Gfamily

Agreed - and even through binoculars, it would be a challenge to see it against the bright limb. The Moon is about 2 million times brighter than Uranus. Easier might be seeing it reappear about 52 minutes later (for my location at least), as that will be emerging from the dark limb.

I think Sky Guide is Apple only. Which is a shame as I'd like to see the content written by Dr Jen from Astrocamp.

1969 - it had to be really, didn't it. 😄

Anyone play Blast Off? You had to do a Lunar Orbit Rendezvous and then visit the planets. Used to take forever, not sure we ever finished a game

DSO Planner has images. There's a free version that you can try out and three paid-for versions if you want more catalogues. It generates observing lists and has note taking capabilities for recording your own details.

James Ritson has produced some free Affinity macros for Astrophotography processing. I'm pretty sure you can try these out on the trial version of Affinity Photo https://jamesritson.co.uk/resources.html

I'm not really sure what you would be expecting In optical wavelengths, the images would look like this...

According to the NASA Artemis blog I'm not sure if the following has been mentioned here or not, but depending on the length of investigations required, there is also the issue about the certification of the batteries on the Flight Termination System - and replacing them will require a return to the VAB. There is a timetable on the NASA site giving the launch windows - with the mission lengths possible for each artemis_i_mission_availability_aug2022.pdf

Looks like we already have one, just needs a change to the thread name.

According to the Spaceflight Now feed that I'm following, they're having a problem with reports of a leak when loading the liquid Hydrogen - same place as they reported a leak in a trial wet run in April. I'd not be surprised if there's a scrubbed launch today, and if they've not been able to fix something they've known was a problem for 4 months, I'm not sure whether they'll get it sorted for the next launch window on 2nd Sept. https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/08/29/artemis-1-launch-live-coverage/

Ah, Google misled me.

It's a bank holiday isn't it?

I have used a tool called Batch Rename Utility to add date and time to filenames, but I'm not sure whether that was from the EXIF data in the image or the metadata simply associated with the files. I've read that exiftools can retrieve EXIF data from fits files, if that's any use.

Using one of the PCs to set up a local wifi lan is probably the easiest method, but if your remote site in an area with mobile phone data you could connect to the internet using your phone's data and hotspot capability to make remote desktop access to manage the NUC that way.

Post deleted, wrong thread

What's the 'it' though ? As I said, the exhibits at Jodrell Bank are very clear that the success was in tracking the launcher by radar, and make no mention of tracking the satellite itself after its battery had died. The following article on the JB website talks about looking through the archives and mentions "The radar tracking of the Sputnik rocket bodies (and later Sputnik 3 itself) demonstrated that the telescope had the capability to detect missiles", which suggests that for Sputnik 1 at least, it was only the rocket that was tracked. https://www.jb.man.ac.uk/history/tracking/part1.html Yes, maybe they did track Sputnik 1 by radar, but it's not mentioned, and I wonder whether the nephew mis-remembered what his uncle told him.

I'm not sure about bouncing radar off Sputnik itself, but the '250ft telescope' was certainly used in radar mode to track the launch rocket - as it was based on the Soviet R7 ICBM rocket launcher. Later renamed the Mark I Telescope, it's now called the Lovell Telescope. If you get a chance to visit Jodrell Bank, the new 'First Light' gallery there has a great exhibition about its construction and early use. Tickets last a full 12 months, so it's great for re-visits as well.

I found a second hand copy of the book by John and Mary Gribbin, and I can confirm it's a good read. Lots about Edmund Halley as well; it's easily arguable that without Halley, who seems to have been a natural diplomat, Newton would not have written his masterwork Principia. I'm also reading Alan Cook's biography of Halley; it's definitely 'comprehensive' - if you borrow it from a library, expect to renew your loan.

There's a sub forum here for Star Parties and Astro Events, and if people remember to post there, you'll see most of the major ones flagged up. I'm not aware of any in SW England, so your nearest one coming up is Astrocamp, in the Brecon Beacons in September. https://astrocamp.awesomeastronomy.com/ (Best to book on a computer rather than a phone. It's just easier. If you don't have a computer, the trick is to turn your phone sideways after selecting which area of the site to book) The Lower Field has plenty of pitches, but if you need an electric hookup, there are two pitches on The Common that nobody seems to have noticed are available.

I'm a member of a couple of astro societies (chair of one of them), but we're in the North West rather than the South West, so not the same ones. However, I think most clubs would be a great way to meet similar minded people. As for one off events for the general public, they can be good too. Most times, most people won't know each other, so say hello and hopefully people will be welcoming. If you're into camping, Star parties are excellent too, as there will be plenty of experienced people who I'd hope would be helpful if you need any.

I can recommend the gostargazing website as it has maps and links for locations and events. Here's a recommended site near Exeter https://gostargazing.co.uk/events/locations/haldon-forest-park-forestry-commission/ You might also be interested in the upcoming events at the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth https://gostargazing.co.uk/events/locations/norman-lockyer-observatory/

One factor is that the SAGTi is designed for imaging (or, at least, I assume it is), so if there are design limitations that work against that (for example, the instances of the AZGTi that don't have a threaded counterweight arm socket), you can at least return it. I would say though, that people who use the AZGti with the WO Eq wedge seem to be far more satisfied than those who use the SW wedge that comes with the SA Mount.

The best magazine is the one you read. I have to say I fall down on that aspect with the magazines I get/used to get; so I can't really make any comment on specifics. I had an AN subscription for a couple of years (having won the first year in a raffle, I felt happy to pay for the second), and have had S&N on and off when they've had good price deals, but I rarely finish reading them each month. As a member of the SPA, I get their magazine 6x per year, but it mostly goes unread. I keep up to date with astronomy via sites like this, and via Twitter. I do enjoy the monthly round up and binocular suggestions in S&N, and I think that's the one I'd recommend if pushed.

The article talks about H2S production in the 'tank that was used to separate the oil/water mix from the drill holes', and the experimenter 'brought water with oil residue from the tanks to the laboratory and placed it in air-tight containers' So, water was always present - and I assume it likely to be necessary. As has been noted, the polar nature of the water molecule seems to be (seems to be) necessary to all the identified life processes as performed (at the current time) on this planet.

It seems that most crude oil comes from rocks that also contain significant amounts of water - in the industry, this is known as 'produced water' - so it seems very likely that the microbes may well live in a relatively wet environment. I was trying to find a ratio of produced water to oil; I've seen various figures, starting at 3:1 and up to and beyond 25:1, but I'm not sure whether this might also include some of the water used in the extraction process. https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/what-produced-water PS - I didn't know any of this until I found this thread, so I'm not an expert.