Author Archives: FJA

Deep Sky Binocular and other stories

I’ve added a new page to the ‘Articles’ section. It’s a follow-up to the AL binocular Messier project I did and is about my little project to observe the objects listed in the Astronomical League’s Deep Sky Binocular Club list. This wee projectette lasted from October 24th 2008 until June 19th 2010 and I observed all the objects on the list. Some were easier than others and some took more than one attempt to find, thanks to conditions on the night, but I got them all eventually. Click here to see the article.
I could, I suppose, send my observations in to the AL and claim the certificate and pin, as I did with the Messier list, but I let my membership lapse – at £40 it is a little expensive for what you actually get – and haven’t the spare funds to renew it at present. I will renew it eventually and do some more of the observing projects. Judging by what I see and hear, both at home and over in the US, observing programs (particularly organised ones like the AL’s) are more popular State-side than they are here. I’ve no idea why that is the case, I suppose it’s because we English don’t like sticking rigidly to anything!

My 18 inch scope is now complete, David has received the payment ok (I am always a little worried that bank transfers will vanish into the ether!) and I am hoping to go and collect it tomorrow, barring any hitches with work/vans/travel/whatever. It’s up in Nottingham, which is a fair trek from the Island, a 400-mile round trip via the A3M, M25 London Orbital and M1 motorways. This will be my only chance to collect it before the end of the month, so I hope that there are no hitches, last minute or otherwise, tomorrow!

I don’t think the new scope will go in my little Citroen C3; it would fit in it ok, but actually getting it into the car in the first place would be a problem, due to lack of clearance on the tailgate. I’m planning to get a new car anyway, I’m fed up with driving such a small car and getting run into the hedge by idiots in 4x4s, it isn’t that cheap to run either and it is starting to cost me money in repairs, so if I am going to change it I may as well get a bigger vehicle while I’m at it. The next car will be something like a Ford Focus estate (estate=station wagon in the US) – something large enough to fit a scope in. Unfortunately, that might mean scrapping any plans for a trip to Australia in 2013, but needs must – there’s no public transport here, we’re in an isolated community and a reliable car is essential. Whatever car I end up getting, and whenever it will be, I will be measuring it to see if my telescope will fit…

It’s nearly done!

My 18 inch dob is nearly completed. I had an email from David today to say that he hopes to get the construction finished tomorrow, then it will be painted, assembled to make sure it goes together ok and then checked. I am hoping that it can be collected next Wednesday, otherwise it won’t be before the 30th at least until I can do so, which would be frustrating given that there have been unavoidable delays with the completion. However, being able to collect it on Wednesday depends on some work stuff not getting in the way (as it could well do!), vehicle breakdowns and David not running into any unforeseen problems with the final completion – Sod’s Law being what it is, I won’t be at all surprised if something happens!
I’m also hoping that my ankle is well on the mend by then (it’s not doing too badly, the cast is off, I am back at work – although not driving – and I am down to using one crutch rather than both) and this crap weather clears up (it’s been the coldest and grottiest summer for 17 years and September has brought mostly force 8 gales and rain so far).

Galaxy clusters, faint PNe, difficult Palomars and faint nebulae await! By the way, if you have large glass (>16 inches) and are looking for observing ideas beyond the bright NGCs, then you can do no better than to visit my friend Alvin Huey’s Faint Fuzzies site, Steve Gottlieb, Mark Wagner and Jim Shields’ Adventures in Deep Space or another friend’s site, Ray Cash’s Deep Sky Page.

Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd)

It was a lovely clear night last night, typical when you can’t make full use of it. Serious deep sky observing was right out of the question because I can’t set up or use my 8″ or 12″ scopes, so I decided to compromise, hobble outside and sit on a garden chair to view Comet Garradd, currently in Sagitta, instead with my 8×42 binoculars. As it turned out, the comet wasn’t visible with the binocs, so I got my aunt to bring out my little Vixen refractor, camera tripod and eyepieces.

