On November the 5th 1605, a group of English Catholics were foiled in their attempt to assassinate King James I of England and VI of Scotland. Their plan had been to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the state opening, using 36 barrels of gunpowder, which would have killed the King and most of the Protestant nobility in the process. The man responsible for executing what became known as the Gunpowder Plot, because of his military and explosives experience, was Guy Fawkes.
Fortunately the conspirators’ plot unraveled and Guy Fawkes, who helped conceal the gunpowder barrels in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament, was arrested a few hours before he planned to detonate them. Had he been successful in igniting the gunpowder, the explosion would have destroyed the Old Palace of Westminster completely and shattered the windows of the surrounding buildings within a 1 kilometer circumference. All of those involved in the conspiracy were quickly hunted down and dispatched one way or another.
The Gunpowder Plot passed from history into folk lore, but it’s defeat has resonated down through the centuries and has always been commemorated every year since by burning bonfires along with the setting off of fireworks. It was against this setting, with the scent of smoke from fading bonfires and spent fireworks, that I produced the rough graphite sketch of the Moon that you can see below.
Waning Gibbous Moon 05.11.09: Mouseover the image for more information.
If I’d been more organised I would have taken the time to make the disc of the moon far neater by using a template, but all in all the sketch still turned out okay. As this was a quick observation I decided to record the most obvious features across the surface of the Moon rather than get mired in the almost infinite details, but I’ll certainly be aiming for a far more in-depth study next time around. It’s just a pity that there won’t be any fireworks!
Tags: Apennine Mountains, Aristarchus, Aristoteles, Atlas, Bessel Ray, Brenner, Burg, Colombo, Copernicus, Cyrillus, Dawes, Eudoxus, Fabricius, Fracastorius, Grimaldi, Gutenberg, Hercules, Janssen, Kepler, Macrobius, Manilius, Mare Humorum, Mare Imbrium, Mare Nectaris, Mare Nubium, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis, Menelaus, Metius, Moon, Oceanus Procellarum, Plato, Plinius, Posidonius, Riccioli, Santbech, Sinus Iridium, Strathspey 25x100, Theophilus, Tycho
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While my binocular observation of Epsilon Lyrae, almost two weeks ago, offered a beautiful view I wasn’t quite prepared for the stunning sight that presented itself to me last Friday night — 16.10.09 — as I began gazing through the 5 inch refractor. Although there was a tenuous haze high up in the atmosphere the seeing conditions were relatively steady and both sets of stars exhibited a single inner diffraction ring during the good moments of atmospheric stability.
Ε Lyrae 1 comprises of two stars that orbit one another every 1,200 years, shining at magnitudes 4.7 and 6.2, while Ε Lyrae 2 consists of a magnitude 5.1 and 5.5 pair with an orbital period of 585 years. Both doubles offer a dazzling spectacle even under the most light polluted of skies and are more than worthy of your time. If you’ve not taken in an observation of this outstanding quadruple star system yet then do so. You won’t be disappointed!
Tags: Celestron Omni XLT 120, Epsilon Lyrae, Lyra, Multiple Star
Posted in Astro Art, Observing | 4 Comments »
Lying beyond the glare of the stellar behemoth Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus, making up a glorious cosmic quartet, sits Omicron-1 and Omicron-2 Cygni. An orange K3Ib super-giant, Omicron-2 is an Algol type variable star — an eclipsing binary with a smaller, but brighter short period companion. By sheer coincidence Omicron-1 is also an Algol variable belonging to the orange spectrum — a K2II giant to be precise — but other than their apparent resemblance there is no physical relationship between these “twin” stars.
Sitting close to Omicron-1 can be found 30 Cygni and HIP 99676 also known as 31 Cygni b. The former is a white to blue white A5III giant while the latter is a blue white B9 star with no clear luminosity grading. Again, like Omicron-2, there is no association — except for a common optical axis within a populous field of the Milky Way — between these stars and Omicron-1.
The 25×100 binoculars easily revealed the orange hues of Omicron-1 and 2 while 30 Cygni appeared close to it’s spectral classification. HIP 99676 on the other hand posed a slight puzzle as it appeared a greenish white. Regardless this proved to be a beautiful grouping of stars which are well worth a look if you have the time to spare during an observing session.
Tags: 30 Cygni, Cygnus, HIP 99676, Omicron-1 Cygni, Omicron-2 Cygni, Strathspey 25x100
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Caught between the rooftops and an advancing blanket of cloud, Sunday’s Harvest Moon managed to reveal itself for a few brief moments as it rose into the sky. Taking place around the time of the autumnal equinox, the Harvest Moon is unique because it rises 30 rather than 50 minutes later each successive evening.
This happens because the path of the Moon on the ecliptic forms a narrow angle with respect to the horizon. An occurrence which results in shorter rising times with no period of darkness between Sunsets and Moonrises. In times long past this helped farmers, as they could work for much longer, when it became time to gather in their crops. Hence the name of this full Moon.
Harvest Moon Rising 04.10.09: Mouseover the image for a close-up.
The offhand shot above, a 1/40 second exposure, was taken at a focal length of 70mm using an f/stop of 5.6 and an ISO of 100. The image was then processed using a combination of Apple’s Aperture and the open source image editor GIMP.
Tags: Autumnal Equinox, DSLR, Harvest Moon, Moon
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What started out as a planned observation of Omicron-1 Cygni ended up as an impromptu study of Epsilon Lyrae. With the weather granting the first proper clear skies that I have seen in just over three weeks I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to get out under the stars. With winds gusting at 21 mph and a temperature of 9°C — due to fall by 5°C — I opted to set up the 25×100 binoculars rather than the 5 inch refractor. Upon realising that my intended target — Omicron-1 Cygni — lay at a neck breaking altitude of 71° I decided to retreat to Epsilon Lyrae.
The beautiful multiple star — a quadruple system that lies 162 light years away — shared the same field of view as the dazzling main sequence star Vega. At higher magnifications the stars of Epsilon Lyrae— ε Lyrae 1 and ε Lyrae 2 — split into two further binaries that orbit one another no closer than 0.16 light years. This means that both systems would take many millennia to complete just one orbit.
I’ll definitely be returning here in due course to take in a view with the telescope, but I’m still intent on bagging that observation of Omicron-1 Cygni. Just watch this space!
Edit 07.10.09: Looking back on the original sketch of Epsilon Lyrae that I produced, I’ve had the feeling that I just didn’t give this celestial object the attention that it really deserved. So early on Wednesday morning — 07.10.09 — I revisited the scene of the crime and set to work making a fresh observation. Although there was a cold breeze blowing through the backyard the seeing higher up in the atmosphere was excellent — 1 on the Antoniadi Scale. I’m far happier with the detail that I’ve captured; I hope you enjoy what I have produced.
Tags: Cygnus, Epsilon Lyrae, Lyra, Omicron-1 Cygni, Strathspey 25x100, Vega
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