The wonder of it all

[John]

Lovely observing night again tonight - we have been lucky lately !

I'm sure there will be loads of wonderful observing reports on the forum tomorrow

I've been using my 130mm triplet refractor this evening on the moon, Jupiter and some double stars. No surprises there and I'm sure others are getting exciting viewing of these targets as well right now.

My little highlight this evening has been Lambda Cygni. This is a very tight double star which seems to really test the seeing conditions, the observer and the scope. It's a sub-arc second split I believe and tonight the triplet did the business better than I've seen before. An honest split with a hair like line of darkness between the two componant stars at 375x. Yay !

On a more reflective note, at the Bristol AS meeting earlier this evening, our President, Professor David Southwood, gave a fascinating talk on Galileo Galilei. As I gazed at the lunar surface at 300x plus and at Jupiter with it's moons, named after the great man, dancing around it, streaked with cloud formations, I thought how amazed Galileo would have been to have a few hours observing with some of the instruments that we, as amateurs, can get our hands on today.

I hope others are having fun as well

 

 

[Sunshine]

Great report, glad you are having such a good time, we all live for those sessions. Rregarding Galileo, when my wife and i were in Florence 6 years ago while on our tour of Italy, i made a point to stop at the Basilica di Santa Croce church where Galileo is entombed along with other great men.

I was moved by the experience to say the least, really was, i would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Florence.

[John]

11 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

...I was moved by the experience to say the least, really was, i would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Florence.

I'm sure I would be moved as well. It's on my short list of places to visit

Thanks for the name of the church - I didn't know this

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, John said:

Thanks for the name of the church - I didn't know this

You're most welcome, i recall being just a young boy, 8 years old, my late father who bought me my first scope, explaining to me how important Galileo's contributions were, i listened with eyes wide, my mind racing trying to understand what my dad was explaining with such passion. 

Forward 35 years later,  my wife and i were on our trip, we noticed there was no movement around the Basilica indicating it was open when we arrived, i knocked on the door loudly and repeatedly until a lady who was clearly irate with my persistent pounding opened the door. 

She said it would be 3 hrs before i could enter, when the doors opened finally, we entered, lining the walls on each side were absolutely stunning tombs in rows, several on each side, i recall Michelangelo being one.

As corny as this may sound, when i stood in front of Galileo's tomb, a beautiful and grand display of carved marble of the finest grade, smooth as glass, i mentioned to my wife, Marianne, how the only ray of direct sunlight

entering the church just happened to fall squarely on the bust of the great man perched above his tomb. 

My childhood memories became  raw at that moment, my father passed away 3 years later, Galileo's tomb experience i will never forget, standing there just feet away is numbing.

[Paz]

It has been a good night, I've been out observing and have only just come in after a few hours which is a long time by my standards. Will try and do a report.

[Tim]

1 hour ago, John said:

I thought how amazed Galileo would have been to have a few hours observing with some of the instruments that we, as amateurs, can get our hands on today.

Lovely post John.

This is something I consider often too. The sad irony is that as we get ever better telescopes, we get ever worsening skies to use them on. 

In the UK we can only dream of skies without the effects of air pollution and light pollution, even the darkest sites are blighted by overhead air travel, which in turn create poor conditions. Remember that Lucksall star party when the Icelandic volcano was active? No planes, much cleaner conditions....

 

Personally I'm out observing, via cameras, the Eagle nebula, and have been for several evenings now, in a variety of wavelengths. Just started looking at it though a red filter, which will maybe go in the whole data set as a substitute for Sulphur II filter images. M16 is always a challenge from Coventry, and it sits just above my roof-line, requiring loads of images to get anywhere near a reasonable image. Typically there are only a few nights per year that I am able to get anything on this, and in fact haven't managed anything worthwhile on it for at least 8 years.

Also, helpfully, the current equipment I have on review for S@N does not require my mount, telescope, or camera, so am able to capture images I can actually share publicly for a nice change, and for this to coincide with clear nights on M16 is almost miraculous

[Tim]

I know the article is reported in the daily fail, but the study is sound.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3652473/Planes-making-skies-brighter-Contrails-thicken-clouds-increase-reflectiveness.html

[Tim]

The images in this article are particularly disturbing

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/contrail-effect.html

[John]

37 minutes ago, Tim said:

..... Remember that Lucksall star party when the Icelandic volcano was active? No planes, much cleaner conditions....

I do remember that event Tim. Very rare time that was. Possibly never to be repeated or at least never in our lifetimes ?