Monthly archives: February, 2013

Imaging/Observing Session 19, Feb.

Wow. Two clearish nights in a row. Objects: Jupiter, Clavius Crater- The Moon, The Double star Almaak, M51 and two Caroline Herschel objects NGC2204 and NGC381. Session Started 19:27Seeing: II Slight quivering of the imageTransparency: Poor. The Milky way was invisible and only principle Constellations stars were seen below a altitude of 45 degreesAirmass at time of observation: Jupiter – 1.2 , Clavius Crater- The Moon – 1.2 , Almaak – 1.3,  M51 – 1.8, NGC2204 –…


Imaging/Observing Session 18, Feb.

Session Stats Session Started 18:56Seeing: II Slight quivering of the imageTransparency: Poor. The Milky way was invisible and only principle Constellations stars were seen below a altitude of 45 degreesAirmass at time of observation: Jupiter -1.2 , Moon- 1.2 Objects: Jupiter and Magnius Crater, The Moon The new weather station has now been up and running for the last three weeks and has been logging all sorts of data. I’m not sure which data…


Country Life

While astronomy and photography are my two main interests in life, the ongoing refurbishment of a small cottage set in 8 acres has given me an appreciation of living in the country. While sailing, walking and being away from anything involving a big city has always been pleasurable, it’s not until you live in the boondocks for a while, that you start to notice what’s going on around you on a daily basis. This…


2012 DA14

Well the much publicised arrival of the Asteroid 2012 DA14 finally came yesterday evening.  I was at two minds as to whether to go to my local Astronomy Club’s Friday meeting,  as if it was clear, then I would have had a better opportunity of viewing/imaging this Asteroid from my own observatory, than just by looking through a few hastily assembled scopes. Unfortunately, I was right. While conditions were good, they weren’t good for…


Par Docks

A series of images taken last August at Par Dock. A number of us were very fortunate to have a guided tour of the area for a couple of hours. The Dock played a pivotal role in the export of China Clay from Cornwall, but a decline in the industry and changes in the way clay  is now transported, means part of the dock is now undergoing development into a marina. The guided tour…


Observing Session: 2, Feb

Objects M44 (Beehive, NGC 2632, Collinder 189, Melotte 88, Raab 75, OCL 507)  followed by Jupiter Conditions: clear with a few isolated clouds low in the West. Seeing was excellent with only momentary quiver. Transparency was good but towards the end of the session became poor followed by complete cloud cover. Observations: Made between 20:55 and 22:20 GMTAirmass at time of observation: M44 -1.5 , Jupiter- 1.3 It’s been a while where the forecast…