Backyard sky watcher captures impressive pictures of other planets - from Northamptonshire garden

A backyard sky watcher had captured impressive pictures of other planets - from his Northamptonshire garden.

Jamie Cooper, aged 54, observed Jupiter and Saturn from his home in Whilton this month.

He said: "I took the Jupiter picture on September 5 with my backyard telescope using a 12 inch Newtonian telescope.

"It's not so much rare, but it is difficult to photograph the planets without a budget like NASA.

"It was a lovely event to witness though - what we see here is Jupiter's volcanic moon Io that is just about to pass in front of the planet. You can already see the shadow falling on to the top of Jupiter's cloudy tops.

"After having to wait until 2am on a damp and humid night it was nice to capture this. There is something magical about seeing the moons of Jupiter moving around the planet in real time.

"I also took a photo of Saturn that night; a more tricky target as it is quite low in the skies from the UK."