Swansea Astronomical Society Blog
Friday, December 30, 2011
Venus on December 28th, a night of terrible seeing
A DMK21AS camera, fitted with a UV/IR cut filter was placed at the prime focus of the 12", f/10 SCT at the Fairwood observatory. There was a gap in the clouds and high wind with terrible seeing (5 on the Antoniadi scale). 7,000 avi frames were captured and processed in Registax. The best 600 frames were stacked to produce this image of Venus:
Despite the terrible seeing, at least the gibbous phase of Venus was revealed
Steve Wainwright
Despite the terrible seeing, at least the gibbous phase of Venus was revealed
Steve Wainwright
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
19% Waxing crescent Moon
A Pentax K-x DSLR fitted with an IR/UV cut filter was placed at the prime focus of a 5", f/10 Maksutov and an image was captured of the Moon in a daytime sky:
Click on the image to get a larger view>
Steve Wainwright
Click on the image to get a larger view>
Steve Wainwright
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Mars on Christmas Eve at 3am
A Philips SPC900NC webcam fitted with an IR/UV cut filter and the lens assembly from a x2 Barlow was placed in a x2.5 Barlow and connected to a 5", f/10 Maksutov.
A 3500 frame AVI was captured of Mars and the best 1000 frames were stacked in Registax 5:
The gibbous phase is evident as is the north polar cap and some surface markings.
Steve Wainwright
A 3500 frame AVI was captured of Mars and the best 1000 frames were stacked in Registax 5:
The gibbous phase is evident as is the north polar cap and some surface markings.
Steve Wainwright
Jupiter on Friday night
Jupiter was imaged with a DBK camera and an 11" Celestron SCT
Keith Davies
Keith Davies
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Advanced notice of a Star Party at Craig-y-nos country park on Friday January 27th
Swansea Astronomical Society will hold a Star Party in conjunction with Craig-y-nos country park on Friday January 27th
Click on the image to get a larger view
Booking with Craig-y-nos is essential
Phone 01874 623366
Click on the image to get a larger view
Booking with Craig-y-nos is essential
Phone 01874 623366
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Course date update
Brian Spinks's course on 'A practical introduction to telescopes and equipment with basic viewing techniques' has been rescheduled from the DACE brochure dates.
THE COURSE ON PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY WILL NOW RUN FROM JANUARY 25 TO FEBRUARY 29, 2012.
Email: adult.education@swansea.ac.uk
Phone: 01792 602211
THE COURSE ON PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY WILL NOW RUN FROM JANUARY 25 TO FEBRUARY 29, 2012.
Email: adult.education@swansea.ac.uk
Phone: 01792 602211
Sunday, December 18, 2011
A 49% waning Moon in the early hours
A Pentax K-x DSLR fitted with a UV/IR cut filter was placed at the prime focus of a 5", f/10 Maksutov and the Moon was imaged with a single shot:
Click on the image to get a larger view.
Steve Wainwright
Click on the image to get a larger view.
Steve Wainwright
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Composite image to show the relative sizes of the Moon and the Orion Nebula
Last night the image of the Moon was captured with an f/5, 80mm refractor and the image of the Orion Nebula was captured with an f/5.5 apochromatic refractor. The lunar image was scaled to the correct size and superimposed on the Orion image. The Moon was actually in Sextans below Leo when the images were captured.
Click on the image to get a larger view.
It is often hard to judge the size of deep sky objects in the sky when they are essentially invisible and have to be looked at through telescopes or binoculars. This image gives an indication of the scale of the brighter parts of the Orion nebula, which actually extends further than revealed in this image. The running man reflection nebula can be seen at the top of the image.
Steve Wainwright
Click on the image to get a larger view.
It is often hard to judge the size of deep sky objects in the sky when they are essentially invisible and have to be looked at through telescopes or binoculars. This image gives an indication of the scale of the brighter parts of the Orion nebula, which actually extends further than revealed in this image. The running man reflection nebula can be seen at the top of the image.
Steve Wainwright
M42/43 and a 60% full waning gibbous Moon
A Pentax K-x DSLR fitted with a UV/IR cut filter was placed at the prime focus of a 5", f/10 Maksutov and the Moon was imaged with a single shot:
Click on an image to get a larger view.
The same camera fitted with a light-pollution filter was placed at the prime focus of an apochromatic, 80mm, f/5.5 refractor. 34 x 10s exposures were captured at ISO 12800 before fog prevented more imaging. The images of the Orion Nebula were captured in RAW format and were stacked in Deep-Sky-Stacker:
Steve Wainwright
Click on an image to get a larger view.
The same camera fitted with a light-pollution filter was placed at the prime focus of an apochromatic, 80mm, f/5.5 refractor. 34 x 10s exposures were captured at ISO 12800 before fog prevented more imaging. The images of the Orion Nebula were captured in RAW format and were stacked in Deep-Sky-Stacker:
Steve Wainwright
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
An 89% waning gibbous Moon
It was a bad night with rain, wind and just the occasional gap between the clouds. A Pentax K-x DSLR fitted with an IR/UV cut filter was placed at the prime focus of a 5", f/10 Maksutov and the Moon was imaged in a rare gap between the fast moving clouds:
Click on the image to get a larger view.
Steve Wainwright
Click on the image to get a larger view.
Steve Wainwright
Monday, December 12, 2011
97.7% Full, waning, gibbous Moon tonight
A Pentax K-x DSLR fitted with a UV/IR cut filter was placed at the prime focus of a 5", f/10 Maksutov. Two overlapping images were captured and stitched into a single mosaic using Microsoft ICE:
When compared with the last published lunar image on this blog just over 24 hours ago, libration is starting to show.
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Steve Wainwright
When compared with the last published lunar image on this blog just over 24 hours ago, libration is starting to show.
