I love the fact that we can witness planetary geology from the garden. The lunar crater Petavius (dia 177km) is a beauty through the C11. It has 4 rilles (see […]
Peering Round the Corner
Late September bought clear skies that, as is usual, coincided with a full moon. With the telescope now mounted on its pier, it is a matter of moments to roll […]
Restarting the Herschel 400
My observatory is already giving me a lot of pleasure. I bought a second-hand pier and an adapter plate over the summer so, now the nights are getting longer, my […]
Travel telescope for Tenerife July 2018
July 2018 sees another trip to Tenerife with friends from the Basingstoke Astronomy Society Exped Group. I had such a great time last year I can not wait to return […]
Venus and Jupiter with 150 Mak 6 June
Quick dodge of the clouds yesterday evening to catch Jupiter being photobombed by Europa and Venus approaching half-phase. Note Great Red Spot just starting to appear round the limb. Europa […]
2 Nights on Jupiter 5-6 May and 6-7 May 2018
It has been a few months since I lived on Jupiter. This dynamic planet is slow for the next few years, I can’t see it from my observatory as it […]
Second Light
Second light in the new observatory – the build video is here: After 2 hectic days travelling to Bristol it was lovely to relax under the stars. With the telescope and […]
Observing from Tenerife
Isn’t it strange how chance conversations can provide a new opportunity? 2 minutes spent chatting to my old friends from Basingstoke Astronomical Society at Astrofest saw me invited (gate-crashing?) an […]
Halos, aurora, the Moon & Uranus
Last Tuesday I visited the always welcoming Wiltshire Astronomical Society (WAS) for a talk by Mary McIntyre that described the variety of light shows that are created in the atmosphere. […]
Designing a New Journal
For years I have been using an A5 notepad to record my observations and sketches. This simple approach has a number of shortcomings. Older pages suffer from wear and tear […]