A Supernova, Saturn and the Flamsteed Fox: Blackheath Observing - Sunday 20 September 2026
Nearly 20 telescopes, around 70–80 visitors and a supernova. A superb start to the 2026/27 Blackheath observing season.
There were also mosquitoes, some uncooperative software and two foxes, but we’ll come to those.
Our first session of the season had originally been planned for Saturday evening. By Thursday, however, there was a fairly strong consensus that Sunday offered the better opportunity. We decided to make the switch early, which also allowed people to attend Saturday’s Evening of Astrophotography at the National Maritime Museum.
Fortunately, the forecast was right. Clear skies early on, a short spell of higher cloud, then clear again. After the usual business of comparing forecasts and wondering whether we had made the right decision, it was a relief to get on with some observing.
I arrived at our usual spot north of Talbot Place at around 6.30pm, with Tej following soon afterwards. The official start wasn’t until 8pm, but the Moon was already available, low in the south, and there was every reason to get the telescopes working early.
Gradually, more equipment appeared. We had at least a dozen “official” Flamsteed volunteers, joined by many new members bringing their own telescopes. When I eventually counted, there were nearly 20 instruments spread across the site, with a good mixture of visual and smart telescopes, as well as binoculars.
For a Sunday evening, it was a fantastic turnout.
Setting up at the start of the evening, the telescopes and visitors on Blackheath. Pictures by Mike Meynell and Richard Summerfield.
The Moon provided an excellent opening target. Copernicus was right on the terminator, the boundary between lunar daylight and darkness, with its central peaks catching the sunlight. At high magnification, three separate points of light were clearly visible inside the crater.
It was one of those views that rewarded spending a little time at the eyepiece.
One young lad from a local school certainly thought so. He kept returning to my telescope for another look at the Moon throughout the evening. There were plenty of other things available to see, but he knew what he liked.
Paul May was also enjoying the lunar detail, picking out Plato, Copernicus and the lunar Alps. The seeing was good enough for him to use 250× through his 127mm Maksutov, which gives some indication of how steady the views were at times.
Alec also photographed the Moon and, later, Albireo, taking afocal images through the eyepiece of his Mak180. He suspected the telescope’s collimation needed some attention, having found that the quality of the focus varied between eyepieces. Some “super tuning” was apparently in order, although that hadn’t stopped him coming away with images.
We also had an overhead pass of the International Space Station, briefly providing a reason for everyone to look away from the telescopes.
Saturn became increasingly rewarding as it climbed higher. Through my telescope, Titan and Rhea were straightforward to pick out, with Dione and, rather more surprisingly, Iapetus also visible. Paul saw Titan, Rhea and Iapetus too, although Dione escaped him.
Tej thought he might have counted six moons through his 8-inch SCT, but sensibly included the qualification that some could have been background stars. Whatever the final tally, Saturn was clearly a highlight at his telescope, with plenty of enthusiastic reactions from visitors.
Lunar images, by Alex, Richard Summerfield, Alec Knox and Yvonne Jacobs
Meanwhile, the smart telescopes were giving us access to a rather different set of targets.
The supernova in NGC 7331 was extraordinary. Discovered on 1 September, it was still conspicuous almost three weeks later, appearing as a bright point against the much fainter glow of its host galaxy.
I spent some time going around showing people the image. It takes a moment to appreciate what you are looking at. Among all those apparently ordinary points of light is an exploding star in another galaxy, and we were recording it from Blackheath.
Paul’s DWARF II picked it up too, while Richard included NGC 7331 among his targets. Tej was particularly struck by how bright the supernova remained so long after its discovery.
It was certainly one of my highlights of the evening.
There was plenty of other deep-sky observing going on. M15 was among the targets at my telescope, and the images coming back from members included the Dumbbell Nebula, star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy.
The range of equipment worked particularly well. Visitors could look through an eyepiece, then move to a screen to see the detail being recorded by a smart telescope. There was plenty to discuss, and conversations ranged well beyond whichever object happened to be in view.
Paul reported several conversations with people interested in joining the Society, which was good to hear. A busy observing session is a fairly effective introduction to what we do.
Not every piece of equipment was immediately cooperative, however.
Yvonne’s Seestar app crashed three times while she was trying to image the Moon. This coincided with a particularly unpleasant insect attack, so her evening had not started well.
