Hawksmoor
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Status Replies posted by Hawksmoor
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Glad I popped outside before I went to bed tonight! Really clear sky at the moment in Lowestoft. Tonight, even before the street lights went out, I could see M44 with the naked eye as quite a bright cloud. Got a real grip on its apparent size with regard to the constellation Cancer, as much easier to do with unaided eye sight. When I looked at it through my 11x80 bins a real treat -lots of stars on view. Bonus - M67 a very easy spot with handheld bins tonight - not always the case from my backyard.
Looking west was fantastic. Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga and Perseus all visible in one view without having to move my head absolutely fabulous. One off treats that stood out - Sirius, Orion's Sword, Betelgeuse, Aldeberan, the Pleiades and Capella. Through my bins the open clusters in Gemini and Auriga were top notch and the view of the Orion GMC was stunning.
Looking south, Leo on display always nice to see - spring on its way. The Bear remains on its tail and Arcturus was shining yellow as it rose above my tall hedge to the east.
My wife came out to have a look and spotted a meteor.
Nighty night stargazers wherever you are.
George in Lowestoft about to turn out the light.
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Glad I popped outside before I went to bed tonight! Really clear sky at the moment in Lowestoft. Tonight, even before the street lights went out, I could see M44 with the naked eye as quite a bright cloud. Got a real grip on its apparent size with regard to the constellation Cancer, as much easier to do with unaided eye sight. When I looked at it through my 11x80 bins a real treat -lots of stars on view. Bonus - M67 a very easy spot with handheld bins tonight - not always the case from my backyard.
Looking west was fantastic. Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga and Perseus all visible in one view without having to move my head absolutely fabulous. One off treats that stood out - Sirius, Orion's Sword, Betelgeuse, Aldeberan, the Pleiades and Capella. Through my bins the open clusters in Gemini and Auriga were top notch and the view of the Orion GMC was stunning.
Looking south, Leo on display always nice to see - spring on its way. The Bear remains on its tail and Arcturus was shining yellow as it rose above my tall hedge to the east.
My wife came out to have a look and spotted a meteor.
Nighty night stargazers wherever you are.
George in Lowestoft about to turn out the light.
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Glad I popped outside before I went to bed tonight! Really clear sky at the moment in Lowestoft. Tonight, even before the street lights went out, I could see M44 with the naked eye as quite a bright cloud. Got a real grip on its apparent size with regard to the constellation Cancer, as much easier to do with unaided eye sight. When I looked at it through my 11x80 bins a real treat -lots of stars on view. Bonus - M67 a very easy spot with handheld bins tonight - not always the case from my backyard.
Looking west was fantastic. Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga and Perseus all visible in one view without having to move my head absolutely fabulous. One off treats that stood out - Sirius, Orion's Sword, Betelgeuse, Aldeberan, the Pleiades and Capella. Through my bins the open clusters in Gemini and Auriga were top notch and the view of the Orion GMC was stunning.
Looking south, Leo on display always nice to see - spring on its way. The Bear remains on its tail and Arcturus was shining yellow as it rose above my tall hedge to the east.
My wife came out to have a look and spotted a meteor.
Nighty night stargazers wherever you are.
George in Lowestoft about to turn out the light.
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Hi Reggie
Great image. I've not seen it myself as very low in the sky from my latitude. My southern horizon suffers from some light pollution plus my neighbour's roofs get in the way to the South. Carbon stars are really interesting beasts. I shall have to try and find one to look at that is higher in the sky from 52.47 N.
In the meantime I've just requested the Open University COAST automatic telescope on Mount Teide -Tenerife to take an image of Hinds Star and email the data to me. If I get something back worth looking at I will post.
