Fortunately, the heavy rain predicted didn't
happen but there was a lot of moving cloud about. I popped out
from working at 08:35 GMT. It was too cloudy to attempt a hydrogen
alpha shoot and I'd somehow mislaid my binocular adaptor bracket
to do a "white light" shot. My back was still too dodgy to use my
main telescopes. I was able to see that a small chunk of the Sun was
already "missing".
08:50 GMT. Well, limited success, at any rate.
I managed to snap the partial phase using optical zoom on the
camera:
09:35 GMT: I had a business 'phone call just
when it was clear at 09:20 GMT and it clouded over again. Never
mind, I managed a hydrogen alpha shoot, although the solar disc
was very bland and I couldn't see any prominences.
At 09:45 GMT I did another shoot and noticed
that the Moon was starting to disappear.
At 10:00 GMT I saw last contact through the
PST . I missed the photo opportunity as it clouded over.
Still, it was better then expected.
Aug 2nd
Tried a hydrogen alpha shoot at 14:00 GMT but
only saw a bland, featureless disc.
Tried again at 16:20 GMT and saw some small
detail. The main disc photo was quite bland but I saw some fine
detail in the close-ups.
I went out for a constellation shoot at 22:30
GMT and 8 minutes later saw a very bright Perseid flash
almost vertically.
First constellation was Hercules.
Next was Aquila.
Slightly to the north, the next shot shows Delphinius
and Sagitta.
Next up was Andromeda but I also caught Cassiopeia
as well.
... and when I went for Cassiopeia, I caught
most of Cepheus as well.
Then there was Perseus
I finished with the Plough and the large format
picture on Photobucket,
showed Alcor with Mizar. It can just about be made out here.
I was going to do a bin scan after processing
the photos but, unfortunately, it had clouded over.
Aug 7th
After a few days of inaction, I finally managed
a hydrogen alpha shoot at 16:30 GMT. I tried using 3 cameras
and various processing techniques for the full disc shots.
I only found 2 usable closeups and I was unable
to enhance the color without losing detail.
Aug 8th
With a cloudy day, I reprocessed an image from June
8th 2008 to try out new techniques.
Encouraged, I returned to the day before (Aug 7th).
Aug 9th
With a morning of heavy rain, I reprocessed an image
from March 21st 2008 morning.
Aug 10th
With the rain continuing past midnight, I reprocessed
a shot from April 7th 2008.
Then this one from April 6th.
Despite a bad start to the day, it cleared enough by
10:20 GMT to get the PST out. The conditions were difficult and
I didn't complete the shoot before it clouded over again. The disc
still looked bland but I could see a small prominence.
Aug 13th
At 02:45 I saw a bright Perseid flash at about the 5
o'clock position.
There was heavy rain during the day but I reprocessed
an old lunar daytime photo (from April 12th) and it improved a bit.
Remastered a lunar daytime shot from March 30th 2006.
At 22:10 GMT I had a quick bin scan under poor conditions.
The Moon was waxing gibbous and Tycho's rays were starting to show,
together with the southern craters. I could see 2 of Jupiter's moons,
one each side and almost certainly Ganymede and Callisto. I split Alberio
and Epsilon Lyrae and that was all I could see.
Aug 14th
It was surprisingly clear when I did a hydrogen alpha shoot
at 06:50 GMT but little detail was visible on the Sun but I did catch
a small prominence photographically at about the 2 oc'clock position.
I managed by first lunar shoot for ages, due to weather
and back trouble.
Aug 15th
Did a quick solar hydrogen alpha shoot at 07:10 GMT. I could
see more granulation features than the day before visually but no
promonences.
Aug 17th
Missed the lunar eclipse through cloud and, due to internet
problems, you'll probably be reading this some time afterwards. Anyway,
I did a PST shoot at 08:40 GMT. Solar disc activity had lessened, while
there was a small prominence at the 3 o'clock position.
