August 27th 2300 GMT Planetary and Deep Sky Session
It was the witching hour and I saw Saturn through my
Maksutov at 48x magnification. Even with such a small apparent size, it was a
splendid sight. I had trouble finding it in my WiFi electronic eyepiece, so
resorted to my DSLR instead, using 1.54 metres focal length, ISO 400 and 1/100
second exposure. I used ISO 6400 and 1/3 second exposure to hopefully capture
any moons.
I took then combined the shots to end up with this result.
I repeated the same with Jupiter. The moons were pout of focus and the planet was underwhelming.
I removed the DSLR from my telescope and attached my 75 to
300mm zoom lens. I set the focal length to 100mm, ISO to 6400 and exposure to 6
seconds. I used Jupiter's moons as a starting point and took some dark
frames.
At 100mm focal length, I could not separate the moons from each other but at least I got them.
Then I overlaid the image of Jupiter on top of it.
Before getting back to my intended targets, I bagged a couple of meteors.
Naturally, I did a close-up of the first and brighter of the two.
First up was my old favourite Melotte 20.
Next up was the Constellation of Aries. I saw what looked
like a star cluster near Alpha, something I had never seen before. I also saw a faint meteor shooting up from the direction of Jupiter.
I repeated the shot for Triangulum.
I also caught a couple more meteors.
Although it was too low in the sky I just had to photograph
the Pleiades.
Time for bed said Zebedee! (for old folk who can still
remember)
August 26th 2215 GMT Moon
The Moon was very low in the west and I had to go out into
the neighbourhood to see and photograph it. I took several shots at 1.54m focal
length, ISO 100 and 1/100 second exposure. I stacked 5 images using Avistack and finished in GIMP.
I then followed up with some closeups using my WiFi
electronic eyepiece. With the Moon low in the sky, I was only able to capture one imaging run. However, using a new micro SD card adaptor solved the issue of transferring files to my laptop.
August 26th 1115 GMT Sun
Conditions had worsened since the night before. I was able to see a close sunspot pair just about to rotate off but I was sure that many others were hiding behind the clouds.
August 26th 2345 GMT Visual Session
After a cloudy day with rain at times, some stars appeared.
There was still more than enough moving cloud to deter me from trying to
photograph anything. I was not deterred from taking my binoculars out, though.
Jupiter was fading in and out of view but when clear showed two moons to the
west. Saturn would have looked more like a flying saucer, had I not known about
its rings.
The star cluster in Perseus, known as Melotte 20 showed but
was somewhat disappointing compared to its appearance in a clear sky. Neither
M34 nor the Double Cluster were visible at all.
The Andromeda Galaxy showed as a large, fuzzy patch. Just as
I was about to call it a night, I saw the famous Pleiades, about 25 of them.
Again, it was not at its best and I hoped to get some better photo and visual
opportunities later in the year.
August 24th 1930 GMT Moon
Most of the sky was cloudy but there was a clear patch to
the south. The Moon was just past first quarter but appeared to be south of the
ecliptic, as it was very low. I took my larger binoculars out.
Due to libration, Tycho and Clavius were both on the
terminator and showed well. It was nice to see Tycho as a regular crater, much
as I enjoy sèing and photographing its ray systems at a full moon.
August 23rd 1200 GMT Sun
I bin scanned the Sun in clear skies. Although this may not
seem particularly exciting for non-astronomers, I saw a new large sunspot that
had rotated on from the far side.
August 22nd 1110 GMT Sun
Despite the clear sky, I was only able to see two sunspots.
August 20th 1205 GMT Sun
After witnessing a special point in history for the second
time in my life, I saw the England Ladies play in a World Cup final. Unlike
their male counterparts on that memorable day in 1966, the Lionesses
lost. In years to come, I will remember that it was their first appearance in
the final and the only one that any England team had been in for over 57 years.
I was a primary school student in 1966 and a pensioner in 2023.
At the final whistle, I checked the Sun and it felt an
anti-climax but saw four sunspots, one more than the day before. I also
reflected that in 1966, I showed a solar projection of the Sun to my assembled
classmates in 1966.
August 19th 0920 GMT Sun
Our car was so full on holiday that I had no room for my big
binoculars and solar filters. I finally saw the Sun in a clear-ish sky for what
seemed ages and saw three sunspots.
August 27th 2300 GMT Planetary and Deep Sky Session
It was the witching hour and I saw Saturn through my
Maksutov at 48x magnification. Even with such a small apparent size, it was a
splendid sight. I had trouble finding it in my WiFi electronic eyepiece, so
resorted to my DSLR instead, using 1.54 metres focal length, ISO 400 and 1/100
second exposure. I used ISO 6400 and 1/3 second exposure to hopefully capture
any moons.
