I returned to England soon
after midnight. I needed to rest after a rather demanding trip
but had a go with the PST at 14:00 GMT. The session was diffiuclt
because of cloud and I couldn't see any prominences and there weren't
many granulation features. Only the full disc shot came out.
Oct 7th
After some quite horrible weather, it cleared late
afternoon but I didn't manage to get my PST on the Sun until
it was ... setting at 17:00 GMT! I saw some supergranulation features
but it was quite bland and even the Big Bear pictures were less than
exciting.
I bin scanned the Moon and it was a classic half
moon, showing nice features around the terminator, especially
the southern craters. I scanned up and to the right and found Jupiter,
clearly as a disc and I was fairly sure I managed to see the equatorial
cloud belts. I didn't see any moons but, frankly didn't expect to.
A scene photo showed some lunar details against a
nearby telegraph pole.
At 20:00 GMT, I was out again doing a photo shoot.
Due to back trouble, I was using my Stratravel 80, instead of the
Mak.
To show how bad the weather had been, this was my
first shot of Jupiter's moons for over a year!
Although I was able to see the main cloud belts, I
was unable to capture them on a photo (which I've never done with
this set-up. I did a scene shot of Jupiter with the Moon.
After that, I did some constellation shots that just
didn't work.
Oct 8th
I did a PST photo shoot at 08:10 GMT. I only saw granulation
features visually, completely missing the prominences:
At 20:20 GMT, I went out for a bin scan. Copernicus
and Clavius were positioned nicely on the terminator on the Moon.
Callisto was east of Jupiter, while Ganymede and one other were on
the right. Despite the moonlight, it was clear enough to see parts
of the Milky Way without optical aid. The moonlight dimmed many objects
in the west, as the Wild Duck cluster (M11) was poor. Although M13
was quite good and M15 was visible (just), M92, M3 and M2 were not and
I didn't even try for M30. M29 and M39 showed well. the Andromeda Galaxy
(M31) showed its full extent and did I imagine a dust lane? I could just
about make out the Pinwheel (M33). I could make out about 30 of the Pleiades
(M45). The Hyades were so low that Aldebaran was invisible to the unaided
eye but I saw them through a gap between a house and some trees. Melotte
20 and the Perseus Double Cluster showed up very well.
Oct 9th
I went out with the PST at 12:40 GMT. I saw some granulation
but no sign of prominences. Then it clouded over before I could snap
it.
Oct 11th
I did a lunar photo shoot at 20:00 GMT. It was noticeably
much brighter than 4 days earlier when I last saw it. Due to back
trouble, I was still using the Stratravel 80. Tycho's rays were dominating
the lunar landscape.
Oct 12th
I'd heard reports of a sunspot visible in larger instruments,
so I bin scanned the Sun in white light at 13:30 GMT but couldn't
see any sign of it.
Oct 13th
I did a night shoot from the hotel grounds by the sea. The
first shot catches some of the Pleiades and a bit of night glow from
the city that I confirmed WASN'T Aurora Borealis.
Here's one showing the Pleiades.
The Moon was almost full and Tycho's rays were dominating
the landscape. Unfortunately, my photographs didn't come out.
Oct 14th
After an unsuccessful attempt the evening before, I managed
to snap the Moon at 02:00 GMT.
I bin scanned the Sun at 10:45 GMT. Although I'd seen the
sunspot on the Big Bear images, it wasn't visible in my binoculars.
Oct 17th
Bin scanned the Moon from the hotel room at 04:40 GMT. There
was some nice contrast on the terminator, while Tycho's rays were dominating
the landscape with Copernicus and Kepler also prominent.
Bin scanned the Sun at 13:00 GMT in very clear conditions but
didn't see any sunspots.
Oct 18th
The conditions were quite appalling and only the Moon was visible
but it meant that I could snap the Moon at 22:50 GMT. My back had recovered
enough to use the Mak.
Further close-ups didn't come out but on a night where only 2
stars were visible, I was lucky to get anything at all.
Oct 21st
It was clear in the morning when I woke up. Dawn was already beginning
to break but many of the constellations were still visible. At 05:45
GMT, I did a lunar photo shoot.
At 09:45 GMT, I saw the Sun with the PST. I could see prominences
at the top and bottom of the solar disc.
Bin scanned the south western horizon at 16:30 GMT while the Sun
was sinking below the neighbouring houses but I was unable to find either
Venus or Jupiter.
