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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The Perseid meteor shower — which peaked last week — is one of the most dazzling celestial events of the year. Caused by debris left over from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle; the meteors streak across the sky— some in a blazing flash of light — before fading into the darkness. A spectacular sight, and one that I had the joy of sharing with many other observers from across the globe thanks to the first ever Twitter Meteorwatch.
During the run up to the annual maximum I spent a couple of mornings making visual observations as well as imaging with the DSLR. Due to the local light pollution, Moonlight and changing weather conditions the results were sketchy to say the least. Nevertheless I managed to catch a bright, but brief Perseid — about -1 magnitude — barreling south eastward from just under Perseus towards Pisces and Cetus. The camera also caught two faint Perseids which you can see below.
Perseid in Cassiopeia: Mouseover the image for more information.
Perseid in Perseus: Mouseover the image for more information.
When cloud cover made visual and photographic observation impossible, I utilised an ordinary FM radio receiver to listen to the ionized trails that the meteors were leaving in the atmosphere high above. This proved reasonably successful with six radio echoes identified over the course of an hour — buzzes, oscillations and distant radio chatter — above the hiss of the white noise.
Thankfully Stenhousemuir was furnished with cloudless skies from August 12th through to the early morning hours of August 13th — the best time to see the meteor shower from the United Kingdom. Between 01:09 - 02:19 a.m. BST I spotted eight Perseids, all with magnitudes ranging from -2 to -1. No doubt I could have perhaps seen more meteors had I the benefit of a much darker setting.
Regrettably the DSLR, which had being firing off 30 second exposures, did not capture anything more exciting than some fetching star trails. A photograph of a bold Perseid would have certainly made a striking prize, but when all is said and done I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to witness this thrilling meteoric display firsthand.
Tags: 109P/Swift-Tuttle, Cassiopeia, DSLR, Perseids, Perseus, Radio Astronomy
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On October the 13th 1773, while observing a comet, the French astronomer Charles Messier discovered what he described as a “very faint nebula without stars”. Catalogued as Messier 51, this nebulous object is actually a large spiral galaxy over 37 million light years away. Under dark skies this island universe is said to be a spectacular sight, but if like me you are trying to view this galactic gem under light polluted conditions; then you’re in for a struggle.
I have endeavored to observe M51 at least four times since I returned to amateur astronomy. Each attempt has left me empty handed, but despite my lack of success I have never abandoned my hope of one day catching a glimpse of this distant galaxy.
Whether it was kismet, experience, or blind luck; the tenuous outline of Messier 51 finally gave itself up to my 25×100 binoculars on the morning of July the 30th. Unfortunately it was to be a fleeting encounter as a colourless brume crept over the sky and obscured the view.
While I waited for the clouds to dissipate I spent my time watching, and photographing Mars as it rose above the eastern horizon along with Venus. Sadly the deteriorating conditions finally overwhelmed the sky; forcing me to pack up and call it quits for another time.
Mars and Venus Rising: Mouseover the image for more information.
Two for the Price of One
As luck would have it the following morning offered some clear skies with another opportunity to tackle M51. This time the elements proved far more agreeable, and allowed me the chance to build on my previous observation. As my eyes adapted to the dark, the subtle contour of M51 began to materialise as an opaque asymmetrical ellipse; which over time began to take on the shape of two uneven lobes.
This completely blew me away because I knew that the smaller of the two lobes was in fact the interacting dwarf galaxy NGC 5195. It was this small companion — after a close encounter between the two galaxies — that helped enhance the pronounced spiral structure of Messier 51.
Adding to this already impressive scene, averted vision revealed the minute cores of both galaxies flickering in and out of view like far flung sky lanterns. A display that was made all the more interesting with the knowledge that at the centre of M51 lies a monstrous black hole which is devouring and tearing matter apart at an incredible rate.
All good things must come to an end, as is so often the case, and 42 minutes after beginning my session a veil of cloud rolled in from the west bringing my observation of this long sought, and rewarding deep sky object, to a close.
Tags: Aldebaran, Canes Venatici, DSLR, Galaxy, Mars, Messier 51, NGC 5195, Strathspey 25x100, Venus
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As the ethereal glimmer of twilight overtook the sunset last Tuesday evening (21.07.09) noctilucent clouds once again danced across the sky above Stenhousemuir. This was a beautiful display that extended it’s fibrous like body at least 60° to 70° across the north eastern horizon.
Having had a chance to study the two photographs I managed to take more closely I’d say that this was a Type 5 formation featuring what looks like Type P (waves crossing a band), and Type IIIb (waves with undulations) structures. A combination that made for a breathtaking sight.
Tags: DSLR, Noctilucent Clouds
Posted in Astrophotography, Observing | 2 Comments »
Better late than never, or so the saying goes. The same can certainly be said for my photographs of a noctilucent maelstrom that descended across Central Scotland a week ago on Sunday just passed (12.07.09). I had no idea, after settling down to watch the fourth possible launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, that I would be treated to such an incredible display later that night. It was only when I took a peek from the bedroom window that I was confronted with an extraordinary scene.
With all thoughts of the space shuttle launch forgotten I sat completely hypnotized as the sky slowly rippled, and shimmered in the fading light. However. It wasn’t to last, and within 45 minutes the entire event seemingly evaporated as the Sun sank lower below the horizon, but I did manage to fire off a number of shots from my hastily assembled camera. Two of which you can see below.
When it comes to classifying NCLs I’m no expert, but I’d definitely say that this was a Type 5 display in terms of brightness. It was also big, and stretched over 60° from the northern horizon to the north eastern horizon. What structure categories the individual clouds fall into is anyone’s guess! It will be interesting to see what NCL activity follows on from this, but I’m hoping things can only get better.
Tags: DSLR, Noctilucent Clouds
Posted in Astrophotography, Observing | 3 Comments »