Skip to main content

News and views

 Hello folks.


Well I've not posted anything on here in a very long time.

Truth is. I keep forgetting that I have this blog, so I don't think about writing articles or observing reports to post on here.

I must try harder 😃

So What have I been up to?

Apart from work getting the way, and the lousy weather- I've been busy imaging and observing our star with a Quark eyepiece and a dedicated 4 inch F5 Achromat. 

The "Q" allows the user to view the Sun in glorious HA light, so you are seeing the Sun in Hydrogen Alpha, as it was 8 minutes ago.

When I look at the Sun or see an image on the computer screen. I never tire of looking at what's going on in the Chromosphere of this mighty orb. The Sun is after all our life line and it is worth mentioning that it is the only star we can see up close, and study. And what a star!

At the moment the Sun is very active and has many AR, active regions. Some of which are so active. They are "Burping" and sending out Coronal Mass Ejections "CME" these huge clouds of hot plasma can sometimes be Earth bound, so the CME's are eventually going to interact with the Earth's protective Magnetic Field. So keep watching Space Weather's web site for more details. About when you are likely to see an AURORA from you're latitude.

JUICE.

That's JUPTER-ICEY-MOONS-EXPLORER, and not a band. Is now on it's way enroot to the king of the planets "Jupiter"

But we have a problem. The Radar antenna that they are using to penetrate under the Ice of Europa and Callisto to check for water and "Life". Is stuck. 

It appears there is a tiny pin in the way, preventing the Antenna unfurling. Is it the Spector of the late Galileo orbiter interfering with JUICE. You'll remember Galileo was in a similar position, and had to rely on it's low gain antenna to send singles back to Earth.  

Engineers are confident they can problem solve, of the stuck antenna by gently rocking the space craft with it's thrusters. Hopefully this will free the obstruction and allow the antenna to open. Fingers crossed it works.

Now the longer day's of late Spring are here. The weather is being very un-cooperative. I haven't known a period such as this without a clear sky on Friday-Saturday since before January. This is very annoying as we are now heading into the last weeks of Spring. 

Galaxy season is almost over. And I have missed it again! I want to use the SCT "C9.25" again, for some much need visual Mk1 eyeball observing. As well as Solar observing and imaging.

But the weather isn't playing ball. But we live in hope.

Stay tuned for more visual observing updates when I can get out. And the odd image!

Keep Looking Up.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IC 1805

The skies on Thursday evening were for the second time. Very clear. This allowed me to use my Canon 1000D and 200mm telephoto lens, on the Heart Nebula. I shot 24 x 5-minute exposures for this nebula, through an Optilong UHC filter. The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) is an emission nebula located at an approximate distance of about 7,500 light years from Earth, in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is also known as Sharpless 2-190 (Sh2-190) or the Running Dog Nebula because, when seen through a telescope, it looks a bit like a running dog.  I have not seen or heard this name before. The nebula has an apparent magnitude of 18.3 and an absolute magnitude of 6.5. It is 150 arcminutes in size and known for its intensely red glowing gas and dark dust lanes forming a shape that resembles a heart symbol. The Heart Nebula forms a famous complex known as the Heart and Soul with its smaller neighbour Westerhout 5, also known as the Soul Nebula, which lies just 2.5 degrees to the southeast. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Good By Orion

Good evening "Skywatchers" Well, what do you know? We have had three evenings with clear skies and know Moon. Surely this has to be a record for British Skies and Astronomers. Last night I wanted to say farewell to our old friend Orion. So- I spent the evening imaging the area surrounding the three belt stars and Messier 42. The camera was my trusty Canon 1000D and the lens, my new Tamron zoom. I had that set to 140mm at F9. Here then are 34x3 minute exposures Un-guided.
Post a Comment
Read more

September

I've just notice that it's been eight months since I last posted anything in this blog. So I think it's time I made amends. I've not really been doing anything over the Summer month's, and what a Summer too. I have been able to study the Sun now I have another scope. I bought myself a nice little Acuter AZ mount and Skywatcher 102 Maksutov back in June. And surprisingly the weather didn't break. I brought the Mak for white light solar observing and imaging. And it is perfect for this. So when the Sun is visible, you'll find me at the end of my Canon EOS 1000D, merrily imaging. I typically shoot 1/1000 second at ISO 800. This helps to freeze the seeing. The images are then resized before stacking in Registax. Here is one example. I have been very busy with my local Astronomical Society too. I am the Observing Director for Macclesfield As, and I have recently been chosen to stand for committee at Octobers AGM. This is a great honour for me and I hope ...
Post a Comment
Read more