iPhoto Solar Projection

 

Today I managed a quick solar projected image...

After a bit of processing using iPhoto software I was able to obtain this final image..

 

Clear Solar Skies

 

Mark

 

Astronomy from our garden shed.

 

Tonight the skies were beautifully clear. I decided to give the 40mm refractor a bit of an airing.

The crescent moon looked amazing as it hung over the nearby rooftops.

I was able to capture a few shots afocally with the digicam.

It was so warm that we decided to sleep in the garden shed, with our heads peeping out of the doorway.

 

The stars after midnight looked amazing, and thanks to the street lights being switched off we could easily see what looked to be Noctilucent clouds way out to the north.

 I haven't seen NLC's since July of 2009......!!!

No Schmidt telescope for me tonight, just the naked eye, a sleeping bag, a heart full of poetry and the stars above....

Clear Skies

Mark....

Barsoom is slipping away.

 It's now obvious that Mars is moving away from us. The red planets gibbous phase is now plain to see.

Due to the present size of Mars the polar cap wasn't distinct, and the whole planet seemed shrouded in a veil of salmon coloured mist.

So long Barsoom see you again in about two years time.


Saturn on the other hand was much better placed.....

The Cassini division stood out really well, along with five of the satellites, Titan Rhea, Dione, Iapetus (with averted vision)  and near the limb either Tethys or Enceladus  not sure which one it was.

Over then to M57 looked good in the 20mm erfle eyepiece bluish grey.

Epsilon Lyrae the double double of Epilon Lyrae in 9mm ortho split but shimmering.

Through the 40mm Kellner Albireo stood out a lovely complimentary yellow and blue.

I was really pleased with the Schmidt tonight, no dew shield needed. 

Outside in the garden it was T-shirt weather, though a chill could be felt from about 23h30m onwards...

The clouds then slowly gathered  from the North West.



  

Dreaming of Barsoom's Clouds

June 4th 2014  - 21h 30m UT  - Schmidt C8 Celestron x220 - A:III

Outside observing tonight at 10h 20m BST. Still not quiet dark, plenty of fast moving clouds, though with enough gaps to have a decent look at Mars, Arcturus, the Moon and Jupiter.

Mars is now noticeably much smaller, though the north polar cap is still evident and bright.

A white misty patch in the seven oclock position..... I wonder if it's a dust cloud formation?.

"CLOUDS!  imagine that   :0) .... yes maybe its a cloud bank"  my mind started wandering at this point....BARSOOM !!!

Jupiter next ..... washed out and watery, hovering as it did over Gilberts' house.

There have been many times when the neighbouring roof tops have thrown my planetary viewing into turmoil, tonight was one of them. Poor old Jupiter had an attack of the wobbles.

This year I have managed my fair share of sketches of Jupiter, so I can't really complain about this evenings wobbly Jovian dance..

It's by now 11.30pm and a cool breeze whispers its arrival.... I need to grab a jumper and wooly hat! .......maybe it's time to pack up Schmidt, and head back into the warmth of the house.

Tonight I spent about an hour circling Arcturus, Mars and Jupiter...  the time flew by quickly ...though I did  spend a fair bit of that hour Dreaming of Barsoom..

Haiku time......

the clouds of Barsoom
high above the martian soil
glinting in sunlight.


Clear Skies

Mark....

Chasing Mercury's Rainbow.

This evening I traveled down to Newgale. 

Though I had to wait about half an hour for the clouds to clear off.

In that time I had the car park to myself, not a soul around, only the gentle breaking of the waves to keep me company. 

The sea was calm, the darkening sky was mottled with slow moving dense black cloud, a perfect setting to contemplate the Cosmos.

Finally the clouds gave way to the denim sky - I spotted  Mercury hanging ghost like way out to the North West, towards St David's.

I trained the Schmidt onto this tiny spot of light.

My 20mm Erfle eyepiece revealed a small shivering mass of rainbow colours...  no phase was detected.  

Time to try my luck with the 9mm Ortho.

The 9mm eyepiece revealed even prettier rainbow colours, red, yellow and a lovely greeny blue...but still no phase detected.

Really I was pushing my luck as the planet was very low down on the horizon, but given the low altitude I hadn't realised detecting the planet's phase would be so difficult.

The little Schmidt had tried it's best, but Mercury had other ideas. At one point I thought I detected a slightly gibbous phase, though I reckon this was wishful thinking on my part!

After about ten minutes of observing, the clouds were back...  time to pack away the telescope.

Even though tonight's session was cut short, it was well worth the effort to get out and about in the county.

A quick peep with Tal2

The sky last night was beautifully clear. 

So I decided to roll back the observatory roof and give Tal2 a bit of an airing.

Firstly Arcturus was spotted, the diffraction spikes around the star made for a mesmerising sight. I took a good long look at this most wonderful of stars.

My thoughts were so far away that I completely forgot about my initial target ..Mars!