The comet was easily visible with the little refractor at 17x. It was a very pale greenish-white, not quite round and brighter towards the middle. It was around magnitude 7-8. I compared it to the globular cluster M71 and there was not a lot of difference in brightness.
I didn’t do a sketch because, with my foot in plaster and being on crutches, things are just too much hassle at the moment, and a sketch was just one more thing to do.

A detailed finder chart for C/2009 P1 (Garradd) can be found at the Skyhound website. In the meantime, here’s a Megastar chart with Comet Garradd’s position as of 28 August 2011 indicated by the red arrow. I removed all the DSOs (not that Sagitta is particularly blessed with lots of DSOs) except M71, which I left in for comparison.

 

Ankle v pothole…

…ended 1-0 to the pothole.

 

There’s no observing for me for a bit. I have a suspected fracture of my right ankle after going ‘a over t’ outside local attraction Dinosaur Isle  (a.k.a. Dead Lizards) in one of our esteemed local council’s infamous potholes this morning. Dead Lizards belongs to the council, so I have phoned the council’s property services department and complained. A polite-but-aggrieved letter will be following.
I am going through an accident prone phase, what with a sprained ankle almost exactly one year ago, a torn knee in May and now this.

I hope my new scope isn’t completed for a few weeks as I won’t be able to use it. 🙁

Armageddon

The sunset tonight was one of the most dramatic I have ever seen, the sky looked as if it was on fire. It looked apocalyptic. Maybe it’s a sign of things to come…thunderstorms, torrential rain and localised flooding are forecast for the next 24 hours. No observing tonight.

I grabbed my Canon 7D, stuck my cruddy wide-angle on it and took the following photos. Apart from cropping and a bit of sharpening, I have not doctored them in any way to make them more dramatic (but they are underexposed by a stop, to prevent the highlights burning out). The dead tree at top left adds to the apocalyptic feel.

Red sky at night…

The evening of 21st August looked promising, with a few high clouds, so I set up the 8 inch again. I wanted to get the 12 inch out but I’d been out all day, and had got up at 7.30 that morning so I frankly couldn’t be bothered. The clouds made a spectacular red sunset again so their photo was taken. The quality isn’t the best because my wide-angle lens, a basic Canon 18-55 kit lens, is as ropey as hell although a new lens is pretty low on my list of priorities.


My targets were in Sagittarius (Among others, I wanted to see NGC 6822; I’d seen it from Australia in 1997 but not from the UK. It should be relatively easy at -14 dec) and Aquila but, as it got dark, it became apparent that I wasn’t going to do any observing in Sagittarius, as it was completely murked out, so I switched my attention to Aquila, which was still clear. A bit fell off the equatorial mount at one point, but this didn’t affect its performance.
I did an SQM reading before I began, this was 20.80, which corresponds to a NELM of 6.0.

Date: 21st August 2011
Conditions: Some high cloud, 4th quarter Moon not yet risen, humid, warm
Seeing: II – Good
Transparency: III – rather poor
NELM: 6.0 to 6.1
Equipment: 8″ f/4 equatorial Newtonian; Televue 22mm Panoptic (36x), Televue 15mm Plossl (53x), Televue 8mm Radian (100x) and Televue 5mm (160x).

NGC 6760, globular cluster in Aquila – Round, quite large and moderately faint. Found easily at 36x. At 100x it is unresolved. Still unresolved at 160x. Brightens to a compact core. 36x, 100x, 160x.

NGC 6749, globular cluster in Aquila – Very small and quite faint. Not resolved. Lies in a rich area. 36x, 100x, 160x.

At this point I took an reading with the borrowed Sky Quality Meter (I must get myself one of these but, like the wide-angle lens, it’s fairly down my list of priorities) and it was 21.02, which equates to 6.1 on the visual scale. Not bad for a pretty average night and confirms my average naked-eye estimates.

Looked for the planetary nebula NGC 6852, also in Aquila, but failed to find it. I don’t have much success with Aquila planetaries! Will try this again next time.

