Andy Wilson

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Viewing 20 posts - 121 through 140 (of 472 total)
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  • in reply to: QUARK Chromosphere and William Optics Z61? #617268
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Paul,
    I successfully use a Quark Chromosphere with a Williams Optics 66 and 81mm refractors for visual observing. I use a UV/IR filter.
    While this works, it isn’t quite a quick grab and go setup as I have to wait for the Quark to reach the right temperature and sometimes tweak it to get the view at its best.
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    in reply to: Magnitude precision on BAA-VSS charts. #617266
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Paul,
    I believe these charts are designed for use by visual observers. There the simplicity of a single decimal place is beneficial to the visual observer.
    Cheers,
    Andy

    in reply to: BAA Spring meeting – Cardiff #617265
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    For those who are going, I have added some information about car parking sent to me by Hazel Collett.

    https://britastro.org/event/baa-spring-meeting

    Best wishes,
    Andy

    in reply to: BAA Spring meeting – Cardiff #617262
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Alex,
    We are in discussions with the venue to try to get the talks recorded. I think this is likely but not completely guaranteed.
    They are definitely not going to be on Zoom or livestreamed to YouTube. What we are working on is the venue making the recording, then sending this to us afterwards for editing and adding to the BAA YouTube channel.
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    in reply to: Winchester Weekend #617037
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    This has somewhat hi-jacked the Winchester thread, but it is good to discuss these matters.

    I suspect there may now be easier ways we can record meetings. For example, since Windows 10 an inbuilt screen recorder comes as standard. I also expect that more venues will gain the ability to record meetings for us. At Elgin the university staff kindly recorded the meeting for us without charging us extra. However, they had to work this out on the fly and we did not know if the meeting would be successfully recorded until the actual day.

    There are also occasions where the organisers as well as the presenters do not want the meeting recorded, to encourage in-person attendance.

    Whatever we do, I think finding more volunteers would help to increase the number of meetings we record.

    in reply to: Winchester Weekend #617003
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Mike,
    James has hit the proverbial nail on the head.
    The BAA is lacking volunteers. With some venues we are fortunate enough that they already have the IT equipment and staff available to make the recordings, but this is not the case at Winchester. Even then it requires a BAA volunteer or paid staff to edit the videos and put them online. It could be argued that the BAA should pay contractors to record meetings around the country. That would need to be paid out of the reserves as our annual outgoings are about twice the subscription income.
    This is a good opportunity to point out that we don’t yet have a volunteer to become the Meetings Secretary after Hazel Collett stands down a the end of this year. Noting Ann Davies rather than Hazel Collett organises the Winchester Weekend, with help from other BAA volunteers.
    The 1972 recording is 3 minutes of people walking around the venue without sound. Interesting to see that for 50 years ago but the expectations for current meeting recordings are much higher.
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    in reply to: Winchester Weekend #616974
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Sorry but there are no videos of the Winchester talks as it is not straightforward to get them recorded. The year we had videos was when we held a webinar instead due to the lockdown.
    Andy

    in reply to: New website – members’ full names #615006
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    This is on a list of changes that will be going to the BAA website developer. Unfortunately I do not have a time frame but I shall ask for this to be done sooner rather than later.

    in reply to: Spectral line modelling #614897
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    I’ve not delved sufficiently deeply into this aspect of spectroscopy to properly comment. However, I can see it is a detailed and interesting model.
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    in reply to: Journal delays #614895
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    I am pleased to report my Journal arrived this morning, along with another astronomy magazine I’d been awaiting. Hopefully others are also being received.

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    in reply to: Journal delays #614861
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    I am glad to hear some are starting to arrive. Mine still isn’t here.

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    in reply to: Journal delays #614806
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Just to note, opting for a digital subscription doesn’t save the BAA money, as you pay more for the printed subscriptions to cover the printing and postage costs.

    in reply to: Mars Occultation #614413
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    It was perfectly clear when I got up just after 4am. Then as I slid back the observatory roof the first bit of cloud touched the Moon. I caught a glimpse of the Moon and Mars about a minute before the occultation, but the rest was clouded out.

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    in reply to: Problems accessing member areas of the website #613997
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Bill,
    This is a known issue and is recorded in the bug log. Apologies I don’t have a timeframe but it is an issue I expect to be resolved.
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    in reply to: Problems accessing member areas of the website #613995
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Max,
    Being logged out each time your browser closes is how the website currently works. It is on a list of bugs and potential changes that the website developer will look at in due course. Apologies, I don’t have a timeframe or if that behaviour will definitely be changed.
    Ah, that is the first time we’ve been notified about that button. I’ve added it to the bug list for the developer to fix.
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    in reply to: Exoplanets On-line Workshop #613582
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    This is the last chance to register for the Exoplanets Online Workshop. Registration closes on Eventbrite at 10am this morning (Saturday 12th November).

    https://baa-exoplanets-2022.eventbrite.co.uk

    Registration is required as we are holding this as a Zoom meeting, where attendees can talk or share their screen, so we will not be making the Zoom join link public.

    Andy

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    • This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    in reply to: Solar Observing – Mono to Colour #613199
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Adam,
    Good luck with the BSc. Exciting times!
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    in reply to: Solar Observing – Mono to Colour #613196
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Adam,
    Welcome to the BAA Forum! That sounds like an excellent telescope and those are great images.
    I am not sure I understand your question, but I’ll have a go at an answer.
    With colourising I would be surprised if the algorithm in Astroart does anything other than assign predetermined colour values in RGB based on intensity to make it look nice, rather than anything to do with velocities. It is possible it has a template for the Sun, and varies the colour based on the location on the solar disc. The key point is the monochrome pixel values contain no data that can be converted into a velocity. I expect the temperature has nothing to do with it, other than cooler parts of the Sun such as sunspots emit less light.
    All this said, if you are able to tune the H-alpha pass band in your telescope, then you might be able to sample different velocities relative to the H-alpha rest wavelength.
    Best wishes,
    Andy

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Andy Wilson.
    in reply to: Last night’s planetary observations #612606
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Hi Paul & David,
    After not doing much observing over the summer months, I am also starting to get back to visual astronomy. I had a nice short session last night of about an hour, taking brief looks at Saturn and Jupiter along with some deep sky objects. I am using a Mewlon 250, so not far off a C9.25 in performance.
    I need to spend a bit of time planning some sessions, as I find it rewarding to concentrate on a few pre-selected targets. When I am feeling brave I like to make drawings, though my artistic skills need work!
    Andy

    in reply to: BAA meeting in Elgin #612463
    Andy Wilson
    Keymaster

    Thank you Pauline.
    I’ve been in discussions with UHI Moray for a few weeks as to how it might be done, and the day before we didn’t think it would be possible. They were able to record a presentation but there was no sound as that was going through a different system to the room speakers. Lorna Leil found a last minute solution and then Helen Williamson made the recordings on the day, both from UHI Moray. While the solution wasn’t found in time for John Mason’s talk on Friday evening, it allowed all of Saturday to be recorded.

Viewing 20 posts - 121 through 140 (of 472 total)