Mars noticeably now has a slight case of the "shrinks", at least it does through the 9mm Orthoscopic eyepiece.

Surface detail was very low tonight on Barsoom.

It won't be long before my National Geographic Mars map is replaced with my Moon Map.

After a few more minutes of telescope observing I decided to close up the observatory, sit on the garden bench and take in the night sky without the help of visual aids.

All was quiet in the village, the streetlights had gone off, and the evening was mine to take in the starry night.

Moon, Mars and Saturn through and above the trees

Tonight the Moon  was calling me, a big bright gibbous Moon, sitting above the treeline, along with Mars.... they were irresistible! 

Plus at the other end of the garden a brilliant shining Saturn was winking at me from amongst the naked ash trees.

Definitely time to drag out the Schmidt.

I set up outside the front door, the street lights had all gone out, and the neighbour's lights all switched off...perfect for a spot of observing.

The north polar cap of Mars stood out well, plus a few dark markings. There seemed to be a hint of south polar cap, though this was probably haze or cloud.

The Moon was gibbous and very bright, almost sunglasses bright as viewed through the 25mm Kellner eyepiece (x50).

I can highly recommend wearing sunglasses for telescopically observing the bright Moon, and cheaper than a moon filter!

Saturn looked amazing tonight (x220), through the gaps in the trees I could easily detect some surface banding, with a hint of colour (brownish to my eyes). The Cassini Division was noted, but not very distinct.

Tonight was one of the best nights this year for actual observing comfort. I was sitting outside in jeans and t-shirt,  I don't often get to say that from where I live...

Fingers crossed for the warmer months ahead.


Clear "Warm" Skies

Mark

Mercurial Rainbow Dancing.

Would I see Mercury tonight?

Helen and I made our way to Newgale, we arrived at about 10.00p.m.

After about five minutes of searching I spotted a tiny point of light over towards the North West that was without doubt the planet Mercury.

Out came the Schmidt telescope, and quickly to locate the planet I put in the 20mm Erfle eyepiece (x100), followed by the higher magnifying 9mm Ortho eyepiece (x220).

What a lovely rainbow.

Due to the low altitude of Mercury I wasn't able to see any hint of a planetary phase.

All I could see was a swirling mass of rainbow colours, plus a sea breeze was nudging the Schmidt slightly.

The result of the planets low altitude, plus the sea breeze left Mercury a dance of swirling colours.

At one point I thought I had caught a glimpse of the gibbous phase, but I reckon my brain was playing tricks.

Mercury is a difficult planet to view, maybe I'll have better luck in late October when it becomes a morning object.

Mars - March 25th 2014.

Mars - March 14th 2014.

Mars - February 16th 2014.

February 4th 2014.

January 23rd 2014 "Jupiter in my sketch book...Mars on my mind".

Due to the terrible weather conditions these past few weeks I've only been able to grab a few moments of observing time. 

The rain has stopped many a decent observation!  

Lets hope February, March and April are kinder. 

Fingers crossed for excellent Mars observing over the next couple of months. 

GRS and Io.

January 22nd 2014 Jupiter.

January 20th 2014 Jupiter.

January 19th Jupiter.

Plato Sketch 09/01/14 .

Early morning Jupiter & Daylight Astronomy.

The skies were cloud free at 5.00 am , I decided to grab the C8 and does some observing, with perhaps a bit of astrophotography.

Jupiter was a splendid object, very bright in the 20mm erfle eyepiece.

All four Galilean moon were easily spotted.

With the 9mm eyepiece in place the planet's North and South Equatorial belts stood out easily.

The North and South Temperate belts were not that noticeable, the seeing wasn't as good as I had expected.

The North and South Polar Regions were visible, the South was noticeably the brighter of the two.

Here is this morning's quick sketch:

As the night turned to day I tried a bit of daylight Jupiter observing.

The image detail of the planet in broad daylight was slightly better - I took a few shots.

Mare Nectaris in a cloudy Sky.

 

Early this evening the clouds cleared long enough for me to capture a few images of Selene.

I'm still working my way around using my C8 Celestron as an imaging platform. 

The above lunar picture is my first attempt at astro imaging with a Schmidt Cassegrain telescope.

Poor seeing and naked eye Faculae - Tal2 Vs Tal1.

This morning's solar image taken with the Tal2 reflector.

Not much photographic detail I'm afraid.

The atmosphere wasn't in a cooperative mood, although the naked eye view did reveal the presence of faculae detail around active regions 1820 & 1830.

There was also faculae detail to be found some 180 degrees further around the solar limb.

Considering today's poor seeing, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the faculae stood out.

Tal2 6 inch f8 Newtonian

 Solar imaging - Tal2 verses Tal1.


These past few months most of my solar images have been taken with the Tal2 Newtonian. 

But is the Tal2 the best scope for solar imaging?

Tal2 is delivering some lovely views of the night sky, but I'm not sure its up to scratch for day sky imaging. 