All the best from a very rainy Lowestoft
George
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Glad I popped outside before I went to bed tonight! Really clear sky at the moment in Lowestoft. Tonight, even before the street lights went out, I could see M44 with the naked eye as quite a bright cloud. Got a real grip on its apparent size with regard to the constellation Cancer, as much easier to do with unaided eye sight. When I looked at it through my 11x80 bins a real treat -lots of stars on view. Bonus - M67 a very easy spot with handheld bins tonight - not always the case from my backyard.
Looking west was fantastic. Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga and Perseus all visible in one view without having to move my head absolutely fabulous. One off treats that stood out - Sirius, Orion's Sword, Betelgeuse, Aldeberan, the Pleiades and Capella. Through my bins the open clusters in Gemini and Auriga were top notch and the view of the Orion GMC was stunning.
Looking south, Leo on display always nice to see - spring on its way. The Bear remains on its tail and Arcturus was shining yellow as it rose above my tall hedge to the east.
My wife came out to have a look and spotted a meteor.
Nighty night stargazers wherever you are.
George in Lowestoft about to turn out the light.
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Whoo hoo! we had stars in Lowestoft last night. ? Not sure what was to blame for the dodgy images, was it the bad weather/Christmas lay-off affecting my kit or was the old astronomer using it to blame?
Got out the 66mm Altair refractor on the Star Adventurer and my trusty bins , didn't get to bed until 3:30am. Anyway I have a few more blurry images of 46P/ Wirtanen and I think I managed to capture a smudge that might be 38P/Stephan-Oterma. Could see 46P through my 11x80 bins handheld but very diffuse and cloud like would have missed it 'sweeping' but knew where to look. 38P not visible through my bins even though I knew where it should be, however the mince-pies aren't what they used to be.
Real nice treat - saw a very bright and orange coloured meteor - slow moving in the east comiing from the direction of Orion. No it wasn't a flare or firework!
Nice clear night and dark after the Moon set, M81 and M82 very easy handheld through my big bins.
George tired but quite content in Lowestoft.
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Hi Reggie
Glad you're ok. Hope you have clear skies for the Lunar eclipse, I might try and image it if the weather looks good. As for the cold water dip on Christmas morning; well the good news was we had sunshine and no wind, the bad news was the hard frost and air temperature of 1 degree celsius. It was so cold! My partner stayed in the water for 10 minutes, I managed 2 minutes but she had the benefit of a wet suit.
All the best George
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Whoo hoo! we had stars in Lowestoft last night. ? Not sure what was to blame for the dodgy images, was it the bad weather/Christmas lay-off affecting my kit or was the old astronomer using it to blame?
Got out the 66mm Altair refractor on the Star Adventurer and my trusty bins , didn't get to bed until 3:30am. Anyway I have a few more blurry images of 46P/ Wirtanen and I think I managed to capture a smudge that might be 38P/Stephan-Oterma. Could see 46P through my 11x80 bins handheld but very diffuse and cloud like would have missed it 'sweeping' but knew where to look. 38P not visible through my bins even though I knew where it should be, however the mince-pies aren't what they used to be.
Real nice treat - saw a very bright and orange coloured meteor - slow moving in the east comiing from the direction of Orion. No it wasn't a flare or firework!
Nice clear night and dark after the Moon set, M81 and M82 very easy handheld through my big bins.
George tired but quite content in Lowestoft.
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Hi Reggie
Nice to hear from you. Sad to say the clouds are back overhead in Lowestoft and my blurry pictures from the other night are blurrier than I would have wished, but one night under the stars in winter on the east coast of Britain has to be cherished as such nights are rarer than hens teeth!
Hope you are well and managing to get out observing and imaging.
All the best George
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All Christmas decorations taken down and put away but still no stars in Lowestoft.?
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In the words of 'Woody Bear' " Pleasurewood Hills is your biggest day out ever"! However, even in the rain, California probably offers a much bigger day out. Glad you enjoyed your visits to Lowestoft in the past. Only been to LA in California once long ago, had an excellent weekend on route to Auckland NZ. As a 'fossil nerd', La Brea Tar pits a highlight for me. Sea lions and pelicans in the harbour pretty special too.
