Observing Session Summary - Saturday 15th February 2014

Butser Ancient Farm was open Saturday. Invited my brother along for his first free session. Was very glad he came. The full Moon was out so didn't expect to get all the targets I had planned earlier that day. However, we had a good go.

I used 'Philip's Stargazing with Binocular's' and February's Sky At Night magazine binocular's tour to plan the session. Here I provide the list of targets and a summary of the observations.

Kembles Cascade: Had another go given I couldn't find it in January. I successfully starhopped to the right location but I believe the Moon made it difficult to pick out the cascade of stars.

M36, M37 and M38: These are all in a similar location in the Auriga constellation. I was tough to find them. They were very faint but pretty sure I got them.

M41 & M44: I hadn't realised but these were in the same part of the sky as the full Moon (in the East) so had no luck.

M81 & M82: Was very keen to see these since the supernova in M82 was peeking and a good target for binocular's. However, unfortunately, the Moon was also the reason I could not do the star hop to find them.

Here is a link to my session log:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Q_jaEOMLGVakhUQm10OUdNQU0/edit?usp=sharing

I have also been working on a list of the tasks to plan and log a session. Once I have this complete I will post the basics here.

Stargazing in Tenerife

Arrived in Tenerife Tuesday Evening (February 4th) with my sister. Through a little research and word of mouth I found out that Tenerife is an excellent location for astronomy. So I packed my binoculars with the hope of doing some observing.

On Wednesday (our first day here) we found that an organised stargazing excursion called ´Teides by Night´ was available that very evening so we booked up immediately.

Among many other interesting facts learnt on the 1 hour coach journey to the observing site we learnt that mount Tiedes is ideal for astronomy due to it´s dry atmosphere and elevation. There's even a professional observatory on the mountian. Apparently there are only a few locations in the world with better conditions for observing than Tiedes.

We were 2,000 metres above sea level. This was higher than the cloud cover around Tenerife so we had no risk of weather impeding our view. We had to wrap up warm since the temperature this high was around 10 degrees celcius lower than at sea level. However, the chill was little distraction from the view of the heavens we had. Even with the Moon partially lit and before our eyes adapted to the dark, the skies were incredible. I haven´t seen that many stars with the naked eye before. I could see the Andromeda galaxy with the unaided eye and had some great views of the Orion Nebula through the binoculars.

The tour guide was also excellent and very knowledgable. He even provided us his personal email address in case we had any questions later. It´s great to have a potential contact on the island that could help me progress my new found passion for astronomy.

Observing Session Summary - Saturday 25th January 2014

Had a very successful session at Butser Ancient Farm last night between 7-10.30pm. Was a bit windy and cold but very good clear skies.

I used the observers year section for Janaury in ’Philip’s Stargazing With Binoculars’. Here is a list of all the targets I went for and successfully saw - Collinder 65 (Orion), Collinder 70 (Around Orions Belt), M1 (Crab Nebula), M35 (Open Cluster) and M50 (Open Cluster). Here's a link to my session log that includes a little more detail of the observation.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Q_jaEOMLGVU3prbmZPX0VwMkk/edit?usp=sharing

Also, since a few people had their Dobsonian telescopes trained on M82 I had the opportunity to see the new supanova.

Introduction to Astronomy

Attended the HantsAstro Introduction to Astronomy class yesterday evening (13th January). It was a refresher really since I attended the class back in November. There were more people this time. Last time I had the sole attention from the Dave the facilitator.

Class was good second time round. I feel I am getting more familiar with astronomy terminology, certainly where astro-imaging is concerned. However, I need to walk before I can run. Also, I am feeling more confident in where I would like to take astronomy. I am thinking I will go for a dobsonian telescope. More specifically one of the Meade Lightbridge range. Need to start saving those £££.

First Observing Session At Butser Ancient Farm (BAF)

My HantsAstro multi-site pass came just before Christmas and I had the first chance to use it last night (9th January). Gates opened at 8pm and I was there not long after, and stayed until about midnight.

The HantsAstro lot are a really good bunch. Very friendly and helpful and got the chance to do some viewing through some good scopes; an Altair Starwave 70ED and a 10 inch Skywatcher Dobsonsian.

Sky was very clear; the Moon was just over half full, so this did mean some parts of the sky were not available for observing. However, it provided some good opportunity for some lunar observing and to see if my Meade 10x50 bins were any good. Image was very sharp but I did get some reflection inside the bins. However, Dave (HantsAstro founder) informed me that this was refraction in the prism since the Moon was so bright and it wasn't anything to worry about.

I had a go at trying to observe Kemble’s cascade. Not much luck. I think it was due to the Moon’s brightness and the fact that it was quite near the zenith which meant I had to strain and could hold the view for too long. Hey Ho, I'll give it another go at some point.

Trying to keep a log of all my observing so have provided a link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Q_jaEOMLGVb2F0aGV5WUdyRzQ/edit?usp=sharing

Lastly, I was surprised how much dew can be a problem. I took a small picnic table to put my stuff on and within a hour my books and other gear were damp. Might need to rethink the table idea.

Visit to Winchester Planetarium

Attended the 'Light Fantastic' show with my brother and sister at the planetarium at the Winchester Science Centre yesterday (Saturday 4th January). The graphics were amazing. Totally recommend a visit. They are doing shows most days throughout the year.

It was raining when we went in, however, when we left we were blessed with a lovely clear sky. We took the scenic route back to Havant which took us through the South Downs national park. We stopped of down a quiet road for some naked eye observing.

Christmas Astronomy Gifts

Here are 2 gifts I got for Christmas that are now proudly mounted on my living room wall. My brother is an excellent artist and drew this picture of Albert Einstein. My sister got me this great print of M42 (the Orion Nebula)