Pembrokeshire Astronomer

After a refurbishment and a lick of paint, my 60mm/f5 Vixen refractor is yet again ready for astro travelling the heavens. I decided to turn the scope into a dedicated solar imaging/observing platform. With the solar filter and Nikon D3000 in place I can quickly capture the day's solar image, plus the scope is easily transportable. Here are some Sol images from the last week. The Vixen 60mm is perfect for quick Sol imaging.  Fingers crossed for some July Sunspots.

The car was packed with two telescopes, two deck chairs, two cameras and a picnic for two astronomers. The early morning mist had burnt away to reveal a glorious sunny Pembrokeshire morning... NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY! Helen and I made our way along the Cardigan road, we had the idea of stopping at the ancient burial chamber at Pentre Ifan...   As we neared Maenclochog we decided to forget about Pentre Ifan and take a detour to   Mynachlog-ddu   to set up camp at Carreg Waldo . Carreg Waldo is probably one of the best sites in the whole of Pembrokeshire for astronomical observing; there are very few street lights to spoil the night time viewing. Carn Menyn To the North you can see Carn Menyn, source of the  Bluestones of Stonehenge. Cwm Cerwyn  North West and to the highest peak in Pembrokeshire, Cwm Cerwyn. Looking East Moonrises can be spectacular over those hills, and the Moonlight of a Mynachlog-ddu Autumn is especially ma

A few photographs of the eclipse, taken on a beautiful sunny day near Mynachlog-ddu. Vixen 60mm f/5 refractor (afocal digicam) 20mm Erfle eyepeice. I have several other eclipse photos taken with a Schmidt C8 scope, I'll put them on the blog sometime next week.

Through trees the glowing starlight Falls upon my eyes this night. Sirius is oh so bright, further on  Orion fills my sight. Mark Lee 10/03/2015 * Englyn - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englyn

THANK YOU Telescope House ... the solar film arrived this morning. A quick delivery service,  I was very pleased with my purchase. All I had to do was mount the solar film into my homemade filter holder and within ten minutes I was observing my first sunspot group. The Sun was shining down from a clear blue sky, a perfect test for the new filter. It must be at least a year since I last took any decent solar shots through mylar. I hooked up the Nikon DSLR and fired away.   Today's solitary sunspot group AR 2297 stood out sharply through the eyepiece, and the Nikon did a fair job of capturing some detail. It's good to be back shooting Sol. Clear Solar Skies Mark