The Partial month of March.

Robin red breast in a nearby tree, the sleepy village church bell tolling ten times, the Sun shining bright and Spring like.

This spell of much awaited blue sky has been the backdrop for several recent wonderful astro events.

They included that much talked of planetary parade, (still didn't spot Saturn!), some amazing sea setting sunsets, a crescent Moon and a Venus & Mercury dance. 

In the early evening last night as the frost began to grip the land, several old friends reappeared over towards the East. 

Arcturus, Vega, Epsilon Lyrae, to name a few. 

Those early evening stars like the ground bound daffodils and snowdrops, hint at the release of the Winter months.

Spring is definitely springing at the moment.

The Partial month of March:

There is a partial lunar eclipse in the early morning of Friday the 14th, plus a partial solar eclipse near midday on Saturday the 29th.

The camera will be ready, notebooks will be open, tea will be drunk, and cake will be eaten.

It's going to be a great month for sky watching.

Mercury Falling - Venus so bright.

I was hoping for a glimpse of Mercury this evening; luck was on my side.

After daydreaming over the beautiful Newgale sunset, it wasn't long before Venus made an appearance.

Followed a short time later by the winged messenger, Mercury.

You can just make out Mercury a little above where the two slim clouds almost meet.

It's only the second time Helen and I have seen the winged messenger this year. 

Though considering I haven't spotted Mercury for several years, that's not a bad innings !

Just before we drove away from Newgale; under the cover of darkness, Helen noticed that Venus was casting an amazing pathway of light across the bay. 

Absolutely wonderful, the perfect way to end tonight's inferior planet viewing. 

Both Venus and Mercury will be closely watched over the next week, they are visually getting closer to each other at the moment.

Should make for an interesting future viewing session.

When the West wind blows.

There's some windy stormy weather heading towards Pembrokeshire over the next few days.

Looks as if I might not have a clear night for a while.

This gives me time to try out a few drawing and typewriter astro projects.

Here's another typewriter astro log book entry, from a few years back.

I notice no mention of the year on the above log entry, I think it was 2020.

Observe the Moon for £3.50

Last night whilst digging through my astro images, I found this picture. 

I haven't done one of these typewriter posts for ages!

Must make some new ones, it's long overdue.

The above observation was made with a simple 40mm refractor.

If memory serves, the refractor cost me all of £3.50 from a local charity shop, back in a time when it was possible to pick up such bargains.

Goes to show that astronomy needn't be an expensive hobby.

From the astrophotography chair.

Last night the Moon and several planets shone their light down onto Newgale beach. 

A beautiful shiny Orion took pride of place above "Martha" our trusty motorhome.

The above picture was taken with my simple tripod and phone setup. 

At the moment I just stick the ISO to 3200 with two second exposure and the above image is formed.

Simple enough for now, but I would like to upgrade a little to have more of a choice, maybe a simple dslr will do the job.

We used to own a Nikon D50 dslr, it was great for night shots. 

Although the D50 was only rated at 1600 ISO it was perfect for various conjunctions, transits and lunar work.  

Time to get back in the astrophotography chair me thinks.

First evening of 2025

Welcome to 2025, and what better welcome than a crystal clear January 1st winter evening sky.

Such a beautiful night, stars shining and bright.

A shooting star from Auriga to Ursa Minor (Kochab). A long slow trail, slightly broken in places. Almost bright enough to be put in the bollide category.

Binocular views through my Russian 8x30s revealed M36, M37, M38, M41, M42, M44, M45 and the Hyades. 

Mars was shining bright just above the Beehive Cluster M44.

21.30 UT  - Leo rising near Roch Castle, a cold evening, no wind. 

So silent, so welcome, it's been ages since I witnessed a night like this.

Slowly and with no fuss a few sounds meandered their way. 

Firstly the distant crash of the waves on Newgale's pebbled beach, then a nearby owl hooting, plus an aeroplane high up heading out across the cold Atlantic ocean.

With fire lit and embers, wood smoke smell from chimney the  stars truly became more brilliant. 

There had been an aurora earlier in the evening, nothing that the eye could detect, but the phone camera captured a whisper of that familiar red.

Aurora Glow - Apologies for the wobbly wobbly stars

It was light  until about  16:50 UT tonight.

Spring is definitely getting closer, the nights are starting to noticeably draw out.

Here's to many more 2025 clear skies.

