Ash damage?

[Towa]

Been using my 120 year old John Browning microscope today to look at the dust layer

on my observatory roof. There is what looks like volcanic ash in the mix and the edges

do look sharpe, the thing is can this stuff damage my telescope gear?. I'm thinking

about what will happen if I try to clean a lens.

I took some hand-held pictures, not the best quality but they give you an idea.

In the second picture there is an awful lot of yellow/green particles, I think this is pollen,

can anyone confirm?. There is two pieces of what I think is ash, you can clearly see

a pointed side on the larger piece.

The third picture has a monster of a piece. The picture does not do it justice, there is a great

amount of detail in it when viewed through the eyepiece.

[barkis]

That's a very good point you raise, and well worth everyone taking on board. That stuff is glass I believe, and more than capable of scratching a lens or corrector plate if it was not washed off prior to cleaning.

Imaging the damage it could inflict on somebody's pristine Apochromatic.

Ron.

[Mr Spock]

My car window is covered in these little round specks...

[Brinders]

So far we have escaped any settled dust in Blackpool, but I am wary, so haven't used my scope since Wednesday, besides there has been a lot of haze, which my be the dust in the atmosphere?

[Towa]

A nice article appears here about Sheffield. I have the same dust on my car and Scopes.

Iceland volcano: Found on the streets of Sheffield, the volcanic ash which is falling on Britain | Mail Online

[skye at night]

No dust evident up here in NW Highlands!!!

I'm not usually part of the 'tinfoil hat brigade' but the cynic in me is screaming that there is more to this than volcanic dust...

Volcanoes erupt constantly throughout the world and seem to rarely (only 2 records can be sited on news) have any impact on air traffic...

I am well aware of the type of volcanism at work and the effects as I am a Geologist by profession so also well aware of the different types of volcanism throughout the world and their associated ejecta.... (have visited Iceland and Mt St Helens Washington) However..

While not understanding the jet engine mechanics side of it fully... I do not believe that THIS particular eruption would be taken by so many governments as the sole reason for grounding so many flights... I suspect something else making convenient use of this eruption to keep flights grounded....

Katla is often associated with eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull... Is Katla about to blow its sides off? I suppose Iceland would be having some form of evacuation if it was thought so...

Why despite the grounded flights (I see the Iceland bound flights every day from here) have I seen a couple of high altitude planes in the last 2 days? Easily visible in the clear sky we briefly had... Surely even if military (and why would they be?) the same rules regarding engines and safety would apply?

I am not suggesting anything 'ET/close encounters' but more some other important reason beyond just a volcanic eruption that maybe the 'powers that be' feel we are not fit to know about...

I will keep my personal thought on this to myself for the moment though...

Now where's my tinfoil?

Must run.. i can hear a helicopter outside....

Steve

[Brinders]

Whoa, that is cynical! We usually see lots of contrails here both military (from Warton where Typhoon is built and Nimrods are overhauled) and civil. But no contrails at all since Thursday.

I believe it really is a case that the authorities are being cautious because modern bypass jet engines suck in huge volumes of air that can both damage and choke the engines. Turbo jets may suffer less as used in some military aircraft. But, remember that 1982 BA flight, the crew saw nothing untoward, but volcanic ash stopped their engines.

Anyway Willie Walsh is going up soon form Heathrow to Cardiff in a BA jumbo. He doesn't tolerate his business being closed down unnecessarily. We'll soon see if he makes it.

Brinders

[cootuk]

What about car engines?

Is this coarse enough to get filtered out at the air filter, or will valves get clogged with it?

[ash]

Sorry now't to do with me:D

ASH

[Catanonia]

Damage is due to the fine cooling holes they have in jet engine blades.

These holes get blocked with the fine dust and overhead the engine. It can happen immediately or even several hours later and hence the problem.

Once the engine is too hot, it fails and shuts down.

It isn't the abrasiveness of the dust, just the fine size of it.

[iamjulian]

Oo, I have read a fair bit about the subject, but that's the first conspiracy theory I have heard Steve, what shape should I make my hat, and is standard kitchen tin foil thick enough? Just teasing.

