Venus and the Beehive.

It was cold outside tonight, and the wind was starting to pick up. It would have made more sense to stay indoors, but the promise of Venus through Oscar's optics was calling me.

Venus sketch - post Photoshop

Tonight's image of Venus showed a distinct crescent, a very bright crescent.

I tried out the 80a blue filter on the 9mm ocular, it helped reduce the glare. 

We didn't stay out long;  after a quick glance at M44 the Beehive, Rigel, Aldebaran, the Hyades, and the Orion Nebula, it was time to pack up and retire to the warmth of the house.

It may not have been a long observing session, but it was completely worth the effort of hauling the 12 inch Dobsonian outside, albeit for only twenty minutes.

Sir Patrick Moore... you will be missed.

It was with much sadness on Sunday that I learnt of the passing of Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS.

Since the winter of 1976 Patrick Moore has been a constant companion on my astronomical journey.

I must have been about nine years old when I was first allowed to stay up late to watch the Sky at Night.

I was hooked from the first episode.

From the opening title music of Sibelius's At the Castle Gate...the simple studio props, the fascinating interviews, and especially the wonderful enthusiasm and eccentricity of Mr Moore, how could I not be hooked.

Often at the end of an episode Patrick would mention that a newsletter/factsheet was available.

To obtain this A4 information sheet,  you simply sent off a stamped addressed envelope to the BBC.

Whenever Patrick mentioned it was newsletter time, I couldn't get to a post box fast enough to send off my SAE.


Back in April of 2005 my wife, our son Jac and I were lucky enough to meet Patrick Moore, at his home in Selsey.

We could not have had a warmer welcome.

He gave me one of his books, which he signed, a gift I will always cherish.

It was a day I will never forget.

RIP Sir Patrick Moore.

For Patrick...

Early this morning Helen and I set out to capture a shot of Mercury, Venus and the crescent Moon.

This is the one of the shots that was taken. It was a beautiful morning, with frost on the ground.

Morning Star Mercury & Co, over Haverfordwest...

Early this morning I grabbed the Nikon D50, plus a small tripod and headed off for an astro adventure.

I decided to walk to the outskirts of our village to afford myself a better view of Mercury..

From our garden I have no chance of seeing Mercury if it's in the East; there are too many trees and especially too many houses barring any possible view...

After setting up the camera I was lucky enough to capture this image of all three planets.....  seconds later some passing clouds snuffed out Mercury's light.

Mercury-Venus-Saturn : 06h:49m 

I then moved to a better location, about 200 yards further along.....

Now I had an uninterrupted view towards the East.

The lights of Haverfordwest were twinkling in the distance.

Mercury was once again free of the clouds, and I witnessed a beautiful celestial display of all three planets.... plus my favourite named star... Zubenelgenubi.

Mercury-Zubenelgenubi-Venus-Saturn: 06h:56m UT

There were loads of clouds to the West, but luckily the East was fairly cloud free, at least in the parts of the sky that mattered to my observations....

Mercury over Haverfordwest  07:05 UT

Happy Mercury hunting....

Clear Skies

Mark

Venus Transit as viewed by Mr & Mrs Pembs...

June the 5th 11.00 pm  First Contact via Hawaii.........

Both Helen and I were looking forward to seeing the transit, but due to cloud cover, Pembrokeshire was wrapped in a thick blanket of the grey stuff...  

Also our part of the planet was badly placed for the beginning of the event, so we watched First Contact via the webcam at the Mauna Loa Observatory Exploratorium

Fascinating imagery and the background music and narration were almost hypnotic...  

Thank you to all at the Mauna Loa Observatory for putting on the Live show....

Up at 04:15am - Off to find the Transit Show.....

Looking Southward...

The alarm went off at 04:15. Outside the grey clouds were still smothering the Pembrokeshire skies.

Helen and I got on the motorbike and went out looking for some hopeful gaps in the early morning sky.

We drove maybe two miles, and yes the clouds were beginning to thin...but still no clearing in the East.....however there was a lovely early morning blue sky towards the South...  so frustrating!

We could easily see the beautiful gibbous waning Moon, but from the South West right round to the South East nothing but cloud...   

We drove on.....  passing through the ghost town of Haverfordwest; no cars passed us, no people on the streets. only the occasional cat and a lone fox to greet us on this most glorious morning.....

We reached the local golf course some two miles out of town, only to notice that there was now cloud cover for a full 360 degrees..... 

It looked as if we had little chance of viewing the transit....

We decided to make our way slowly back and watch the Third/Fourth Contact via the internet....

05:27am We were about three miles from home, and noticed a possible break in the clouds... 

Quickly the bike was parked..... then we set up the camera and homemade solar filter ready for some Transit pictures....  

05:27am  Looking North - East

We waited a couple of minutes, but soon realised we were being teased by the Pembrokeshire clouds.....  !!

Interestingly, where we parked was close to a pub called "The Rising Sun". Pity it wasn't called the "The Clear Skies Rising Sun"  ...  :0)

Back on the bike to head off home.....

05:36am That's when we had a bit of good luck. About a mile into our homeward journey the Sun winked at us from behind the darkened clouds.....  

05:36am

Again I quickly parked the bike, brought out the camera and solar filter, climbed up onto a hedge, and we were greeted with the Sun's happy disc, shining brightly.....and waited...... 

05:48am After some anxious cloud watching, and the odd look by the occasional motorist, the Pembrokeshire Hedge Dwelling Astronomers Society were finally awarded a ONE MINUTE window of Transit viewing.....

Just enough time to capture Venus before Fourth Contact...

05:48am 

Goodbye Venus...

05.50am Helen and I were dancing on the hedge and shouting Yahoo!!!!!.... 

We literally had ONE MINUTE of viewing,  BUT....that one minute was TOTALLY worth it......

05:50am

Back in 2004 I had an uninterrupted view of the Transit. At the moment of Fourth Contact that day, I remember saying to Venus "Thank You Venus...hope to see you at the next one in 2012"  

Thankfully I was able to do that, albeit briefly ......

Yesterday, once again, I said goodbye to Venus, but this time there was no "see you at the next one".

The Venus Transits of 2004/12 truly have been a once in a lifetime event......

In the words of  Jeremiah_Horrocks

Thy return posterity shall witness;
Years must roll away,
But then at length the splendid sight
Again shall greet our distant children’s eyes