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Observers' Logbook

This page allows some of our members to share their 'observing experiences'. These are now listed in chronological order with the latest shown at the top of the page.

Using a Webcam with my telescopes - February 10th 2007
By Pat Walker

Since the second week of January I have been busy experimenting with my Philips SPC900NC Webcam. I have tried to use it without removing the lens, but I found the images to be very small and when I used the camera zoom facility the images became rather blurred. Since then, I have removed the camera lens and this has given me a larger image.

Hidden in the camera software is a facility to alter the shutter speed and gain of the images after one has turned off the full automatic control facility. By controlling the above it is possible to take images of bright objects like the Moon and Sirius without needing negative density filters. I have imaged Sirius using this method but have yet to overcome the atmospheric disturbances, the camera picked up every variation, perfectly!!

On the 6 th February, I observed Venus and Mercury through my 4-inch telescope and the Webcam. They were not in the same field of view, Mercury being visible for literally a couple of minutes before it disappeared down behind the rooftops. Again I need to find the ideal camera setting.

I have now put a new drive on the trolley, on which my 10-inch telescope is mounted. I can now easily get it out and return it into its shed. I have also got my old computer up and running, and permanently mounted into a weatherproof box in the telescope shed. Hopefully this will enable me to start imaging with both the 4-inch and 10-inch telescopes in the near future, weather permitting of course.

Pat.

Portugal Saturday 11th to Sunday 19th November 2006
By Peter Rees

(Some further images to be added soon)

I stayed at Clive Jackson's CDEPA observatory Algarve Portugal. Clive used to be a SWHAS member, but he left ten years ago he bought a property in a dark site and built an observatory. He now has self-catering accommodation for approximately 20 people.

Clive has a number of telescopes; a 20'' home made reflector, a 6'' Tal reflector a 5'' refractor (which used to be at High Top), a 3'' vixen refractor, a Meade LX 200 8'' cassegrain and an Orion comet catcher 6'' 500 fl.

Telescope by the swimming pool

During my visit we used the Meade LX 200 and the comet catcher. Clive likes to supervise the observing sessions and he is prepared to stay up late if you want to. Clive has also constructed a stone circle and has a dome where he does planetarium sessions. The observatory is a big garage with a sliding roof; this houses all the telescopes, desktop computers workshop with an aluminizing chamber. In the town centre of Tavira Clive runs a camera obscura so he is a very busy man.

Sunday 12th November
My first observing session and I brought with me my Practika SLR camera with T mount all my lenses and my digital compact camera and afocal holder. We looked at comet Swan first with the LX 200 then we set up the comet catcher outside in the middle of the stone circle. I took three exposures of comet Swan at prime focus. The Orion comet catcher is a 6'' 500mm focal length at f5. This is a fast telescope with a wide field of view ideal for photography. The exposures were 1, 3 and 5 minutes using Kodak 800 ISO supra print film. Then I did M31, the great spiral galaxy in Andromeda and M45 the Pleiades star cluster both for 5 minutes at prime focus.

M31 - Prime focus f5 5 minutes at ISO 800

M45 - The Plieades - Prime focus 500mm f5 5 minutes at ISO 800

After this, I then attached my camera piggy back to the telescope. The camera had on it a 50mm lens at f 2.8 and using this I took two exposures of the Milky Way for 1 and 3 minutes. I then changed lenses to a 28mm shut down to f4 and took a 5-minute exposure.

The Milky Way piggy back - 28mm f4 5 mins ISO 200

I then take photos of the M42 Orion nebula, double cluster in Perseus, M35 Gemini and the Horse head/ Rosetta nebula Orion / Monoceres. All at prime focus exposures 5 - 7 minutes.

M42 - Prime focus 500mm f5 ISO 800 5 minutes

The moon had a close conjunction with Saturn in the early hours of the 13th. I took two exposures at PF, one at 250th and the other at 1 second. This marked the end of my first night's observing which was also the end of my film.

Thursday 16th November
As this is a clear night we use the LX 200 at prime focus and I still have 200 ISO in the camera. We take photos of M42 for 5 minutes. My other targets did not come out - namely M57 Ring Nebula, M27 dumbell, M1 crab nebula and M33 face on spiral galaxy. These objects are quite dim the telescope is slower longer focal length and I am using slower film.

