March 2009 Observations

Mar 1st

The conditions were poor but I did a solar hydrogen alpha shoot at 10:15. I could make very little out in the hazy conditions.

I had another go at 12:30, as it had cleared. I could see more surface features but no prominences.

A combination of tiredness and laziness deterred me from taking any photographs but the conditions had cleared enough that the night just could not be wasted when I popped out at 20:00. First port of call was Comet Lulin, a few degrees from Regulus. It appeared somewhat fainter than the predicted magnitude and I could have easily mistaken it for a star cluster, had I not already known that there weren't any in that part of the sky. It was frankly disappointing. Venus was somewhat disappointing too, sufferring from distinction near the horizon and not showing a clear crescent. The Moon was much nicer and I felt bad for not snapping it. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) was affected somewhat by moonlight but still showed nice structure. M35 looked quite superb and I could see some of the background Milky Way. In the same part of the sky, Melotte 20 and M34 showed up well, as did the Pleiades (M45) and Hyades. The Orion Great Nebula (M42) showed well but an optimistic attempt at M79 failed. However, it was a good night for M41 and I was able to pot the nearby M93 (tough in binoculars), M46 and M47. I moved up to catch an amazing view of the Beehive (M44) and ended up catching Saturn's rings edge on.

Mar 2nd

I checked the Sun through the PST at 09:00 (as the weather forecast for later was bad). I could see a small group of prominences but they didn't come out in the main disc photo but came out in the quadrant photo and a close-up.

March 5th

Due to a spell of bad weather, I was doing some research for a book and reprocessed an image of Mercury originally snapped on March 22nd 2004.

March 8th

I nearly managed to catch the Sun through a gap in the clouds but remastered a mercury photo instead.

Mar 9th

On my return to the hotel at 18:30 GMT, I spotted Venus hanging low near the Powder Tower in Prague, so I took a snap.

I returned ou at 20:00 GMT. However, thin cloud, light pollution and a nearly full moon meant that only the Hyades and main asterism of the Pleaides were visible through binoculars. I did manage a half decent shot of the Moon through binoculars. It wasn't as good as the visual view but the ray systems of Tycho, Copernicus and Kepler stand out very well. At least it was nice to get some night action in Prague for the first time.

Mar 11th

I bin scanned the Sun at 11:20 GMT but didn't see any sunspots.

Mar 14th

I had my first action back in England at 09:50 when I snapped the Sun through the PST. Although there seemed some sunspots, they disappeared from view when I detuned the PST away from the exact hydrogen alpha wavelength.

I later confirmed that nothing was visible in "white light" later with a binocular scan.

Mar 16th

I spotted the Moon from my hotel room window at 04:40 GMT in Athens. It was nearly last quarter and I could see Copernicus and Kepler's ray systems but not Tycho's, although the crater itself showed very well.

I photographed the Sun through my PST at 05:00 GMT. The disc was quite bland and there was more detail visually than photographically.

Mar 19th

After 2 days of heavy rain, it finally cleared by the evening. I took some dusk shots of Venus hanging over the western horizon at 16:30 GMT (18:30 local time) then returned later to photograph some constellations and bin scan the night sky at 19:00 GMT. Conditions were disappointing but I was able to see M41 and the Tau Canis Majoris cluster but not well because of extinction and I made out the Orion Great Nebula (M42) and some surrounding stars. I also saw M35, the Hyades, Pleiades (M45) and the Beehive (M44) looked rather nice, as it was nearly overhead, not something I see very often. I was unable to make out Saturn's rings.

First constellation was Canis Major.

Next was Orion.

Attempts at Taurus and Leo failed.

March 20th

I took some solar photos from the roof but the solar disc was very bland and no further detail came out in the close-ups.

Mar 21st

After a rainy morning, it cleared enough by mid-afternoon to allow me to do a PST shoot of the Sun at 13:45 GMT. The disc was rather quiet. Although there was a hint of a prominence at the bottom left, the close-ups revealed nothing more.

