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A concern myself and a few others have over the CPRE data is that it’s possible to zoom in to the exact house the observations were made, according to the CPRE this should not be possible, but myself and several people I know have demonstrated that this can be done and has been reported here on a previous thread last year by a few people. The problem here is that this data is in the public domain and it can give the impression that the location has potentially expensive equipment possibly in an outbuilding. This leaves open the possibility of theft or vandalism.
An article on the BBC seems to contradict the report from the CPRE for last year and the previous year, I tend to trust Dr Kyba’s results as questions were raised in an interesting thread on here last year over the methodology the CPRE uses to arrive at their conclusions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64321824I fitted to my Newtonian a fan which blows air up the tube, the rationale behind this is to break up the boundary layer in front of the mirror, a while ago I wrote an article which is found in tutorials on cooling Newtonians which might help.
https://britastro.org/2022/newtonians-are-cool
Gary Seronik has written a couple of very useful articles on cooling and condensation which might be helpful.
https://garyseronik.com/beat-the-heat-conquering-newtonian-reflector-thermals-part-1/
https://garyseronik.com/beat-the-heat-conquering-newtonian-reflector-thermals-part-2//Could it be this dwarf galaxy Andromeda 1?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_IInteresting article which paints a different picture to the CPRE Star Count, I tend to believe the BBC article as being more rational.
I haven’t had my copy either, yet other periodicals I subscribe to like Astronomy Now arrived within 2 days of their expected delivery date?
I suppose the more people who opt for the pdf version will save the BAA on printing and distribution costs, personally I prefer the printed copy.I’ve observed Jupiter several times in the past couple of weeks, NEB does indeed seem a brownish colour and the GRS pale and small, watching the antics of the satellites are interesting. Last night was frustrating, cloudy when I looked out at 8:30 but when I looked out just before 10 not a cloud in the sky, by which time I gave up all hopes of observing due to work the next day.
Sky clarity recently hasn’t been all that good, but we live not far from Newport, Cardiff and across the river Bristol.
Saturn and its satellites are disappearing into the tree line, pity as it’s an enjoyable planet to observe, such are the joys of living in a valley, I’ve only seen Neptune and Uranus once recently but due to the turbulent hazy air they were just feature less blobs.
When the clouds clear it’s back to the variable stars.
Daryl
Hi Gianni,
Tivoli is a beautiful town we enjoyed our stay there, during the day looking down across the countryside towards Rome was usually very hazy, I remember the earthquake which was sad for such a picturesque town. Rome even back in 2016 was very bright on the horizon, above I could only see 4 or 5 stars, in Rome none, the air pollution in Rome seemed very bad. From our hotel balcony we could see several towns all was very bright and it seemed no light pollution control.I too think the satellites don’t portray the true picture, I live in a valley in Wales halfway up one side overlooking a small town Risca, when out walking one night looking from the ridgeline down into Risca the LED streetlights aren’t that obvious. However, when you are on a more level plane the glare from them is very obvious. From Risca itself there is marked difference in the number of naked eye stars you can see compared with 200mtrs higher on the ridgeline, as for seeing the Milky Way, the only chance of that around here is the confectionary counter of Tesco.
In 2016 we went to Tivoli a small town in the hills 25km outside of Rome, looking up into the night sky I could only see 4 or 5 stars, the light pollution was horrendous.
Caerphilly County Bourgh Council decided over the past couple of years to replace the mercury and sodium streetlights with LED, I have found the skies are less transparent than they were, on a good night (don’t get many of those) I can just about see to mag 4.5 overhead, usually around mag 3.5. The LED streetlights seem to have a lot more glare which is annoying. The prevalence of security lights also is a factor, the light pollution from Cardiff, Newport, Cwmbran, Pontypool and across the stream Bristol seems to have changed from an orange colour to a light mush which I guess is due to LED’s.
The results from the last Star Count do seem at odds with reality around here. 6 years ago, I did an experiment to see if in a pair of binoculars, I could see M82 and M81 from my garden, I could only just see M81 but traveling further into the valley away from the lights I could just about see M82 as well as M81. Earlier this year I did the same experiment with the same binoculars and from my garden couldn’t see M81 and at the same spot in the valley M81 was just visible and M82 I couldn’t see. I tried to pick a good night transparency wise.
So in my opinion the skies around here have got slightly worse.
