The first action of the month was a session with my
PST at 08:20 GMT. I was unable to detect any prominences visually or
photographically and the Sun seemed quiet.
Sep 4th
Went out at 20:50 GMT for a
bin scan. My intended targets of the deep sky objects in eastern
Sagittarius and Capricorn were simply not visible. Whilst Melotte 20
showed well, the Perseus Double Cluster and Andromeda Galaxy (M31) were
hardly visible. The Moon looked just about as completely full as it can
get, with no visible terminator and Jupiter showed two moons clearly.
I returned out at 21:10 GMT with the Mak and camera. I have to admit I
was rather pleased with this full disc lunar shot:
I went for Plato and got the crater but couldn't capture any detail in
it.
Tycho showed up well with its ray systems.
I managed to catch Copernicus and Kepler together.
The final lunar shot was Grimaldi.
I solved the "missing moon" problem on Jupiter, as 2 were not only
close to each other but also the planet itself. They appeared as a
single bright moon in this shot.
It wasn't the best disc detail shot but it was the first time I had
managed to capture anything on the planet itself for over 2 years.
It didn't quite catch the sheer beauty as seen through the telescope
but at least the 2 main belts, hint of the 3rd and shading near the
poles was recorded.
Sep 8th
I'd arrived in Prague the
evening before, which was clouded out. I found an open space, which had
more light pollution than on previous visits. However, I was able to
see 4 of Jupiter's moons, all to the east. No extended deep sky objects
(such as M13) were visible but I was able to see the usual summer
doubles. Mizar and Alcor were below the building line.
Sep 10th
Bin scanned the Moon at 06:30
GMT when I arrived at the customer offices. The Moon was waning
gibbous and the southern craters were beginning to show well. The
Appennies and Grimaldi were prominent, too.
Sep 11th
I saw the Moon at 10:50 GMT
and it was very nearly at last quarter. Despite the thin cloud, it
showed well and I bemoaned work being too busy to photograph it with
the Mak. The southern craters were really outstanding, especially
Clavius and Tycho and the Appennines also showed better than the day
before. The thin cloud had
continued into the evening and I was out again at 21:40 GMT. Jupiter
was surrounded by haze and only two moons were visible to the west,
almost certainly Ganymede and Callisto. Alberio and the 2 binocular
doubles in Lyra were visible but the Draco doubles were clouded out.
The only extended deep sky object on view was Melotte 20.
Sep 12th
I started what was to be a
rather long observing session at 20:30 GMT, not finishing until 22:00
GMT. The idea was to catch some difficult Messier objects and it was
finally clear enough to make a serious attempt. As a warm up, I started
a bin scan. Jupiter showed 2 moons east and 2 west, with one western
one disappearing later. It also proved to be a useful landmark to find
Capricorn. The rather elusive Alpha showed very well, as the night was
finally clear enough but still light polluted from home. M15 and M2
weren't at their best but visible enough for a decent try. M75 in
Sagittarius but near the Capricorn border was visible but faint. Even
the Mak, armed with focal reducer and light pollution filter didn't
make it exciting. M72 in Aquarius is fainter but its more favourable
elevation made it clearer and it did exhobit a nice ghostly appearance
in the Mak. M73 isn't that exciting but looks better in the binoculars
as it is more compact. The Mak, with slightly higher magnification made
it appear even more sparse. M30 was relatively bright but in the bins
appeared little more than a point source. The Mak showed some outlying
regions but it still appeared about half of its published diameter. I
took a position photo of the region. Note the presence of Jupiter.
Sep 14th
After a cloudy day, it cleared
quite well. I went out for a bin scan at 20:15 GMT. I started off with
Melotte 20 and the double cluster, which looked great but not as
spectacular as with the Mak. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) was clear and
the elusive Pinwheel (M33) also showed. Moving west, M15 was an easy
pot, whilst I was unable to see M2 and M30. Jupiter showed 4 moons,
with 3 to the east. I found the Wild Duck Cluster (M11) and decided to
pot some of the more difficult objects in the area. M26 was quite easy,
whilst M8/M20 was quite good but past its peak. I was pleased to see
M22, despite it being low down.
Sep 16th
I happened to be outside at
19:50 GMT when I saw a bright sporadic meteor flash north west from
Lyra towards the northern horizon.
Sep 19th
I went out for a hydrogen
alpha shoot at 09:50 GMT but the Sun was rather quiet.
The close-ups did not suggest any more detail than in the full disc
image.
Sep 23rd
Bin scanned the Sun at 12:20
GMT.
It was very cloudy but I caught a hint of a sunspot but wasn't able to
pinpoint its exact position for drawings.
Sep 24th
I did an outreach event at my
work from 11:00 GMT. The only problem was that my camera batteries were
flat but we saw an active Sun with plages and a hint of prominences
that were hard to make out. My binoculars caught 2 of the reported
sunspots and it was nice to see them again.
< s
Sep 25th
I hosted another outreach
event at work but although I remembered charged camera batteries, I was
unable to take any snaps because I was busy letting people look! A
prominence was clearly visible to even inexperienced observers and the
plage region had moved towards the centre of the solar disc. In white
light the sunspots had rotated and seem to have faded.
Sep 26th
The day started badly with
thick cloud and it was 12:20 GMT before it cleared well enough to see
that only one sunspot appeared left.
I was able to do a dusk lunar shoot at 18:30 GMT.
I went out for a bin scan at 21:50 GMT but conditions had deteriorated.
Jupiter showed 2 moons on the left and one on the right. The Andromeda
Galaxy (M31) was high enough to be visible but not at its best, whilst
the Perseus Double Cluster lost much of its sparkle in the murk.
Sep 27th
Bin scanned the Sun in a clear
sky at 09:00 GMT but the sunspots had either dispersed or faded below
binocular visibility. I did a hydrogen alpha shoot with my PST at 10:50
GMT.
Sep 29th
I went out at 20:00 GMT and saw the
Moon close to Jupiter and took a quick snap.
I returned at 21:30 GMT with my Startravel 80 to get a wide field
telescopic view. I was somewhat dismayed to see a lot of cloud about
but still managed to capture the event.
I took a final one of the lunar disc alone.
I was able to see 2 of Jupiter's moons and (maybe?) could have captured
them on camera under better conditions but it was not to be.
< s
