Pembrokeshire Astronomer

It was clouded out in my part of Pembrokeshire last night...so viewing the Perseid Shower seemed to be a non happening event. I decided to have an early night and hoped for a clearer  Saturday morning..maybe the clouds would part and let me see the Perseid shower in the morning twilight.... The internal astronomer's clock was working well... I awoke at 2.40 am BST and could just glimpse the friendly Moonlight illuminating the window frame... The clouds must have parted........ Quickly up and out to the observatory, no time to put shoes on....I grabbed my Celestron 8mm plossl from the shed.... into the observatory ...... slide back the roof... The skies were approximately 90% fast moving cloud, not as good as I hoped, but what gaps there were quickly showed me the Moon... as it slowly melted into my neighbour's ash trees... Looking eastward I noticed Jupiter high in the sky, the highest I've seen it for many a year. Seems like Jupiter is going to be the fi

I can't believe it's been over three years since I last looked at Erakis  "The Garnet Star"... Here's my last log entry of this colourful beauty.... Please click on the picture for a bigger image.. Next chance I get at the eyepiece, I'm going to say sorry to Erakis for not visiting sooner....

Full Hay Moon. Last night I was too tired to fully appreciate the Moon. Usually I find a spot in the garden, sit down on a comfortable chair and simply bathe myself in the moonlight.. It's so peaceful just sitting there contemplating and watching the Moon as she gently wheels across the night sky.. But the day's hayfever had left it's mark, and I wasn't feeling all that good. A pity... as the Moon last night was one of the best that I've seen for a long while.. I quickly grabbed this photo, using the Tal 1 and a 25mm plossl afocal with my digital compact camera. I don't want to wish away these summer days but, I'm  looking forward to next month's " Red Moon". And red it usually is...... big and beautiful rising out of the Pembrokeshire landscape.  I've already booked my front row seat......fingers crossed for a clear night.... Happy Moon watching...

Some weeks ago I was rummaging through a box, at one of our local car boot sales... I found an intriguing item. It appeared to be a fountain pen, but on closer examination it opened out into a small refractor. It works well considering the 1/2 inch aperture of the objective glass. I christened it  The Mighty Atom ... Last night the clouds were sauntering once again around Pembrokeshire, and the Moon low on our neighbour's trees, could occasionally be glimpsed. I grabbed the Mighty Atom, put it over the lens of the digicam and captured this shot. Also I have found, that if you reverse the scope and look through the objective glass, it makes a really handy microscope.. If you ever happen upon a box full of dubious junk, and see a Mighty Atom, buy it...you won't be disappointed.