This site I find quite good for seeing what is visible in the night sky
Oh, Bother and other suitable words, I alas paid the full retail price, but I don’t regret it, each picture is a fascinating insight into the Mercury, Gemini and mainly Apollo missions. The clarity is on another plane entirely and some pictures are symphony of tones and breath-taking vistas. The pictures taken from Lunar orbit keeps drawing me back like a moth to a light as I absorb the extraordinary level of detail.
The price sadly will put people off but what you get is a very big heavy book (3.2kg) with 400 pictures of which a sizeable quantity hasn’t been seen before. There are some very interesting pictures of the inside of the spacecrafts which required a lot of enhancement due to the low light levels. The clarity of them are outstanding as they are printed on high quality paper, they remind me of removing the dirt and varnish off a Caravaggio to reveal the dynamic vibrant colours underneath. The captions though brief are informative and the images are often thought provoking as they show the intensity of the astronauts’ expressions and bring a fresh human dynamism to pictures often taken for granted. The aim was to reproduce the pictures to the same intensity and details as the astronauts saw the scene before them, and I think the author has succeeded. The details of how the images were enhanced and about the camera taken I found very interesting, concise but informative. A lot of work has gone in to producing this book which I guess is reflected in the price, it’s certainly a book to ponder over for many hours when the skies are cloudy.
Very interesting edition of the E&T, I enjoyed it very much and well done to all who produced it.
Very interesting background information regarding Wal Best, his observatory I find fascinating, I’d need a lift to access and like Patrick I’ve got an old RAF injury but not falling out of an aircraft but due to a roll of carpet falling on my back in the 70’s!
Yes, I would very much like to see the comparison images.
David: I do spend a lot of time looking at the moon and planets as DSO’s are difficult due to the amount of light pollution/security lights around here, so thanks for your comments, I’ll certainly add an ED refractor to my wish list.
Excellent review on the EVscope, I’ve read very mixed opinions on this item, but Alan’s review is very informative and interesting from someone who uses it and clearly enjoys it and mentions the pros and cons without any commercial bias. It puts the reviews I’ve read online and also in some magazines, very much in the shade, perhaps it can be a standalone article on the website as I’m sure many people will find it very useful before they take the plunge and buy one.
Wal Best’s water tower observatory is unusual, climbing up and down at night looks fun! are there crash mats at the bottom I wonder? I had an observatory next to a pond, and yes I did end up in it one night much to the fish’s disapproval. I have heard of an observatory which didn’t rotate on wheels but golf balls acting like crude ball bearings, apparently it did work!
I too am a fan of the ASAIR but I have the V1 in the plastic case, a friend of mine has the V2+ with the external antenna but the WiFi range causes him problems as the range isn’t great, the V1 is slightly better in my opinion Wi-Fi range wise but one thing I wish they will do is not force people into software updates, some of their previous ones has caused no end of problems and rolling back to a previous version is an exercise in frustration.
I read with interest the comparison between the achromat and ED glass, something which I have wondered in the past if it is worth upgrading or just a manufacturers marketing gimmick to charge more for little improvement. Something else to put on my wish list.
It seems from the information in this link someone spent a lot of money renovating it, apparently it was pending sale then withdrawn?
With the amount of work carried out and since it’s a wooden built in 1870 I wonder how sound the structure is? and did that cause the sale to fall through as it is still unsold from what I can tell.
It seems the family still have the optics from Leslie’s telescopes but that depends on what source you read? The Merry-go-round observatory is interesting and it seems from the information below the MVAS had to replace the wooden structure and only use the original mechanics less the telescope which the family kept. Triggers Broom comes to mind.
https://delphoscanalcommission.com/banks-yesteryear/return-to-starlight-nights/
I managed to get hold of a copy of Starlight Nights and I found it very interesting. The AAVSO link above is a very interesting read and very informative about what is left from Peltier’s time. I wonder if America has a Blue Plaque scheme similar to the UK as Peltier’s house deservers some sort of recognition, apparently just outside the Delphos library is a statue of him?
I’m glad Ian’s photometer is in the care of the VSS, Ian was a stalwart member of the VSS and I’m sure he would have been delighted, it is certainly interesting what will happen when it’s fired up.
A few people in America are asking the same question on a NASA forum, a couple of web links were suggested
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=56906.0
Apparently the trajectory will be available on this site after launch
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/People around here are eagerly following our local hero astronaut Shaun the Sheep who is taking a big step for lambkind
It’s often been said there are two types of astronomy, the study of the Crab Nebula and the study of everything else.
Interesting paper, the link below explores the precursor mass, I did wonder if it would have been mentioned in the paper above, but then again there has been so many papers concerning M1 it’s not surprising not to have seen it mentioned.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-6256/136/5/2152