Often I blame the seeing for the lack of solar detail, but maybe my choice of scope is not helping.

My 4.5 inch Tal1 reflector over the past two years, has consistently returned some lovely solar images.

I'll very soon have to wheel out Tal1 to make some comparisons.



Below is an image taken with Tal1-  just over a year ago:

Taken with: Tal1 4.5 inch f7.3 reflector

The Faculae can clearly be seen in this photograph.

Maybe Tal1 is better, compared to Tal2 for solar imaging, or maybe it's just simply down to the atmospheric conditions.

I'll have to keep experimenting.

Garden Shed Astronomy, Perseids, Streetlights.

Thanks to the mild weather of July and most of August, Helen and I have spent most of our evenings observing the stars from the comfort of our garden shed.


The only astronomical equipment I have used these past six weeks, apart from a few quick peeks with Tal2, has been my sleeping bag.

Simply lying in the shed with my head stuck out the door entrance has been a welcome change. 

It must be about six years since we were last able to sleep outside for extended periods.

At the start of July it was interesting to note that Vega around midnight was somewhat East of the zenith, whilst now around midnight some five weeks later, it has noticeably passed the zenith and is making its way Westward.

As a child, at this time of year I would spend many an evening on my parent's farm, lying in a field and watching the stars pass by.

Alternatively I would be found in my grandmother's garden lying on the garden bench, stargazing till the early hours.. often I would fall asleep!

I really enjoy using my telescopes and binoculars, but nothing beats those extended periods of simply lying under the stars and looking up.

If I had the choice of only one astronomical instrument it would be the sleeping bag, and a clear night to view by.

The Perseid Shower.   

The rising Pleiades heralds the Autumn nights

I tried to capture a Perseid meteor with our camera. 

Unfortunately those little spots of space dust had different ideas.

Several meteors were seen, but unfortunately none made it to the camera's sensor!

Never mind..  

I decided to put away the camera and retire to the comfort of the sleeping bag.

The Perseids seemed much faster this year. Out of the dozen or so I observed, only one was around first magnitude, the rest seemed to average about third magnitude.

No Streetlights

2006

2013

As you can see in the above pictures, Pembrokeshire has started to switch off it's streetlights..... 

For someone used to the darkness of the countryside, these past 12 years have been really frustrating.

Many an observing session has been cut short due to the glow of the nearby lights!

But thankfully now, on most nights after midnight, I can once again enjoy the night skies without the pallid sodium glow of those blasted streetlights.

I understand completely the need for lighting in key areas, but most of those we have in this county are not needed, and cost far too much money to justify their continued use.

I now see the Pleiades once again rising in the early morning;  a sight I have been unable to see properly from our front garden in all the time we have lived here!

The Sun walks the Preselis..

From our house the month of July is the perfect time to observe the Sun as it rises out of the Preseli Hills..

This past week or so, I have been fortunate enough to witness several of these wonderful events..

From my astro log: July 17th 2013
My vantage point was our North facing kitchen window...   a perfect spot to wait for the Sun, and also importantly I was very close to the kettle... ! Any excuse for a cup of tea... !

I waited patiently for that first glint...

It wasn't long before Sol was racing skywards.......

 

The Sun walks the Preselis.

From day to day it's surprising how fast the Sun moves along the horizon.

The varying contours of the distant Preseli Hills clearly mark the daily renewal of sunrise positions.

From observations I took on the 17th, 18th and 21st of this month you can clearly trace the speeding path of Sol...

I'm not sure how long it will be before the Sun disappears behind the neighbouring rooftops, but I'm hoping to capture a few more Preseli Hill Sunrises before that time.....

Clear Solar Skies

Mark...

Flying across the Moon.

Tal2 had no chance of spying the Moon tonight.. once again hidden by my neighbour's trees.

Though from our back door I had a clear view of the Moon, albeit a brief one.

Due to the high trees and the low Moon I had maybe 20 minutes of possible observing time.

I decided to set up my tiny 40mm refractor.

Considering it only has an objective glass of 40mm aperture, it does show a fair bit of lunar detail.

From tonight's lunar log book I note.. along the terminator, and close by:

Flammarion, Herschel, Halley, Hind, Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, Arzachel, Purbach, Walter.

Flammarion wasn't that distinct , but Herschel was an inky black pit with it's west wall lit up like a thin waning crescent moon.

I then flew over to have a quick look at Hercules and Atlas.. 

Hercules exhibited a bright central region, but the 40mm aperture did not reveal much else, Atlas was outlined well.

On the southwestern border of Mare Serenitatis (Montes Haemus) I spotted Menelaus plus a little further clockwise along the Montes, the crater Sulpicius Gallus was visible.

At least I think it was Sulpicius Gallus.... the 40mm aperture was struggling a bit.. I'll have to verify that one another night with Tal2.

Then just before the Moon sank into my neighbour's trees I quickly flew westward for a last look along the terminator.

Goodnight lovely Luna...see you tomorrow night .