I repeated the same with Jupiter. The moons were pout of focus and the planet was underwhelming.
I removed the DSLR from my telescope and attached my 75 to
300mm zoom lens. I set the focal length to 100mm, ISO to 6400 and exposure to 6
seconds. I used Jupiter's moons as a starting point and took some dark
frames.
At 100mm focal length, I could not separate the moons from each other but at least I got them.
Then I overlaid the image of Jupiter on top of it.
Before getting back to my intended targets, I bagged a couple of meteors.
Naturally, I did a close-up of the first and brighter of the two.
First up was my old favourite Melotte 20.
Next up was the Constellation of Aries. I saw what looked
like a star cluster near Alpha, something I had never seen before. I also saw a faint meteor shooting up from the direction of Jupiter.
I repeated the shot for Triangulum.
I also caught a couple more meteors.
Although it was too low in the sky I just had to photograph
the Pleiades.
Time for bed said Zebedee! (for old folk who can still
remember)
August 26th 2215 GMT Moon
The Moon was very low in the west and I had to go out into
the neighbourhood to see and photograph it. I took several shots at 1.54m focal
length, ISO 100 and 1/100 second exposure. I stacked 5 images using Avistack and finished in GIMP.
I then followed up with some closeups using my WiFi
electronic eyepiece. With the Moon low in the sky, I was only able to capture one imaging run. However, using a new micro SD card adaptor solved the issue of transferring files to my laptop.
August 26th 2345 GMT Visual Session
After a cloudy day with rain at times, some stars appeared.
There was still more than enough moving cloud to deter me from trying to
photograph anything. I was not deterred from taking my binoculars out, though.
Jupiter was fading in and out of view but when clear showed two moons to the
west. Saturn would have looked more like a flying saucer, had I not known about
its rings.
The star cluster in Perseus, known as Melotte 20 showed but
was somewhat disappointing compared to its appearance in a clear sky. Neither
M34 nor the Double Cluster were visible at all.
The Andromeda Galaxy showed as a large, fuzzy patch. Just as
I was about to call it a night, I saw the famous Pleiades, about 25 of them.
Again, it was not at its best and I hoped to get some better photo and visual
opportunities later in the year.
August 24th 1930 GMT Moon
Most of the sky was cloudy but there was a clear patch to
the south. The Moon was just past first quarter but appeared to be south of the
ecliptic, as it was very low. I took my larger binoculars out.
Due to libration, Tycho and Clavius were both on the
terminator and showed well. It was nice to see Tycho as a regular crater, much
as I enjoy sèing and photographing its ray systems at a full moon.
August 23rd 1200 GMT Sun
I bin scanned the Sun in clear skies. Although this may not seem particularly exciting for non-astronomers, I saw a new large sunspot that had rotated on from the far side.
August 22nd 1110 GMT Sun
Despite the clear sky, I was only able to see two sunspots.
August 20th 1205 GMT Sun
After witnessing a special point in history for the second
time in my life, I saw the England Ladies play in a World Cup final. Unlike
their male counterparts on that memorable day in 1966, the Lionesses
lost. In years to come, I will remember that it was their first appearance in
the final and the only one that any England team had been in for over 57 years.
I was a primary school student in 1966 and a pensioner in 2023.
At the final whistle, I checked the Sun and it felt an anti-climax but saw four sunspots, one more than the day before. I also reflected that in 1966, I showed a solar projection of the Sun to my assembled classmates in 1966.
August 19th 0920 GMT Sun
Our car was so full on holiday that I had no room for my big
binoculars and solar filters. I finally saw the Sun in a clear-ish sky for what
seemed ages and saw three sunspots.
August 19th 2315 GMT Visual Session
The clear sky promised by the weatherperson did not happen.
My original idea was to catch some Perseid meteors, which can still appear for
a week or two past the peak. I checked for them visually several times but did
not see any. It was likely that many faint ones were obscured by cloud. I took
my 15x70 binoculars out.
Even some of the brighter deep sky objects, such as Melotte
20 and the Andromeda Galaxy were hiding behind various layers of cloud at
times, although I saw them.
Saturn showed its oval shap, suggesting rings but I have
never resolved the gap between the rings and planet. Jupiter showed just a
single moon. I had trouble finding and seeing M13 but the fainter M15 showed,
although only just. I also saw the Wild Duck cluster but decided to try
photographing it on a clearer night. Low in the east was the Pleiades star
cluster but I could only see about 20 stars, far less than I can see one clear
autumn or winter evening.
