A reason to get up early

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 22:01 Sun 14 Dec 2014

I noticed that the word 'Islay' was contained in that post. I think you should drink only Islay on the day of the eclipse.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 00:01 Tue 16 Dec 2014

Saw a couple more Germoloids this evening. Or have they all cleared up now Derek?

Post by **DRT** » 01:15 Tue 16 Dec 2014

LGTrotter wrote:Saw a couple more Germoloids this evening. Or have they all cleared up now Derek?

No, I think they are with us for a few more days. Early Sunday morning was the peak, but the band of jetsum we are flying through is very wide.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 01:27 Tue 16 Dec 2014

It's just that these were in the east rather than those in the northwest a few days back.

So the Germoloids gag isn't even worth a nod, I'm working with nothing here...

Post by **DRT** » 01:43 Tue 16 Dec 2014

LGTrotter wrote:It's just that these were in the east rather than those in the northwest a few days back.

Close your eyes and think about multiple things spinning around other spinning things whilst orbiting other things and then explain to me why something that is coming from outside all the spinning and orbiting things would appear in the same place night after night.

LGTrotter wrote:So the Germoloids gag isn't even worth a nod, I'm working with nothing here...

A mixture of anti-septic flotsam and hemorrhoids in a single word, what more needed to be said?

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 01:45 Tue 16 Dec 2014

DRT wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:It's just that these were in the east rather than those in the northwest a few days back.
Close your eyes and think about multiple things spinning around other spinning things whilst orbiting other things and then explain to me why something that is coming from outside all the spinning and orbiting things would appear in the same place night after night.

Because it often does?

And I thought you would be pleased that I noticed the direction. Shan't tell you the degrees of arc in the sky now.

Post by **DRT** » 01:52 Tue 16 Dec 2014

I am indeed pleased that you can remember which way you were facing.

To give you an idea of how random the hemorrhoids can be, this is a graphic produced by a guy named Allen from one of the cameras he had pointed at the sky on Sunday morning...

: post-25425-0-58521400-1418562882.jpg (222.37 KiB) Viewed 7137 times

Each yellow line and red dot is a meteorite burning up in the atmosphere. About 80% of them (in all directions) are Geminoids.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 01:59 Tue 16 Dec 2014

Ah, I see. I did not mean to be idiotic in my last remark; lots of stuff does seem to turn up in the same place at fixed intervals. But not these. Wrong again...

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 02:01 Tue 16 Dec 2014

What does the length of the green line represent?

The angle to the horizon I suppose.

Post by **DRT** » 09:39 Tue 16 Dec 2014

I think it is the distance from the observation site to each meteorite.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 16:42 Tue 16 Dec 2014

I've just realised that there is a pattern. None to the north east, or is that likely to be cloud preventing the observations?

Post by **DRT** » 17:18 Tue 16 Dec 2014

He had multiple cameras pointing in various directions. This is the output from one camera.

Post by **DRT** » 18:39 Sat 03 Jan 2015

A very clear 98% full Moon this evening…

: 2015-01-03 18.20.46.jpg (97.66 KiB) Viewed 7109 times

Will be staying up late to see if I can get my first glimpse of Comet Lovejoy Q3.

Post by **DRT** » 22:52 Sat 03 Jan 2015

Found it!

Just a faint fuzzy ball at the moment due to the glare from the Moon and the humid atmosphere but should be spectacular later this month when the moon goes down and it gets higher in the sky.

It is likely to be visible to the naked eye under a dark sky so anyone who fancies looking for it can use this very helpful tool to locate it. You need to change the location settings in the top right hand corner then used the drop-downs to select the current date and time and it will generate sky maps and co-ordinates to help you locate it.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 23:37 Sat 03 Jan 2015

No sighting down here. Way too much light where I am.

AW77 · Post by **AW77** » 00:01 Sun 04 Jan 2015

LGTrotter wrote:Way too much light where I am.

Is this due to your halo?

Post by **DRT** » 00:02 Sun 04 Jan 2015

Another thing to watch in the early hours is the Quadrantids meteor shower. It will happen between 1am and 3am with around 100 meteors per hour emanating from an area just to the left of the end of the handle of the big dipper. This is a quick shower with a definite peak in intensity at around 2am.

The Moon will be a problem but some of the brighter ones might still show up.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 13:37 Sun 04 Jan 2015

LGTrotter wrote:No sighting down here. Way too much light where I am.

And then the fog rolled in.

Post by **DRT** » 14:53 Sun 04 Jan 2015

You didn't miss much. I stood outside in the freezing cold for half an hour looking up at the area they were coming from and saw two dull and short streaks of light. It was washed out by the Moon.

Full Moon tonight - get your best wolf impressions ready.

Post by **PhilW** » 13:22 Sun 18 Jan 2015

No chance for a photo, but on Friday evening I did manage to view the comet Lovejoy in the telescope (in fact it was just visible with binoculars); nice clear night here, and the comet was just down and to the right a bit from the Pleiades; not much more than a dot inside a slight green fuzz/blur, but was pleased to have found it. Any pics Derek?

Post by **DRT** » 13:50 Sun 18 Jan 2015

PhilW wrote:Any pics Derek?

I only photograph by holding a digital camera up to the eyepiece so it only works on really bright objects like the Moon and planets. This would just come out completely black. The best photograph I have seen of it so far is this one...

Credit to Mark (sharkmelley) @ StarGazersLounge.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 14:08 Sun 18 Jan 2015

Does one of your super whizzy scopes not hook up to your laptop? Is that not a way to capture images?

Post by **DRT** » 14:28 Sun 18 Jan 2015

I have an astronomy webcam but have never been able to master it. I have no access to a Windows laptop and astro imaging stuff on iOS is very basic and not well known or supported. I will be getting a solar telescope for my 50th birthday and plan to spend some time with that and the webcam trying to master the technique. That will be so much easier than fumbling around in the dark on a freezing cold night.

To create images like the one above you need lots and lots of very expensive, specialist gear. I am determined not to go down that road for the sake of my bank balance!

Post by **DRT** » 18:01 Sat 24 Jan 2015

Time for a Moon...

: 2015-01-24 17.44.38.jpg (253.16 KiB) Viewed 7061 times

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 23:21 Sat 24 Jan 2015

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

Post by **jdaw1** » 23:50 Sat 24 Jan 2015

Could you add an arrow pointing to Beagle 2?

AW77 · Post by **AW77** » 23:55 Sat 24 Jan 2015

Isn't Beagle 2 close to Terrier 3?

Post by **DRT** » 00:13 Sun 25 Jan 2015

djewesbury wrote: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 8241 times

With this eyepiece...

: TeleVue-Nagler-T5-31mm.jpg (26.25 KiB) Viewed 8241 times

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

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 00:14 Sun 25 Jan 2015

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

Post by **DRT** » 00:19 Sun 25 Jan 2015

djewesbury wrote:Blimey. The hand grenade is a serious optic. Very nice.

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

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 00:19 Sun 25 Jan 2015

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

Post by **DRT** » 00:26 Sun 25 Jan 2015

djewesbury wrote:Or, 950g of glass and 60g of aluminium?

Something like that.

Here it is with its friends...

: DRT-optics.jpg (51.49 KiB) Viewed 8232 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 · Post by **djewesbury** » 00:28 Sun 25 Jan 2015

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

Post by **DRT** » 00:31 Sun 25 Jan 2015

djewesbury wrote: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 · Post by **AW77** » 00:35 Sun 25 Jan 2015

DRT wrote:
djewesbury wrote: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 · Post by **djewesbury** » 00:37 Sun 25 Jan 2015

DRT wrote:
djewesbury wrote: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!

Post by **DRT** » 00:54 Sun 25 Jan 2015

djewesbury wrote:
DRT wrote:
djewesbury wrote: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 8223 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.

Post by **DRT** » 00:55 Sun 25 Jan 2015

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

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 00:56 Sun 25 Jan 2015

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

Post by **jdaw1** » 16:13 Tue 27 Jan 2015

Calling the Derbyshire National Observatory:

The BBC, in an article entitled [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31001936]Distant exoplanet hosts giant ring system[/url], wrote: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. · Post by **Glenn E.** » 18:43 Tue 27 Jan 2015

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

Post by **jdaw1** » 23:54 Sat 07 Feb 2015

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)

Post by **DRT** » 00:33 Sun 08 Feb 2015

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 8201 times

The Planets Today reveals why…

: 8 Feb 2015.png (140.42 KiB) Viewed 8201 times

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

: 30 Aug 2015.png (135.12 KiB) Viewed 8201 times

Post by **DRT** » 09:03 Sun 08 Feb 2015

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.

Post by **jdaw1** » 09:44 Sun 08 Feb 2015

Good diagrams showing apparent proximity of Neptune and Sun.

Turning to the Haumean question:

Wikipedia wrote: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.

Post by **DRT** » 11:07 Sun 08 Feb 2015

jdaw1 wrote:Good diagrams showing apparent proximity of Neptune and Sun.

Turning to the Haumean question:
Wikipedia wrote: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 · Post by **LGTrotter** » 11:55 Sun 08 Feb 2015

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

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 11:59 Sun 08 Feb 2015

LGTrotter wrote: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.

Post by **DRT** » 12:14 Sun 08 Feb 2015

djewesbury wrote:
LGTrotter wrote: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.

Post by **jdaw1** » 12:19 Sun 08 Feb 2015

DRT wrote:I have the coordinates of Haumea for midnight tonight.

I’m pleased about that being consistent with

jdaw1 wrote: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.