The conditions had deteriorated by evening and cloud was scattering the
light of the full moon, so what else to do but view and photograph it, especially
as nothing else was visible. I did the shoot at 21:30 GMT:
I used the CEMAX 12 mm eyepiece and Magni Max image amplifier to achieve
a magnification of 205x. The first close-up was actually aimed at Tycho but
I caught it's rays spreading from bottom right to top left:
I caught Plato nicely, though:
Copernicus and Kepler came out well enough:
I caught the terminating edge:
Altogether, a nice result on a poor evening.
Oct 10th
After a rather unsettled period, the sun shone through thin cloud at 16:20
GMT but no sunspots were visible to my bin scan.
The conditions hadn't improved by 21:30 GMT and a sane person would not
have gone out. Fortunately, sanity is not one of my faults, so I started
with the most obvious target of the moon with my binoculars. Tycho's rays
were still prominent and so were those of Copernicus. There were lots of
craters near the terminator.
Only Vega and Deneb were obvious to the unaided eye but some stars in the
Square of Pegasus flickered into visibility. Albeiro showed, as did the easier
Delta and Epsilon Lyrae. I couldn't see the two Draco doubles. The main asterism
of the Pleiades was visible and so were parts of the Hyades. At least a bit
of viewing was available.
Oct 11th
Bin scanned the sun at 15:55 during a clear spell in a wet day but didn't
see any sunspots.
Oct 12th
Spotted a bright sporadic meteor at 19:35 GMT when walking Charlie. It
originated from Perseus and contined SSW in direction.
Oct 13th
Bin scanned the sun at 13:30 GMT but didn't see any sunspots.
Performed my last photo shoot with the PST CaK at 14:00 GMT before returning
it to Nick. It wasn't as successful as the last shoot. The hydrogen alpha
view showed a blandish disc with little contrast and 2 prominences, one of
which was a classic looping one. The photo didn't do it justice.
I returned the PST CaK to Nick at 19:15 GMT, to find him trying out his
new EQ6 mount with a 4" refractor attached. I borrowed his 10x50 binoculars
and did a scan. Although it was misty, I was able to see the Milky Way very
clearly. I managed to split Albeiro with the smallest binoculars ever. I
also saw Delta and Epsilon Lyrae and Alcor/Mizar. I was able to see M13 and
M3 (again, pretty good for 50mm binoculars) but couldn't see the Ring (M57).
Through the telescope, M13 looked quite impressive and we also saw M81 and
M82 in the same field and the Whirlpool (M51).
Oct 14th
I bin scanned the eastern sky at 00:30 GMT. A perfect last quarter moon
showed the Appennines on the terminator (shame I was too tired to do a photo
shoot). Clavius et al showed well in the south. Some of the fainter
members of the Pleiades were drowned out but the Hyades were their old, reliable
self. The Orion Great Nebula (M42) was very low down but I managed to see
a hint of nebulousity.
Oct 15th
I arrived at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, Holland and bin scanned the
sun at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT). I didn't see any sunspots.
At 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT) I found the faint fuzzy patch better known
as Comet Swan 2006M4. I didn't see any features but it was obviously not a
star. I also split Mizar/Alcor while focussing my binoculars.
Oct 20th
I bin scanned the sun at 12:50 local time (01:50 GMT) through thin cloud
but I didn't see any sunspots.
Oct 21st
I was back in England at 08:20 GMT when I did a photot shoot of the Sun
in hydrogen alpha. There wasn't much surface detail visible and just one
small prominence just below middle on the left. An even smaller one is visible
at about the 7 o'clock position.
I went out at 21:00 GMT to try my Mak with a focal reducer (Antares 0.5x).
The Pleiades showed well with a 2 dergree field of view. The Hyades were harder,
being a larger cluster. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) looked superb, as did
Melotte 20 and the star fields around Cygnus. The Pinwheel (M33) was difficult
but the Ring (M57) showed well. Only the Pleaides photographed (not unsuprisingly)
but it wasn't a great shot:
At 23:40 GMT I tried the focal reducer with the 80mm Startravel to yield
magnifications of 6.25x and 10x. 10x seemed to suit both the Pleiades and
Hyades, giving a field of view of about 7 degrees. Although I managed to snap
the Pleiades, I really needed a steadier mount and the Startravel was on
a camera tripod and not its normal EQ1.
For the last 10 minutes or so of the day, I watched for Orionids and saw
one really bright one streak parallel to the eastern horizon at 23:00 GMT
and picked up a fainter one each side of the brighter one.
Oct 23rd
Bin scanned the sun at 07:45 GMT but didn't see any sunspots.
Oct 24th
Went for a bin scan at 20:20 GMT. It was a bit murky near the horizon but
I found M13 and scanned eastwards until I found Comet Swan M4 much larger
and brighter than a week before. It definitely outshone M13 but was fainter
than the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). I couldn't find the Wild Duck (M11) but could
see Epsilon and Delta Lyrae, Albeiro, 16/17 Draconi and Nu Draconi. I found
the Coathanger and could just make out the Dumbbell (M27), although I couldn't
see the Ring (M57). I saw the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Melotte 20, Perseus
Double Cluster and M34. The Pleiades were starting to climb and were looking
good, although not at their best. The Hyades were low down but clear.
Oct 26th
Bin scanned the Sun at 11:20 GMT through fast moving thin cloud but didn't
see any sunspots.
I went for night bin scan at 20:10 GMT with the main idea of catching Comet
Swan M4. It had faded a little but was still brighter than M13, which it was
closing in on. M13 was still quite a good sight, despite the low elevation.
In fact, the conditions were so good that the Wild Duck Cluster (M11) was
well visible low in the west. I could also bag the Ring (M57) and Dumbell
(M27), as well as the double stars in the area (16/17 and Nu Draconi, Delta
and Epsilon Lyrae and Albeiro). Slightly further east, I was able to pick
up M15. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) looked superb and I had my best ever view
of the Oinwheel (M33). Moving further east, the Perseus Double Cluster and
Melotte 20 looked great. Although the Pleaides were low, they looked almost
at their best and the Hyades had barely risen but looked almost in their full
glory.
Oct 27th
Performed a solar hydrogen alpha shoot at 10:45 GMT. There was one large
prominence visible and 2 small ones near the top of the disc. There was a
filament on the photo that I hadn't noticed visually. There was no other detail
visible, as the conditions weren't good.
Oct 29th
A hydrogen alpha shoot at 15:30 GMT showed a single prominence at one o'clock
and no other detail (in poor conditions).