Friday 17th November
We use the LX 200 and reduce the focal length from 2500mm to 1250 mm thus increasing the FOV of the scope and shortening the time needed for exposures. Clive uses his Starlight EX CCD black and white camera. He takes exposures of M1, M33 galaxy and M42. No exposure was longer than 3 minutes. The camera has an autoguider, which adjusts the tracking of the telescope during exposures and we can see the results straight away. Clive put the images on a disk for me. This night was the predicted peak of the Leonids meteor shower and I stayed up until 1.00am but I did not see any. On the previous evening we had seen some meteors butthese were Taurnids.

M33 by Clive Jackson - using Black & White CCD

Saturday 18th November
My last evening, good conditions again. We use the LX 200 with the focal reducer and we decided to look for objects and have a visual session. M74 face on galaxy in Pisces just visible, M15 globular cluster Pegasus, Eskimo nebula Gemini planetary nebular, M33 face on spiral galaxy Triangulum, M42 and the Rosetta nebula in Monoceros. I take two exposures of M42 at 5 and 10 minutes, which finishes my 200 ISO film. No Leonids were seen.

M1 by Clive Jackson - Black & white CCD

I had an excellent holiday. During the day I visited the local beach. The sea was still warm even in mid November. I drove to Spain on one day, which is about 25 miles away and visited Tavira and other local towns. Clive's camera obscura is well worth a visit - it is the town's old water tower and you have a 360 view of the town in real time.

On one cloudy evening Clive showed me and some other visitors his planetarium. I would recommend a holiday at CDEPA and I would like to thank Clive his wife Gloria and their son Ricardo for making me feel most welcome.

Peter Rees

I travelled to Weymouth Dorset on Boxing day to visit my parents and took my star traveller 80 refractor telescope with me - this is fitted with a RA drive on the Equatorial mount. I was blessed with some marvellous night skies.
 
26th December
 On this evening I had excellent views of M42, the Orion nebula, M35 the open cluster in Gemini and the M1 supernova remnant in Taurus. The sky is much darker than Watford and the view to the north is especially good as this is away from the town. The Milky Way stands out clearly and the Andromeda galaxy M31 and double cluster in Perseus are clearly visible to the naked eye.

I mounted my Practika SLR camera, piggy back on the telescope using a 28mm lens stopped down to f4  (this keeps the stars sharp at the edge of the field). I take photos of Orion and Perseus constellations. Then I use my T adapter to attach the camera to the telescope and take photographs of M42 Orion nebula at prime focus.
 
27th December
Breezy and cold, but good seeing, brilliant view of M81 and M82 spiral galaxies in Ursa Major. I then moved to M78 in Orion - the Reflection nebula. This is the first time I have observed M78; it is quite faint.
 
28th December
Murky conditions to start with but the seeing improves during the night. I take more photographs of Perseus piggy back. I then move to the Hyades and the Pleiades open clusters in Taurus and photograph them at prime focus. Then I observe M36, M37 and M38 open clusters in Auriga. These were much easier to locate than at home the clusters seem to jump out of the sky at you!!

Finally I try to find NGC 2419 The Intergalactic Wanderer a globular cluster on the Gemini/Lynx border. This month's Sky at night magazine shows how to locate it. But I am unable to find it. By now I am feeling cold and tired and decide to end the session.

July 14 th - Just a brief look at the first-quarter Moon with the 10x30’s. I sat on a garden chair in the twilight with the bats fluttering around watching the Lunar Apennines disappearing into the terminator. I noticed Spica west of the Moon in the same binocular field. The colour contrast was striking: the yellow of the Moon against the blue-white of Spica with the deep blue of the sky. I gazed at this entrancing sight until the fir trees next door blocked the view

Sun 17 th July - Again just a brief look at the Moon through binoculars: also in the field was Antares, the heart of the Scorpion. Very orange. It was strange to think that only last Thursday I was comparing the yellow Moon with blue-white Spica. Also in the same view were Beta and Delta Scorpii. Delta is the star that a couple of years ago suddenly brightened, and is still not its original self!

The Moon shows a lot of detail when you really look through binoculars: the tonal variation of the Maria is amazing and the detail you can see is incredible!

