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I’ve visited The Mills several times and it’s very concerning that its future as an astronomical observatory is in doubt. I will add my support to the survey and petition.
Another favourite in Scotland was the City Observatory on Calton Hill, Edinburgh. Sadly, it fell int0o disrepair and the City of Edinburgh converted it into an Arty Farty Centre
https://www.collective-edinburgh.art/visit/site-history
https://www.astronomyedinburgh.org/about-us/a-guide-to-edinburghs-popular-observatory/
Alex.
Hi Mark,
I took the observations from the Mission 29P page, but it wasn’t straightforward, because some entries aren’t in chronological order and there’s also G, T and V estimates in there. I used the R mags but then the full set (2023 Aug – 2024 May) created a wav file much larger than the 4 MB file limit.
Anyway, a rough and ready wav file is attached, covering 29P from 2024 Jan 16 to May 18.
At the Greenock meeting Nick James suggested that Astronify provide a user-friendly interface, such as an online webpage, where users could upload a csv file containing ‘time’ and ‘flux’ data, and it would automatically generate the wav file. Additionally, users would be able to modify the median pitch, duration between notes, select log or linear flux, etc. A nice little project for someone with any spare time…
Cheers,
Alex.
Hi Callum,
Your audio really gives a strong impression of being in the midst of a solar storm! 🙂
Cheers,
Alex.
My next door neighbour to the SW is half a mile away but the lights on his daughter’s horse paddock illuminate my lounge! Thankfully they aren’t used too often, and earlier, not later. Everything you say matches my experience here. I’ve tried asking for lights to be adjusted etc but no-one gives a …
Cheers, Alan.
Alan S – Many neighbours are unaware that their external lighting is a nuisance. Having a pleasant chat with them can sometimes resolve the problem. The other year a neighbour a little distance away from me installed a light that would have been visible from the next county. It brightly illuminated my house, part of the garden and observatory. I reported it to the local council as ‘light trespass’, an official came out to assess the problem and asked the resident to adjust their lighting. They still have an external light, although it’s not as blazing as before. Not an ideal solution, but I didn’t want to aggravate any dispute, and it’s now partly masked by bushes and trees.
Note to report any issues as ‘light trespass’, not as ‘light pollution’, ‘loss of night sky’ and never mention ‘astronomy’. Unfortunately, in some circles amateur astronomers are viewed as ‘nutters’ and this can work against you. My jaundiced opinion, but born out of years combatting light pollution!
Cheers!
Alex.
Hi all,
I fully agree that it was a most enjoyable and informative meeting which continued the high standard set at the Greenock BAA Workshop on 2019 October 12
https://britastro.org/event/observers-workshop-solar-aurora-nlc-and-deep-sky
Because of my tickly cough I sat at the back where I could get a frequent drink of iced water. My location was advantageous, because when PS Waverley sounded her horn – quite apt for the day’s theme of ‘The Music of Space’ – like Nick I was able to rush to the window and record her departure
(Apologies to Dr Mackinnon whose talk was temporarily upstaged by a Paddle Steamer)
Alex.
Peter – that pic must have been taken on one of those rare rainy days at Ribblehead… 🙂
Gary – perhaps the Council would consider making the Weather Owl available via the BAA Shop… 🙂
Alex.
Generally poor observing conditions in NW Leeds since last autumn. I don’t expect much improvement until the weather systems stabilise. Visual observing can take advantage of breaks in the cloud cover but occultation timings require good conditions at a specific time window, hence very few successes this year. Variable star photometry and meteor cameras are hindered by variable sky transparency, RMS waits for 20 field stars whilst UFO Capture detects meteors under almost any conditions; still poor coverage of the major meteor showers.
The local council has replaced all streetlights with flat panel luminaires, but many residents are installing very bright (in)security ‘photon torpedoes’ to floodlight the sky, their brickwork, gardens and their neighbours’ property. They should be banned.
I’ve come to the conclusion that when the BBC or Met Office say “clear” they mean driving conditions for motorists, not sky clarity for astronomers. For those who don’t have £zillion weather forecasting supercomputers we rely on low budget solutions such as in the attachment. I also use Sat24 GB every evening to check the movement of the cloud formations.
Alex.
Attachments:
This was good advice on ABC News, especially item 4…
Alex.
Attachments:
Any paper which cites both John Couch Adams and Douglas Adams gets my vote.
…and Roger Dymock and Albert Einstein…
Alex.
ESA’s Planetary Defence Office discusses giraffe metrology in its April 2024 Newsletter 🙂
https://neo.ssa.esa.int/newsletters
Alex.
Observers travelling to see the April 8th eclipse might be interested in this project
Alex.
Hi Bill,
RMS meteor software records 10s captures throughout the night, so if a meteor camera is monitoring the T CrB field when the nova outbursts, it could contribute valuable photometry. Many such video meteor cameras use a 4 mm or 6 mm f.l. lens, reaching mag 6 at best. 12 mm and longer f.l. lenses fare a little better.
For meteor work the IR filter is removed from the lens, and the sensor is red sensitive, so that’s why Michael is considering adding a filter to obtain mag estimates nearer to visual.
Observers running an RMS video meteor camera(s) need to check if CrB passes through the FoV and be ready to save that series of Captured files for later photometry.
Jeremy has briefed us on the ‘Peltier Dip’. Let’s hope that T CrB follows its expected pattern and gives us fair warning. I hope it waits a while yet, at least until clear skies ever return to Yorkshire. 🙂
Cheers,
Alex.
I meant to add that I plan to spend a minute or so during totality using my 10x50s to look for the comet (the forum didn’t offer me an Edit option).
Alex.
My 10×50 binoculars have travelled the world to several solar eclipses and I intend to use them again to observe during totality on April 8th. The eye and brain perceive the very fine details in the tenuous coronal streamers and the wide range of colour and contrasts in the chromosphere and prominences. Multi-image composite photography gives a representation of this stunning experience.
Which eclipse travellers plan to image comet 12P/Pons-Brooks during the 4 minutes of totality?
Alex.
The average age at a Winchester Weekend is nearer to 81 than 18, so a bar room brawl is rather unlikely… 🙂
Alex.
Thanks Jeremy.
Miguel Montarges is the lead scientist of the Leona-Betelgeuse pro-am campaign and he has just e-mailed the group to mention that they’ve received over 100 observations, and 75 of the light curves are almost not – or not at all – affected by clouds. Recordings were obtained using various filters, so they should be able to measure Betelgeuse’s diameter at a range of wavelengths.
As a very provisional example, Dave Herald measured a light curve obtained in Ha by Alfonso Noschese, and after applying a large limb darkening coefficient it gave a diameter of 60 mas.
https://ukoccultations.groups.io/g/main/message/3036
The campaign team also hopes that the dataset will detect the huge convection cells in Betelgeuse’s photosphere.
Cheers,
Alex.
