Author Topic: The moon and other astronomy stuff  (Read 45158 times)

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #50 on: 21 January, 2014, 02:31:11 pm »
Slight side note : If you ever should find yourself in NZ near Lake Tekapo, pop up to the Mt John University Observatory. It is supposedly the place to be on the south island if you want to look at stars. Just make sure that you are there when the weather is good, I have missed out twice - 2010 and 2012 - due to bad weather.

Great photos chaps, I should get my camera and tripod in order, since we do have a rather clear sky up here.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #51 on: 21 January, 2014, 03:44:43 pm »
When I was over in NZ in 2010 I didn't make it as far north as Lake Tekapo but I certainly enjoyed the dark skies at Glenorchy, at the head of Lake Wakatipu.  In this early morning shot, the moon was rising behind me and my feet were frozen through.

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #52 on: 21 January, 2014, 06:21:28 pm »
Yup near Glenorchy it was rather dark, same at Mt. Cook. What I like about looking at stars, is that even if you don't know your constellations you still recognise the sky at night. Though when down under it just looked "weird" as in not the same, you are not at home.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

fuzzy

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #53 on: 22 January, 2014, 12:45:02 pm »
SWMBO has just booked this years holibob. Included is an excursion to and picnic at Mauna Kea :thumbsup:

Trull

  • The settee will kill you
    • Aberdeen Astronomical Society
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #54 on: 23 January, 2014, 06:51:31 am »
There's a Supernova in M82 right now, so you really need to make the effort to try and see it, it will apparently be brightening over the next two weeks and is ripe for the picking. The M82/M81 combo of Bode's and Cigar galaxies are one of my favourite fields of view and I can't wait to see this supernova.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/01/22/kaboom_nearby_galaxy_m82_hosts_a_new_supernova.html

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #55 on: 23 January, 2014, 09:42:01 am »
Looking forward to having a go at the supernova.  Missed the one in M101.

The thing I really like about its discovery is that it was made by a staff astronomer at the Mill Hill Observatory, the destination of a fine bike ride less than two weeks ago.  He'd been doing a normal undergraduate class when he noticed the SN.  Have you seen the earlier Virtual Star Party footage, where they had it in plain view on their screens but failed to notice it?

contango

  • NB have not grown beard since photo was taken
  • The Fat And The Furious
Re: The moon
« Reply #56 on: 29 January, 2014, 03:24:27 pm »
taken with a webcam and telescope



Wow, proof that aliens visited the moon. How else would anyone have written Logitech on the surface - surely they weren't in business when the Apollo astronauts landed?
Always carry a small flask of whisky in case of snakebite. And, furthermore, always carry a small snake.

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #57 on: 29 January, 2014, 04:36:17 pm »

Pedal Castro

  • so talented I can run with scissors - ouch!
    • Two beers or not two beers...
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #58 on: 29 January, 2014, 09:33:44 pm »
An actual piece of the Moon (brought back by Apollo 16), as seen through a microscope last week during the stargazing evening we hosted.


And me showing lunar samples to young visitors


Trull

  • The settee will kill you
    • Aberdeen Astronomical Society
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #59 on: 31 January, 2014, 05:37:52 am »
My talk at the Maritime Museum went off with a bang last night - full house, standing room only at the back!

And two members of the local CTC Grampian cognoscenti made it along too, nice to put a face to the names.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #60 on: 09 March, 2014, 12:23:13 pm »
Been mooning again.

It is simpler than it looks.

Trull

  • The settee will kill you
    • Aberdeen Astronomical Society
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #61 on: 09 March, 2014, 01:37:01 pm »
Nice terminator Jaded.

I once stood on the Earth, with a bit of the Moon in my right hand,  and a bit of Mars next to a meteorite from who knows where in my left in the sunshine. I'm not sure about the cosmic significance - but it felt pretty damn cool.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #62 on: 09 March, 2014, 02:02:34 pm »
Confectionary from Slough or planet?  ;)

Partner is exhausted by National Astronomy Week. There were apparently 460 people at Ruislip Lido last night and there'll probably be a similar number tonight.

He'd rather be cycling...

nicknack

  • Hornblower
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #63 on: 02 February, 2015, 11:34:33 pm »
The moon tonight
There's no vibrations, but wait.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #64 on: 03 February, 2015, 12:40:34 am »
It was like that this side of the Thames as well.

Snow later?
The loss of humanity I could live with.

