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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Glancing from the window early on Thursday morning (00:48 BST) I was confronted with a beautiful, and equally mind bending atmospheric display as noctilucent clouds streaked there way across the northern sky. These elusive clouds, which consist of water ice crystals some 0.1 micron in diameter, are found in a tenuous atmospheric layer known as the mesosphere. Illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon, which is scattered by the ice crystals, they become visible; appearing to glow with a ghostly pale blue colour.
It was a truly mesmerizing sight that almost begged belief. I feel very lucky to have finally observed, and photographed these ‘wraith’ clouds. Hopefully the next few months will yield similar if not better conditions!
Noctilucent clouds sweep across the constellations of Auriga, and Perseus. Capella can be seen shining brightly towards the lower left hand corner, while Mirphak, and Delta Persei can be seen in the upper right hand corner.
The constellation Auriga disappears behind a rippling swathe of vivid Type 5 IIIb NCLs, while the outer arm of a large cumulus cloud begins to drift over the sky.
The incredible, and intricate detail in the wave like structure of these ethereal clouds can be seen here as they outshine the bright star Capella.
A firey red Sun casts it’s light on to a large cumulus cloud as it drifts over the roof tops. At the same time some fainter NCLs spread their glowing arms across the sky leading to a very surreal scene.
Tags: Auriga, Capella, DSLR, Mirphak, Noctilucent Clouds, Perseus
Posted in Astrophotography, Observing | 6 Comments »
As observing sessions go, Monday served up one of the best early morning skies that I have seen in what feels like a long time. I had been itching for a chance to get back out since my last session on Friday night so I could hunt down M3 in Canes Venatici as well as take a better look at M35 in Gemini. With crystal clear skies above and the temperature dropping to -3°C conditions, apart from the constant light pollution just couldn’t have been better.
I kicked things off at 01:50 UT and set about resuming my search for Messier 3, which I had failed to observe from my previous session. Canes Venatici was now high in the sky and well away from the dreaded orange haze that bogs down the horizon, so I felt my chances of netting an observation of M3 where extremely good. Using the 10×50s I slowly swept down about 10° from Cor Caroli and back again. I did this a few times until my eye’s finally settled on the distant globular cluster, which through the small bins looked rather hazy and indistinct. To tell the truth I was a little dubious of what I was seeing so I decided to go a bit deeper and set up the 25×100s on the tripod. I really wasn’t prepared for what I was going to see - I’ve only observed one other globular cluster: M56 in Lyra and I have to say M3 completely blows it away! Using direct vision the cluster looked almost spherical, extremely dense and relatively bright with a diffuse glow but it took on a whole new dimension when using averted vision. The cluster’s brightness really jumped out at me and I could make out what I would describe as a coarse, almost grainy texture. This was an extremely rewarding observation and I spent the next fifteen minutes tracking this wonderful DSO across the sky.
Finally moving on from M3 I turned to Gemini to take in my second observation: the open cluster M35 which had previously impressed me and which I desperately wanted to return to with the bigger bins. This cluster definitely has the astronomical WOW factor and through the 25×100s it was transformed into a truly dazzling sight. Like all amateur astronomers, The Sword Handle in Perseus never ceases to leave me in awe, but in my opinion M35 gives it a pretty good run for it’s money. I was so completely mesmerized by the view that I totally lost all track of time.
Eventually I manged to pull myself away from M35 and spend a few minutes just ambling across the early morning sky with the old MK 1 eyeball. As I did so I spied Cancer riding high in the heavens and suddenly took a notion to take in an unplanned observation of Messier 44: The Beehive Cluster. My last observation of this DSO was back at the end of November and that was with the 10×50s. This time around The Beehive took on a whole different shape that revealed the cluster in all it’s scintillating radiance. The FOV was just filled with white/blue stars that shimmered and danced in the crisp morning sky, making for a truly fantastic sight.