I think they are just too scared of saying there is no issue, for something bad to then happen to a plane. Does seem to be dragging on a bit though. From an astronomy viewpoint, I hope it doesn't drag on for weeks, months, years. I had three clear nights in a row and all of them were useless because of the haze.

[Dangerous-Dave]

No dust evident up here in NW Highlands!!!

I'm not usually part of the 'tinfoil hat brigade' but the cynic in me is screaming that there is more to this than volcanic dust...

Volcanoes erupt constantly throughout the world and seem to rarely (only 2 records can be sited on news) have any impact on air traffic...

I am well aware of the type of volcanism at work and the effects as I am a Geologist by profession so also well aware of the different types of volcanism throughout the world and their associated ejecta.... (have visited Iceland and Mt St Helens Washington) However..

While not understanding the jet engine mechanics side of it fully... I do not believe that THIS particular eruption would be taken by so many governments as the sole reason for grounding so many flights... I suspect something else making convenient use of this eruption to keep flights grounded....

Katla is often associated with eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull... Is Katla about to blow its sides off? I suppose Iceland would be having some form of evacuation if it was thought so...

Why despite the grounded flights (I see the Iceland bound flights every day from here) have I seen a couple of high altitude planes in the last 2 days? Easily visible in the clear sky we briefly had... Surely even if military (and why would they be?) the same rules regarding engines and safety would apply?

I am not suggesting anything 'ET/close encounters' but more some other important reason beyond just a volcanic eruption that maybe the 'powers that be' feel we are not fit to know about...

I will keep my personal thought on this to myself for the moment though...

Now where's my tinfoil?

Must run.. i can hear a helicopter outside....

Steve

I like it Steve, this one's got real mileage.

I reckon they've grounded all air traffic in NATO countries to conduct tests of the new ABM system. Those planes you saw were probably Russian reconnaissance craft (like the Blackjack the RAF intercepted at the end of March), or unmanned NATO planes acting as targets for the ABM system. The Smolensk disaster was a warning from the Russkies: no ABM in neighbouring countries or else.

[iamjulian]

Someone just posted this comment on the Times:

"From 2010 to 2017 we pass through the Galactic Rift arising from the alignment of the Earth, Sun and Black Hole at the centre of our Galaxy. Expect more of these events."

Now there's someone with a tinfoil hat.

[Space Bat]

Seems to be a fair amount of low level flights at night round by my g'friends....but then she has two US air bases and one UK air base close by...

But the risk to aviation flights is genuine and although at some points in the day maybe OK to fly....who wants to be a passenger when it should be OK...?

This is a precaution...

Chris

[Hoshikomi]

One of the issues that affected the Indonesian BA 747 was that once they'd re-lit the engines, forward visibilty was severely limited as the ash scoured the front windscreen; imagine spraying your windows with glass particles at 300mph and you'll get the picture...!

[Doc]

Well it's not stopped the army flying as three big Chinooks have just flown over my house.

[Space Bat]

Seems to be a lot of military flights at the moment - this may be coincidence as more obvious due to lack of passenger flights....but it seems more so - could be that Military that may use commercial type military jet planes that are required to fly at higher altitudes are now using other means??

But most have been fighters - helicopters and one big black thing (cant make it out - but its not a prop job) that makes one hell of a racket...all just after sunset...

Obviously there may be some mobilisation going on...

But is there something else going on - have the aliens landed????

Chris

[kev]

Had rain yesterday and Sunday night here in Scarborough, beautiful clear blue sky today. The haze has totally gone, the sea horizon is perfect at the mo.

[DarkerSky]

Someone just posted this comment on the Times:

"From 2010 to 2017 we pass through the Galactic Rift arising from the alignment of the Earth, Sun and Black Hole at the centre of our Galaxy. Expect more of these events."

Now there's someone with a tinfoil hat.

Was it David Icke?

[LukeSkywatcher]

Some of the ash has been found on cars here in Ireland as far south as County Cork. That pretty much says that the whole of the country is sitting under the ash cloud. We could be seeing a lot more of it at ground level in the next few days as the latest plume of ash is settling in the atmosphere at much lower levels to the original one.