Nova Sagittarii 2015 (arrowed) at magnitude +5 or so and fading, after peaking at mag 4 the previous week. The nova star is likely a white dwarf drawing material from a companion star and flaring into brilliance when the accumulated material erupts in a thermonuclear explosion. The nova is in the centre of the “teapot” configuration of Sagittarius the archer, with Scorpius at right in this frame, taken at dawn on March 26, 2015 from New Mexico, with the 50mm lens and Canon 6D for a stack of 3 x 2 minute exposures at f/2.8 and ISO 800. Numerous Messier objects are in the frame, notably the star clusters M6 and M7 just right of centre, and the nebula M8 above centre.
Nova Sagittarii on the morning of March 28, 2015, from New Mexico, as the nova was reported to have brightened to magnitude +5. The focal length nicely frames the Teapot asterism of Sagittarius. I shot this with the 135mm telephoto at f/2.2 for a stack of 5 x 1.5 minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon 5D MkII, plus one exposure of the same length but taken thru the Kenko Softon filter and layered in Photoshop to add the star glows and bring out the nova more. Camera on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer tracker.
The constellation of Pegasus the Flying Horse in the northern autumn sky, with the asterism of the Square of Pegasus most prominent at left. This is a stack of 2 x 2-minute exposures with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.5 and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, with an additional exposure through the Kenko Softon filter layered in to add the star glows. Taken from Quailway Cottage in Arizona, with the Star Adventurer Mini tracker.