Best regards George
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All Christmas decorations taken down and put away but still no stars in Lowestoft.?
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Yes that Lowestoft and it still has Pleasurewood Hills open during the warmer months. High winds and tide today so currently enjoying a bit of local flooding. Our house on high land so not affected. A few stars visible tonight so better weather on the way? Fingers crossed.
George awaiting sleep in bed in Lowestoft.
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Interesting fact I discovered yesterday - the Dadaist and Surrealist artist Max Ernst was a big fan of the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel - comet discoverer extraordinaire. Max produced a series of drawings and symbols which he labelled as 'illegal astronomies'. Bloke was absolutely barking, thought he had hatched from an egg laid by his mother. However, his artistic endeavours offer wonderful off world and alien landscapes. Creations no more strange than the false colour images we routinely capture. I also discovered that he used state of the art 'wet photography' techniques to achieve his finished works. Sounds a bit familiar? What he might have achieved if Photoshop had been available will never be known!
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Interesting fact I discovered yesterday - the Dadaist and Surrealist artist Max Ernst was a big fan of the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel - comet discoverer extraordinaire. Max produced a series of drawings and symbols which he labelled as 'illegal astronomies'. Bloke was absolutely barking, thought he had hatched from an egg laid by his mother. However, his artistic endeavours offer wonderful off world and alien landscapes. Creations no more strange than the false colour images we routinely capture. I also discovered that he used state of the art 'wet photography' techniques to achieve his finished works. Sounds a bit familiar? What he might have achieved if Photoshop had been available will never be known!
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Hi Reggie
Thanks for your reply. Pretty sure I have listened to some of your music by following a link you posted in the past. Liked it! - I still play a guitar and banjo and have in the past played other instruments and gigs. I like making marks be they musical, poetical, sculptural, architectural, photographic or painterly and best of all by melding the above together. I'm pretty sure the only reason we are here is to make marks! If you are interested most of my art and poetry stuff is on my blog Cabine du Jardin deux.blog spot. My astronomy blog is linked to that site and is called the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
All the best Reggie.
George
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Interesting fact I discovered yesterday - the Dadaist and Surrealist artist Max Ernst was a big fan of the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel - comet discoverer extraordinaire. Max produced a series of drawings and symbols which he labelled as 'illegal astronomies'. Bloke was absolutely barking, thought he had hatched from an egg laid by his mother. However, his artistic endeavours offer wonderful off world and alien landscapes. Creations no more strange than the false colour images we routinely capture. I also discovered that he used state of the art 'wet photography' techniques to achieve his finished works. Sounds a bit familiar? What he might have achieved if Photoshop had been available will never be known!
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Hi Reggie
I love his work and creative methods. Am currently in Berlin and went to the Max Ernst exhibition being staged at a gallery in Charlottenburgh. Brilliant!
Particularly enjoyed the miniatures 'Microbes' featuring both astronomy and American landscapes.
What I hadn't realised was how much he used rubbings 'frottage' and photography to 'sample' textures and everyday images and then with minimal interventions render them fantastical in his surreal universe. Very modern approach to the arts.
I certainly feel a lot better about my eclectic and often magpie scrap book approach to picture making using photography, drawing, painting, printing and digital media.
Nice to hear from you - George
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Been absolutely lovely all day here in Lowestoft. Nice now but looking at Metcheck and SAT24 it will be good and cloudy at 'midnight when the street lights go out'. So instead of doing a bit of imaging tonight, I shall be surfing the cosmos with my big bins and then it's full on sulking for me.
George a bit miffed in Lowestoft?
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Been absolutely lovely all day here in Lowestoft. Nice now but looking at Metcheck and SAT24 it will be good and cloudy at 'midnight when the street lights go out'. So instead of doing a bit of imaging tonight, I shall be surfing the cosmos with my big bins and then it's full on sulking for me.