I finished the session by spotting Albireo, Delta and
Epsilon Lyrae, Nu and 16/17 Draconi, ending with Mizar and Alcor. A further
wait for meteors came to nothing.
August 16th 2140 GMT Binocular Session
I was hoping for some Perseid shower meteor photos, even
though it was past its peak. Unfortunately, there were only clear patches of
sky and not usually enough to fill a whole constellation. I was able to see
some objects through my 7x30 binoculars. I saw the main cluster members of
Melotte 20. I did not see the Andromeda Galaxy straight away but its fuzzy
appearance was obvious, once that part of the sky cleared. Jupiter had risen
but I could not see any moons. I also saw M13 but it was barely perceptible,
same with the Wild Duck Cluster (M31).
The double stars in Lyra, Delta and Epsilon split easily but
I could not split Albireo. I split Alcor and Mizar and that was that for the
night.
August 15th 2230 GMT Meteor Search
With some clear sky, it was almost dark. I set my camera at
the usual settings of 18mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 6 seconds exposure. I
then hoped.
August 14th 2210 GMT Constellation shoot
it had been a mostly cloudy day and evening but a small
period of clarity began soon after 2200 GMT. I browsed the northern sky with
small binoculars. I saw Melotte 20 and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). I also split
Mizar and Alcor. At 2211 GMT, I saw a very bright Perseid meteor.
I proceeded to perform a constellatio shoot, while
simultaneously checking for further meteors. I used 18mm focal length, ISO 1600
and 30 seconds exposure, aiming at Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Herculean and Ursa
Minor, in turn.
I caught a Perseid meteor while imaging Cassiopeia. The Milky Way showed well and it was nice to catch a meteor as well as several deep sky objects.
Naturally, I also did a close-up.
The Cygnus shot came out well. I caught the Milky Way and the Coathanger.
I also caught Hercules and Corona Borealis in a separate shot.
The final image was of the Plough and Ursa Minor.
I saw a fainter sporadic meteor at 2324 GMT, a Perseid
meteor at 2330, a sporadic meteor at 2337, with some further Perseid meteors at
2339 and 2340. There was no further activity in the final 10 minutes, as cloud
moved in.
August 11th 2140 GMT Meteor Hunt
It was clear in parts, although Perseus was clouded out. I
set a camera at my usual settings and hoped. Unfortunately, unlike the 9th, I waited in vain.
August 10th 0010 GMT Moon and Jupiter
I seemed to have problems capturing the Moon and Jupiter on
camera. I used ISO 6400, 18mm focal length and 1/10 second exposure in the end.
August 9th 2130 GMT Meteor Hunt
It was the time of year when any self-respecting astronomer
and also those like me, who gave that up decades ago, turns their attention to
meteors. it was less than 100 hours to the peak of the Perseid shower. I aimed
my camera with Cassiopeia in the centre of the field of view and hoped. I used
my normal settings of 18mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 6 seconds exposure.
August 9th 0900 GMT Sun
I had a million and one things to do but it had seemed like
years since I had photographed the Sun. I took my Mak and DSLR out and took
some full disc shots. I used 1540mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second
exposure, as usual.
August 6th Meteor Reprocess
I reprocessed a meteor shot from June 25th 2029, producing a
wide field image and closeup.
August 6th 1020 GMT Sun
Not for the first time in 2023, there was plenty of cloud
around. Fortunately, some gape appeared and I was able to see some sunspots. I
saw four of them, suggesting that the Sun was becoming more active.
August 6th 0020 GMT Visual Session
After a day of heavy rain, it cleared somewhat but there
were still some thin clouds around. I had a look round with my 15x70
binoculars. The Moon was low and a bright waning gibbous phase. The southern
craters showed well, with Tycho's rays rather diminished from how they appear
at a full moon. Copernicus and Kepler showed well, both with much smaller ray
systems.
To the west was Saturn, with its rings nearly edge-on. To
the east, Jupiter shone brightly but I could not see any moons. It was not a
good time for deep sky objects but I could see the brighter stars of Melotte 20
and a wispy shape of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). it was a rather pleasing
session, given the recent lack of activity.
August 5th Meteor Reprocess
August 4th 0650 GMT Sun
Despite the presence of sunspots of the Learmonth images, I
could not see any through my binoculars and filters.
August 1st 0610 GMT Sun
In total contrast to recent days, I woke up to bright
sunshine. My binoculars and filters showed two sunspots.
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