Yay! Another clear night. After yesterday’s session was cut short by cloud I was keen to continue working my way through the Herschel 400 – only another 200 or so […]
Observing Report: 6 August 2015
It seems an age since I have last updated my journal. The long summer days are now starting to draw in so, after the joys of watching Australia collapse against […]
Two talks in July
I’m busy finalising two Astronomy talks for two different audiences next week. I’m giving a talk at Public Health England (PHE) Civil Service Sports Club on Tuesday and then the […]
Breaking the Rules
Our good friends and near-neighbours Bob Ford and Deb Walker came round for dinner. This allowed me to combine my hobbies of eating good food and astronomy as Bob is […]
Solar Flare Eruption
Fine, settled weather has arrived over the UK bathing us in soaring temperatures and glorious sunshine. As the hordes descend to the beaches and light their bbq, I set up […]
Planetary Conjunction 19-20 June 2015
Over the past few weeks, I have been watching Venus and Jupiter close in on each other. Each evening, Venus climbs higher into the night sky, shining like a beacon […]
6 June – Salisbury Plain
An impromptu SPOG night at Tilshead with Jonathan Gale, Patrick O’Donnell and Brian Dudgeon. Jonathan and I arrived at 2130 to set up at dusk before being joined by Patrick […]
Lunar Session 29 May 2015
Another clear night at the Observatory, this time with a ¾ waxing moon. Tonight, however, was one of those frustrating nights: Midway through the session the power lead in the […]
Sun in Hydrogen Alpha – 16 May
My first solar session of the year! Here’s a close up of the sun from the 16th. Rather poor attempt at making a mosaic but some interesting prominences and sunspots […]
An Irregular Galaxy – NGC 4449 18 May 2015
After a fairly long gap between sessions, it was good to get outside again. I had to go “old school” and star hop as, for some reason, the power cable […]