Aug 18th
After a bad day, it cleared when the Sun was quoite low down
at 18:30 GMT, so I did a quick shoot in less than ideal conditions.
With the Moon being low and bright and its light being scattered
by fast moving cloud, there was really only one object worth attempting
when I went out at 21:30 GMT. Tycho's rays were still dominating the
lunar landscape.
Aug 22nd
I finally for a chance to see the Sun at 14:45 GMT and found that
there were 2 pronminences on the lower left. I found one on the upper
left on the full disc photo:
I went for a bin scan at 21:40 GMT. Although the conditions after
sunset had been promising, there were lots of areas of sky lost completely
to cloud and others were partially obscured by haze. On the other hand,
the area around Cygnus was clear and I could see the Milky Way.
The Moon was low in the ENE and was gibbous with about 8 days until
new. The southern craters looked superb but the ray systems had gone,
at least as viewed from Earth. Jupiter showed one moon very close on the
left and 2 on the right.
The Wild Duck cluster (M11) was visible but poor. M13 wasn't at
its best but showed some structure. I couldn't see M3, the Ring (M57)
nor the Dumbbell (M27). I tried for M71 but I think I lost it in the Milky
Way background, as it was quite rich in the Sagitta area.
The Andromeda galaxy (M31) was enshrouded in mist but still managed
to show its structure. I split the usual doubles (Mizar/Alcor, Alberio,
etc) but, on a wild goose chase for M30, found Alpha Capricorni, which
proved to be a fine binocular double and maybe a photographic target for
later.
Aug 23rd
After seeing the Moon through bins, it clouded over. It finally
cleared at 23:20 GMT but my hoped-for experiments with exposure times
didn't happen, as it soon clouded over again. However, I managed some
shots first. However, the full disc shot was horribly overexposed and
only showed terminator detail.
At 08:00 GMT, I did a daytime shoot of the Moon, which looked quite
superb and the southern craters looked just as splendid as at night.
Straight after I did a thorough Sun shoot, with experiments
in exposure times. The first was "white light" and the rest hydrogen
alpha. Unfortunately, no close-ups revealed any decent detail.
Aug 24th
The conditions were difficult but I managed a quick shoot at 08:30
GMT through a gap in the clouds.
Aug 26th
I was awake at 02:10 local time in Budapest, Hungary (00:10 GMT). Due
to baggage and hand luggage restrictions, I was reduced to my 10x25 pair
of binoculars. I had a quick scan from my hotel window. The Moon was
visible in Taurus as a thin waning crescent. I was able to make out some
cratering on the southern terminator and could make out the lunar maria quite
clearly. Most of the city lights were off but some thin cloud and haze was
present but I was able to see the Hyades quite clearly. I could only make
out the main asterism of the Pleiades.
I managed a shot of the Moon that showed the phase, using the camera
alone.
Aug 27th
Used my small bins on the Moon at 09:40 GMT and could only see maia and
no craters but these are usually difficult even in larger instruments at
this stage of the lunar cycle.
I snapped the Sun at 17:00 GMT at an exposure of 1/1000 sec. I recorded
a slightly distorted disc but no sunspots.
I bin scanned Jupiter in poor conditions at 19:00 GMT but didn't see any
sunspots.
Aug 28th
I was awake early and saw a thin waning crescent moon and the main asterisms
of Gemini and Orion from my hotel window. I checked out the Moon with my binoculars.
Although the phase and Earthshine were clear, I could not resolve any surface
detail.
I could make out the Orion Great Nebula (M42) but only just.
Aug 30th
I went for a bin scan at 20:15 GMT but the combination of poor conditions
and small binoculars meant that I could record Delta and Epsilon Lyrae and
the worst view of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) I've ever had short of missing
it completely, with only the central part visible. Antares was invisible
to the unaided eye and i couldn't see any of Jupiter's moons. Even only Alpha
Persei was visible amongst Melotte 20.
