The first thing I do in the morning is check my phone to get the latest weather updates. December is usually a horrible month to image and this year we’ve had a lot of snow on top of everything. Occasionaly some of the weather apps seem to indicate a few hours of clear skies but usually this turns around quickly and we end up with clouds.

Today I noticed some discrepancies between various websites. Ventusky seemed to indicate I was one of the lucky few in Europe with clear skies for a few hours but clearoutside showed a more pessimistic forecast.

In the end I had about 2 hours of okayish conditions to work with. Setting up was difficult though. The melting snow has turned my garden into a muddy place which increases the risk of losing balance during imaging. There were also some cold wind gusts messing with my guiding.

Normally I would go for a galaxy during this moon cycle but the lack of time and suitable targets was a real issue. In the end I decided to image the Fish Head. This is a pretty star forming region and is actually the tip of a larger object, the Heart Nebula, over 6000 light years away.

I did a quick process in HOO palette and I’m happy with the result.