Well, it’s been a while since I did any late night astro photos. I still haven’t gotten back into using any dedicated astro gear – just my camera, standard lenses, and standard (non-tracking) camera tripod. The following moon shot was taken with a 100-300mm lens at 300mm (single shot) and the Cygnus wide field was taken with a 24-70mm lens at around 50mm f2.8 (63 x 4seconds at ISO 3200)
Hi
The computers call for a -3.3 pass of the space station. (That’s brighter than Jupiter)
It will start in the southwest and peak in the southeast direction, very high overhead (55 degrees altitude).
I hope lots of people see it.
I have followed it with a dob before (72x magnification).
The trick is to catch it in the eyepiece by estimating ahead of it with a red dot finder, then move the whole scope to keep it in there. With 2 people (one guiding, one looking), it’s much easier.
Steve
If conditions are clear Saturday (July 4) evening, a few of us are going to set up our telescopes to do some summer observing at McQueston Park here in Hamilton. The parking lot and paved pathways in the park are illuminated by lights, but that won’t stop us from seeing the moon, Saturn, some interesting stars, star clusters and brighter deep sky objects.
McQueston Park is on Upper Wentworth Street, just south of the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway. There is lots of parking. If it’s clear, I will probably arrive about 9:00 pm for setup.
Hope to see you there!
Ann Tekatch
It is looking for tonight I will be there to help out.
Jim Wamsley
Report on McQueston Park Sidewalk Astronomy:
Our first Sidewalk Astronomy event at McQueston Park was a huge success! As expected, the park was full of families out for an evening stroll, watching a soccer game or bike riding and everyone was thrilled to look through our telescopes at the Moon and Saturn. Many people even went home to return with the rest of their families to look through the telescopes! I estimate that there were at least 100 “Galileo Moments” tonight.
There were 7 HAA members in attendance and we were all kept busy from the moment we set up our telescopes and binoculars until after 11:30. Many members of the public were reluctant to leave and we were asked many times when we would be returning to the park. Considering how appreciative our audience was and how well we were received, I am certain we will be returning soon.
Many thanks to Jim, John, Ed, Don, Joe and Alexandra for volunteering to help me with my first foray into Sidewalk Astronomy. What an awesome night!
Ann Tekatch
I awoke this morning a little before 5am and decided to step outside to have a look at the day. Sure enough, the clouds had broken up a little and there was Jupiter, shining brightly in the south. Turning to the left, there in the glow if the eastern dawn was Venus, brilliant in the lightening sky. After a moment I realized that it had company, and that I could see Mars just above it. The two were separated by no more than two finger-widths, and made a lovely pair. Most striking was the colour contrast of white for Venus and red for Mars, and I thought there could be no better way to start my Canada Day than with this perfect colour combination on display in the sky. The two will be paired for some time, so as Saturn lowers itself into the western evening sky, remember that there are still plenty of planets in the morning sky for you to enjoy.
Friday night 6 members showed up on the hill at the main site. On arrival I got to work setting up my new CG5 mount performed the polar alignment and completed the scope alignment. Low and behold we have success!!!The goto is spot on and tracking is flawless!!!Needless to say I am very happy with my new addition.
We were joined by a group of about 30 scouts and their leaders,that happened to be camping at the park that night.This was the icing on the cake. Successful first light and public night.There were many holy cows, cools,that’s sick,and insane man as we showed them views of the new crescent moon, saturn and some of the brighter messier’s.
The scouts left us about 11:30 and we continued to observe till almost 1:30 even though we had some cloud that blew through about 12:00.The night was concluded at Tim’s shortly after 2:00.
Hopefully the others present that night will add to this report.
Hi All
Several members showed up at the alt. site last night. The skies were clear and the seeing was good but tech problems plagued the group all night. First Ann worked hard and got a great alignment on her mount only to have the focusing knobs on the scope break. Then I had my hand control break down for the second time in a month. Today I went to Cam Tec to see about a repair and of course it is going to take some time to get it repaired or replaced. So if the weather turns to rain and fog for the month blame me, as I have bought a new CG5 mount to jinx the weather and bend my mind to learn to polar align.
A couple of us are going out to the Alternate site tonight, so if any HAA members want to join us we would be happy to see you! We plan on getting there around 10pm. See you then!
