First sunspot of the year - for me at least.

You can just make out the spot, just off centre of the image.

Granted not the best picture, but I'm happy just to be outside solar imaging again.

The little 70mm refractor is not that brilliant for solar photography, especially if your aim is good quality solar photos, but it is ideal for projecting and sketching the sunspots.

November the 7th 2019  was the last time time I viewed a sunspot, happy to see one today.

Lets hope 2020 reveals many more sunspots..

December frost and Venus returns

Through the viewfinder

The first day of December and the skies are blue over Pembrokeshire.

Also the winter frost is upon us, a welcome sight, considering the deluge of rain these past couple of weeks... Thank you sky gods !

Venus make a welcome  return tonight, haven't seen her for several months.

Pulled out the old Hitachi digicam and captured a few Venus shots.

Venus amongst the trees

She dipped down under the Preseli hills at around 5.15pm, leaving behind a beautiful crescent Moon.

A perfect evening for all Pembrokeshire Astronomers

Nos da Venus 

A good start to this Christmas month.

Mercury Transit from Cardigan

We have been waiting to witness a Mercury transit for many a year, always the weather has misbehaved ... not today!

The transit began at 12.35pm and went on for about five hours.

The huge scudding black and white clouds hampered the viewing session, which meant that between 12.35pm and 2.00pm I only managed about five minutes of actual observing..... it was a perfect five minutes.

The little refractor and digicam behaved beautifully, and returned several photos that I later processed. 

The results can be seen on this blog post.

We decided to go to Cardigan, as I reckoned the weather would be kinder to us. 

It was a great afternoon, some people stopped and asked what was going on, a few had a quick peep at the little planet's progress, plus we met up with a dear friend and drank tea in the camper van. 

By 2.00pm it was obvious that the clouds were winning the day, so we slowly packed up.

Cardigan was completely clouded out for the May 2016 Mercury transit, but today's Cardigan allowed that small five minute window.  

Diolch Aberteifi.!

Trying out my old digicam.

Last night, the gibbous Moon shone down over Crymych, I set up the small refractor and experimented a bit with my trusty old digicam. 

The same camera I used for taking many of my solar pictures back in 2011-2013.

Considering the camera has been kept in a drawer for the past few years, it still worked well. 

With luck, the transit next week will be within the grasp of the little refractor.

This morning I made a quick sketch of last night's Moon (Mare Imbrium region).

Today has been the first noticeably cold damp day this autumn, time to put the heating on!

As soon as the Sun allows, I will be outside with telescope and digicam capturing Sol.


Clear Skies

That perfect 1970s evening.

Waiting patiently for the Moonrise.

The lunar eclipse was upon us:

The evening clouds held to the west, the eastern skies were clear.

It was time for the eclipse to unfold. 

All we had to do now, was wait for the Moon to make an appearance.

Sitting patiently in the camper van, waiting for the eclipse to begin.

We parked up just outside the sleepy village of Hermon, all was quiet, a hush that only eclipses bring descended over the Pembrokeshire countryside.

This was to be the quietest lunar eclipse I have witnessed in many a year.

The last really quiet lunar eclipse was back in February of 2008, but that was in the early hours of the morning, when most people were asleep.  

The stillness of this evening, the quiet countryside, the subtle colours of the darkening sky, all added up to remind me of my childhood astro observing, way back near the end of the 1970s.

Back then astronomy was different from what it is today.. How?

Well, the skies were clearer, with fewer aeroplanes, less contrails, less turbulence.

Back then the stars did seem sharper, the winters were definitely colder, and the light pollution was non existent in this part of the country.

Tonight's sky had all of those attributes going for it.

Tonight was that perfect 1970s evening.

Touch the stars

Haven't posted a blog post since December!.... wow, the months have flown past. 

Here's one of my favourite  episodes from The Sky at Night.

This episode was recorded back (1977) when Pembrokeshire had beautiful light pollution free skies.

Pembrokeshire has pretty good night skies now, but compared to the pristine skies of my childhood, the Milky Way is but a ghost of its former self. 

Years ago the winter stars seemed to be within arms reach, you could almost touch them. 

The Milky Way used to glow with an ethereal brilliance. 

I could talk (rant) for hours about the dangers of light pollution..

Thankfully you don't have to listen to my diatribe. There is a book that will explain it all.

If you want a good read about the problems of light pollution, 

I  highly recommend "The End of Night" by Paul Bogard.

Earth-grazing Geminids.

Picture credit: Robert Ayton *

This years Geminid meteor shower will reach its peak early this coming Thursday morning (about 2.00am).

Most of the meteors between midnight and dawn on the 14th will be fast moving and have a comparatively short trail.

Beautiful to see..... But as always I'm hoping to see the so called Earth-grazers, those early evening meteors that skim the longest path across our atmosphere, much brighter and slower moving than the later evening/early morning main display.

Over the years I have seen several Earth-grazers, or bolides/fireballs as they are also called.

In my experience, the best time for a chance to see the Earth-grazers seems to be the early evenings a few days before and after the Geminid peak.