NGC 6934, globular cluster in Delphinus – Bright, small and round. Unresolved at 100x and 160x. Compact. There is a mag 9 star just to the west of the cluster. 36x, 100x, 160x

I packed up at 2345 as the Moon was rising and my feet hurt after being on them all day! I only managed three objects – my sessions seem to be like that at the moment thanks to a combination of conditions and having to be at work the following morning.

More ‘Glorious Globulars’ – well, two of them

Yesterday, 19th August, was one of the every-other-day warm and sunny ones in this strange mixed bag of a summer. The evening was cloudless and, although the Moon was going to rise before it got astronomically dark and it was forecast to cloud over later, I decided to set up the 8″ Newtonian and catch some low southern globulars. The 8″ is a good scope to get low objects because its tripod is higher than my 12″ scope’s Dobsonian mount and, as such, I can get at the hedgehopper objects, objects that are inaccessible with the bigger scope.

Date: 19th August 2011
Conditions: Clear at first, rising 75% illuminated gibbous Moon, dew.
Transparency: I, deteriorating later on as clouds appeared
Seeing: III
NELM: 5.9 under the gibbous Moon
Equipment: 8″ f/4 equatorial Newtonian. Televue 22mm Panoptic (36x), Televue 15mm Plossl (53x), Televue 8mm Radian (100x), Televue 5mm Radian (166x) and Televue 3mm Radian (267x).

NGC 6642, globular cluster in Sagittarius – Found easily at 36x, it is small, bright and round. Unresolved at 53x and remains unresolved at 100x although it does look slightly granular. Condenses to a bright core. Outlying halo looks granular but not resolved. 36x, 53x, 100x

Palomar 9 (NGC 6717), globular cluster in Sagittarius – You see the word ‘Palomar’ and you think ‘not easy’ but this one is not that hard, even in an 8″. However, it would be easily overlooked if you weren’t actually looking for it. Palomar 9 is right next to Nu 2 Sgr, a 5th magnitude star, and is slightly overwhelmed by it.
Pal 9 is very small round patch with a brighter, tiny, core. Totally unresolved. 100x, 160x, 267x.

I packed up at 2330 because clouds were forming, as forecast, and the Moon was getting higher. I only observed two objects in 50 minutes, as most of my targets were getting too low and had vanished behind the garden hedge.

 

A mixed bag

This summer has been a bit of a weird one. One day it is sunny and 32C/90F, while the next day it’s cloudy, raining and cold. It’s not just been a typically varied English summer, it’s been strange with the temperature variations – I wish the Jet Stream would sort itself out and get north of Scotland, where it is supposed to be and not lurking over the south of England! Observing opportunities have been quite rare. This time last year, I’d had 4 observing sessions in August but, this year, it’s been one. Not all the nights have been cloudy, there have been 5 clear nights so far (still, a pretty crappy return nonetheless) but most have been around the gibbous Moon. August is never a good month, traditionally it is a mixed bag so I’m hoping that as autumn sets in, the percentage of clear nights will rise – this is usually the case.

Our local astronomy society, Vectis AS, has a Unihedron Sky Quality Meter for members to use. I have currently got it, having picked it up at last week’s Perseid Party, and have only played with it so far as the Moon is in the sky. Under a 95% gibbous Moon last week, the reading was 19.45 which equates to 5.1 limiting visual magnitude. Last night, with a rising 75% gibbous Moon in the sky, the reading was 20.60, which is a naked eye visual magnitude of 5.9. I’m looking forward to using it under a really dark, Moonless autumn or winter night. I might get myself one of these, they’re expensive at around £145 each but it will give a more objective reading of the sky quality than just looking up, hunting for the faintest star visible and saying ‘Oh, that’s 6.0’ or whatever – it’s easier, too. My friend Stephen, who owns the site where we had our Perseid gathering last week, has one permanently fixed to his roof and gets readings in the high 21s. My home site is not as dark as that one (I am located just outside the ‘Bay Area’ of Sandown and Shanklin, although it’s not as bad as it could be) as he’s in a blue zone while I am in a green zone, but I should get readings in the high 20s at least, and the 21s on very good nights.

