The late hours of Monday night (24.08.09) brought an opportunity to take in a quick observation of Jupiter with the 25×100 binoculars. Initially I could only discern three of the Galilean moons, but further investigation revealed the fourth elusive satellite — Io — hugging close by Europa. Upon checking ‘The Night Sky’ section in my August edition of Astronomy Now I realised that I was witnessing a burgeoning occultation as Io converged upon Europa. Unfortunately I was unable to watch this entire Jovian event unfold, but it was fascinating to see the wafer-thin gap between the shimmering moons slowly disappear as they drifted towards their celestial rendezvous.
Tags: Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Io, Jupiter, Occultation, Strathspey 25x100
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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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Near the end of June I was offered the chance to produce two digital renders for Tavi Greiner’s monthly ‘Our Night Sky’ report over at Astrocast.TV. A passionate stargazer and co-author of the blog: A Sky Full of Stars; Tavi also enthusiastically promotes outreach astronomy to fellow amateurs via Twitter, and FaceBook.
The latest episode of Our Night Sky focuses on citizen science and how members of the public can volunteer their time to make an invaluable contribution to real scientific research. Two projects in particular are highlighted: Stardust@Home and Citizen Sky; the leading project of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
Stardust@Home are eagerly searching for microscopic grains of comet and interstellar dust obtained during a recent space mission, while Citizen Sky are hoping to unravel the enigma of a mysterious variable star that has puzzled astronomers for 175 years.
To visualise the concepts at the centre of these two projects I employed Photoshop CS2 as well as the combined power of Blender 2.46 and Terragen 2. The first of these renditions (above) is an impression of an interacting binary system on the verge of an eclipse, while the second one (below) depicts the fiery reentry of a spacecraft capsule on it’s return to Earth after visiting a distant comet.
The opportunity to support Tavi’s admirable work over at Astrocast.TV has been a welcome one, and I’ve enjoyed working on these illustrations which have opened my eyes to the vital role that citizen science plays within the scientific community. To quote the American anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world.”
Tags: AAVSO, Citizen Science, Citizen Sky, Epsilon Aurigae, Stardust@Home
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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 »