Tried again at 17:35 GMT. Jupiter was clearly visible to the uniaded
eye and showed 2 moons to the east in the bins. I could just make out
Venus very low down and its phase appeared about 85% to the bins.
I was expecting a clear evening and a chance to hunt down some
Messier objects but there was a lot of thick and thin cloud around when
I checked at 20:30 GMT. Alcor and Mizar showed well but the Andromeda
Galaxy (M31) was poor and most objects were obscured. Only the Pleiades
(M45), Hyades and Melotte 20 showed with any distinction, although the
Perseus Double Cluster was visible.
Oct 22nd
I did a hydrogen alpha view/shoot at 11:00 GMT. It appeared a lot
quieter than the day before but the photos revealed a prominence near the
top of the disc.
I bin scanned the Moon at 11:10 GMT. Libration had made Grimaldi
all but invisible but the southern craters showed well and it was nice
to see Copernicus near the terminator.
I went out with the bins at 21:00 GMT, hoping to find clear enough
skies fopr a Messier hunt. The eastern sky looked very good, with the Pleiades
and Hyades dominating. Even the Auriga clusters M36, M37 and M38 were visible,
despite the low elevation. M31 showed very well and even M33 showed. Melotte
20 and the Perseus Double cluster showed well, as did M34 but M81 and
M82 were clouded out. To the west, I could see Alberio, the Lyra
doubles, M15, M29 and M39 but neither M27 nor M57 could be seen. I did
not see enough to suggest dragging out the Mak on a cold night was a good
idea.
Oct 24th
It was a terrible morning but at 13:10 GMT it had cleared. Some small
prominences were visible visually but they didn't show well on the full
disc shot. There is, however, one visible in the 2nd close-up.
At 18:50 GMT, I went out for a bin scan, with the idea of doing a Messier
session later. Firstly, Jupiter showed 2 moons on each side, with one particularly
close. Was M31 showing a dust lane, or was it wishful thinking? Either way,
it looked superb, just about filling my 4 degree field of view. M33 showed
up too and I actually saw thew nucleus, which is sometimes absent. M34
showed well and I could also catch M15 and even M2. I could see M13 but
did not see M92, M81 nor M82.
At 19:40 GMT, I was out with the Mak and went first for M34. It was
well worth the effort finding, as it was superb. It was rather reminiscent
of the Beehive (M44) through binoculars. M103 looked great through the finderscope
and stood out well against the Milky Way through the Mak. M52 looked even
better but not as good as M34.
I've often had problems picking out M29 and M39 from the background
Milky Way in Cygnus but, this time, the Mak brought them out and I could
see an almost rectangular asterism made by the brightest stars. I had my
first ever view of M71, a globular cluster in Sagitta after the umpteenth
time of trying. It was just a ghostly circle and nothing spectacular.
At 21:00 GMT. I went out again with the bins and saw M71. Although they
looked far from great, I did catch M81 and M82. I went out with the Mak
again at 21:15 GMT and potted M74 for the first time. I'd tried with the
bins several times in the past but it was my first time with the Mak. It
appeared as a galaxy, with a central condensation but no hint of the spiral
structure often seen in photographs.
Oct 25th
I returned at 00:10 GMT but there were tendrils of cloud stretching
from the north, discouraging more Messierising. I bin scanned M44 (low
but visible) and the Pleiades (M45) and Hyades. I saw a bright meteor flash
from north east to south west of the Square of Pegasus and did a
couple of Orion shots. Wasn't the best but was first this autumn.
Oct 27th
Viewing conditions were diffiuclt when I went out for a PST shoot at
11:30 GMT. Visually, the Sun was quite quiet but there was a hint of a
filament just to the left of the centre of the disc.
Oct 29th
I went out for a PST view and shoot at 10:20 GMT but the Sun was very
quiet.
Oct 31st
Went out for a PST shoot and caught a gap in the clouds at 10:50 GMT. The
Sun was very quiet, with no visible prominences and little surface activity.
I went out for a bin scan at 21:20 GMT. Cygnus was still well up and conditions
were just right to see M29 and M39, clear but not perfect. I also saw The
North America nebula. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) was literally a pain in
the neck and I wasn't 100% sure whether I'd made out the neighbouring Pinwheel
(M33) or not. The Pleaides were of no doubt at all, as I saw scores of them,
maybe about 70 or 80. The Hyades stood out well, as did Melotte 20, no surprises
there. I couldn't see M35 but M34 showed well and reminded me very much of
the Jewel Box. The Orion Great Nebula (M42) was visible, despite very low
elevation.