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #65 on: 28 May, 2015, 10:43:22 pm »
My, what a lot of stars are up there when you escape from London!  I took my camera with me to West Herefordshire for a couple of days this week, and had a clear night on our friends' front lawn.

Here's Lyra set against a backdrop of many thousands of bundles of nuclear fusion


And here's the left hand end of Cygnus, with the North America Nebula below Deneb

David Martin

  • Thats Dr Oi You thankyouverymuch
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #66 on: 09 March, 2016, 07:42:05 pm »
A we thread ressurection. Two photos, the same (jpeg) original. Top one is straight out of the camera. The lower one is after some levels adjustment to selectively reduce the light pollution. (yes, OK, I should have been shooting raw, but I wasn't)

Thoughts?

Pictish stone at night by David Martin, on Flickr

pictish_edit by David Martin, on Flickr
"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #67 on: 17 May, 2016, 08:27:14 am »
It wasn't really dark when I shot this video last night.

http://vid46.photobucket.com/albums/f130/PaulRide/moonmovie_zpskhejuypw.mp4


Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #68 on: 17 November, 2016, 08:58:40 am »

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #69 on: 17 November, 2016, 09:15:45 am »
Makes a nice change from phone pics. Ta!
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #70 on: 17 November, 2016, 12:14:50 pm »
I looked at the picture and thought the man in the moon was asleep.....

fuzzy

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #71 on: 09 January, 2017, 11:47:54 pm »
Whilst I was at work today, Parcelforce delivered 2 large boxes and a little jiffy bag. The two boxes contained my first scope- Sky watcher explorer 150P complete with 10mm and 25mm eyepieces, a X2 Barlow and my EQ3-2 mount. The jiffy bag was my planetary and moon filter set.

I unpacked the gear and spent some time setting the equipment up then had dinner. As soon as I had eaten, the excitement got the better of me and I was outside where the cloud had cleared and the Moon was high and bright. I aligned the mount with Polaris and used the moon to centre my finder scope with the main scope. I then set to having a look at our nearest neighbour.

Wow! I am hooked. I spent a good 40 minutes swapping between eyepieces and the Barlow, getting a feel for how they perform and the relative merits of each combination. Having fallen back in love with the moon, I decided to try for a DSO and, utilising Starlight for guidance along with some remembered tips from Stargazers Lounge over the last few days, I located the rough vicinity of Andromeda. I aligned the scope using the finder and then started to do a bit of 'fishing'. After a few minutes of using the slow motion controls on the mount, a hazy blob came into view. I centred it and, again falling back on advice from SGL, relaxed into looking through the eyepiece and averting my gaze slightly. Before I knew it, the hazy blob had resolved into a milky cloud with a brighter heart. I was looking at my first ever galaxy! Another 40 minutes exploring the effects of the optics on my view of M31 and possibly getting a glimpse of M32 and I then had to call it a night.

A great evening exploring my new toy :thumbsup:

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #72 on: 10 January, 2017, 01:20:41 am »
Excellent!

fuzzy

Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #73 on: 12 January, 2017, 01:53:58 pm »
Well, Tuesday night was a bit of a failure.

I rode home with Venus very bright in the sky so set the rig up outside to cool while I got hygienic and changed. On going out to observe, I aligned the finder scope with Venus and looked through the 25mm wide field eyepiece. Focus was a tad marginal and light pollution from a nearby street lamp invasive. I managed to identify a disc so upped to the 10mm eyepiece. I had to do a bit of fishing round to reacquire Venus but got there. The disc was more evident but not very clear. I thought I would give the Barlow X2 a go with the 10mm so fitted it. Despite realigning with the finder, I just couldn't get my target into the field of view.
 
I decided to abandon Venus and switched to the Moon only to be clouded out :-\

Last night was much better. Re centred the finder and got straight onto Venus with the X2 and 10mm combination. A clear and distinct 2/3- 3/4 disc.

I then went Moon spotting again and I'm sure I saw mountains looming above the edge of the disc on the upper left limb as I viewed which should equate to the lower right limb by eye :thumbsup:

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: The moon and other astronomy stuff
« Reply #74 on: 12 January, 2017, 02:58:31 pm »
My greatest experience with my first scope - a 114 mm reflector - was seeing Saturn's rings & 4 moons. The missus and I got up at around 4:30 am to do it, and spent about an hour taking turns until it was too washed out to see; then we had an early breakfast and got on with the day. I remember being surprised, towards lunchtime, to find I felt a bit tired.

That was >20 years ago.  I wouldn't get up now.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight