Astronomy

[keith lockey]

Thursday November 1 2012 (8. 30 pm)

Are there any astronomers out there.

We have a beautiful moon to the east and a bright planet to the left of it. I think it is Jupiter but I am not sure. I am interested in astronomy but just getting started.

Please help.

Edited April 1, 2013 by threegee

[Vic Patterson]

Jupiter it is! Can not see it from here (snowing)

[keith lockey]

Thanks for confirming it, Vic. There was also a bright star (object) to the right of the moon, lower down, and I don't know what that was. To be honest there are not that many good night sky astronomy sites about, very frustrating. The clouds have obscured everything here, so i can't see anything either.

Edited November 1, 2012 by keith lockey

[Vic Patterson]

I'm certainly no astronomer but do enjoy the night sky, especially watching the ISS going over. Here in the mountains there is very little if any light pollution, my daughter has a computer connected telescope! (but they live in a city and drive out to use it) my son showed me his phone "AP†showing the heavens live even in the daylight! all GPS generated!

I remember in the early 60's watching Telstar when "Arthur†could link up with it from Goonhilly Downs!

Just Googled for tonite and the other one should be Capella!

[keith lockey]

I saw Capella on one of the sites, Vic, but I didn't think it was that. I may have been wrong. I, too, have problems with light pollution, that and the fact I live in a cul-de-sac.

[John White]

No problems with light pollution here chaps:

http://www.kielderobservatory.org/

Coming soon will be an audio replay of a Synergy Drive interview, by my friend & colleague, astronomer Geoff Fox, when he visited the observatory back in March.

Edited November 2, 2012 by John W. SNRG

[Brett]

If you have a decent phone there is Google Sky Map which is really good for identifying such information Keith.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid&hl=en

Download and install it to your phone then you hold your phone up in the direction you are looking and it identifies what it is that you are looking at.

[keith lockey]

No problems with light pollution here chaps:

http://www.kielderobservatory.org/

Coming soon will be an audio replay of a Synergy Drive interview, by my friend & colleague, astronomer Geoff Fox, when he visited the observatory back in March.

Me and a friend were going to book into an event up there once - thinking we would be staying for the weekend. But it transpired that we would have to drive there and back every night - rather than stay. To be honest i couldn't afford it at the mo. But thanks for the link.

[keith lockey]

If you have a decent phone there is Google Sky Map which is really good for identifying such information Keith.

https://play.google....stardroid&hl=en

Download and install it to your phone then you hold your phone up in the direction you are looking and it identifies what it is that you are looking at.

Brett, my mobile phone was used by Catweazle. It is that old. But cheers anyway. Going out with my bins tonight again if it's clear. (Jupiter! I actually saw Jupiter. My one ambition is to see Saturn's rings. Dream on, Keith, dream on.)

Edited November 2, 2012 by keith lockey

[Malcolm Robinson]

I saw a full moon last night...........ooops sorry it was Wor Lass bending over!

[keith lockey]

I saw a full moon last night...........ooops sorry it was Wor Lass bending over!

Did you see Uranus?

[Malcolm Robinson]

Had to be a contortionist to do that wouldn't I keef2?

[Symptoms]

Keith - once you get hooked on this you'll want more and more info about what you're looking at, and more expensively better kit.

Bins are great to start with but buy yourself a Planishere for about a fiver ... you'll need to go to a bookshop in the Toon. It's a circular plastic map (slightly smaller than a LP record) of the sky which you 'dial' in time & date then you invert it and it'll give you a map of the night sky. Obviously, the sky changes each night hence the time & date dial; you must also get one calibrated for your nearest latitude ... so don't be temped to get one off ebay as they also have a lifespan.

You'll get some great views of the moon with your bins but decent study will be affected by hand shake so if you can rest the bins on something. Then frustration kicks in 'cos you want more detail and more clarity on the planets. Even a cheapo spotting scope (£50ish) is better than bins and these come with a tripod threaded socket (a camera tripod will fit) ... you'll then be able to see the moons of Jupiter. But then the frustration kicks in again, you want to see more .... oh, dear - planning application for observatory in back garden.

Do get yourself onto the moors on a clear night, wrap-up well in a sleeping bag, lie on the ground and be knocked out by what you see.

Yep, it happened to me.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Symptoms

[keith lockey]

Keith - once you get hooked on this you'll want more and more info about what you're looking at, and more expensively better kit.

Bins are great to start with but buy yourself a Planishere for about a fiver ... you'll need to go to a bookshop in the Toon. It's a circular plastic map (slightly smaller than a LP record) of the sky which you 'dial' in time & date then you invert it and it'll give you a map of the night sky. Obviously, the sky changes each night hence the time & date dial; you must also get one calibrated for your nearest latitude ... so don't be temped to get one off ebay as they also have a lifespan.

You'll get some great views of the moon with your bins but decent study will be affected by hand shake so if you can rest the bins on something. Then frustration kicks in 'cos you want more detail and more clarity on the planets. Even a cheapo spotting scope (£50ish) is better than bins and these come with a tripod threaded socket (a camera tripod will fit) ... you'll then be able to see the moons of Jupiter. But then the frustration kicks in again, you want to see more .... oh, dear - planning application for observatory in back garden.

Do get yourself onto the moors on a clear night, wrap-up well in a sleeping bag, lie on the ground and be knocked out by what you see.

Yep, it happened to me.