Well, Janice and I saw the weather reports for Cherry Springs but decided to go anyway. We arrived on Thursday and Don helped set up our tents (Thanks Don). We wanted to thank all of those from the HAA who went for making us feel welcome!
In short as in Don’s blog, it rained a lot. However on Friday evening we got to try out the new 12″ under good skys for the first time. We didn’t see anything new but we did have great views of the Ring, M4 and M13, the Double Double, Alberio (which showed the best colour contrast we have ever seen) and Saturn. The sky got muddy at about midnight and that was it.
I fell victim to the vendor’s tent, and bought some dew zapping equipment. I then helped Steve spend some of his money which was much cheaper for me! Janice bought me an equipment vest to store things in while viewing, something I’ve wanted for a while. I guess it’s an advantage to have your birthday while at a star party! Marg and Bruce brought a cake which became my birthday cake which was very nice of them.
Steve, Don and I stayed up late on Saturday night, trying to solve the outstanding questions regarding the evolution of the Universe, space elevators and asteroid mining. It was an interesting conversation for 2:00 in the morning and very enjoyable.
All in all we had a good time and hope to do it again soon.
To avoid any more of John G’s posts (just kidding) I’m going to put up a bit of a report from Cherry Springs where a number of your fellow HAA members have been braving the elements.
I would have posted something earlier but for some reason (operator incompetence???), I haven’t been able to connect to the internet here, even though everyone else could. After many hours of trying, I had given up. But now that everyone but Steve and I have left and we have some time, I borrowed his wireless card to try in my computer and we finally got it working (after disabling my built-in wireless). Strange that the only 2 places that I could not connect to a wireless access point has been here at Cherry Springs and at StarFest last year. Are the Wireless Astronomy gods conspiring against me?
As any of you who have been monitoring the conditions here know, it has been very wet. I arrived on Wed in hopes of an early start. But it rained most of the trip here and during set up. Even after set up, the rains and wind got worse. We had damage to Steve’s tent similar to what happened to Jim’s last Sept here. Fortunately mine survived.
Ann and Alex Tekatch, Matthew and Janice Mannering, Ed Smith, Steve Germann, Marg Walton and Bruce Peart arrived to join in on the fun and round out the HAA contingent. A few others who had indicated they might come, understandably changed their mind.
Wed and Thurs nights were complete wash outs with rain changing from light to heavy almost continuously through this entire time. Fri did improve and we had enough sun for some to get minor sunburns. I even got some solar observing in, but nothing of consequence to be seen. Fri night remained moderately clear to allow us to see Saturn, Vega, M57, Scorpius, M4, Scutum and various bits and pieces between the various clearings. The Milky Way was very nice – probably as good as it ever gets at Binbrook, but not the best we’ve seen here. It wasn’t the best night we’ve seen down here in the past, but at least we got a few hours of real observing in. (But little astro-photography – just too unsettled and variable.)
Light rains returned at about 3am and then it was wet most of Sat. Sat night did have a few breaks which allowed us to play Name That Constellation in the Least Number of Stars (one of our observing director’s favourite games). We also got a chance to celebrate Matthew’s birthday!
Since it was a star party, there were a number of interesting talks. Among them, we had a 3D tour of Mars (complete with the glasses), exploring extra-solar planets and how amateurs could and were contributing to the real science in their discoveries, updates on the Hubble, and interacting galaxies. They were all quite good and well received – plus as a bonus, it got us out of the rain. The big thing I really enjoy about these type of events is meeting people we’ve met before, making new friends and contacts, promoting the HAA and checking out the toys that vendors bring. (Honest I didn’t spend too much.)
Considering the weather, many from other clubs did not arrive, and some decided to leave early since the forecasts obviously were not improving. Attendance was down due to the weather, but those who stuck it out had a good time.
Steve and I are planning to stay at least one extra night (and being hardy Canadians) didn’t leave early. As of Sun afternoon, there are only about 7 or 8 others remaining to wait for the better conditions which are forecast for Sun and Mon.
Hopefully some more reports and photos will follow.
cheers,
Don
During these rainy days you can check out some of these spectacular videos and images from the Japanese lunar orbiter, Kaguya.
http://www.jaxa.jp/video/index_e.html
http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/en/html/whats_new.html
Here is a spectacular sequence made as the spacecraft spiraled down to the surface at the end of its very successful mission. It feels like you’re flying over the surface of the moon!
http://www.youtube.com/jaxachannel
