Unfriended of the stars of late.

"Some nights have been 
wholly unfriended of the stars of late".

Joseph H. Elgie author of "The stars night by night".

Of late, the  nights of Pembrokeshire have definitely been "unfriended" of stars!

Between the mist, rain and snow blizzards, astronomy has taken a back seat this past month or so.

But never mind, tonight looked perfect for stargazing. 

Several of the Little Bear stars were on show, a welcome sign of a possible good night's viewing.

Maksutov 90mm/f13.8 Catadioptric

It was time to take out the little 90mm Maksutov.

As big bright Orion was well placed ,first light in the viewfinder went to the uppermost star in Orion's Belt, Mintaka, a lovely white primary with a slightly bluish secondary. 

The trapezium's  four stars next, all perfectly round shining white, not a hint of flare or fuzziness.

Rigel's secondary was difficult to locate tonight, but it was possible to pick out its obvious blue tint.

Next Messier 44 the beehive or in Latin Praesepe.  With a 40mm plossl all looked bright and clear. 

Though to my mind, the Beehive always shows its best in binoculars.

Over then to Leo, and one of my favourite doubles Algeiba. 
A yellow primary with a green/yellow secondary. 

Occasionally the secondary to my eye appears slightly purple in colour. 

Plate 7 clearly showing Rigel's bluish  comes.

Atmospherics, different types of telescope and eyepieces, and probably my mood at the time combine to alter the colour of some double stars.

Over we go to Gemini. Castor next. 
Both primary and secondary beautiful ice white in colour. 

The primary and secondary could be twins, though the secondary is slightly smaller.

The little Maksutov sat on a chair and with the help of its red dot finder I was able to locate all objects that came to mind. 

I may one day look for a long legged tripod, but for now the little table top legs of the Maksutov will more than suffice for my style of observing.

If you want a portable all round decent scope for hunting down double stars, I highly recommend these little telescopes.


Clear skies 

Mark

The wonky Plough in Orion's Belt.

Saturday 27th of January 2018 - 10x50 binoculars- Gibbous light

Apart from clouds hugging the nearby hill of Foel Drygarn, tonight's sky was clear and bathed in a wonderful gibbous moonlight.

Over the village of Crymych, only the 1st to 3rd magnitude stars were visible.

Out of all the twinkling luminaries, the three stars of Orion's belt grabbed my attention.

With only binoculars to view, I spent several minutes just observing the belt. The stars near Alnilam took on the appearance of the Plough asterism, albeit a bit of a wonky plough!

What could be called the "pointers" of the wonky Plough, laid a direct path to the beautiful yellowish/orange star called 31 Orionis.

Orion's belt and its surrounding meadow of stars can keep the binocular astronomer busy for hours.

Even though this evenings sky was washed out by moonlight, and my binoculars are one step away from the dustbin! (I must find myself a better set) it was a joy tonight to wander amongst the stars of the Three Kings.



Clear Skies

Mark.
.

Nearby.. a lone dog howls..

The Full Mackerel Moon will be upon us on Monday,  nearby I can hear a dog practicing its lunar howling!

Up above, the slow moving clouds give way for generous views of the almost full fat gibbous Moon.

Out came the tiny Jason refractor, and with the help of my ancient Samsung S2 android phone I  captured a couple of lunar images.

I also made a sketch of crater Shickard, it being the most prominent feature along tonight's lunar terminator.

Over the last two lunations I have only been able to spot the waxing Moon about three nights out of a possible 28..!

I'm hoping this pattern will soon break.

Looking forward to some more lunar sketching in the near future.

Return of the Pleiades

Tonight I am reminded of the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks this year on the 12th of the month.

The Moon is badly placed for this years Perseids, but it is always worthwhile venturing out to have a look. With any luck I'll be out there on the 12th, an hour each side of midnight.

The Moon may wash out a lot of the action, but it will be interesting to see what does show up.

No doubt I'll be sitting in a deck chair or lying on the lawn till the early hours making wishes..

Usually whilst out looking for Perseid meteors the familiar shape of the Pleiades can be seen way off to the east.. a gentle reminder to prepare telescopes for the darker nights.


Clear Skies

Last night's Moon

Last night was the first time for a week that I've been able to drag the telescopes outside.

With a magnification of x50 and a bit of juggling with my simple digicam, I managed to capture a few lunar images.

June 2nd 2017 - 21h30m UT

Other celestial objects of interest included:  (with 300mm/f5 Newtonian)


Jupiter - various zones stood out, but no real definition or sharpness. I noted that the South Polar region is rather darker than the North Polar region, at the moment.

With the 80a filter in place the planet returned a much more pleasing image.

Arcturus in Bootes was shining in all its glory, whilst just below Arturus the asterism "Napolean's Hat" could clearly be made out at x50 magnification.