A few years ago I spotted a bright bolide breaking into what looked like three distinct separate meteors, I was on Newgale beach at the time looking east....Even though the Sun had not long set,  daylight was still very much evident..

That particular bolide was clearly seen in a blue sky, imagine how bright it would have been in the darkness!

Picture source: Sky & Telescope

Most of the fireballs/bolides I have seen have been in the month of December, and apart from being very bright and slow moving, to my eye they had a tinge of green in them.

For the next week, as the night descends, I'll be wrapping up warm, keeping as far away from streetlights as possible and directing my gaze eastwards.

If memory serves, most of my sightings of the Earth grazers have occurred between Sunset and about 8.00pm

Now all we need is a few clear night!


Good luck , lets hope we see some celestial fireworks.

* Robert Ayton was the artist who illustrated that beautiful little Ladybird book "The Night Sky" 

Author: Mary T. Bruck.

Leonids over dark skies 2018

Waldo Stone - photo: Helen Lee

We stayed the night out on Rhosfach common, perfect for astronomy, no light pollution, no street lights and plenty of open sky .

I was dozing for most of the evening and at around 01h30m I ventured outside to do a bit of Leonid fishing.

Within a couple of minutes a sporadic meteor was spotted out towards Orion, followed quickly by a sporadic over near Gemini.

It was cold outside with a slight breeze, but not noticeably freezing. Within the next minute  I spotted my first Leonid, a moderate to fast moving streak of greenish tinged flame shooting  towards the Plough.

This classic shooting star was unmistakeably a Leonid, the ionized trail was some 5 degrees in length and eminated from the direction of Leo.

I only stayed outside for about twenty minutes, in that time I spotted six meteors, only two of them were obvious Leonids.

After twenty minutes the cold night started to bite,  time to get back to the warmth of the camper van.

Looking forward to the Geminids next month.

Just look at those stars.!

June 14th 21h15mUT Maksutov 90mm x100 AIII/IV

Out towards the south west, Jupiter stood all alone, in a beautiful clear darkening sky.

The Great Red Spot (GRS) was in mid transit at 20h51m UT tonight.

By my clock it was just past 21h05m UT, I was in luck and quickly grabbed the Mak90.

After a couple of minutes setup I was observing the Jupiter dance. 

The GRS was easily seen; just about midway on Jupiter's disk.

The seeing this evening was terrible, I was surprised to have seen anything of the GRS.

A good night for naked eye and maybe binoculars, not a good night for telescopes.

Sometimes it's better to just put away that telescope, find a dry patch of land, lie down and simply look up at the stars.

Tonight is one of those nights.

"Double glazed" Mars filters.

June 4th 03h15m UT x125  Mak90 -  Diam: 15.8"
(via-Double glazing filters)

A few mornings ago I tried my hand at Mars observing... through one of our bedroom windows!

Not my first choice of observing methods, but I wanted to see how "bad" Mars could be, as viewed through a "double glazing" filter.

Setup of the 90mm Mak was easy and within a minute, via a 10mm eyepiece, I was sailing over Mars, looking at a wonderfully massive south polar cap.

The dark band adjacent to the polar cap was easily seen.

Mars at the moment has to it a slight gibbous phase, which was easily picked out at x125.

It would have made more sense to go outside and view the red planet, but I was half asleep and didn't feel like dragging myself out into the garden. Something which I will remedy over the next month or so. 

By July I expect to be camped out on some distant hill in Pembrokeshire, unwilling to move until this Mars opposition is over!

June 4th 2018 03h15mUT

In conclusion I had a good peep at the South Polar Cap, which will be interesting to observe as it recedes in the now martian summer. 

Plus some dark banding was easily detectable on the edge of the entire polar region.  

Also the gibbous phase could easily be detected.

All in all not a bad result for viewing through a "double glazed" filter!  

Last night's Jupiter sketch

Last night's planetary sketch of Jupiter.  

22h00m UT Antoniadi II/III 

Skywatcher  90mm Maksutov x125

It was great to be outside last evening under the stars. 

Even better to be able to grab a decent sketch of the planet Jupiter, with the added bonus of capturing the Great Red spot.

90mm Maksutov telescope

That "mighty" Maksutov 90mm telescope is able to deliver great views of the planetary features, and considering its small aperture, I'm well pleased with the final results. 

This little scope, so far; has returned some lovely images of double stars, craters of the Moon and now I find that Jupiter is also holding up well...  I hope Mars is as good in July.

The crow ship returns.

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them"

Marcus Aurelius.

Recently, whilst spying Algeiba through the Maksutov, I noticed to the south west and low over a nearby roof top, that familiar of constellations "Corvus" the raven, or crow as it is also called.  

It is also known as the "Spanker" due to its resemblance to a type of boat sail.  

The constellation may be named Corvus, but to my eyes, it looks nothing like a big black bird!

Few of the constellations take on the actual shape they depict, but in the case of the "Spanker" the stargazers of old were spot on.  

Is that a spanker sail.? maybe~maybe not!

