Chasing M22 and Bicarbonate of Soda

August 11th 2015 - 21h45m UT - Nikon D3000

Just before the teapot disappeared from sight, I set up the Schmidt and took a quick peek at the area
around the teapot's handle. 

It had to be a quick peek, as thanks to the trees, my window of viewing below the ecliptic is pretty small towards the south.

No matter, I managed to spot Messier 22; what a lovely globular.

View with 40mm Kellner eyepiece

Through the Schmidt with a 40mm Kellner it had about it a ghostly quality. The stars within the misty globular shimmered, and every so often a twinkling would appear from within this mist. 

To my eye M22 is far superior to the brighter M13.

After only ten minutes of observing the dew started to settle on the corrector plate. I decided to pack away the telescope, and for once get an early night.

Viewing the rest of the Universe would have to wait until tomorrow....

Capturing the globulars with Bicarbonate of Soda.

How to make a globular cluster

I've often tried to depict globulars by sketching them with black ink and then inverting the image with Photoshop.

This method never quite leaves me with the the image I'm looking for.

After a bit of pondering I thought that as the globulars resemble tiny sparkling diamonds, or maybe glinting white sand or sugar, why not photograph that.

As my diamonds were far away in Zurich, the next best thing to hand was sugar.

After a few experiments it became apparent that the sugar granules were to large.

Globular Sugar Clusters

After a further dig through the kitchen cupboards I found the perfect globular material.... Bicarbonate of Soda.

As viewed through a 20mm Erfle eyepiece

The soda is just the right consistency and texture, and once photographed and photoshopped it leaves an image fairly close to the view through the telescope.

Clear Skies 

Mark

Total Eclipse of the Sun ~ Sixteen years ago today.

Hard to believe it was 16 years ago today.

What a special day that was, I bet everyone can still remember where they were that day. 

I was set up with a 60mm refractor, taking solar projections of the whole event outside our flat near Cardigan town. 

Considering the many clouds that day, the weather was kind for eclipse chasers.

The refractor did a great job projecting, even though my focuser was a piece of rolled up cardboard, with a 25mm plossl stuck in the end.

Today I made some watercolour sketches of four of my original drawings.

09h28m

09h59m

10h18m

11h32m

After completing the watercolours I made this image with the help of Instagram and Photoshop.

Sixteen years ago today I had no camera set up to record the event, luckily I was able to make several drawings via the projection method. 

I enjoy photographing the heavens, but my favourite will always be the sketching.

I now always carry a camera, but a pencil is never far away, usually behind my ear.

Hope you managed to see the Aug 99 eclipse, and hopefully some of you actually managed to see totality.

Clear solar skies 

Mark.

Transient Lunar Phenomenon (TLP)

June 4th 2006

 

Recently, whilst looking through my 2006 journal,  I found an interesting entry under the heading of TLP.

TLP stands for Transient Lunar Phenomenon, a term coined by the late, and much missed, Patrick Moore. 

For an introduction to TLP visit: Wikipedia - Transient Lunar Phenomenon

Red Flash (TLP) June 4th 2006 - 22h25m UT

If ever you see something strange whilst observing the lunar landscape, maybe a glow near a crater or a sudden flash of light, perhaps what appears to be mist on the crater floor, or a multitude of other unexplained sightings, this maybe a TLP. 

Many amateur astronomers totally dismiss the idea of TLPs, but who knows. 

All I can say is that on the night of June the 4th 2006 I was observing near the craters Janssen and Lockyer, and happened to witness a bright red flash from the crater Pitiscus.  

I have no idea what the flash was, it could have been lunar based, or maybe lunacy based and all made up in my head..  :0)

I like to think it was one of H.G. Wells' "Selenites" flashing a laser pen at me! 

To find more about those Selenites click this link:  The First Men In The Moon, 

This Beautiful Cosmos

The teapot disappears into the West

The teapot of Sagittarius slips by almost unnoticed, hidden by trees and hedges. 

A lone telegraph pole points to the star Nunki. 

From our garden vantage point, only the handle of the teapot is seen. 

Kaus Australis and companions  are hidden by the damn hedge!

Hercules leans over, seemingly intent on grasping Lyrae the Harp. Vega shines so brightly…

Jean Michelle Jarre plays through my headphones. 

The songs are full of cascading arrangements, beautifully composed to fit in with the stars above my head.

The "Oxygene" album is the perfect accompaniment to the twilight of a summer’s night.

A warm midnight breeze blows over my face and arms.  

I lie back on my ground blanket and survey this Beautiful Cosmos.

Westward, Arcturus  greets the roof ridge of my neighbour’s house.

Like moths to a flame, a scattering of artificial satellites track and race towards the Northern twilight.

Izar is gleaming tonight. Another satellite grazes Cor Caroli

The Milky Way is spread like much glittering white sand. 

Each time I walk the Milky Way I am once again a child.

Perseus and Andromeda stand watch in the East.  

Not long to wait for the meteor shower.

At my grandmother's house some forty years ago, I eagerly awaited the Perseid meteors.

To this day I am still captivated the Perseid fireworks.

Solar Vixen captures the spots in June.

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.

Solar Eclipse from Mynachlog Ddu

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 magical!

Looking South - Carreg Waldo

It was an amazing event, the sky gods behaved and the whole eclipse was bathed in a backdrop of faded-blue sky. 

The surrounding landscape, including the distant low-lying haze, exhibited a brownish tinge (the eclipse of 1999 exhibited a greenish tinge) for roughly half an hour each side of the maximum phase.

This eclipse was also memorable for its drop in temperature, much more pronounced than any other partial eclipse I have witnessed. 

08h40m  temperature was 9.5 degrees C 

09h38m  temperature was 4.7 degrees C  

09h43m  temperature was 4.8 degrees C

09h53m  temperature was 5.9 degrees C

10h15m  temperature was 9.7 degrees C

Here's a black and white photo taken with the C8 Schmidt Celestron.

Plus a photo montage of several shots.

What a wonderful unforgettable solar morning.

Partial Eclipse from Pembrokeshire.

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.