Paul & Lorraine's Picture of the Month pages

Our Picture of the Month page began with the June 2002 image of a Peacock Butterfly and each month a picture taken by one of us (mainly by Paul but occasionally taken by Lorraine) is selected to be the current months image. The pictures can be of a wide range of subjects but as you can imagine Astronomy, Nature and Butterflies do tend to dominate! The current months image is below and and below that lies the current years images as a slide show. Past years can be viewed by the buttons at the side of the current months image or in mobile view .

We hope you enjoy the many images and continue to watch out for what images we select for future months and years to come.
Paul & Lorraine

Current: November 2026

The mineral Moon. Taken on October 27th 2026 with the Meade LX50 8 inch SCT and Canon R8 camera, a stack of 26 images then final image stretch saturation to bring out surface differences. This technique helps show mineralogical differences across the moon. Especially prominent on the Mares or lunar seas where in this view shows brown and blue indicating chemical and mineral compositional differences on the lunar surface.
Blue and purple show titanium-rich deposits and ilmenite, oranges, yellows and browns, iron-rich basalts and ancient lava flows whilst pinks and whites indicate plagioclase-rich highlands and impact-melt glasses (info from Wikipedia).

2026

January

This is a composite image of the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas taken with the StarGate 500 GoTo Dobsonian and Canon R8 camera, cropped from the original. This is only the third confirmed interstellar visitor to our solar system and was confirmed countless times over the last few months to be a comet, not an alien vessel! This image was captured on Dec 20th at 3am 2025 just after closest approach to earth (yet still twice as far away as our sun!) and the same captured data is firstly stacked to give pinpoint stars but a trailed comet, then the same data is stacked on the comet to give trailed stars. The trailed stars are removed from one image and the trailed comet from the other, then the resulting images merged to give a better representation of it against the background stars.

February

A wide view of the Veil nebula, a supernova remnant in Cygnus. Taken with the Canon R8, Redcat 61 Apo refractor and Quad filter from Fieldhouse, Borrowdale. Lake District.

March

An atmospheric view looking towards Skiddaw, northern Derwentwater and in the distance Bassenthwaite Lake at upper left. Taken with an iPhone 13 Pro max, September 2023 from Surprise View, Borrowdale.

April

This is the California Nebula, NGC 1499 just above the star Menkib, Xi Persei. It is a mega stack of 699 images from multiple nights imaging sessions using the RedCat 61 Apo refractor, Canon R8 mirrorless camera and a Quad band filter, stacked in APP and post processed in PSP 2023.

May

Not often that I (Paul) catches butterflies 'in the act' but something blue caught my eye on the hedge and naturally I investigated. Two Holly Blue's, naturally a male and female, for once still enough for me to photograph with my iPhone 13 Pro max. A very pretty butterfly, not to be confused with the male Common Blue which we don't see until later in the year. The blue underside with flecks of black are the give away signs of being a Holly Blue.

June

Astrophotography has never been easier with the advent of smart telescopes. This image shows the Elephant Trunk nebula in Cepheus, close to the Garnet star. It was taken over several nights with a Dwarf 3 Smart telescope from Horncastle and is a total of 393 images, 30 sec @ gain 80 and final processed image produced on April 23rd 2026. The wide field view taken with a RC61 Apo Refractor and Canon R6 with a Quad filter was featured as the POTM for August 2024.

July

Friday June 26th, hottest day of the year for us as our garden reached 35°C and on a brief foray into our garden Paul spotted something quickly flutter up and settle on a leaf in the shade of our Lilac bush. First we've ever seen of this but it is a Swallow-tailed Moth, Ourapteryx sambucaria. About the size of a Large White Butterfly but quite striking with its 'tail' setting it apart and the thicker body and head. It stayed long enough for Lorraine to come out on her mobility scooter and see it before we both headed indoors as it was too hot outside! This one must be towards the end of its life as it begins with pale yellow wings with slightly darker lines but gradually fades to a white with age.