Observing Mercury

The following notes have been complied by member David Sims and follow the details given in "The Times" for Tuesday 31st May (Page 51).

Mercury is visible this month and by mid June Saturn, Venus and Mercury will be in a line parallel to the horizon at twighlight. Saturn will be mag 0.2, Venus mag -3.8 and Mercury mag -1.

By the 25th Venus and Mercury (-0,3) will be close together and above Saturn.

On the 27th Mercury (0.0), Venus (-3.8) will be one sixth of a moon diameter apart.

On the 30th, Mercury will be to the left of Venus and Saturn will be lost in twilight.

As a matter of interest for those living near Chorleywood, Farm Road is a very good place for observations, with very few trees to the northwest and easy to park. Only problem is that the residents will appear and will want to look through your telescope!

Tues 14th June
Saw the first quarter Moon just before it dips below the trees. Using the 8½" reflector I saw the terminator cutting through the lunar disc. The craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel (on the North-South meridian of the Moon) were in shadow but their central peaks caught the light of the rising Sun: the difference between these mountains was obvious Alphonsus is very simple; Arzachel, on the other hand, is a complex, triangular, peak. Ptolemaeus, slightly further west, was in darkness.

Jupiter showed great detail – both the Equatorial belts appear double – and there is much activity in the Equatorial Zone

I thought I’d look at M5 - using my favourite method I swept south from Zeta Bootis to 109 Virginus, then east to 5 Serpentis (a pretty double star) and there it is. Beautiful. Even in poor conditions the stars of this unkempt globular system of suns demands attention. My favourite.

Also viewed Alpha Herculis. The primary star must be at maximum – it’s much brighter, so the secondary is less ‘green’.

Sat 18th June
Just a quick look at the Moon– phew! It’s hot! I looked at Grimaldi on the Western limb and saw relief features; also the brightest crater on the moon – Aristarchus – strange coloured maria surrounds it.

21st June
Very brief look at the sky with binoculars at 61 Cygni - the ‘flying star’. Its motion prompted Frederich Bessel to measure its distance using the parallax method. He found it was 11 light-years distant in 1837. 61 Cygni makes a rough triangle with Deneb and Epsilon Cygni. Look for a close pair of 6 th mag barley-sugar-coloured yellow stars.

Thursday 17th March 2005
A clear night! After all this time! Pity there’s a bright first quarter Moon. But I get the 8½" reflector out – after all, I could just look at the Moon, and Saturn might be nice.

However, I decide to look at some ‘deep-sky’ objects first. To limber up, I look at the fine double Struve 1495, between the pointers of the Plough – a fine pair.

Then I look at Alpha Canem Venatici – Cor Caroli – easy to see but hard to define the colours. Close to Cor Caroli is the red star Y Canem Vectinorum, a bright intensely crimson point of light; called ‘la superba’ by Secchi for the beauty of its spectrum. Then I look at M81 & M82 easily seen even on this poor night. I can even see that the two galaxies are different!

Fired up by this success I looked up the position of comet Machholtz: after Pat Walker mentioning it at our Feb meeting I knew it was near the pole star. Very easy to find: bright; the nucleus larger than I remember it in Jan; the coma sharply defined.

Saturn was well seen – the best view I’ve had this apparition, the Cassini division visible all around the rings. The ball well marked and a dark polar cap.

The Moon was spectacular; the Mare Tranquilitatis showed Sabine and Ritter well and the Mare Serenitatis was spectacular. The crater Posidonius being dramatically lit.

Not a bad evening for a sky criss-crossed with vapour trails and cloudy!

01/01/2005 11.00pm - 12.30am
I set up my 80mm refractor in the usual way (see my previous log report). It was a clear but windy night, so I keep the tripod low and took some photos of comet Machholz. The comet is in the constellation of Taurus between the stars Zeta and XI Taurus.

Using my SLR camera piggy backed on the telescope, I have a 28mm wide-angle lens fitted and I am using ISO 1000 colour print film. I took 2 exposures of 30 seconds and 45 seconds each. I then move to Orion and took one 30 second exposure.

