A snap of the Moon

Kavita has a basic telescope and the sky was so clear, and the planets in view looking so beautiful, I decided to  set it up. It is only a basic 60mm/2inch refractor with no auto guidance or Goto, but beggars can't be choosers. I set it up and tried some observations from the main bedroom window - this was because outside it was about -4 and getting colder. But the double glazing was causing a problem so....I had to wrap up warm and brace for the cold.

I took the refractor outside and even though there is a massive glaring street light outside our house, the moon, Jupiter and Venus stood out. First was Venus, very bright and obviously round, but the telescope isn't fantastic so the image was basic but fair. Next was Jupiter - this was more spectacular - braving the cold, uncomfortable position, freezing steps outside the house and the street light, all in the name of Science! I could see easily the two main equatorial belts as two mid grey lines across the planets face and three of the four Galilean Moons - Io, Europa and Ganymede. Amazing!

Then I pointed the scope up and looked upon the face of the Moon - a breathtaking view which I'd not seen for so long. Using my trusty phone camera, I took a snap of the surface of the Moon - fairly impressed at the result.

A section of the Moon on the terminator

Beautiful shot of Moon, Jupiter and Earth's twin Venus

Every night when I walk out of work, I stare up at the impressive sky and sometimes stop in wonder. In the winter months, the skies are very clear and tonight was the same as every night so far. The Moon was very clear, Jupiter was just south of it and bright Venus lower to the horizon. So I had to take some snaps - using my trusty Galaxy S2 phone camera, I took a load of wide angle shots.

Moon, Jupiter and Venus in sequence

Moon and Jupiter

Earth's distant twin - Venus

A snap of Venus! On a mobile phone!

Coming home the other night I noticed how clear the sky was, beautifully clear - the Moon was hanging high and Venus was very close. Sitting there just very bright, clear and un-twinkling - so I thought I'd take a photo. Using just my Samsung Galaxy S2 mobile phone camera, ISO800, maximum 8mp setting and using a fence to balance on, I take a snap of the moon with Venus. Very nice picture of the two together. 

But then using Photoshop, I zoomed in on the huge picture and was surprised to see this

Venus!

A clear round ball shape of a planet! There is even a hint of a crescent on the right - Venus is so bright because it reflects virtually all of the sunlight it receives from the Sun. But even I was amazed by this shot!

Episode two Stargazing Live - black holes and stuff

Watched episode two of Stargazing Live last night. It was ok, again very hurried explanations of things, wild discussions of black holes and disproving UFOs (which someone should point out means Unidentified Flying Object - an object that is flying and can't be identified - that doesn't in my mind say Alien Beings, its says It's in the sky and I don't know what it is. If you see a jumbo jet and you don't see the markings, that's a UFO by all intents and purposes, it's flying and I don't know who owns it.

Ok this is an extreme, but the way these popular scientists automatically think people assume UFOs are aliens seems belittling to me. anyhow, off my soapbox. And on with some nice photos of planets and the stars!

Jupiter with Marks 5 inch Cassegrain

Early morning Venus with my Canon IXUS950IS - no mount or telescope

Orion and its Nebula - taken by Mark using his Canon 550D on a tripod
and a 4 second exposure and maximum ISO

Posting these pictures here gives me the push to get our own kit and take such extraordinary photos. I asked the peeps at the Astronomy Now facebook page to give me an idea of a good scope to go for and they came back with some good advice -

Need some suggestions on an intermediate scope - equatorial mount, goto would be nice, to be used for planetary and wide field observations/photos/web cam work, brand name would be nice, purpose built metal shed to house mount so prefer to remove telescope for security. Budget £900. Michaels shots below are amazing as I want to introduce my kids to planetary observations over successive nights. Cheers


 A 150-mm (6-inch) reflector would do the job and it's possible to get a tube assembly for £300 and a suitable mount and tripod as a separate buy and be under budget. Also this would be easily portable enough. There are also combo systems under £900. Typical GOTO SCT's are too expensive unless you go for a small aperture under 150-mm. A 100-mm refractor performs like a 150mm reflector but a good quality one with a sturdy Equatorial GOTO mount and tripod would be hard to find on budget. If you look in Astronomy Now magazine you'll find a list of suppliers that you could follow-up with, but to get some more hands-on advice we'd recommend coming along to AstroFest next month to talk to our suppliers in person! - Mark (night sky expert)

To celebrate the Stargazing Live Ep 1 discussions on the Moon...

Here are some pictures taken a year or so ago on Mark Sayers scope in deepest darkest Sussex.

Episode one - it was ok

The first episode of Stargazing Live last night with Cox and Co was ok - obviously a bit The One show-esque with people talking longer than their allotted time period and Patrick Moore being dragged out to talk about, of all things, Buzz Lightyear?? But it was good and enthralled the kids until they were sent to bed. The discussions about the Moon landings were great - especially the question as to why, before ascent, the Apollo 17 crew left their buggy so far from the spacecraft. And the fact that the tracks and footprints are still there to see after all these years was amazing.

Part two tonight involves Black Holes and a visit from John Cullshaw, so more than likely I expect an impression or three of Brian Cox.

Start of another blog! To celebrate Stargazing Live!

It's 2012. It's two years past "2010, the Year We Made Contact" and still little has been made about reaching the Moon let alone other planets. But still we can reach out to the planets and stars with our astronomical equipment. Today sees the return of Professor Brian Cox on BBC2 on Stargazing Live. And today sees the start of the BradshawTribe Astronomy blog.