Archives
Thirteen contacts observed during one lunar grazing occultation!
Observing a grazing occultation by the Moon is always exciting and well worth the organisational effort. On 2017 February 5,
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Ophiuchus – the ‘Serpent Bearer’
Ophiuchus is a rather large constellation on the celestial equator, but it would seem to be somewhat under-observed. This is
Read moreGeminids 2012 − 2015: multi-year meteor videography
NEMETODE, a network of low-light video cameras in and around the British Isles, operated in conjunction with the BAA Meteor Section and other groups, monitors the activity of meteors, enabling the precise measurement of radiant positions, of the altitudes and geocentric velocities of meteoroids and the determination of their former solar system orbits. The results from multi-year observations of the Geminid meteor shower are presented and discussed.
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Saturn in 2002 − 2003: a report of the Saturn Section
Saturn’s rings were open to their maximum extent upon the southern face. Significant new spot activity began in the South Tropical Zone and the South Equatorial Belt Zone. The STropZ activity took the form of small white spots at Saturnicentric latitude −35°, with a mean drift rate of +0.5°/day with respect to System III. White spots in the SEBZ showed a drift rate of −8.0°/day versus System III, while there was continuing evidence for a relatively slow drift in the S. Equatorial Current. A historical survey of STropZ activity is included in an Appendix, which includes previously unpublished BAA data for the 1971−’72 apparition.
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Visual interference observations of sub-arcsecond double stars
An overview is presented of how to perform visual interferometry of double stars using an interference mask placed over the aperture of an undriven telescope. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that interesting and worthwhile observations can be obtained from a basic setup using a small telescope, thereby hopefully encouraging others to pursue this interesting field of astronomy.
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