LukeSkywatcher

Yet we can only see four. We have one lovely moon. It's not about quantity, its about quality.

Astro-fellhole.

Try saying that 10 times fast.

When we're going to tell us? That was the scariest thing I've seen on the news. 3,600 Km.

On 11/01/2023 at 17:08, Sunshine said:

Yes, he seems to love the scope!

That's a Goose. 

Condolences to John's family. This came as a shock to me. It's always very sad to hear of a member of SGL passing. 

R.I.P John

My condolences to John, family and friends.

John was a great guy.

20 hours ago, Leo S said:

I realized that.

Never the less, a fireball can be observed from many 100's of km (given clear horizons/sky). The furthest events I have caught have been 500+ km away. Depending how high it was in the sky for you, and if the location of the event was biassed a bit more to the east than the west, one of my cameras should be able to capture events in that direction. Here is a composite image I've created using data from another recent fireball my camera caught that occurred in December last year. I've overlayed the ground track of the event over google maps, and to give a rough idea of the north western limit of the FOV I've drawn a long red line - I've been conservative, and that line should probably be further N. As you can see, it covers a good part of the Irish Sea/Atlantic to the S/SW of Ireland.

However it's a moot point now since all the footage from that night has been deleted (I have to delete footage or else I am soon overwhelmed).

If you say so, fair play to you. I don't disbelieve you, or rather I do think you believe what you observed was a fireball or meteor, however, what we think we see is often not the same as what actually happened. I've been observing fireballs for almost 2.5 decades now, and as I mentioned, on multiple occasions I've thought that I've seen something, and it has often (though not always) turned out to be nothing.

The problem (that we/humans make bad observers) gets worse when there is a lack of information (and/or "visual cues"), for example when you only get a brief glimpse of something, which it very much sounds like was the situation here. When little information is available, our subconscious will make assumptions that are often wrong or misleading.

For example, a meteor or fireball is essentially a moving light in the sky, but there are other moving lights in the sky, so how do we tell what is what? Obviously, by it's characteristics (eg. meteors are far away, usually travel quickly, but not always, may have colour, or leave trains, or may fragment/explode, etc.).

Now just take of these characteristics, that "meteors are usually far away". How can you tell that they are far away? The answer is it's virtually impossible for an observer, even under ideal conditions, to tell if a light in the sky is far or close, mostly because of the lack of visual cues, like if the light went behind an object, we can see that it must be further away than that object, but otherwise it is impossible to say how far an unknown light source is under these kinds of circumstances.

The trouble is, if you get this one aspect wrong, everything else is wrong. The object might have the correct apparent speed for a meteor, but so could a relatively slow/close object. So how do you tell the difference between the two? When you perceive such an event it's your subconscious that makes the decision weather it's far or close, so irrespective if it is far or close, you "see it" as one or the other depending on what your subconscious chooses, which is in turn based on previous experience/expectations as well as/or some degree of hard wiring. It is an example of an optical illusion - one of many we live with on a day to day basis, but which most are blissfully unaware of.

I have come across many many cases where people have misjudged the distances involved (in fact it is almost like a hallmark in cases where a bright meteor/fireball is involved) by massive margins. People will swear blind that it was close, when we know it was actually a long way off. This might be a case of the reverse being true.

Unfortunately, as human observers, these are just the limitations we have to live with. It's one of the reasons why I like to record the sky whenever I can - it's often an eye opening experience to see the difference between what you thought you saw and what the camera captured!

Once again, I don't disbelieve you when you say that you saw something, but given the circumstances, the possibility that it may not have been what you thought it was should at least be acknowledged, especially given that there are no independent reports of an event (I'm still unsure what time?). Perhaps it's just me, but the IMO fireball report database seems broken, so I have been unable to pursue that avenue.

I get what you are saying. Due to only getting a peripheral glance, I can't say will 100% certainty that it was a fire ball. At most, I can say it was the brightest,fastest meteor that I have ever seen.