It's good to see Corvus again, a sure sign that summer will soon be calling.

Grab that telescope - Quick!

Screenshot of Mercury from WinJUPOS software March 16th 2018 - 19h15mUT

The sky was full of lingering clouds, big black Venus and Mercury obscuring clouds!

It took a little time for my cloudbusting to work, but finally the bulk of the cloud parted to reveal a brilliant Venus, and just above and slightly to the right a glorious and very welcome Mercury.

It must be three years since I last spotted the winged messenger.

Due to the often cumulus filled horizons of this county and probably most counties in the United Kingdom, Mercury remains hidden from view for much of its possible observing season.

To the southwest a cloud bank was moving ominously westward, by the look of the formation I had maybe a five minute window to catch a peep of this fiery Sun hugging planet.

The Maksutov came to mind, light weight, portable and easy to set up.

Setting up on the garden bench was easy, with a 10mm eyepiece in place, red dot finder trained , I was up and observing in about two minutes total.

Mercury had about it an obvious crescent phase

As it happened I managed a whole ten minutes of planet peeping. 

Even though, it was worth the mad rush of setting up the telescope. It’s often like  this in Pembrokeshire. 

If I see the gaps in the sky, I have to rush and grab the telescope, hesitate and all is usually lost for the night!

Yet another reason to own a “grab and go” telescope.   

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.

Beltane Moon

 “Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself.”   Bashō Matsuo

Oscar & Mark

From the darkening Mayday sky the Beltane Moon was calling.

Helen and I dragged out "Oscar" the beast of telescopes, our 12 inch reflector.

The Theophilus chain (Theophilus, Cyrillus, Catharina) stood out well tonight, highlighted beautifully along the terminator.

After taking a few more photographs I sketched the three craters using Conte pencil and Ink.

01/05/2017 - A:III 300mm/f5 Newtonian

The five day old Moon

Shows south Theophilus chain 

three beautiful pearls

Helen Lee

When the wind blows.

VENUS - February 26th 2017 - 18h 15m UT- Jason 60mm/f15 O.G.

This chilly February evening still gripped by the days north wind didn't at first inspire confidence of an observation of Venus.

But as the sky darkened and the many clouds turned to black, Venus in solitude shining brightly in the west silenced my wintry complaints.

The Jason (60mm/f15) refractor was close to hand and within minutes was in the back garden, partially protected by hedge and shed wall.

Tonight would allow a test of my new "plastic" Huygens eyepieces.

Three oculars in all, a 20mm, 12.5mm and 4mm.

I had no idea how well they would work on such a bright object as Venus.

Being that all three are about the cheapest eyepieces you could buy I didn't have high expectations.

The 20mm and 12.5mm eyepieces returned lovely sharp views of the planet, with no false colour noted.


Next was the real test, the 4mm! Again a surprise, no false colour, no sparkly rainbow effects, just simply an enlarged sharp image of the waning crescent Venus.

To begin with I was dubious that any of the three eyepieces would deliver a clear image, probably the colour correction was helped by the focal length of Jason, being an f15 scope it is very forgiving of cheap eyepieces.

If I had used a telescope of f5 focal length I would probably have seen a lovely rainbow and fireworks display, I will have to try out these eyepieces on my f5 reflector one day soon.

After making a quick sketch of Venus it was time to pack up.

The north wind and the ever multiplying clouds told me to clear off and go back to the warmth of our kitchen..!

I was more than happy to oblige.

Venus and the Beehive.

It was cold outside tonight, and the wind was starting to pick up. It would have made more sense to stay indoors, but the promise of Venus through Oscar's optics was calling me.

Venus sketch - post Photoshop

Tonight's image of Venus showed a distinct crescent, a very bright crescent.

I tried out the 80a blue filter on the 9mm ocular, it helped reduce the glare. 

We didn't stay out long;  after a quick glance at M44 the Beehive, Rigel, Aldebaran, the Hyades, and the Orion Nebula, it was time to pack up and retire to the warmth of the house.

It may not have been a long observing session, but it was completely worth the effort of hauling the 12 inch Dobsonian outside, albeit for only twenty minutes.

Radio astronomy in Australia (1958)

It's that time of year when the clouds invariably fill the night skies, and all astronomy activity is put on hold!

My thoughts as usual turn to radio astronomy. 

Astronomy has always been my main hobby, but it is followed closely by my interest in the radio spectrum, especially the amateur (ham) and radio astronomy frequencies.

Thanks to the winter cloudy stuff, often at this time of year I'm unable to collect starlight with my telescopes, but collecting  cosmic radio waves through the clouds is no problem with the right radio receiver.

Recently I've been able to catch up with a couple of vintage radio/astronomy related programmes.

This past month has been pretty clouded over, with the odd clear night allowing some beautiful views of Orion and friends.

Apart from a few quick glances of Venus through the 60mm refractor, I haven't taken the telescopes out at all this month!

Fingers crossed for some decent observing in January.....


Happy New Year and clear skies for 2017

Mark & Helen.