I then remove the lens and fix the camera directly to the telescope with a T adaptor. This is called the prime focus method and makes the telescope into a 400mm telephoto lens. I took another 2 exposures of 15 and 20 seconds. Next I move to the Pleiades again at prime focus, two more exposures 15 and 8 seconds.

I pack away all the photographic equipment and I observe the comet. The nucleus is clearly visible with my 25mm eyepiece. Rigel is my next target the brightest star in Orion. It has a very faint companion star with a separation of 10 arc seconds. This is wide, but the magnitude difference makes it difficult to observe (Rigel 0.1- 6.8 mag). I am unable to see the companion with my 6.3mm eyepiece.

I decide to pack up and go to bed.

04/01/05 8.30pm - 10.30pm
I decide to use my 6'' reflector to view comet Machholz. The comet is gaining in altitude each night and is now a naked eye object. I own an old 1950's 6'' (150mm) reflector, with a focal length of 40'' (1000mm) f 6. The telescope was made by a company called Stanley Wilkens, and uses RAS threaded 1.25'' eyepieces (no longer available). There is a photograph of this telescope in the `Observer's book of Astronomy' 1967 edition.

I get good views of the comet especially with my low powered eyepiece. My next target is M1 the supernova remnant in Taurus. I have tried many times to view this object, but I have never been successful. However as it is a very still and moonless night I have a good chance in spotting it. Close to Zeta Taurus, I eventually manage to see a very faint misty patch, (north of Zeta Taurus).

Orion next. I look at the multiple star system, Sigma Orionis. This is an attractive system, consisting   of Sigma a quadruple star. And in the same field of view is Struve 761 a fainter triple star ( viewed with a medium powered eyepiece). I then make a short move to Ainatak the end star of the belt of Orion. I have never looked at this double star before. It is a close pair 2.4 arc seconds apart and I just manage to split the pair with my high powered eyepiece. The cloud begins to move in before I can move to M42 ,so I decide to pack up for the night.

Tues 4th Jan 2005
Happy New Year! I’m just looking at comet Machholz with my 10x30 binoculars: this is my first view and I found it easily by sweeping around below the Pleiades. The comet is bright, round with a fairly large nucleus, slightly offset to the north-west. It is surrounded by three stars that form a thin triangle. During the course of the evening the comet moves northwards closing in on the uppermost star, I took some pictures of the object using 400 ISO slide film and my Pentax with its 50mm lens.

Wed 12th Jan 2005
An astronomical feast! Algol (Beta Persei) is at minimum and I exposed some more film on that and the Comet which is now north of the Pleiades. It is still roughly circular, and still bright, although I cannot convince myself that I can see it without the 10x30 binoculars.

In the end I get out the 8.5 inch to view it with. Amazingly the nucleus looks almost starlike, and the coma covers a fairly bright star which shines through unaltered. The coma is also fan shaped: and the cut off is quite abrupt.

Of course I have to look at Sigma Orionis, M42, R Leonis (it’s quite dim at the moment), M36; and of course Saturn, before I close down – a good evening!

January 1st 2005
It was a clear night up to 21.00 hours.

I went out into my garden and when I looked into the sky I could just about make out the Milky way with the naked eye, so I fetched my 10 x 50 binoculars and scanned around.

Firstly I had a clear image of M42, followed by a superb view of Saturn nestling below Gemini.

Then I scanned the westward end of Taurus looking for the new Comet Machholz. After a couple of minutes of searching, I found what I was looking for. It was there in all its glory, a really crystal clear though fuzzy off-white looking cloud.

I could see a tail, although over the next few nights I will attempt to photograph it, both digitally and on film, cloud and light pollution permitting.

Pat

Monday 4th Oct 2004
Just a brief look at the Autumn sky with my 10x30IS* binoculars as it is late and I'm tired - but it's a clear night! I look at star colours, Alpha Cass is orange, unlike the other stars in the 'W'. They are all white. I turn to Sagitta and find the same thing; the star at the arrow head is orange (if ever there was a 'binocular constellation' this is it).

The same is true for the asterism of the plough - the star Alpha Ursae Majoris is orange! Binoculars certainly help to show the colours.

Tuesday 5th Oct 2004
I have the 8.25 reflector out this evening - the big gun! I look at several Messier objects including two I spoke about at the September meeting - M56 and M71 also M57.

