5.11.09 Thursday

See the Observatory Log for more detail, but this is a picture of the arrangement in the new dome, taken this afternoon. I'm hoping I can attach the monitor to the pier so it leaves the table top and cupboard top clear.
We will be able to use the table for laptops when we work there, and will be able to drive the monitor from laptops too.
Brian

Problems -Force En Majeure

Due to primordial forces beyond the control of mortal man,

there will NOT be a workshop on Thursday 5 November.

However, there will be a minutes silence at

7 pm for the oppressed and downtrodden!

SAO68943 Chi Cygni

This is a Mira type variable star with a very wide range of brightness, 5th to 12th or less. That's a variation of more than 3000 times.
John Cox is following it an I'm helping by taking pictures of it and its field every two weeks or so.
The first of these two pictures was taken in August and the second this Sunday night. The star is the one in the middle, in the second picture it has a flare round part of it which it didn't have in August. All the kit was the same though the exposure for the first was 10x120sec and for the second it was 15x60sec.
So what is the flare? It's on every one of the subs.
Brian

This was the first Post on this Blog. Over 250 posts ago!

It shows the International space Station which

is getting brighter as they add on more bits.

It is now a faint Daylight object!

I am surprised at the number of people who have not seen it.

So if you live in England, particularly near Doncaster,

you will see it on:

14th November at 17:46, from SW to SE getting 36° high in the SE

The exact time will vary depending on where you are.

For an exact time, sign in at www.heavens-above.com

You will need to select a nearby town under configuration.

Photo D. Adshead

M42 - the first of the season

Taken by Paul Booker with an 80ED on the Meade, using his DSLR. The exposure was 17x20sec, no darks or flats used, though they would have helped as there was a lot of noise. The session was curtailed at 3.30am by cloud, just as he'd got the guiding going too. It had been a good night till then, but we'd used it for visual work with several people there. M31 was magnificent said they, the dust lanes were seen too.
Focusing proved to be a problem though, better to use numbers for it but had to use the iterations method, adjust, take a picture, magnify, judge, adjust again, take a picture etc. Time consuming. I was in charge of that, and I couldn't see the dust lanes of M31 either.
Nonetheless, a creditable result for a first.

Solar activity at last

I registered with an aurora watch site at Lancaster University about 18 months ago and never heard anything else till today, when I received an AuroraWatch red alert indicating a VERY LARGE increase in local activity. So I dusted the cobwebs off the celestron fitted the mylar filter and there was a sun spot,lets hope things are moving at last ! Regards Dave

M31 the Andromeda galaxy, a second try

Taken on the 11th of October on a reasonably good night. The target was at the top of the sky but I couldn't see the Milky Way, so there was some haze to make things difficult.
Using the FLT98 and M25C I was able to get 14 frames of 600sec, the aim was to stack them by sigma combine and still get some depth. I'd tried adding 5 min frames in pairs to get a series of 10 min frames but it didn't seem to work well so this was done with 10 min frames. Guiding was done with an H9C, nice wide field to choose stars to guide by, using two instances of AA4. Focused with a bit more care than usual. Processed in AA4 and Photoshop7. I've been admonished for using 7 and told to upgrade to CS2 at least to make use of its 16bit capability, so I probably will. I have tried to get the centre of the galaxy in the centre of the frame this time.

Olhos d'Agua - 9.10.09

A picture of the only members to turn up for an extraordinary meeting of the society on the beach of Olhos d'Agua on Friday 9th October 09.
The Bookers arrived early by plane. The Snowdens arrived late (but they did come by Taxi) and Brian sort of appeared out of the ether.
The meeting started with a drink, then had a break for a drink and concluded with a drink, to the satisfaction of all members.

Paul