Looking at my watch I was amazed to see that it was coming up for 03:00 UT. It felt as though the time had just flown by and I didn’t feel that I wanted to end things, but I was getting tired as well as cold. However, before I packed my gear up I saw Saturn towards the south just over the roof tops and decided to have a quick look. I knew I wouldn’t see much planetary detail or the rings, but there was a chance I would see some of the moons. Through the 25×100s all I could make out was the planetary disc of Saturn (as expected), but not far from it sat a small orange/red ’star’ that I instinctively knew to be the moon Titan. I was so delighted as this was the first time I had directly observed any of Saturn’s moons. I soaked up the view for a few more minutes and took the time to make a rough sketch that I later used to create the digital render above.
All in all I’d say that this was probably one of the best observing sessions that I have had in a long time and hopefully the first of many more to come. I’m planning to track down M13 and M92 in Hercules on my next outing, so hopefully I can get back out quite soon. Of course that all depends on what the weather has got in store for me . . .
Tags: Cancer, Canes Venatici, Cor Caroli, Gemini, Lyra, M3, M35, M44, M56, NGC 869, NGC 884, Perseus, Praesepe, Saturn, The Beehive Cluster, Titan
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Tuesday morning’s off-track observing session left me a little disappointed but it hadn’t diminished my determination to nail down M44 and M67 in Cancer as well as M76 and NGC 1499 (The California Nebula) in Perseus. As Tuesday’s unsettled sky wavered in and out of clear spells and overcast gloom, I slowly felt any chance of another observing session slipping away; how wrong could I be?
Well, a lot as it so happens! As I glanced out of the window for the final time late on Tuesday night I saw that the clouds had all but drifted away and large patches of clear sky had managed to break through. Taking a chance, I waited till the constellation Cancer had cleared the roof tops and then headed out at 01:30 UT early on Wednesday morning.
Unlike my previous session I decided to use the 10×50 Bresser bins to find my quarry rather than the hefty Strathspey 25×100s. Moving out into the middle of the back yard I turned to the south east where I could see the mighty Leo rising into the sky. Moving slightly to the west of Leo I began scanning the sky for Cancer unaided. It was a little hard to make out against the orange haze being cast up by the local light pollution, but I eventually found Acubens and Al Tarf, the two stars that make up the lower portion of the constellation. Moving up from here I could just about see Asellus Borealis, and by using a little averted vision I then managed to make out Asellus Australis. This was the important part of my search as I knew finding these two stars would lead me to M44, The Beehive Cluster.
Reaching for my 10×50 bins I tracked back across my original path in the sky and star hopped my way to The Beehive. It really was a fantastic sight and well worth the effort. The cluster itself showed up as a myriad of glowing stars that traced out an almost spherical shape in the sky. A beautiful DSO and one that I’m sure I’ll get around to sketching very soon. Unfortunately a small blanket of cloud slowly drifted over Cancer forcing me to temporarily postpone my search for the smaller cluster M67.
Instead I turned my attention to Collinder 70, otherwise known as Orion’s Belt. Now, I didn’t have a clue that this was an open cluster of stars until I read one of The Rev Aaron’s posts over at Caffeinated Astronomy. This is a truly amazing Deep Sky Object on a par with the Pleiades and is really best viewed through binoculars so you can truly savor it’s delights. From here I moved up Orion to Collinder 69, the group of stars that form Orion’s head. This open cluster doesn’t offer the same WOW factor as Collinder 70, but it’s a beautiful little cluster all the same.
By this point the clouds over Cancer had been swept away eastwards and I could resume my search for the open cluster M67. Having found Acubens, the search for this Messier object was quite easy and in no time at all I was gazing upon this distant DSO. Now this open cluster was a lot smaller and a lot fainter, but was observable none the less.