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I sufferred another spell of heavy rain but it cleared a little bit again later and I was up on the roof at 19:10 GMT. Perhaps the most memorable part of the session was using the Acropolis as a focussing target and, to be honest it was rather rmore spectacular than anything I could see in my bins in the sky. Nevertheless, it was nice to get some action and I was able to tick off most of the same list of objects as 2 days previously. I had to wait for a thin patch of sky to clear before I could see the Beehive (M44). This time, I could make out Saturn's edge on rings. As an aside, I saw a pair of 20x80 bins on sale for 50 Euros earlier in the day. Had they been 90mm and even a bit more expensive, I could have expected an ear beating from my bank manager!

Mar 22nd

Although there was quite a bit of cloud around, it cleared enough for me to do a PST shoot at 09:10 GMT. I could see some prominences but they didn't come out in the main disc shot.

One prominence did show in the close-up.

Mar 23rd

I went out for a last look at the Athens night sky at 20:00 GMT, having finally sorted out my packing. Although it was "clear", the only deep sky object to escape the haze was the Beehive (M44), almost directly overhead. Only the main asterism of the Pleiades was visible to my bins, although the Hyades sufferred less. With Orion's belt being barely visible to the unaided eye, the Great Nebula (M42) was just visible in the bins. Sauturn showed its edge-on rings and Alcor/Mizar was the only other object worth seeing.

What was expected to be a hopeful trip, had turned out to be a disappointment, especially as I was hoping to photograph Virgo and the whole of Scorpius. At least I'm glad I brought the PST out.

Mar 25th

I went out for a bin scan at 21:30 GMT, back in England. I was still tired from my trip back, so wasn't tempted to carry the telescopes out. Conditions were average but the Beehive (M44) showed very well but the westrtn attractions around Orion were low down and sufferring from extinction. Melotte 111 showed well and I was well pleased to spot M81 and M82, not having seen them for a while. I couldn't see any of the Leo galaxies, though. I did see Saturn's edge on rings, though.

Mar 26th

Conditions were quite bad in the monrning but I managed to get the odd peek through the clouds at the Sun with the PST at 13:15. It seemed very quiet but I managed a couple of full disc shots.

Mar 27th

I went out with the PST at 12:15 and saw a nice prominence, although it didn't come out on thre full disc shot.

A surprise was when I checked the lower right quadrant and saw a prominence I missed. As the prominence was faint, it only came out in one close-up but I also uncovered a filament.

Despite the weather forecast, the evening was remarkably clear. My natural observing instincts would have led me to Saturn and a bin scan of the deep sky objects. However, it was an ideal opportunity to try out some things for publishing projects and time was limited.

At 21:30, I was out with the Startravel attempting to snap some easier deep sky objects by using 8 nsecond exposures. This time, I used a 32mm eyepiece and focal reducer to use a magnification of six! This was with the intention of reducing trailing. On the Melotte 20 shot, there was still some trailing but the result was much better then the previous attempt.

I was able to catch some of the main asterism of the Beehive (M44)

Melotte 111 showed its distinctive triangular shape.

Although I didn't capture as many stars as I hoped, I managed to capture Spica and some of the bowl stars.

I also caught some of the stars of Coma Berenices, with Bootes at the bottom right and Leo in the top left.

At 23:00, I went out to find the western triplet of galaxies in Leo, which was well placed. M95 was barely visible at all and M105 looked more like a globular cluster. I suspected that I was only seeing its nucleus and little else. M96 looked like a smaller, fainter version of the Pinwheel (M33).

Mar 28th

Despite the morning rain and later cloud, it cleared at early afternoon, so I was out at 13:55 with the PST. I could see some prominence activity, which just came out in the full disc shot.

I went out when it cleared at 23:30. The Beehive (M44) looked superb in the Mak but the photo shoot didn't work. I captured one star that showed a lot of trailing, with the magnification being 24x. I also saw Saturn with the thin rings clear but no detail on the surface at low magnification. Before I could change eyepieces, it clouded over again.

Mar 29th

The Sun was quiet again after the recent excitement.

A quick look at the close-ups suggests more surface detail but no prominences.

I went out again at 19:30 GMT and saw a crescent Moon. I took several snaps, including the dark side and also saw the Pleiades (M45) and Orion Great Nebula (M42). Some of the lunar shots include the dark side only.