Thanks Symptoms, I actually have a Philips Planisphere and Moonmap (the moon was my first fascination and still is.) But either I am thick (probable) or I am reading the planisphere wrong but I can't work it out properly. (I'm also in the middle of house refurbishment so everything is packed away. My Bins are 12X50 and I know what you mean about handshakes. I actually rest my elbows on the door jam. When the moon is out and the sky is clear I can get some great views of Kepler, Copernicus & Aristarchus. (So bright, like a beacon on the moon) I focused on the Pleiades one night and was nearly knocked backwards by the clarity. Orion, too. But the cul-de-sac where I live has about six lamposts in close proximity and I only have a narrow window in which to view the sky to a degree of clearness. As I mentioned before, there are not a great deal of good 'night sky' sites online. I'm a beginner, to a degree, and I just want someone to say, yes, that is Jupiter and that is Uranus, etc. I was up at 4 am one morning after letting one of the cats out and the sky was crystal clear, amazing. I appreciate any help or hints you can give, Cheers.

Edited November 2, 2012 by keith lockey

[John Fox (foxy)]

I appreciate any help or hints you can give, Cheers.

Tell the cooncil not to bother fixing the lights you were complaining about three weeks ago

[keith lockey]

Tell the cooncil not to bother fixing the lights you were complaining about three weeks ago

I know, an own goal on my part, Foxy. But I took one for the team and the street and its residents are safe now. Anyway, it was the National Grid, not the cooncil. They started a tennis match going, you know what I mean - lobbing the 'blame ball' back over the net - It's not our fault it's theirs. So my sacrifice to astronomy is the peeps gain. Maybe they'll name a star cluster or a new planet after me - or a black hole.

[Symptoms]

Keith, you say: "... reading the planisphere wrong but I can't work it out properly."

Are you inverting it and reading it from below ? Have you got it orientated to North?

One tip is to look for an obvious star group or constelation, say Orion and then look for 'his' belt of 3 close stars (actually the centre one isn't a star but it looks like one from here) or Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). With Ursa Major you'll discover the 'trick' of easily finding the Pole Star (Polaris) around which everything swivels. Once you 'get your eye in' identifying the constelations is easy then you'll be able to plot the movement of the planets across the night sky. Also remember what you see on a Winter's night will be different to a Summer night.

Street lights ... some people might obtain or fashion a key to access the control space behind the low-level metal door in the post and turn the thing off - obviously taking care with the lekky not to fry themselves or they use an air rifle.

You could go up on your roof, so you're above the street lamps ... the only trouble with is method (apart from falling off in the dark) is that the neighbours will think you're a Peeping-Tom but you'll get a much better view of the sky.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Symptoms

[keith lockey]

Hi Symptoms, I hunted out the planisphere and looked at it better. The problem I was having was in the directional settings. The instructions were telling me to co-ordinate the time and date - No probs - but then it was telling me to align the S (South) to the South. But when I did this the Eastern horizon was to the West. (Do you understand?) So what I did last night is what you are saying - find a constellation and work your way around the sky via that. I did it with Cassiopia - then found Orion - then SHOULD have found the Pleiades - but couldn't. By this time the brass monkeys were calling it a night. I have an added problem. I wear varifocals - but for distance. If I put them on I can see the stars - then I take them off to look through my bins and lose the position in the sky. It sounds silly but unfortunately it's true. I have this old saying where astronomy is concerned - if you stand in your garden at midnight with a telescope - people look out their window and say "Oh look, Keith's taken up astronomy." Stand in your garden at midnight with a pair of binoculars and you have to explain to the police that you are not a peeping tom. Lucky enough the neighbours in my cul-de-sac all know I am a stargazer. The other problem, though, is security lights!!!! Every house has them. You step outside and it is like a floodlit stadium and if the cats follow me out you might as well be in a disco. Not to worry. The moon and Jupiter are out again and it is clear skies, apart from fireworks. The moon fascinates me - Aldrin said it right - magnificent desolation.

[Symptoms]

Keith - the only way East can be West is if the Planisphere is NOT being read upside-down ... hold the thing above your head and look up at it.

I know you were bitten by the NASA missions. In the Observer this morning was an article about 4500 photos about the space race being sold ... some of them are on The Guardian's gallery here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/gallery/2012/nov/03/golden-age-space-exploration-pictures#/?picture=398788964&index=0

[keith lockey]

It does tell you to hold it above your head Symptoms!! But I didn't do it!! (Is stupidity part of growing old because I must be in for a gold medal for being a moron.)

I read something about the NASA photos on my homepage. But I'm in the middle of decorating at the moment and didn't have time to read it. I'll have a look later. The moon has been brilliant the last few nights so I've been concentrating on that. It really fascinates me.

[keith lockey]

Just had a brilliant clear view of the full Moon, Jupiter & Aldebaran. At least for a few minutes then cloud cover came over just as I was looking for the Pleiades.

[mercuryg]

Was that Jupiter 'next to' the moon last night?

[keith lockey]

Was that Jupiter 'next to' the moon last night?

Certainly was, Merc', to the left as you gazed upon moon. It has been there all month. Oh how I wish I had a powerful telescope to see it's moons.

[Symptoms]

Keith wrote: "Oh how I wish I had a powerful telescope to see it's moons."

I knew this would happen ... first you smoke a bit of dope, then you pop a few pills, then you snort a line or two, then you're shooting-up H. Addiction!

I mentioned in an earlier post that we can never be satisfied with our tackle, always wanting to see more clearly and further. Even a very cheepo scope will allow you to monitor those moons but the dilemma of whether to spend, say £60 on a spotting scope or go for something pretty decent at, say £300 - £400 depends on how much 'spare' dosh folks have during difficult financial times.

[keith lockey]

Yeah, Symptoms, I have a craving but my wallet is empty. I've just been back out and it's another clear sky (Freezing as well).

Now I am going to tell Mercuryg that Jupiter is now on the other side of the Moon - that place of magnificent desolation.

PS - I nearly did my neck in last night looking at the sky. I got a glimpse of cassiopia, I think, then tripped over one of the moggies. Black cats and skywatching don't exactly mix.