Hawksmoor

Another cold cloudy night! What I need is a nice bright comet!

February the 4th. 2013: I get all my kit out, set up and ready to go. My laptop is performing Ok, it doesn't like the cold, and the QHY 5v driver has loaded without a hiccup. I can see Jupiter shining in a rapidly darkening sky. The BBC weather forecast for Lowestoft said clear skies excellent seeing between 17.00 and 18.00 which coincides with the GRS being visible. My cup floweth over! As an extra Jupiter 2 software has informed me that shortly after there will be a transit. Photo opportunity or what? Then I notice that Jupiter has acquired a halo, I quickly capture three 2 minute clips and then the planet disappears with the failing light. After an hour my laptop and I take refuge in the warm kitchen. After a further hour I finally give up and disassemble my scope and put all the bits and pieces away. Do my eyes deceive me or has the sky now cleared? Grrrrrrrrr! I think I will give Jupiter a rest! The AutoStakkert freeware processing software made a brilliant job of rescuing my clips from the recycle bin and I did retrieve one or two grainy images. I would recommend AutoStakkert to anyone who has only used Registax, its much simpler and quicker to use.

Beautiful drawing!

My eight year-old grandson came to stop with us for the weekend. We picked him up after school in Southend so after a two hour journey to our house we were all tired. The mist cleared by the time we reached Lowestoft and he asked about the bright star in the sky. I said it was the planet Jupiter and he was interested to see it through my scope. Showed him Jupiter, the Pleiades and the Moon through my refractor. He thought it was all great! Astronomy in your backyard doesn't get better than this.

Great sketch ! Tad complicated is some understatement of a big draftsmanship challenge. When above my horizon I always like to take a look at the double cluster particularly through my 11x80 bins (as the FOV covers both clusters). When I look up at them they seem quite timeless and remote, an unchanging stellar landscape that's complex but instantly recognizable.

Saw the Doc yesterday who said my back was healing well and light exercise was OK. Took this to mean I could catch a few photons. So I went outside into the garden about midnight to see if I could see a meteor or two. Hooray first night without rain for some time. Moon was a bit too bright for meteor watching and was lighting up really heavy clouds to the east. The wind was strong and gusting. Then it started to snow! Then it rained. Astronomy in the UK is not for the faint hearted or for those without a warm wind and waterproof coat. Perhaps tonight?

Have returned from Hospital after back surgery. Have got a few aches and pains but otherwise I think the good old NHS has fixed my spine!! Whoopee-do I shall be able to use my big bins again!! Am unable to get outside stargazing for a few weeks but hopefully towards the end of November I should be able to use my telescope and relatively new planetary camera to capture Jupiter! I have noticed that its still raining!

Thanks for the suggestions Derek, but sadly the clips are not anywhere to be found. I will have to have another go at catching some light when it stops raining!!!!!!!

Wasted a couple of hours this morning obtaining video clips of sunspots in white light through my scope. Finished taking the shots, all appeared well. Just got my kit put away before a rain shower. All accomplished before lunch, I thought. This afternoon, when I came to look for the files on my laptop, nowhere to be found! Must not have registered the files or some dumb trick best known to man and IT savants. I am a complete numpty!!!

After reading the many tributes to Neil Armstrong, I remembered looking at the Apollo photographs on display at the Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, New York. The next time I look at the Moon through the eyepiece of my scope, and if the phase is favourable, I will be sure to check out the Sea of Tranquility and consider the relative permanence of Neil Armstrong's boot print etched in Moon-dust! A fitting memorial for a remarkable human-being. (Images of the Apollo 11 Tranquility Base etc courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University)