Who remembers the "Four minute warning"???

[Tim]

During the 1980's I remember having several discussions of what we (as kids) would do in the event of hearing the four minute warning of a nuclear attack.

Here's something that could be done that I didn't think of back then, a 3minute 30 sec picture of M13. You'd even have time for a biscuit or two before oblivion.

I took this to see what would happen when I put my Canon 400D onto a skywatcher MakNewt 190. It was really windy, and I wasn't guiding, so the subs were 10 and 15 seconds. I just posted really as an example of what even a few short subs can achieve on a bright target.

Cheers

TJ

[SteveL]

How are the star shapes in the corners of the image at full res?

[barkis]

"And that's magic" To quote little Paul Daniels.

No odd shaped stars Tim ? looks like Gremlin has disappeared.

Ron.

[brendant]

Nicely captured Tim, shows you don't always need a Paramount and RC to get a result.

Brendan

[Tim]

How are the star shapes in the corners of the image at full res?

See PM

[BlueAstra]

Am I right in thinking then that 12 x 15s subs would be better than say 3 x 1 min subs in that the short subs would be less susceptable to vibration than the long one? I assume DSS stacks them and sort of sums up the brightness. Certainly 1 x15s sub is very dim.

[Dangerous-Dave]

Very nice!

Of course if there was a real four minute warning you would be toast before you could get the scope out and polar align it! I went to the Imperial War Museum a few years back and they had a Cold War exhibit with "Protect and Survive" playing on a loop - the whole thing gave me the creeps. Where the Wind Blows, Threads etc - you forget just how scary it all was!

[Les Tilly]

When I first started imaging I used 10 sec subs with some nice results but would need a few hundred subs so it can be done

[ollypenrice]

While brown paper placed over the objective will protect your CCD against incoming radiation from M13 it is unlikely to do much when stuck on your windows in the vicinity of a couple of megatons...

Olly

[Psychobilly]

But what about the ICBM Trails and the glow on the Horizon .... and the EMP ....

[Doc]

Just think off all the light pollution if it ever happened

[philj]

Looking good there, plenty of definition in the core.

I used to work in the main control room of a power station back in the 80s and we had a Nuclear Attack Warning intercom in there. We had to test it every month and would get the warning signals through for the test, spooky it was.

Phil

[MartinB]

Had to drop some subs because of an exploding thermo nuclear device would be the mother of all excuses:cool:

[lulu57]

Thanks very much TJ. I now have "When two tribes go to war" as an ear worm. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!:)

[Tim]

No no no Lulu, go for Edwin Starr's WAR.

(see what I did there?)

[shaula]

NO no no, you're both wrong - How about 'Atomic' Blondie. So much better!!

[Tim]

It's an odd thing, I sing about as well as I fly, but on the PS Singstar discs, Blondie's "Atomic" is one of the few songs I can get 'singstar' on. Must get some looser fitting clothes............

[Bigwings]

In the 60s (yes im an old bu ger. I was in the RAF in Germany and we had regular test scrambles of the Quick Reaction Aircraft (Canberra BI8 bombers with live neukes).

The thing is you were not told till stand down that it was a drill.

Strange sitting on a fat Russian target wondering if the base was about to go supernova....

[Astro_Baby]

As I used to live in Portsmouth at the peak of the cold war and my house was in the centre of a triangle formed by Royal Navy Fuel Depot, Royal Navy Aramaments and Royal Navy dockyards complete with the largest heleicopter repair facility in Europe, Non nuclear sub base, minesweeper base and at least a dozen assoreted other facillities I was always sure if the baloon ever went up then my house would be part of the upper atmosphere very fast.

I had a guy from the Council come round one evening to give me a 'Protect and Survive' pamphlet (wish I had kept it as they are worth a bit now) - I just looked at him and said 'What are you expecting then ? A Zeppelin raid ?' because 20 minutes after the kick off Portsmouth would be a crater 20 miles wide.

Recently I read a book which covered what was aimed at Portmouth by the Russians - 2x 20 megaton airbursts and one 10 megaton groundburst. Southampton which is less than 20 miles away was targetted the same.

I rather suspect painting the windows white and hiding in the cupboard under the stairs wouldn't have done much

I doubt your CCD sensor would like it much either:D

[Psychobilly]

Thanks very much TJ. I know have "When two tribes go to war" as an ear worm. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!:eek::)

Just "Relax"....

Ok it was an obvious answers....

Things you do as kids...

I remember starting to dig a bunker in the garden.....

[adamsp123]

Protect and survive, what a typical government joke, how to build an shelter under the stairs including filling sandbags, removing doors etc in 3min 59 secs.

Nice pic for such short exposures

[Astro_Baby]

Not forgetting the really useful advice on coping with the after effects - the ones I remember were;

1/ Make sure you drink plenty of fresh orange juice ( cos of course after armageddon you can simply nip down Tescos for another pint of Sunny D )

2/ Keep your credit cards safe ( well of course - you'd seriouly worry about credit card theft post apocalypse - you wouldn't want to be without your plastic would you ? )

3/ If someone dies put them in a polythene bin bag and pin a piece of paper on with their name, address and NI number (clearly the Inland Revenue were worried about whether people may 'fake it' to avoid coughing up on their tax return )

Actually the 3 minute warning was the best detection between spotting a SOviet launch and the first ones falling on the UK.

If your interested in this stuff do a search for 'Burlington' or 'Turnstile' on the web and you can see the largest underground bunker ever built - dug out in total secrecy in the 1950s - its quite fascinating.

[brianb]

During the 1980's I remember having several discussions of what we (as kids) would do in the event of hearing the four minute warning of a nuclear attack.

From the wall of a greasy spoon restaurant in Southampton, 1968:

IN THE EVENT OF NUCLEAR ATTACK

1. Do not panic

2. Pay your bill

3. Run like hell

[Coco]

On the main Liverpool road out of Preston there was a nuclear bunker shop selling.... you guest it nuclear bunkers!!

That shop was open for years

It also added a certain amount of insecurity when stuck in traffic opposite it....

As you get older, I think most of us don't want to survive a nuclear attack.

.

Guy

[Tim]

LOL, thanks for the laughs all. It's a wonder that any of us are 'sane' when you think about it

This pic has made me wonder whether you could get something reasonable from a decent fast telephoto lens and camera on a tripod?