I did get a short session in last night, 19th August, and it was a short one, too. I got 50 minutes before the Moon and clouds interfered, which I’ll put in a separate post.

Perseid Party – with no Perseids

Despite the fact it was nearly full Moon, there was a small gathering at a friend’s house last night to watch the Perseid meteor shower. The weather forecast was lousy but we decided to get together and have a barbecue anyway. The clouds showed little sign of shifting, with only the occasional sucker hole showing tantalising glimpses of the stars beyond.

This garden, belonging to fellow VAS member and Isle of Wight Star Party organiser Stephen, is in an enviable spot on the south coast of the Isle of Wight and in a blue zone, with views over the sea and an unobstructed southern horizon. It’s darker than the garden at home and, as it has that unobstructed view of the south I am going to be doing some observing there on occasion with the 8″ (I am not sure my 18″ will fit into my little Citroen C3). On a Moonless night, the only form of light pollution is St. Catherine’s Lighthouse, whose beam sweeps the hillside above the garden every few seconds, but it doesn’t actually interfere with night vision as the beam is blocked by trees to the west. An observer in the garden is also below the beam. There are, of course, also large ships passing on their way to and from the port of Southampton but they don’t hang around, fortunately.

Despite the rubbish observing conditions we had a good time and were treated to a spectacular view of the Moon reflecting off the sea as it shone through breaks in the clouds, and even through the clouds when they thinned enough. We didn’t see a single meteor but had a nice time, nonetheless.

 

Driving home around midnight, I couldn’t help noticing the sheer amount of streetlights and (in)security lights everywhere. There’s absolutely no need for these lights in rural areas but there are so many of them, it’s depressing. It’s also depressing how most members of the public seem to need the ‘blanket and teddy bear’ (as my friend Ted Saker puts it) of outdoor lighting so when the council come to renew the lights, as they’re supposed to do in the next few years, you can bet they won’t be actually thinning the damn things out a bit. However, the new ones are supposed to be cut-off fixtures, so the overall light pollution should be reduced quite significantly.
On a related note, while watching the TV news coverage of the riots, mayhem and looting in England’s major cities last week, I couldn’t help noticing that the crimes were all carried out in the full glare of the street lights! That’s another nail in the coffin of the mantra ‘lights deter crime’, I hope.

It’s another cloudy Moon-ridden night tonight but what a spectacular sunset there was. I don’t like clouds, at all, but they do provide some drama.

18″ progress

I had an update on the progress of my new 18″ today. It should have been finished, or nearly so, around now but the completion date has been put back a few weeks due to complications with a prior order. It’s a bit frustrating, of course, when you’re itching to get your hands on a nice shiny new bit of kit, but it can’t be helped and these things happen. The good news is that the upper tube assembly is done and the mirrors have also arrived. Anyway, 5 to 5.5 months is actually a pretty good lead time for a completed premium scope, I know people in the States who have to wait anything between eight months to 2 years for their scopes, unless they’re getting Obsessions which are ‘off the shelf’ scopes – and even then the mirrors have long lead times.

Hopefully it won’t be too many weeks until it’s ready, then the skies will be nice and dark and the weather – I hope!! – will have cleared up a bit!

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Nothing to do with astronomy, I see that the BBC are going to pull the plug on their Wildlife Fund. This is a shame as, despite half-assed support from the BBC, it has raised £3 million since its inception in 2007 for good wildlife causes. It’s even more of a shame when you consider the effort the Beeb put into Children In Need, Comic Relief and Sports Relief – if they’d been half as enthusiastic about their Wildlife Fund it could have helped so many more wild animals and their habitats: habitats and animals that our species is destroying at a prodigious and terrifying rate. People might argue that the human fundraisers are more high profile and people care more about them but I disagree – it’s because the BBC have done nothing, or next to nothing, to promote the Wildlife Fund yet everything to promote the other fundraisers. To me – at the risk of getting outraged emails – wildlife and the environment is every bit as important as the other good causes, maybe even more so. However it seems that a lot of people, including the BBC, care about children but not about the environment that those children, like all of us, live in.
There’s a petition here if you’d like to sign it.