A reason to get up early

[jdaw1]

Could you add an arrow pointing to Beagle 2?

[AW77]

Isn't Beagle 2 close to Terrier 3?

[DRT]

That's beautiful. Can you let us know which of your scopes you used?

It was one of these:

SkyWatcher FlexTube 300P.jpg (12.43 KiB) Viewed 5065 times

With this eyepiece...

TeleVue-Nagler-T5-31mm.jpg (26.25 KiB) Viewed 5065 times

Otherwise collectively known as "a 12 inch Dob and a hand grenade".

[djewesbury]

Blimey. The hand grenade is a serious optic. Very nice.

[DRT]

Blimey. The hand grenade is a serious optic. Very nice.

Certainly is. It's just over a kilogram of glass and aluminum.

[djewesbury]

Or, 950g of glass and 60g of aluminium?

[DRT]

Or, 950g of glass and 60g of aluminium?

Something like that.

Here it is with its friends...

DRT-optics.jpg (51.49 KiB) Viewed 5056 times

That little lot translates to about two cases of Fonseca 1970 at full retail. Lucklily these things keep there value so one day they might actually turn into two cases of Fonseca 1970

[djewesbury]

Oh god. It's like I'm back drooling over £5000 sets of Russian prime lenses for 16mm cameras. Stop now.

[DRT]

Oh god. It's like I'm back drooling over £5000 sets of Russian prime lenses for 16mm cameras. Stop now.

If you speak to me nicely I'll show you my DiElectric Star Diagonals and my Herschel Wedge

[AW77]

Oh god. It's like I'm back drooling over £5000 sets of Russian prime lenses for 16mm cameras. Stop now.

If you speak to me nicely I'll show you my DiElectric Star Diagonals and my Herschel Wedge

I this the star-gazers version of: "Would you like to come up and see my etchings?"?

[djewesbury]

Oh god. It's like I'm back drooling over £5000 sets of Russian prime lenses for 16mm cameras. Stop now.

If you speak to me nicely I'll show you my DiElectric Star Diagonals and my Herschel Wedge

If you do, I'll delete your spelling crime!

[DRT]

Oh god. It's like I'm back drooling over £5000 sets of Russian prime lenses for 16mm cameras. Stop now.

If you speak to me nicely I'll show you my DiElectric Star Diagonals and my Herschel Wedge

If you do, I'll delete your spelling crime!

I'd have to photograph them so not tonight. By way of compensation here is a photo of my new Lunt 50T H-alpha solar telescope that Jo has bought for my birthday in March. That's another case of F70 that I can't have

Lunt50Ha.jpg (97.77 KiB) Viewed 5047 times

...but it allows you to view detail on the surface of the Sun and prominences/flares coming off the rim. I am told the views are stunning.

[DRT]

I'm off to look at Jupiter's GRS...

[djewesbury]

Wow. This is going to be the National Observatory when Derbyshire gets independence.

[jdaw1]

Calling the Derbyshire National Observatory:

Astronomers say they have discovered a planet with a gigantic ring system that is 200 times larger than that around Saturn.

…

The researchers are encouraging amateur astronomers to help monitor J1407, which would help detect the next eclipse of the rings. Observations of J1407 can be reported to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO).

Links: American Association of Variable Star Observers; and the discoverers’ press release.

[Glenn E.]

Apparently that asteroid that just flew by has a 230-ft wide moon. Seems like a legit target for DRT!

[jdaw1]

There has been some discussion on a Wikipedia talk page talk page about strength of the 12:7 resonance of Haumea (dwarf planet) with Neptune. Please could the Derbyshire National Observatory, at next opportunity, confirm the visibility of Haumea.

Keck Telescope, CalTech, 05:41, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

[DRT]

There is a small problem.

Neptune is currently in this position at dusk, and below the horizon by the time it is dark…

Sunset 8 Feb 2015.png (85.29 KiB) Viewed 5025 times

The Planets Today reveals why…

8 Feb 2015.png (140.42 KiB) Viewed 5025 times

Remind me to look +/- 4 weeks of the end of August…

30 Aug 2015.png (135.12 KiB) Viewed 5025 times

[DRT]

I have been searching around for observing reports of Haumea and have drawn a blank. I did find a couple of astro photography reports but they are meaningless in relation to the question asked.

Haumea is roughly Magnitude 17, which means it is very, very faint. The brightest stars you can see under clear skies are Mag 1. Mag 2 stars are approximately 2.5x dimmer than Mag 1; Mag 3 are 2.5x dimmer than Mag 2 and so on. Pluto (which I have never heard of as having been "observed" is Mag 15, so is more than six times brighter than Haumea.

Sir William Herschel catalogued thousands of celestial objects in the late 18th century using a forty foot long telescope with a primary mirror that was four feet in diameter. Browsing through his catalogue for ten minutes did not reveal any objects dimmer than Mag 15. Although a very few amateur astronomers have large telescopes, the lost common "Big Dob" in use today has a twelve inch mirror and is approximately five feet long. See image of SkyWatcher FlexTube 300P above.

I very much doubt that Haumea is visible to 99%+ of amateur astronomers, not only due to the limitations of their equipment but to the effect of light pollution that simply didn't exist when these very dim objects were first discovered using gigantic instruments.

[jdaw1]

Good diagrams showing apparent proximity of Neptune and Sun.

Turning to the Haumean question:

With a visual magnitude of 17.3, Haumea is the third-brightest object in the Kuiper belt after Pluto and Makemake, and easily observable with a large amateur telescope.

As it was first observed in December 2004, and its orbit takes 284.12 years, I guessed that it wouldn’t have moved far and so would still be visible in winter.

[DRT]

Good diagrams showing apparent proximity of Neptune and Sun.

Turning to the Haumean question:

With a visual magnitude of 17.3, Haumea is the third-brightest object in the Kuiper belt after Pluto and Makemake, and easily observable with a large amateur telescope.

As it was first observed in December 2004, and its orbit takes 284.12 years, I guessed that it wouldn’t have moved far and so would still be visible in winter.

This might be a controversial statement, but I don't think absolutely everything on wikipedia is 100% accurate

I misinterpreted your first post to mean that Haumea was currently close to Neptune in the sky. I now realise that the question at hand is to what degree the objects affect one another. I have no idea where Haumea currently is but will find out and take a look.

The fact that these objects were unknown until only a decade ago suggests to me they are not "easily observable with a large amateur telescope". But I will try.

[LGTrotter]

Also, I lost a pen on my last spacewalk if you could have a look for it Derek.

[djewesbury]

Also, I lost a pen on my last spacewalk if you could have a look for it Derek.

This thread should be closed now that it has achieved perfection.

[DRT]

Also, I lost a pen on my last spacewalk if you could have a look for it Derek.

This thread should be closed now that it has achieved perfection.

No. It's a five year mission, to boldly go where no drivel has gone before...

I have the coordinates of Haumea for midnight tonight.

[jdaw1]

I have the coordinates of Haumea for midnight tonight.

I’m pleased about that being consistent with

As it was first observed in December 2004, and its orbit takes 284.12 years, I guessed that it wouldn’t have moved far and so would still be visible in winter.