Phil Fargaze

Chasing Venus is a gripping read, fully recommended. Should be made into a film.

Nice capture. Always awesome to see a star blink out behind an asteroid. I got a miss from just south of the shadow path. It`s been a busy week for occultations!

Yes a nice collection of light curves with more to follow I would think. Its going to be interesting to see what results the subsequent analysis brings up.

I could only get onto one live view because the others were clouded. However the one I was watching had Betelgeuse a bit too much saturated on the screen plus passing cloud made it unable for me to notice the actual occultation

Excellent web page set up HERE shows general info, cloud cover and some more live links. Approximate time of the event for the different locations is shown. Looking at the predictions, the mid event time is about 10 seconds in duration with a mag drop of 1 or 2.8. A keen watch will be needed because Betelgeuse might not completely disappear but it should visibly dim.

There has been an announcement for a live feed of the event, link here https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/

It will be a late night for a working day but there is talk of a live feed being arranged so I`ll keep an eye out and post details here.

Indeed, the event is predicted to be annular, so because of this there is a coordinated campaign for observers to extract the maximum scientific results. I wish I could have travelled to Spain for the event but I didn`t really get organised for it. Here are some links with some more in depth information. https://occultations.org/publications/rasc/2023/20231212Leona.htm https://www.iota-es.de/betelgeuse2023.html

I`ve been a happy subscriber for years, thanks to Steve for all his hard work. He does mention the archive here which could come in handy for getting some target suggestions.

I was a member of the SPA for a good number of years and found it very good. I enjoyed the magazine and looked forward to reading the section reports. The SPA gave me the confidence to submit my observations and I was given good support from the relevant section directors. As my observing activities changed I progressed to the BAA.

Survey completed.

There is a small star party held near the Suffolk coast, usually March and October/November. This is timed to not clash with Kelling check this link here

When I am camping at a dark site with the scope, I always take time out to just lay back and enjoy the view.

I was wondering if Alcan would be a little bit too thin. There is also zinc flashing but that can be very thin as well. I work with sheet metal, so if you are stuck I could post a piece over to you. I have 1.2mm thick aluminium (or thicker) which is quite robust but pliable or there is galvanised steel sheet starting at 0.7mm and thicker which is also rigid but pliable.

Spotted this on the Haw Wood Facebook page. "We are sorry to inform you that the reopening of Haw Wood Farm will be delayed. We had hoped to reopen to tourers on September 1st, but unfortunately the building work will not be completed by this date, and so we have had to put back the reopening until October 1st. We are sorry for any disruptions to your plans and really look forward to seeing you again soon." Fingers crossed that they will be up and running for the autumn star party. In a twist of fate, I am booked up for a family holiday for the week before the star party so I might not be able to get there anyway!

I did a quick test run with the 10" dob and found that the platform did counter the Earths rotation but only slowed down the drift of a star by about 50%, that was with the motor on full speed. So I am wondering if the current idea of friction driving with a 40 diameter wheel does not match well with the speed that the EQ1 motor can achieve. However going by the DNS design, driving an 8mm rod which is in contact with the North curve appears to work correctly. If that is the case it could be a tick in the box for the DNS design.

I did keep the weight of the scope in mind so I focussed my calculations around the centre of gravity in the hope that it would help the motor cope. I will definitely try it out anyway. Now I am wondering if the motor will cope better with the Poncet design or the DNS design. The appearance of the DNS design looks like it can cope with the weight of a heavy scope better and could help maintain good contact with the driving surfaces. At the moment I am having to use a spring to keep the wheel in contact with the driving surface which I feel might not be ideal. The platform I have produced so far is a kind of a rough build try out, so the plan will be to have the north bearing curve made of aluminium plate instead of plain wood so then there is no worry of warping wood and dampness. I do have plans to make the final design I settle on entirely out of metal.