Peeping around the corner of the house was the constellation of Hercules, the obvious target of globular M13 was easily found at x50.

Though the contrast of M13 was somewhat diminished, maybe due to the gibbous Moon scattering that extra Moon glow.

Failed to find M51...  Standing with a twisted neck, whilst balancing tiptoe over the garlic plants in the garden probably didn't help!   Better luck next time..

Spotted the double stars Izar and Cor Coroli, plus a quick glimpse of Antares.

Spent a good two hours outside, the time flew....

After packing away the big Newtonian, I grabbed the 60mm refractor and had a quick peek and Saturn, which by midnight had risen over several houses at the end of the drive...

Despite a seeing of AIII it was still worthwhile dragging out the big Newtonian, especially for viewing the Moon. 

Thanks to the 12 inch mirror I noted that the "ink black" shadows of the Spitzbergen Mountains really stood out more than I've ever seen them before.

I'll have to make a sketch of my findings.


Can't wait to see what Saturday evening might have in store......


Clear Skies everyone.

The Cat and the Moon.

Theophilus chain - 300mm Newtonian.

The rain and wind tonight put pay to any chance of observing the heavens.

Never mind....more time to catch up on some poetry.

Here's a favourite poem of mine by W.B Yeats, plus a sketch of a few craters from a recent observation.


THE CAT AND THE MOON
by: W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)

The cat went here and there

And the moon spun round like a top,

And the nearest kin of the moon,

The creeping cat, looked up.

Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,

For, wander and wail as he would,

The pure cold light in the sky

Troubled his animal blood.

Minnaloushe runs in the grass

Lifting his delicate feet.

Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?

When two close kindred meet,

What better than call a dance?

Maybe the moon may learn,

Tired of that courtly fashion,

A new dance turn.

Minnaloushe creeps through the grass

From moonlit place to place,

The sacred moon overhead

Has taken a new phase.

Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils

Will pass from change to change,

And that from round to crescent,

From crescent to round they range?

Minnaloushe creeps through the grass

Alone, important and wise,

And lifts to the changing moon

His changing eyes. 

 

 -------------------------------------------------

 

Fingers crossed for some clear skies soon.

 

 

Mark.......

 

 

Great Red Spot ~ 07/05/17.

07/05/2017

In awe, I watched the waxing moon ride across the zenith of the heavens like an ambered chariot towards the ebony void of infinite space wherein the tethered belts of Jupiter and Mars hang, for ever festooned in their orbital majesty. And as I looked at all this I thought... I must put a roof on this toilet. Les Dawson
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/lesdawson537829.html?src=t_jupiter

In awe, I watched the waxing moon ride across the zenith of the heavens like an ambered chariot towards the ebony void of infinite space wherein the tethered belts of Jupiter and Mars hang, for ever festooned in their orbital majesty. And as I looked at all this I thought... I must put a roof on this toilet. Les Dawson
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/jupiter.html

In awe, I watched the waxing moon ride across the zenith of the heavens like an ambered chariot towards the ebony void of infinite space wherein the tethered belts of Jupiter and Mars hang, for ever festooned in their orbital majesty. And as I looked at all this I thought... I must put a roof on this toilet. Les Dawson
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/jupiter.ht

The gibbous Moon was big and bright tonight, but my target for the evening was parked just under it, that being Jupiter.

For some days now I have wanted to capture the Great Red Spot,  tonight was the perfect opportunity to do so.

At x166 magnification the Great Red Spot stood out easily.

It seems to be much more of an orange colour these days, plus it looks slightly bigger than last year.

The seeing was terrible tonight, so I had to make do with just the two major equatorial belts and the impressive as always GRS.

No festoons or barges for me this evening.

Hopefully the view will improve over the next couple weeks.

The cry of the Cuckoo.

Jason looks to the Moon - 2016

Tonight I was out observing with the little "Jason" 60mm/f15 refractor. It's a lovely scope for a quick peep at the heavens, or in my case this evening specifically the bright gibbous Moon.

Whilst observing Clavius on the terminator, somewhere on the outskirts of our village I could clearly hear the cry of a cuckoo.

Since our move to Crymych this was the first cuckoo that I have heard from our back garden.

With the bright Moon above and the cry of the cuckoo,  I was reminded of the poet Basho. 

Moonlight slanting by Matsuo Basho

Moonlight slanting
through the bamboo grove;
a cuckoo crying.

Sketching the Moon craters. 

Here's a further sketch from last Monday's Beltane evening lunar observations.

01/05/17 - 300mm/f5 reflector "Oscar"

It was beautiful outside tonight, not a cloud to be seen. Lets hope it's the first of many this year.


Clear Skies everyone.