In mid-January of this year, another bright supernova, SN2014j, appeared in Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy in Ursa Major. Jim Mazur captured the image below of the galaxy and supernova on January 24, 2014, when it was about magnitude 11 and was easy to see with a medium-sized telescope.

Image taken by Jim Mazur with a 12-inch Meade telescope and an SBIG ST-8300M imager.

DSLR Astrophotography.  Some ASNH members are experienced astrophotographers who use specialized equipment, but some very nice images of the night sky can be taken with a simple DSLR camera. Jim Mazur took the image below with an ordinary Canon Rebel camera. This picture was a 30-second exposure, with the camera on a simple stationary tripod.

Sagittarius and the Milky Way on a September night. (Photo by Jim Mazur)