January Observing Evening

What a super session last night!  Thanks to all who came along – a dozen or more? – and made it such fun.  In addition to the hard core regulars, there were a couple of new faces too, so I hope we lived up to your expectations.  It was bitterly cold, with a little moisture in the air that caught some glow from the town lights to the east early on, but a very rewarding couple of hours in the company of fellow enthusiasts.

We started with Venus and Mars, of course, managing fairly high magnifications (100x through my 115mm refractor, even more in David’s 200mm Schmidt Cassegrain)  to reveal the crescent phase of Venus and the open face of Mars.  Venus was so bright that it had to be viewed through a neutral density filter.

The Pleiades were very high in the sky, as were targets in Auriga.  The Andromeda galaxy got another look in, setting towards the west, with galaxies M81 and M82 in Ursa Major rising higher in the north east.  Later on, as the moisture dissipated and the air became more transparent, Orion was best placed for views of the wonderful Orion nebula M42.

Everyone had something to contribute, either by way of information and explanation, or by testing others with challenging and interesting questions about constellations and star identification.  Huge thanks go to David for bringing his Schmidt Cassegrain planet gobbler, and to Graham for his boundless enthusiasm and knowledge – and the craziest telescope!  These observing sessions are taking on a real character of their own.

See you all soon

Simon

EAS JANUARY MEETING

Hi all,

Quick reminder that it is our first meeting of 2017 this coming Monday night.

After my usual “News Round Up” bit at the beginning, I’d like members to step up and show any images they’ve been taking recently. You can either bring them along on a USB stick on the night, or email them to me in advance so I can put them in a Powerpoint. Don’t be shy, I’ve heard those cameras clicking…!

After the break I’m sure Simon will be telling us all about plans for upcoming Observing Evenings, after which I’ll be giving a VERY detailed breakdown of the year ahead, looking at the 2017 EAS Programme, events happening in the sky, space missions coming up, and looking forward to some things we can all cross our fingers and hope to happen this year…

So, hope to see lots of you there!

Stuart A