So, I`ve been making a prototype platform for my 14" dob and was following the type of design with an angled north bearing (not sure of the exact name of that type) . Done all the maths for centre of mass which made the base a bit longer between the north and south bearings than I might have wanted. I carried on and settled on it being friction drive with a wheel driven by an EQ1 motor pressed to the curve of the north bearing. Still got to test it out yet, however now seeing the this thread which shows the simplicity of the design for a VNS platform I`m convinced I am making it harder for myself than I need to so I think I will change tactics and work on producing the VNS type. I`ve attached pics of what I have produced so far. @mdstuartIf you can get hold of an angle grinder with a fine sanding disc that could make it quicker to get the curve smooth, you would just need to go easy so as not to dig in and take too much off. Using a drop of oil or tallow will help a lot when working aluminium because it stops files and discs clogging up.

With all things being normal I would have set off for Haw Wood this afternoon. Ironically my alternative plans to visit Mill Hill Farm have also been thwarted because of me being a bit unwell this week! Anyway, the weather forecast looks to be a little challenging with the addition of a north easterly wind. So no dark sky for the big dob this spring, looking forward to autumn at Haw Wood.

I go to Haw Wood Farm camp site near to Hinton just a bit inland from Dunwich. They hold a spring and autumn star party, although at the moment they have had to shut for repairs. There is a recent thread about this here. I Haven't really noticed any significant light pollution from Southwold or Halesworth from that location. . I would certainly say that in the AONB from Rendlesham and upwards would certainly be dark, apart from the area near to Sizewell.

To escape my SQM 18.78 London suburb it`s a straight 2 hour drive up the A12 to Suffolk for my deep sky heaven at SQM 21.5. I`ll pack the tent and dob and stay out for a couple of nights. It is such an amazing difference in sky darkness for me, the journey is worth it and I have so many great memories.

I`ve been continuing my search for alternative sites while Haw Wood Farm is shut for repairs. There is a site called Mill Hill Farm Caravan and Camping Park which is 2.4 km south of Haw Wood and it has regular camp site facilities, which would be touch of luxury after my last escapade in the rain to Waldegrave Farm! Although I won`t rule out Waldegrave Farm because of the remoteness of individual pitches. Note that in case of confusion, there is `Hill Farm CL site` which is 1 km south west of Haw Wood. Mill Hill Farm state on their web page "To be able to appreciate the dark skies from the campsite we keep lighting to a minimum and a torch would be useful. " which sounds promising. At the time of booking I would mention that I want to use my telescope and would prefer a sheltered spot. As for dates, the next New Moon on Friday April 1st coincides with the start of the Easter Holidays for some schools, so that would attract a higher number of campers and a risk of stray light from other pitches. I could be prepared for a couple of weekday nights before the Friday but only if the forecast is really good so that I don`t waste my holiday time from work. The Kelling Heath spring star party is being held over this same weekend so I can only think that they will keep family camper's and astronomers suitably segregated. The next New Moon on Saturday April 30th when Haw Wood was scheduled would hopefully not be too busy, however by then astronomical sunset does not begin until 22:30 BST with astronomical sunrise at 03:30 BST, if I am not mistaken.

Hope you get clear skies! Have you managed to get any more details on the situation with the plumbing?

So, I did go to this alternative site Waldegrave Farm The pitches are spread out across the land and you are unlikely to see anyone else camping. There are no facilities, apart from a water tap! I was in my tent doing it Bear Grylls style, but campervans are allowed as well. I arrived on the Friday with on off rain, it rained all night, then the Saturday forecast was for rain! I was due to leave Sunday but I decided to bail out on the Saturday, however by now the ground was saturated and I had to be towed off site by the tractor! Needless to say the telescope stayed in the car, but it was very dark when I took a look outside. I might try it out again in April but I`ll only attempt to book last minute if the weather looks promising.

Oh no! Thanks for the heads up. I was looking forward to the April star party, plus I am tent only. Coincidentally I`ll be trying out a site I haven't been to before this weekend, however its six miles south of Bury St Edmunds so I will have to see how dark it is and maybe go back there in April.