By about 02:03 UT I decided to turn my attention to Perseus and that’s when something very bright exploded in the sky above me. This actually made me physically jump, but It lasted all of two to three seconds and was then gone. I never actually saw what is was, but I’m sure I heard a crackling or hissing sound that vanished with the light. My best guess is that it was a meteorite fireball, but I can’t be sure because I didn’t actually observe it (more’s the pity).
Feeling a little bewildered I returned to Perseus and began ambling over the constellation towards the location of NGC 1499. Gazing through the 10×50s just above Xi Persei I could make out a rich star field but unfortunately no nebulosity. To be honest I wasn’t expecting to see that much detail but it was still a worth while view.
M76 or The little Dumbbell Nebula as it is also affectionately known was the final stop on my short list and try as I might I couldn’t locate this DSO. It was only later on once I was back inside that I queried the exact location of M76 in Stellarium. I could have kicked myself, I was trying to find M76 around the locality of Tau Persei instead of Phi Persei!
Having no luck with M76 I ended my session by rambling over the north western sky. First up was the stunning Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869 and NGC 884) which I have neglected over the last month or so. From here I worked my way down to the beautiful and often over looked open cluster M34. Finally I let the binoculars land on the small and elusive M33 or The Triangulum Galaxy as it is also known. I always find that this galaxy varies in brightness, something which I have put down to it’s position in my light polluted skies.
As I prepared to call time on my session I took in an unaided view of Saturn rising from the south east into the early morning sky. After spending a few moments taking in the distant but bright point of light of this planetary marvel I turned just in time to catch of small, faint meteorite pay me a ‘flying visit’ as it glanced the handle of Ursa Major and disappeared in to the east. Bidding farewell to my fleeting astral visitor I decided to wrap things up at around 02:30 UT and head indoors to warm up.
Tags: Acubens, Al Tarf, Asellus Australis, Asellus Borealis, Bresser 10x50, Cancer, Collinder 69, Collinder 70, Fireball, Galaxies, Leo, M33, M34, M44, M67, M76, Meteorite, NGC 1499, NGC 869, NGC 884, Orion, Perseus, Phi Persei, Saturn, Stellarium, Tau Persei, The Beehive Cluster, The California Nebula, The Little Dumbbell Nebula, The Triangulum Galaxy, Triangulum, Ursa Major, Xi Persei
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An exceptionally clear evening on Monday night (22.09.08) meant that another, albeit short observing session was on the cards. As always, the first port of call was a view of Jupiter through my 25×100s’. This time, observing was much easier than my previous outing as Jupiter was not obscured by structural obstacles. This was mainly due to the fact that I was out an hour early.
The render below details my observation taken from 20:20 UT to 20:38 UT. The moons from left to right are Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io.
As the moon was to rise much later, I took the opportunity to resume the DSO hunt by returning to my search for M51. I began by sweeping the sky eastwards around Perseus and Andromeda with my Bresser 10×50s’ to give my eye’s a chance to adapt to the dark. M31 was well placed as was the double cluster (NGC 884 and NGC 869) in Perseus. While there was not a cloud in the sky, the transparency was not that brilliant.
After about twenty minutes I couldn’t resist a look at M31 through the 25×100s’, and what a view. Amazingly, some of the dark subtle veins of the spiral structure were just visible while the small faint companion M110 was positioned about 10 arcminutes above.
From here I began a refreshed search for M51. I searched for over an hour and think I may have found the elusive spiral galaxy, but the view was so faint that I couldn’t be sure. The final diagnosis . . . I need more light gathering power to fully see M51. This is one DSO that I think I’m going to have to let go for the moment.
I ended my session at 22:30 UT with a view of the Pleiades rising in the east. The orange haze of the light pollution and the bad sky transparency made the open cluster appear quite faint to the naked eye, but through my 10×50s’ was easily recognizable. Not the best view due to the LP, but still a rewarding sight.
Tags: Andromeda, Callisto, Europa, Galaxies, Ganymede, Io, Jupiter, M110, M31, M45, M51, NGC 869, NGC 884, Perseus, The Pleiades
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