Opera glass to the Moon.

I didn't manage to sketch the recent Full Moon, but I had a go at the gibbous Moon, as seen with my opera glasses. 

It was a cold night, I felt a chill and decided I preferred the warmth of our motorhome to the cold November air. 

Still, some detail of various mare were noted.

The sketch I wanted to do at Full Moon will have to wait for another day.

Here's the initial lunar drawing I was taking notes from.

Maybe I will have better luck with  the Full Moon of Christmas time.

Which will be on December the 15th.

Clear Lunar skies 

Les étoiles, toujours étoiles.

Having just come back from France, I thought why not post some of my camera phone astro images.

Simple pictures with an astronomy theme was pretty much my limit. 

I will leave the long exposures and star tracking for another time.

It was great to see the various constellations that much higher in the sky (at one point we were 44 degrees north).

       

Orion over the church spire

Scorpio was an amazing sight.

Being able to see the entire constellation from the south of France was a sight not to be forgotten.

        Full Moon over 

Pont Brottone

Next time we head off to France I will pack a digital SLR camera. 

Our old Nikon D50 took some excellent shots of the night sky.

* Must remember to post my "opera glasses" Moon sketch in the next post.

Clear Skies 

Mark. 

Just keep whistling 😄

No idea where I found this cartoon, but the artist is spot on,  and well observed..😆

***

***

Hoping to do some opera glass observing/sketching during the waxing Moon of November.

Will post some sketches and findings as I go along. 

Fingers crossed for some clear skies.

*** Found the above Moon image in my 1945 astronomy book : 

A Guide to the Sky - A Practical Handbook for Beginners 

by Ernest Agar Beet.

A lovely little book, has just 92 pages, very informative.

Will post more about this book in  future blogs.

Under the trees & the Aurora.

It had been a beautifully hot day, the Sun was relentless, happy, strong, and chromium yellow in a big blue cloudless sky.

Our motorhome "Martha" needed shade from this solar onslaught. 

We took refuge under the barest of trees and waited out the inferno.

Later in the evening, after a considerable cooling of temperature we drove to higher ground.

A favourite spot where the stars are almost 360° and very little light pollution.

As the Sun dipped down, the temperature also dipped; time to close some windows.

Through the passenger door window, I happened to glance out towards the North.

There, plain to see, was that unmistakable reddish light. It had us mesmerised... an Aurora glow !

An Aurora here in France at 44°N !  I bet back home in the UK it must be "bouncing".

A quick look on the internet  confirmed my suspicion, the storm indeed was large over the United Kingdom.

In my home county of Pembrokeshire 360° Aurora was being reported.

The UK storm of the century and we were in France! 

Never mind , it was still a great display from our location, deep in the beautiful French countryside.

That beautiful red glow slowly made its way from north to north west over the space of an hour.

We were lucky to have such wonderful weather, and the chance to capture several half decent pictures.

It was indeed a most perfect astro night.

The French Scorpion.

Last night we camped in the village of Sereilhac, some maybe 20 miles south west of Limoges.

The temperature all day hovered around 30°C ! 

Not being used to such heat Helen and I moved slowly and took our time with the simplest of tasks! 

All evening, and into that balmy night a nearby frog chorus could be heard, a raucous of beautiful high decibel croaks and mutterings filled the motorhome all night.

There was no let up in that high "croak" volume until around 5.00 am. 

I was outside at 5.00 am taking in the glorious French clear skies and marvelling at Scorpius which lay due south. 

45° North - Sereilhac

As we are presently at 45°N at this location it allowed the Scorpion to show off part of its lower tail and stinger. Something I have never seen from my 52°N  location in Pembrokeshire.

52° North - Pembrokeshire

It was amazing to see the stinger, it's main star shone out brightly.

Scorpius with it body, claws, and now complete tail and stinger on show imparted a most impressive display. 

The whole constellation took on a beautiful three dimensional aspect. 

I hope to see a lot more of the Scorpion over the next few weeks.

Scorpio - The Scorpion

Antares- Lucida star

Dominant red star "Antares" Greek word for the "rival of Mars"

Both Antares and Mars have often even mistaken for each other when the planet has been in that vicinity.

In ancient times Antares was looked upon as one of the "Royal Stars" of which there were four. The other three, Regulus, Aldebaran, and Fomalhaut.

They were supposed to guard the four quarters of the Heavens.