2020 has been a pretty strange year but the stars and planets carry on regardless including December’s Jupiter and Saturn conjunction – an event I had in my diary for […]
3 Hours on Mars: 8 October 2020
Another clear night. I have got my planetary imaging workflow down to a tee now. Once the roof has rolled back and the telescope aligned, I can have Mars in […]
Clear Skies Over Tharsis
Wednesday 14 October 2020 With the skies clearing after work, it was time to head to the observatory to catch Mars – now a few days past opposition. After rolling […]
5 Volcanoes Visible from My Garden – on another planet
Here is a derotated image from 13 September of Mars under quite exceptional centred between Solis Lacus and Tharsis. Arsia Mons seen as a bright region, I assume as the […]
The Curious Incident of the Cloud in the Nighttime
I staggered to the observatory with mug of tea in hand after the horrors of an 0300 alarm clock. Thank goodness for summer leave. The clear forecast, unfortunately, had been […]
Venus through the C11
9 April 2020 Week 3 of the Cov-19 lock down. Luckily it has coincided with a period of clear albeit, somewhat hazy, skies. With no need to commute, I can […]
Starting a Binocular Variable Star Programme
In June, I chatted to an old friend, Bob Dryden at the BAA’s summer meeting at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL). I first met Bob when I started in astronomy, […]
Observing the Far Side of The Moon
The moon’s captured rotation around the Earth prevents us from observing the rear-facing hemisphere. No matter how many times I have observed the moon, I can only ever see slightly […]
Clear skies – Thursday 7 November 2019
The sky cleared late afternoon but, after days of rain, the air tasted of damp as the air temperature dropped after sunset. Once home from work, I set up my […]
19 October 2019: Waning Moon before the RWC Semis
19 October 2019: 20 Day Waning Moon A beautiful morning and, having to get up early to watch England v Australia, I couldn’t resist heading to the observatory to image […]