August

This is Lincolnshire's answer to the 'Angel of the North': the "On Freedom's Wings" Lancaster is located off the A46 near Norton Disney. The sculpture is a tribute to Lancaster R5689 ("VN-N"), a famous 50 Squadron bomber from the nearby former RAF Swinderby airfield, which tragically crashed in 1942 after an engine failure. The sculpture is huge with an 85 ft fuselage and a 102 ft wingspan, weighing over 90 tons! Lorraine and I photographed it from the layby heading north on the A46 opposite the site but there will eventually be a visitors site so you can get close up. For more information visit: https://www.bombergatewaytrust.co.uk

September

Stone circles have always held a fascination for both Paul and Lorraine and so it's natural that they'll feature as a POTM. This is Long Meg and her daughters (68!) which lies 5.5 miles NE of Penrith and so is a reasonable drive from our holiday site in the Lake District. It appears to be a little nebulous as to which are the largest stone circles in the British Isles with Long Meg locally referred as the third largest but it should be noted that the outer circle of Avebury in Wiltshire makes it the largest at a diameter of 331.6 metres (1,088 ft), followed by Stanton Drew (Somerset), 112.2 metres (368 ft), the Ring of Brodgar (Orkney), 103.6 metres (340 ft) then followed by Long Meg at 100 metres (328 ft), HOWEVER, Long Meg and her daughters are not a circle but an oval with a long axis of 120 metres (393.7 ft) which would then make it the third largest if you average the diameter. It is dated to ~ 3500 BC so is a Neolithic monument. There are 69 stones including Long Meg but there may have been up to 77 stones at one time. A tarmac'd road passes partially through the ring which leads to a private farmhouse on whose property the stone circle lies but the public can visit the circle with ease from the main car park or from a small disabled access car park located close to the circle - very handy for Lorraine who was able to explore it on her mobility scooter! More details: Stone circles have always held a fascination for both Paul and Lorraine and so it's natural that they'll feature as a POTM.This is Long Meg and her daughters (68!) which lies 5.5 miles NE of Penrith and so is a reasonable drive from our holiday site in the Lake District. It appears to be a little nebulous as to which are the largest stone circles in the British Isles with Long Meg locally referred as the third largest but it should be noted that the outer circle of Avebury in Wiltshire makes it the largest at a diameter of 331.6 metres (1,088 ft), followed by Stanton Drew (Somerset), 112.2 metres (368 ft), the Ring of Brodgar (Orkney), 103.6 metres (340 ft) then followed by Long Meg at 100 metres (328 ft), HOWEVER, Long Meg and her daughters are not a circle but an oval with a long axis of 120 metres (393.7 ft) which would then make it the third largest. It is dated to ~ 3500 BC so is a Neolithic monument.There are 69 stones including Long Meg but there may have been up to 77 stones at one time. A tarmac'd road passes partially through the ring which leads to a private farmhouse on whose property the stone circle lies but the public can visit the circle with ease from the main car park or from a small disabled access car park located close to the circle - very handy for Lorraine who was able to explore it on her mobility scooter! More details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Meg_and_Her_Daughters

October

This is a cropped final image of Messier 17, the Omega or Swan nebula. It was taken under the dark skies of Borrowdale at Fieldhouse Bothy on August 21st the night before we came home after our holiday there. It was taken with the Dwarf 3 smart telescope and consists of 94 images, 30s exposures @ gain 80 stacked via the Dwarf app and processed with Stellar Studio.

November

The mineral Moon. Taken on October 27th 2026 with the Meade LX50 8 inch SCT and Canon R8 camera, a stack of 26 images then final image stretch saturation to bring out surface differences. This technique helps show mineralogical differences across the moon. Especially prominent on the Mares or lunar seas where in this view shows brown and blue indicating chemical and mineral compositional differences on the lunar surface. Blue and purple show titanium-rich deposits and ilmenite, oranges, yellows and browns, iron-rich basalts and ancient lava flows whilst pinks and whites indicate plagioclase-rich highlands and impact-melt glasses (info from Wikipedia).