George a bit miffed in Lowestoft?
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Just watched the Ian Dury Biopic - excellent! Followed by learning the 'Sex and Drugs & Rock and Roll' riff and middle eight on my acoustic guitar in modal tuning. Feeling oddly 80s and punk for an OAP. Think I will give the 'hot chocolate' a miss tonight and live on the edge! ?
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Weather looking good at the moment - tonight?
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Moon and Jupiter conjunction as viewed from our backyard tonight is a real pretty thing!
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Had a medley of meteorological treats in Lowestoft today. Started with torrential rain, then hail, then sleet followed by snow. Finished off tonight with thunder and lightning with clearing skies and stars visible as I made my way upstairs to Bedfordshire.
Nighty night stargazers wherever you are.
George in bed in Lowestoft.
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Had a medley of meteorological treats in Lowestoft today. Started with torrential rain, then hail, then sleet followed by snow. Finished off tonight with thunder and lightning with clearing skies and stars visible as I made my way upstairs to Bedfordshire.
Nighty night stargazers wherever you are.
George in bed in Lowestoft.
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Nice to hear from you Jim. I haven't done much stargazing in the last few weeks. Weather and Christmas have combined to keep my scopes in their cases. Did get one night with my bins and saw a very bright and beautiful Geminid meteor. It just dropped out of the sky and fell down below the Great Bear's tail. Real pretty thing!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
George
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Thought I would give my profile picture a seaside flavour.
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What does a meteorologist mean by partly cloudy and how does it differ from mainly clear ? I really enjoy my astronomy but some times I do believe I'm bonkers. I've spent an hour setting up my scope in hope that partly cloudy means there are gaps between clouds and that when and if it moves on to mainly clear the gaps will be bigger and last for longer. Currently in Lowestoft partly cloudy means I can just about see Vega, Deneb and Altair. I'm sitting in my backyard writing this on my laptop by red torch light -I'm holding the torch in my mouth and starting to dribble. All this grief because I fancied imaging asteroid Florence as it goes whizzing by, a 3 mile wide rock 7 million kilometres distant. As my mate Big Phil from Sheffield would say "Why do you want to take hundreds of photographs with really expensive equipment that mainly comprise white dots on a black background" He has got a point!
Do you know what, I think it is clearing a bit so 3 star alignment here I come.
George trying to take pictures in Lowestoft
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Just returned home after a day out in Wells next the Sea with friends, Moon followed us all the way home nearly full and quite beautiful peeking between diffuse 'rainbow' clouds.
Night all
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A cloudy evening last night, I happened to look out the window and seen a nice bright moon, clear skies!! Went out and and although there were a few puff balls I decided to open up. Turned out to be a nice night although I am still trying to get to grips with the CGE Pro, a bit of a handful
Jim-
Hi Alan - Sorry to hear about your bad back - I've got one of those but thankfully my stargazing is no longer constrained by work.
I'm looking out the window now and I've got some cloud but its clearing - have looked at all the weather sites for Lowestoft and its giving clear with some cloud - the worst of alll ambiguous forecasts. Do I get all the kit out or not?
regards from George 'undecided' in Suffolk
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A cloudy evening last night, I happened to look out the window and seen a nice bright moon, clear skies!! Went out and and although there were a few puff balls I decided to open up. Turned out to be a nice night although I am still trying to get to grips with the CGE Pro, a bit of a handful
Jim-
Last night was a cracker in Oulton Broad - best late summer night stargazing I can remember. Sadly as weather during the day had been so bad my scopes were all packed away. Still enjoyed views through my big bins of the Messiers all the way down to Sagittarius - quite unusual from our backyard as heat from rooves and general pollution usually make for poor viewing as dec drops looking south. Hope you get your new mount up and running soon. I'm still wrestling with my homemade Mk 3 spectrometer - obstinately refusing to work
regards George
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