She put her hood up, applied the traditional IT remedy and, by the time the public session began, things were improving.
Her subsequent images suggest that the recovery was fairly comprehensive.
She spent well over an hour on the Andromeda Galaxy, although passing satellites did their best to interfere. Afterwards, she went through the individual exposures, removed those affected and made some further adjustments to produce a result she was pleased with.
Frederik also enjoyed a busy evening of visual observing across a range of targets, while capturing a timelapse of the crowds that gives a good sense of the turnout.
Richard had also been contending with interruptions, commenting that either the clouds or Starlink had got the better of him. Nevertheless, he came away with images of the Moon, NGC 7331 and the core of Andromeda.
Alex used his DWARF Mini to capture both the Moon and M31, while Sara also contributed an image of Andromeda. With several members turning their telescopes towards the same targets, we had a good opportunity to compare the results from different instruments.
There is quite a lot of work behind some of the pictures accompanying these reports.
Deep Sky Images taken during the event. Dumbbell Nebula, Double Cluster and M15 Globular Cluster, by Mike Meynell. M31 Andromeda Galaxy, by Alex. California Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy, by Yvonne Jacobs. Andromeda Galaxy, by Sara Clark. And Andromeda Galaxy with added satellite trail, by Richard Summerfield.
Later, Tony suggested that I try T Lyrae, a carbon star with a particularly deep red colour. After a bit of star-hopping, I found it.
It was an excellent recommendation.
The colour was remarkably strong. For comparison, I slewed to the Garnet Star, which looked decidedly orange alongside it. Albireo also made an appearance later in the evening, providing another opportunity to show visitors that stars are not all the same colour.
Tej, meanwhile, had brought along a pair of 15×70 Helios binoculars that he had owned for 15 years without using.
They finally earned their keep.
He discovered that Tony had exactly the same pair, and was delighted with the views, first showing visitors the Moon and later turning them towards the Pleiades. Despite being a firm advocate of looking through a telescope eyepiece, he felt the binocular view offered something quite different and particularly immersive.
A useful reminder to the rest of us to have a look through whatever equipment has been sitting unused in a cupboard.
The local wildlife was taking an interest too.
One fox came close enough to acquire the title of “the Flamsteed Fox”. By the end of the evening, Yvonne reported that there were two of them.
The insects were rather less welcome. Tej was regretting his decision to wear shorts, although he reckoned Yvonne had come off considerably worse. Between the bites and the app crashes, she had shown impressive determination to keep going.
Paul, meanwhile, summed up another aspect of our return to evening observing:
“I’d forgotten what cold was, but rediscovered by the end!”
After a summer of solar sessions, it seems we all needed reminding about some of the practicalities of standing around on Blackheath after dark.
There were also conversations about how people find out about our events. According to the younger attendees, Instagram and TikTok were essential, while Facebook and WhatsApp were apparently where the over-40s could be found.
Which helps explain why I have since found myself learning how to post on TikTok.
This was not in the observing plan.
As the evening went on, some members were in no hurry to leave. Yvonne had her regular Seestar S30 working on other targets while she used the Pro to image the California Nebula, which fitted neatly into its field of view. She finished by experimenting with star trails centred on Polaris.
Satellites intruded there too, but the Pro’s ability to retain the individual exposures allowed her to remove the affected frames and stack the remainder again.
At almost midnight, she reluctantly packed up. The sight of Orion later in the night had only added to the temptation to continue.
Tej, naturally, was still going.
He was among the last to pack away, staying to chat with Anthony, who had brought a Vaonis Vespera. Given the viewing and the conversations, it was evidently difficult to bring the evening to an end.
Around 70–80 visitors is a very strong attendance for one of our Sunday sessions, and it was particularly encouraging to see so many new members bringing equipment and getting involved.
Thank you to everyone who helped, shared their telescopes, talked to visitors and sent in photographs and accounts of the evening. The variety of images accompanying this report gives some idea of just how much was going on.
For me, the supernova and the deep red of T Lyrae were particular highlights. But so was the young visitor who kept coming back for another look at the Moon.
An excellent start to the season.
Our next session is planned for Saturday 3 October, with Sunday 4 October as the weather back-up. Keep an eye on the website for confirmation.
And perhaps bring another layer. Paul would recommend it.
Comments