Just for the thrill of seeing a bright globular I look at M15. Unlike M56 and M71, this is bright and can be resolved - at least halfway to the centre.

I move on to Cygnus and briefly view Omicron Cygni a fine triple star with yellow and blue components. Close by is the carbon star U Cygni - very red. It looks, for all the world, like a glowing cigarette end; it's hard to imagine this star as a giant, much bigger than the Sun - it really does look like a dying ember of a fire in the wind.

Very briefly I look at the double cluster in Perseus: this is indescribable; one of the clusters has a circlet of stars, the other has several reddish stars.

Mon 11th Oct 2004
As I got up I noticed the thin morning crescent Moon with Venus upper right: I followed them on my way to work, until the Sun and some high cloud blotted them out.

All these observations were of short duration: sometimes you just have to 'go with the flow'.

Richard Westwood 17th Oct 2004

* IS = image stabilised

Friday 3rd September 2004, 10pm - midnight
A good clear and still night, using my Helios 80mm f5.6 refractor (400mm focal length). Location: my back garden in Chipperfield. I polar align my telescope as follows: First I level the tripod with a spirit level. Then I align the setting circles to Polaris coordinates (RA 2:32, Declination +89.3) and move the polar axis until Polaris is in the centre of the field using my 10mm eyepiece.

Next I align my finder scope, set my RA clock drive and I am ready to go! My first target is M13 in Hercules, the great globular cluster. I get a good view with my 10mm eyepiece, which gives me 40x magnification. I leave the drive while I go inside for 15 minutes. On my return M13 is still in view through the telescope. I decide to take some photographs. I use an old Practika SLR camera with a T adapter fitted direct to the telescope. This gives a prime focus of 400mm. I have 200 ISO print film in the camera, and I take two exposures of M13, one at 40 seconds and another at 1.5 minutes.

Then I put my 28mm lens on my camera and attach the camera 'piggy-back' to the telescope. I take two exposures of Hercules at 40 seconds and 1 minute exposure. Next I move to Lyra and view M57, the famous planetary nebula. I use my Barlow lens with the 10mm eyepiece, which gives a magnification of 80x, and then the 6.3mm (127x). Very good view: the seeing is excellent, especially with the 10mm eyepiece (80x). I then make a short move to the double-double (Epsilon Lyrae), still in the constellation Lyra. I manage to split both pairs with my 6.3mm fitted with the Barlow. This is a good test for a small telescope: the two pairs have separations of 2.6 and 2.3 arc seconds.

I next visit Beta Cygnus (Alberio), a beautiful double star with orange and blue colours separated by 34 arc seconds.

My final target is M71 in Sagitta. This is a faint globular cluster, but for some time astronomers were unsure if this was an open cluster. By this time the moon was beginning to rise, which washed out my view of M71.

At midnight I decided to call it a night. I will look at M71 and the nearby planetary nebula M23 on my next observing session.

(Using 20x80 binoculars, mounted on a tripod)(August 2004)
The skies are starting to get a bit darker now we are getting towards the end of August. On Aug 15th I only had a short session before the clouds rolled in, but managed to observe M81 and M82 in Ursa Major. Both of these galaxies fitted into the same field of view through my binoculars. They were easily found, but were very faint: they will look a lot better when the skies get darker.

M27, the Dumbbell Nebula (in the constellation Vulpecula, just below Cygnus): this looks like a large hazy patch. I could not make out the Dumbbell shape (I am not sure if this is possible through binoculars).

M13 and M92 in Hercules: M13 shows up as a misty globe. I had trouble finding M92; when I did it showed as a small misty glow. I had trouble again a couple of nights later trying to locate it, but found it in the end.

My next target was the Double Cluster in Perseus. This is a lovely sight in binoculars. I had a good view of this through Peter Rees's telescope up at High Top one night last winter.

Next I had a look at Cassiopeia. I am having trouble getting my head around all the open clusters here. One I did manage to pick out was M52: I could see quite a few stars, but it looked more like a misty blur. I was going to have a look around Cygnus, but the clouds thickened up so I had to pack up for the night. I hope to take a closer look at Cygnus on the next clear night.

Clear skies!

Bob