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.

Late evening Aurora.

Last night the Aurora Borealis was visible throughout a large portion of the UK.

Here in Pembrokeshire it did not disappoint, though in my case I missed the main display, which I believe was around 6.00pm - 7.00 pm.

I, as usually happens with aurora, was a few hours late on the uptake!

We were parked up last night in an excellent spot, near Mynachlogddu. 

The skies were clear, very dark and cold. 

Luckily at around 11.00pm I was outside taking in the night sky. 

Whilst looking to the North I could faintly, albeit very faintly, detect a hint of possible aurora activity, just over the top of nearby Carn Meinir.

I took a few shots with our camera phone, around eight seconds at ISO3200.

I was surprised to find the aurora clear and bright in the images.

The photos were nowhere near as good as some online amateur photos, though considering my camera setup I was happy to have obtained the above.

My photos reminded me of the aurora pictures I used to see in astronomy magazines back in the early 80's.

I have the aurora app on our phone, and from now on I'll make sure it can send me any notifications of impending solar storms

That will teach me to set up the app properly in future.

The Sun & Moon in Eclipse.

Thought these diagrams might be of interest to eclipse chasers in the UK.

From one of my favourite astronomy books, written by the great Welsh Moon mapper Percy Wilkins.

I noticed the forthcoming April solar eclipse is absent from the list.

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@2648147?iso=20240408

Considering we in the UK will only glimpse it for maybe a few minutes I can see why the event wasn't included.

If you ever spot a copy of "Guide to the Heavens" buy it quickly, you won't be disappointed, a great trip down amateur astronomy memory lane. 

Lunar Flying & Selenites

These past many weeks (months!), Pembrokeshire has not been kind to astronomers. 

Lots of rain and too much wind have kept the dustcaps on all telescopes in our county. 

Tonight that all changed.

It was a pleasure to finally take the telescope out and do a bit of Lunar watching. 

Since it was the "first light" for this little Skywatcher refractor I thought the Moon would make a great target. 

High up in the sky and clear of the horizon murk and dust, the views the refractor delivered were very steady and sharp. 

No real observing of craters was done, this evening I only wanted to fly over the Moon.

Tonight's moon peep was for soaking in the moonlight, whilst lost in my thoughts of H.G.Wells' Selenites, Apollo landings and future lunar drawing projects.

Fingers firmly crossed for better weather and clearer skies.

The pencils are sharpened, the ink pens are waiting; can't wait to make some Lunar sketches and drawings.

Clear Skies wherever you are. 

Mark.

The night of Christmas day

 

This year's Christmas tree

The roaring winds dropped, the clouds parted and the night of Christmas day was cloaked in the light of the nearly full moon.

We had waited weeks for a sky clearing, and here it was, I wasn't about to waste any of it.

Helen and I stood outside for ages, drinking in the stillness of this most Christmas night.

The scudding clouds touched the moon and wiped away the days of wind and rain.

It has been ages since we witnessed a near full moon in such a quiet setting. No cars, no planes, no dogs on leads barking at trees. 

The absence of all 21st century racket and rush was most welcomed.

Not a soul to be seen; all at home enjoying the Christmas evening.

To the South Selene was up high, shining with almost a full December intensity. 

 

Overhead Cassiopeia.

To the West a tall pine tree with a star above (Hello Jupiter) made up completely for our lack of actual Christmas tree in our motorhome.  

To the North, a vixen was calling to the night.

For several minutes she gave out her haunting call.

The cry of the vixen

All in all it was a perfect Christmas night.

Return of the blue skies Sol.

Not much chance of astronomy these past few weeks. 

Partly due to the weather, and partly due to having a stinking cold a week or so ago! 

Thankfully the cold has now gone, and the blue skies are back.

The pst was taken out for a quick peep at Sol.

I only have my small tripod at the moment, so everything is a bit wobbly to say the least.

A few Sol shots were captured, but mainly it was all naked eye viewing this morning. 

The camera I use had a flat battery, so I tried out my other phone camera... nowhere near as good, but it managed to capture two of the major prominence.

Loads of sunspots today, this solar cycle is definitely picking up.