Steve Wainwright
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The SAS Christmas Lecture. "A Starry Night to Remember", An astronomical look at the sinking of the Titanic
Andrew Lound gave a superb dramatic lecture at the Swansea Waterfront Museum this morning.
This Christmas Lecture of the Swansea Astronomical Society was delivered in this superb location to a full audience
Brian Stokes, SAS Chairman, started proceedings after manning the welcome desk at the top of the staircase
The dramatic lecture was richly illustrated and augmented with sound and music
At the end of the lecture, Andrew spent considerable time giving clear and authoritative answers to the many questions from members of the audience
Altogether, this was a very successful event and we look forward to our future collaborations with the Waterfront Museum (see Public Events).
Steve Wainwright
This Christmas Lecture of the Swansea Astronomical Society was delivered in this superb location to a full audience
Brian Stokes, SAS Chairman, started proceedings after manning the welcome desk at the top of the staircase
The dramatic lecture was richly illustrated and augmented with sound and music
At the end of the lecture, Andrew spent considerable time giving clear and authoritative answers to the many questions from members of the audience
Altogether, this was a very successful event and we look forward to our future collaborations with the Waterfront Museum (see Public Events).
Steve Wainwright
A full Moon on Fiday night
A Pentax K-x DSLR was placed at the prime focus of an f/10, 5" Maksutov.
Two overlapping images were captured and combined in Microsoft ICE.
Click on the image to get a larger view.
The Moon will remain full for about 10 hours.
Steve Wainwright
Two overlapping images were captured and combined in Microsoft ICE.
Click on the image to get a larger view.
The Moon will remain full for about 10 hours.
Steve Wainwright
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Lecture on the Antikythera mechanism at the Waterfront Museum Tonight
Prof Mike Edmunds of Cardiff University, lead scientist in the Antikythera project talked tonight to a full audience in the Swansea Waterfront Museum. Where the Swansea Astronomical Society held its lecture meeting.
Mike explained to a spellbound audience all about the research into this ancient Greek mechanical astronomical computer and what has been discovered on how it worked and what it was capable of.
Question time was full of varied and interesting questions which Mike answered to everyone's delight.
Brian Stokes (SAS Chairman) manned the signing in and information desk at the top of the main staircase before proceedings began:
The event was a resounding success. The lecture was superb and the venue at the Swansea Waterfront Museum was absolutely first rate.
Steve Wainwright
Mike explained to a spellbound audience all about the research into this ancient Greek mechanical astronomical computer and what has been discovered on how it worked and what it was capable of.
Question time was full of varied and interesting questions which Mike answered to everyone's delight.
Brian Stokes (SAS Chairman) manned the signing in and information desk at the top of the main staircase before proceedings began:
The event was a resounding success. The lecture was superb and the venue at the Swansea Waterfront Museum was absolutely first rate.
Steve Wainwright
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
A 94% Waxing gibbous Moon tonight
A Pentax K-x DSLR camera, fitted with an IR/UV cut filter was placed at the prime focus of a 5", f/10 Maksutov. Two overlapping images were captured through thin clouds and stitched together by Microsoft ICE.
Click on the image to get a larger view.
Steve Wainwright
Click on the image to get a larger view.
Steve Wainwright
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Astronomy Course in Swansea Starts Jan 11, 2012
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE WILL NOW RUN FROM JANUARY 25 TO FEBRUARY 29, 2012
To obtain a brochure click the image below
Email: adult.education@swansea.ac.uk
Phone: 01792 602211
DACE website
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE WILL NOW RUN FROM JANUARY 25 TO FEBRUARY 29, 2012
To obtain a brochure click the image below
Email: adult.education@swansea.ac.uk
Phone: 01792 602211
DACE website
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE WILL NOW RUN FROM JANUARY 25 TO FEBRUARY 29, 2012
Copernicus, Jupiter and Mars last night
A DMK31 camera with a 2.5x Barlow was attached to an 11", f/10 SCT and Crater Copernicus was imaged:
A DBK21 camera was used at the prime focus of the SCT to image Jupiter:
The DBK21 camera was used with the 2.5x Barlow to image Mars
Keith Davies
A DBK21 camera was used at the prime focus of the SCT to image Jupiter:
The DBK21 camera was used with the 2.5x Barlow to image Mars
Keith Davies
Monday, December 5, 2011
81% full waxing gibbous Moon tonight
A Pentax K-x DSLR was placed at the prime focus of a 5" f/10 DSLR and the Moon was imaged:
Steve Wainwright
Steve Wainwright
Nebulae in the constellation in Orion
With a 120mm apochromatic refractor lacerta-guided and a Nikon D700 at the prime focus, two nebula regions in Orion were imaged:
M42 & M43
Keith Davies
M42 & M43
Keith Davies
The Moon and Jupiter on Sunday night
A Pentax K-x DSLR fitted with a UV/IR cut filter was placed at the prime focus of a 5" f/10 Maksutov and the Moon was imaged:
A philips SPC 900 NC webcam fitted with a 2.5 x Barlow was attached to the 5" Maksutov and an 1800 frame AVI was captured at 10fps. The capture software was wxAstrocapture under Linux. The AVI was processed in Registax 4 running under Wine and post-processed in the Gimp, running under Linux:
The GRS and two of Jupiter's moons are clearly visible
Steve Wainwright
A philips SPC 900 NC webcam fitted with a 2.5 x Barlow was attached to the 5" Maksutov and an 1800 frame AVI was captured at 10fps. The capture software was wxAstrocapture under Linux. The AVI was processed in Registax 4 running under Wine and post-processed in the Gimp, running under Linux:
The GRS and two of Jupiter's moons are clearly visible
Steve Wainwright
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