0 thoughts on “Images tagged "m81"

  1. Go up Greenside past the houses, where it becomes Underbarrow Road, then turn right into Boundary Lane industrial estate.

    The top arrow is the “Visitor Car Park” where we will assemble.

  2. Thanks for the write-up Eddie!

    Here’s the photo of Ursa Minor with the names and magnitudes. I was pleased to see that the site was easily Mag 5, pretty good for right on the edge of town.

    You’re right about Leo, it should be well within visibility for our next session. Note also that Jupiter will be much higher and clearer. Looking forward to the March observing evening already!

    Simon

  3. A few more photos to follow up Graham’s comments on star colours. I recall saying that Sirius through a long lens, hand held, long exposure – to be sure it wobbles – makes a wavy line of many colours. Here it is:

  4. Thank you for turning out with your telescope Ian, and for running the Messier hunt again. It was very pleasing that so many came along for the second month in a row. I arrived at the car park before 7.30 to assemble my kit before the scheduled start at 8pm, only to find three EAS members already there and two telescopes up and running!

    The forecast was spot on and we had clear skies for nearly the whole session, with just a couple of small patches drifting over during the evening.

    The centre of M42 at high magnification was my favourite target, with wisps of nebulosity clearly visible as a background canvas to the Trapezium asterism – four stars in the heart of the nebula. I think every telescope pointed there at one time or another during the session. Jupiter was much higher in the sky than last month, and we had fantastic views of the belts in the atmosphere, along with three moons moving along their orbits. This will be remembered as the session we all watched “Europa rising”.

    My tally came to 23 stars in Orion, which is pretty good considering that one or two cars were still arriving with headlights on. This technique might prove useful for comparing observing locations – although Orion isn’t in the sky all the year round.

    I look forward to seeing your images on big screen at the next meeting Ian – and I owe you a pint ☺️

  5. Head up Greenside and turn right at the yellow arrow. The session will be in the car park (red arrow).

    There is limited space on the car park so please park on the land behind (green arrow) unless you have a telescope to unload. Thanks!

  6. Yes, an excellent night, with fascinated new stargazers and “veteran” sky-watchers alike enjoying views of some of the Autumn night sky’s lovely sights. Thanks for all your hard work organising these Simon, it’s much appreciated.

  7. I had a good night a good observing night once my scope aligned OK. We finally managed to get a session to coincide with a clear night. Well done Simon for hanging in there and organising it. Many different telescopes there…

    Turned into a bit of a planet and Messier watch with nice views of Uranus and Neptune – both clearly showing a disk compared to nearby stars and Uranus clearly bluish. Had to resort to planetarium software to identify for certain which of the visible dots was Neptune but once your eye was ‘in’ it was clearly disk like, unlike the stars.
    Messier wise was a bit of a tour de force… The obvious ones: planetary nebulae M57 Ring Nebula and M27 Dumbbell nebula; Galaxies M81, M82 just visible together in a 26mm eyepiece, M33 Triangulum spiral galaxy [very faint], M31 Andromeda and its two satellites [first eyeball for me] of M32 and M110. Plus open clusters M45 Pleiades [always a disappointment in a long focal length ‘scope], M36, M37 & M38 in Auriga, the Coat Hanger asterism and Caroline’s Rose [NGC 7789], thanks Simon, the Double Cluster in Perseus, thanks Moira.
    Good night, good chat.

  8. There’s quite a high horizon to the NE of the observing site Eddie, which helps to protect us from Kendal’s urban glow. I don’t know whether it’s elevated to 16° but we were probably looking far too high.

    Good idea to check for Iridium flares before an observing evening though, as they are always an interesting feature of the night sky. Looks like you might have appointed yourself Chief Iridium-checker 🙂

  9. To be honest, I’ve no idea. Some very good looking talks though. It looks quite expensive as £8.50 entry to show per day plus £6 per talk… there doesn’t appear to be any ‘everything’ ticket, even for one day. To go to everything on say the Friday is £44.50 … plus as it starts at 9, you have to be local! Maybe my Yorkshire and Scottish blood coming through here! 🙂

  10. I’ve been to this a couple of times.

    At first it was “well-meaning but not good enough” – everyone’s main gripe being that the lecture hall was about eight seats wide and 25 rows deep with no elevation, and the bottom of the screen at knee height. Only the front two or three rows could see, and many spent the lectures standing up at the back. Needless to say, the feedback was not good.

    They have listened to the feedback and found this new location. It’s a much more impressive show, both for the lectures and especially for the trade stands. If you’re looking for a browse round astronomy kit, it’s very well worth a visit. There are some of the smaller and more obscure suppliers there too – hobby engineers and machinists who make stuff! Also very accessible – I met Stuart Clark and Chris Lintott there, both very happy to chat to joe pubic.

    It certainly won’t be a wasted journey, and you can pick and choose your lectures.