☀️🪐⭐ @KevinAstrokev]

Full Moon a few nights ago. A favourable libration and good seeing allowed some great views of the region around the South Pole (roughly indicated by the arrow)

Imaged with an 11" SCT at prime focus

[🔭AstroBackyard @AstroBackyard]

The Seagull Nebula 🌌

Here is a spectacular astrophotography target to try with your wide-field refractor this winter.

I took this one using a super portable (quickly set up and run back inside) on a freezing cold night in February.

This massive emission nebula is hiding on the border of the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major - and it's pretty low.

I chose to shoot long 5-minute exposures through my dual-band filter for this one (Optolong L-Extreme), capturing 48 frames in total.

For this time of year, I really appreciate some automation in my setup so I can stay inside! I even used autofocus this time 😉

Image Details:

48 x 300-seconds (4 Hours total)

Equipment Used:

Camera: https://t.co/YhQcWAA7j8
Telescope: https://t.co/kGMP479xsq
Mount: https://t.co/b3KsMB75jN

[FIA @fia]

We stand in support of Kimi Antonelli.

[Mercedes Hub @MercedesF1_Hub]

🚨 Mercedes will share the abusive messages and death threats with the FIA, after Kimi Antonelli was targeted.

[@ErikvHaren]