On 05/07/2022 at 17:09, DaveL59 said:

Just read this on the BBC, nice to see we'll have launch capability soon 

UK satellite launch: 'Everything now is about getting to Cornwall' - BBC News

Sure it ain't a rocket lifting off the ground but at least we're finally getting into the game of adding more orbiting debris 😉 

A lot of that debris is made literally a 5 minute walk from my house, in Maynooth University. Parts of the JWST, were also made there. I think the filters/filter wheel were made in the Uni.

It's nice to think Ireland has some input into international space exploration, especially my own town.

The induction coil was invented in the Uni.

You're welcome.

5 hours ago, icpn said:

It would be best if S@N was finally put to bed.

I very rarely watch it since SPM died. It just doesn't feel the same.

On 03/01/2023 at 00:09, Leo S said:

No sign of anything this evening on the UKMON live site, but there are not too many cameras covering that part of the sky, and they may have been clouded out. One of my cameras points that way, and might have caught something if it was not too far west. What time did it occur? My camera was running by 17:12.

I would not get hopes up too much though. In my experience, it usually turns out to be nothing. It happens all the time with me, probably due to me wearing glasses (reflections) in the majority of cases!

I'm in Ireland. It was definitely a meteor or fireball. 

I'm sat in my kitchen. My doors face South. I swear that I think I just saw a very bright white fireball heading from NW to SE. It wasn't a direct view, more of a peripheral view. It was travelling extremely fast. 

I'll wait to see if any reports come in here and elsewhere.

It was probably linked to the Quadrantid meteor shower.

Wow, so many spots. I should get my Sunoculars out at the very least.

On 31/12/2022 at 19:51, F15Rules said:

I must say, Rob, you look much younger than I'd have imagined!😂😂

Dave

Spider-Man or Batman. Pick one. You can't be both.

On 28/12/2022 at 19:23, Franklin said:

I'd close the lid sharpish, don't want to catch any space-lurgy!

Of that they rust.

12 hours ago, Second Time Around said:

Paul, would a Celestron Starsense Explorer (CSE) scope work for you?  It's quicker and easier than Go-To.  It would also be more accurate for you as well as only a one star alignment is needed anyway.  This is because it uses plate solving to determine where it's pointing. Like you I just use a planet though.   

With the latest update it's got a huge number of objects in its database.  However, it doesn't track.

With a simple mod the CSE can be transferred from scope to scope via finder shoes.

I had to Google CSE. I have Stellarium on my phone if I need reference points to navigate. 

I'm happy plodding along with things as they are.

I'm also a wheelchair user. I have 4 scopes including the 8Se (yours looks like an 8Se).

I wish I had some advice, but I never use an RDF or finder scope. 

If using a Go-To scope, I just align it to a planetary object. If using a manual scope, I just point it anywhere and search for objects.

That video gives me the heebee-jeebees.

Thankfully I have the blood type that mossies hate. They can smell it a mile away (not really a mile), and they avoid me. 

I suppose I'm not immune from swallowing them though. 

*EDIT*

I'm O negative and apparently mossie prefer O blood. 

Never trust a phlebotomist, they lie.

Watch out for those pesky DropBears.

Me and DIY are not good bed fellows. I have tradesmen on speed dial for everything.

Do you have life insurance?. 

22 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

@LukeSkywatcher No my duck. It was October 25th.

And it was pretty much clear for the most part 😀

I did check the date of the thread, but missed it. Still annoyed, but it was probably cloudy.

I should have gone to Specsavers.

Very nice.

Whilst I have a few EPs, I generally only use 3-4. I use an 8mm,15mm and a 32mm. I do also use a zoom 8-24. I usually just keep them in a jacket pocket in the colder months. 

This was today?. Visible from UK and Ireland?. It was a beautiful clear day here in my part of Ireland. 

Dagnamit, I had no idea. 

Myself and Lorna are going to Upstate New York in April 2024 for the Total Solar Eclipse. It will be our honeymoon. 3 weeks. Meet family and friends, and hopefully catch the eclipse. 

I have the 130P. I bought it the year it was released. I love it.  I don't think the 150 was even available. For £50 extra, I'd go for the 150.

I saw this. I thought it sounded like a good idea. Not sure I'd like to effectively be living in/on a giant microwave oven.