An amateur astronomer has captured a series of incredible photos of stars, planets and far-away nebulas thousands of light years away all from his back garden.
James Flanagan took the outer-space pictures of Jupiter, Mars and a lunar mountain range from his home in Tankerton, Whitstable, using a telescope he says is “middle of the road”.
Mr Flanagan, who used to be a city councillor, also snapped the Orion and Dumbbell nebulas, the second of which is 1,360 light years away.
A nebula is a huge cloud of dust and gas in space.
Dad-of-three Mr Flanagan said: “I’ve seen the rings of Saturn, the icecaps of Mars and mountain ranges on the moon, all from my back garden."
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He went on to add that: “The furthest thing I’ve observed is Markarian’s Chain, which is a set of galaxies about 55 million light years away - so the light that formed that image left just after the dinosaurs went extinct.”
The former politician’s love of stargazing began as a child after receiving a telescope for his birthday, but the interest was rekindled four years ago.
His telescope is fitted with two cameras - one for viewing planets, and another for looking further away at nebulas and galaxies.
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Mr Flanagan insists that anyone can take up astronomy, as many parts of space can be seen without a pricey kit.
He said: “Astronomy is a pastime that can be enjoyed even without a telescope.
“If you’ve just got a pair of binoculars, you’ll be able to see the four main moons of Jupiter, and if you have a good pair you might even be able to make out the rings of Saturn.
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“And as you go through each month or season there’ll be something new to see in the sky.
“For example, on the 8th of December there will be a period when Mars will appear to be very close to the Moon there are certain events that I’ll be looking out for.
He added: “Seeing things like that is so awe-inspiring, it always raises the question of what is our place in this universe?”