callump

After a nice sunny day, inevitably the cloud thickened in the evening to obscure much of the solar eclipse, except for a few frames. Here's the best, taken with Canon 600d and Canon 75-300 zoom at 300mm at around 20:09 BST . As seen on BBC Breakfast this morning. Callum

There have been many occasions recently when we were clouded out in the north of Scotland, when a strong aurora has been seen in the north of england and further south. Although the height is a couple of hundred miles or so, when there is a very strong aurora, whole auroral oval expands southwards. So whilst people in the south might just see rays peeking above the horizon, those in he north will see the display overhead, or even reaching the southern horizon. Callum

Although on a remote Scottish island, we get post deliveries every day except Sunday by Royal Mail, the only disruption occurs when the weather is too bad for the boats to sail. Mostly 24hr mail arrives next day or a day after, and on the whole it is the preferred method. DPD / UPS / Evri etc. go to Kirkwall and then our local agent picks those up and delivers three times each week. Callum

Here's an article about capturing cosmic rays with a DSLR: https://britastro.org/2023/capturing-cosmic-rays-with-a-digital-camera Callum

A nice double arc last night. Clouds came in afterwards stopping play. This is a composite of two frames, 10s exposures, ISO3200, 21mm, f/2.8. Callum

Thanks Paul - not sure what went wrong there! Callum

I've made a video of highlights of the auroral display on the night of 1st to 2nd Dec. Mostly its the overnight timelapse, but also some real-time video footage. You can watch on YouTube Enjoy, /callump

Noticed rays and colour on the aurora-cam (webcam) with the sky not properly dark. Some significant action from 17:30 to 18:00 when the display calmed down and weather started to close in. Some massive rays and corona visible. /callump

A spectacular display of the northern lights on Orkney, started around 18:15 and kept on going until midnight. Multiple bands and patches reaching even to near the southern horizon. Lots of nice ray action. Just a few of the approx 500 pics taken. Sony A7s, Loxia 21mm lens at f/2.8, ISO4000 (don't ask), 3.2 or 2s exposures. No post-processing. A memorable night. /callump

On Orkney, was a great show earlier but a bit quieter now (21:40) - though still a nice double arc with rays and structure going on. Will need to get another splurge if it's going to be seen from further south which may happen, and with the Moon rising will get in the way. Pics still on my DSLR but here's a recent shot from my aurora-cam.

I fitted decking led's into a shelf - leds came in pack of 10 x 15mm - a set of white and red. Separately switchable. /callump

Rousay, Orkney: I made a 'slow' video of the midnight sun last night (22/23 June) - from 22:00 to 02:30 UT - using my aurora-cam tweaked for short exposures. Local midnight is at about 00:13 UT. Did not spot any NLCs. I've posted it on YouTube at

Pi 4's now seem to be out of stock on PiHut now - but starter kits available if you need the extras. Callum

Pi hut had stock of 4gb pi4’s last night omly one per order or customer not sure if they have any left now /callump

Not sure where I heard, but there should be plenty of stocks of RPi4s in June. /callump

For most auroras at northerly UK locations, a display is just white/grey to the naked eye. On occasions when the aurora is very intense red colour can be seen. Which I have seen from Orkney and from Gloucestershire. Cameras do pick up the colour well, but the apparent intensity depends on the processing done. I try to minimise the processing to achieve a more restrained presentation. We had a very bright aurora on Orkney on March 23, and I also took some real-time video - though it still shows some green / red tinges it is a pretty good representation of what the naked eye sees. I made a video of the display at: /callump

Not one of Martin's brews 🙂 Used to be the Red Lion, but we always went to the Crown (if drinking in Goostrey). /callump

Personally, i'd just use whatever exterior grade ply you can get and not stress too much about it. A good coat of varnish will seal against the elements. All depends on whether you want to look through it, or at it... /callump

Howard Banich talked about this on a BAA Webinar: /callump

According the to NASA Extragalactic Database (NED) - NGC 5471 has a Hubble flow distance of 6.15 MPc. As its thought to be a companion of or associated with M 101 its about the same order. /callump

The 2023 BAA Deep Sky Section meeting will be held at Bedford School, Bedford on 19th March 2023 All welcome. Speakers Alan Snook – Renovating a 14-inch reflector Martina McGovern – Orion and beyond: First Steps in Astrophotography. Nick Hewitt – Variable Nebulae Update Mazin Younis – In Search for Dark Skies Prof. Michael Merrifield – Update on the Extremely Large Telescope More infö and booking details at https://britastro.org/event/deep-sky-section-annual-meeting-3 Price is £10.00 or £7.50 for BAA members and other concessions. Bookings open until 13th March. Price includes lunch and refreshments. Much thanks goes to Bedford School and Bedford Astronomical Society for hosting this event.

Its on YouTUbe now - see Callum

This Saturday afternoon is the BAA Deep Sky Section annual meeting, being held as a webinar, by Zoom and YouTube, Programme is: 14:00 – Welcome 14:05 – Observing Clusters of Galaxies – Owen Brazell 14:55 – Fumbling in the Dark: Exploring the Deep-sky through Imaging – David Davies 15:45 – Deep Sky Section update – Callum Potter 16:15 – Close All welcome. Full details at: https://britastro.org/node/26469 Hope to see you there... Callum

At this weeks BAA Wednesday Webinar Eric Walker will lead on "All Things All Sky". Wednesday 16th February at 19:00 GMT. Eric is the chairman of the Highlands Astronomical Society, and operates his own back-garden observatory in the Scottish Highlands, the Beinn View Observatory. All welcome - you can join by Zoom or view on YouTube. For more details and links visit https://britastro.org/node/26428

This months BAA Wednesday Webinar (15th Dec, 7pm), is Exoplanets – present and future, presented by Roger Dymock, Assistant Director for Exoplanets in the Asteroids and Remote Planets Section of the BAA. And yes, amateur astronomers can observe the presence of exoplanets. It's all free - and for joining details etc. visit https://britastro.org/node/26443 And it will be available to replay after the live event on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/britishastronomical Where all the past webinars and other meetings can be viewed. Callum