Ludd

Likewise - caught my first glimpse of it in bright moonlit twilight this evening, it was fairly easy to spot in 8x42 binoculars and a few shots with a DSLR showed a tail and a lovely green hue.  

Faint visual display in Bucks tonight, better on camera

I was wondering if the clear sky we’ve had all day might last into the night.  Forecast was for cloud later but it’s still clear.  Sadly I don’t have the energy or mojo to get a scope out, not even the diddy little 70mm one. 

I made the jump up to a 17.5” dobsonian a while ago and it is just about manageable by a mildly unfit 56 year old with coronary artery disease, short legs and minimal upper body strength (I am a cyclist). I have a few steps in the garden but the main challenge is the width of the base, which almost matches the width of my shed door.  The jump from an 8” aperture was astonishing but it’s not really ideal for quick observing sessions as it requires a bit of setting up, including a stepladder to reach the eyepiece.  I do wonder if 12” would have been more sensible (and cheaper)

Very sad to hear this news.  I feel privileged to have one of his scopes, and he made me an eq platform last year which has brought joy to my observing.  

I was a bit lucky to get an alert from AuroraWatch at a moment when I could grab a camera and tripod and walk down to the dark field on the northern edge of the village.  I thought I could actually see a hint of red in the sky and sure enough, a few seconds with a 10mm lens was enough to confirm that the aurora were showing this far south.  And then a chain of starlink satellites put in an appearance.  

Yes, straight towards Ursa Major, over the top of our local sewage treatment works!

…and now completely clouded over!

Looking good in Bucks

I’m not really a fan of these headline events - they are rarely as exciting as the journalists would have us believe - but I had a spare moment this evening and took my 150-600mm lens up to the playing field where there is a decent view across to the Chilterns.  

This morning, as Jupiter is so close to the last quarter moon, I thought it would be fun to see if I could see it in the bright sunshine here in France.  It was very easy to spot in binoculars and then, knowing where to look, it is easy to see with the naked eye.  If you have clear sky where you are, give it a try!

Here it is shot through a 600mm lens. 

First night under the stars in many weeks, even months.  A single shot as the moon rises.  

This evening I spotted a plane heading for the moon

Very excited, shame about the weather forecast

A faint glimmer near Aylesbury at 9.30pm today

Spotted a train of 51 starlink satellites as I headed out at about 6.45 this morning. Thought it was a vapour trail at first and then realised it was a line of dots.  They all caught the sun brightly as they headed east towards the dawn. Quite a sight, despite the mess they make of our skies. 

After some struggling to cut the file size down, here is my offering.  Shot through an 8” SCT with a qhy5l-ii-c and featuring some last minute clouds that appeared out of nowhere. 
 

it’s interesting to see how my Mars sets behind a different part of the moon from other videos, showing how the alignment differed across the U.K.  

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AsopeJT-rgkngv06cOL-HlF11WZgRA

18 hours ago, F15Rules said:

At first I thought you were describing the solidity (or otherwise) of the tripod!🤦😂

Dave

Frankly the tripod is overkill for jellymaking, but it has the advantage over a small camera tripod that you can feed the loops of the jelly strainer through the holes in the braces and then feed a biro through each one to get the perfect hanging configuration that allows you to ladle the fruit pulp into it. 

Thankfully I was not asked whether the jelly strainer could be suspended from the secondary supports on my Lukehurst dobsonian!

Vixen tripod doing jellymaking duty

A quick tour of old favourites with the 17.5” dobsonian: M13 was the star of the show, but I enjoyed a nice view of M51 with the structure showing nicely in the 24mm APM eyepiece, M31 and companions very clear in the east, M33 just recognisable as something more than a smudge, M27 big and clear, M57 tight and bright,Bode and Cigar easy to see, and of course Saturn and Jupiter blazing in the south with many moons.  Tempted to stay up as I could see the Pleiades rising but tomorrow is a work day…

Amazing conditions here, but as we were out with friends until about an hour ago I am just taking a few wide field single shots with the astrotrac and an 85mm lens.  Wish I had the energy to get the 17.5” dobsonian set up, M27 would be amazing.  

Amazing capture Kon!  We watched it sail over as we sat outside with our neighbours late last night. 

2 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Sahara

Aha, I did wonder wonder: our garden has quite a dusting of orange.  

I went out at 4 this morning and enjoyed a muted sunrise, some excellent birdsong and a view of a plane passing in front of the moon. 

They are all single shots with a dslr, combined into an animation. Might try stacking a few.