1510d 2012/04/06

1510d 2012/04/06 15:30–16:00 EDT Foxmead POD 9 28cmsc

I found that the electrical problem was that my power bar was full of rain water from a recent storm! I switched to battery power, took the scope out of hibernation and had it go to:

Venus: slightly less than 50% illuminated, 70x.

Jupiter: pale in the blue sky, but belts visible, 70x.

Since I was on a roll, I then went to:

Sirius and Procyon, both clearly visible in a blue sky. Rigel, however, was not. 70x. This is the first time in my life I have ever observed stars in full daylight! Finally, I put on my Kendrick Baader filter and went to:

Sun: 4 spots in one group, for a sunspot number of 14, 70x. There's something quite terrifying about gazing into the face of Sol with a full 28 cm of aperture!

Temperature: 9.1°C

1509e 2012/04/04–05

1509e 2012/04/04–05 20:15–21:05 EDT Foxmead POD 8 28cmsc

Louise and I lifted the CPC1100 up onto the tripod just before supper.


Moon: nearly full, 70x

Venus: obviously less than 50% illuminated, 70x

Jupiter: just a glimpse before cloud moved in, 70x

It's great to have the CPC1100 back in operation!

Mars: north polar cap and some albedo features in south visible, but seeing very poor.

Temperature = 3.2°C 

2012/04/02

Yesterday, I had a visit from Katrina Ince-Lum, Sharmin Chowdhury, Phil Chow, and Blake Nancarrow. Blake returned my CPC 1100 mount which he had fixed. Today I reassembled the telescope, which was a bit of a challenge because I didn't bother to reread the disassembly instructions, with the result that I had to tear it all apart again and start over. It's now completely reassembled; the next step is to dismantle and remove the Explore triplet apo and CGEM mount currently in the POD.

Stage 2 of the transplant is now complete. I've packed the 127mm triplet away in its case, moved the CGEM into the house, and moved the CPC 1100's tripod out into the POD. Now all that remains to be done is to get Louise's help to carry the CPC 1100 tube and mount out into the POD, and heave its weight onto the tripod. However, she has injured her shoulder, so it looks like that's not going to happen today. It's probably going to be too cold to observe tonight anyway.

1508d 2012/03/26

1508d 2012/03/26 15:30–16:00 Foxmead E deck 8 ne 10x50b

Venus and crescent Moon in daylight. Venus is just 2 degrees above the narrow crescent Moon in full daylight. My article on Space.com has been picked up by Google and the Christian Science Monitor:

http://www.space.com/15036-venus-daylight-skywatching-tips.html
http://news.google.com/news/section?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&topic=snc http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0326/Bright-Venus-to-show-in-daytime-sky

Temperature: 2.7°C 

1507e 2012/03/19–20

1507e 2012/03/19–20 21:00–22:15 Huronia Airport 8 ne 10cmrr 28cmsc


Observing with members of the Midland Astronomy Club after giving a talk on my visit to Australia, and the upcoming annular eclipse and transit of Venus. Had a nice look at Jupiter through a 105mm refractor with a Vixen-spec objective, and helped a member set up and star test his 280mm Celestron HD on CGEM mount. Shirtsleeve weather, amazing for March!

1506d 2012/03/16

1506d 2012/03/16 19:00 Foxmead W deck 8 ne

Sundog:

 Uploaded to the Weather Network, who posted it to their web page.

1505e 2012/03/14–15

1505e 2012/03/14–15 20:10–22:00 EDT Foxmead POD 8 13cmrr

 Mars: 190x: Boring side again.

Venus: 108x: getting close to half-Venus (57%).

Jupiter 190x: 3 moons on one side, 1 on the other.

Deep sky: M42-3 @ 38x and 108x: Beautiful as always.
B33, Horsehead Nebula, seen at 38x with H-beta filter and averted vision. I located a pentagonal pattern of stars and navigate from that to find a faint darkening on a very very faint nebula. Occasionally the "head" would jump out at me, but I tink that was "averted imagination"!
Also M78 (bright after the Horsehead!); Rosette, Christmas Tree, and Hubble's Variable Nebulae with OIII filter (faint wisps of nebulosity); M50, M46, M47, M41. Mostly at 38x

Back to Mars: still boring.

Temperature = 4.7°C