Astronomy

"It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other" - Plato in The Republic

Latest Events

With the return of BBC Stargazing Live to our television screens recently there has been a lot of interest in astronomy. Though I haven't managed to get out with my telescope very much, I was lucky enough to catch a display of the Northern Lights which was visible from Scotland and the north-east of England on the night of 22nd January 2012. I took my images from near Midmar Kirk in Aberdeenshire where the dark skies provided incredible views of this spectacular event. Hopefully this marks the start of renewed solar activity and the first of several Aurora sightings this year.

22nd January 2012 - Latest Observing Report

Check out the AstroPod, a podcast from Grad students at Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy.

Latest Meteor Activity (from the SPA)
Latest Comet Activity (from Martin Mckenna)
Latest Variable Star Activity (from the SPA)

Introduction

Whilst at University I became a keen amateur astronomer, interested in a variety of different areas including deep sky targets, the planets and Moon, comets and phenomenon closer to home such as Noctilucent Clouds and the Aurora Borealis. I have two telescopes - an 8" Newtonian reflector (pictured right) and a 3.5" apochromatic refractor and the majority of the reports found in my Observations Log, which contains images, information and observing reports, were made with these 'scopes.

Whilst at University I was a member of the Durham University Astronomy Society serving as both Obs Officer (2004-2005) and President (2006-2007). The Society Website contains a lot of information as well as articles and observing reports.

Now living in Aberdeen I have been a member of Aberdeen Astronomical Society since September 2007. I have been out to the society's darksky observing site to the north-west of Aberdeen, and hope to make more use of this for both visual observing, and for astrophotography.

To see all my blog postings related to astronomy please click here.

Special Events

Since becoming interested in astronomy I have tried my best to observe some of the more special and unique events and targets that have cropped up in the skies over the UK. These are reports from some of the best.

Partial Solar Eclipse - 4th January 2011
Total Lunar Eclipse - 21st December 2010
Total Lunar Eclipse - 3rd March 2007
Partial Lunar Eclipse - 8th September 2006
Partial Solar Eclipse - 29th March 2006
Comet C/2006 A1 Pojmanski - 1st March 2006
Nova RS Ophiuchi - 15th February 2006

Observing Projects

There are many different aspects to the study and enjoyment of the night sky and this section collects information on my primary interests.

Noctilucent Clouds - images and observations of this summer phenomenon
Aurora Borealis - images and observations of the Northern Lights
Iridium Flares - images and observations of man-made satellites flaring in the dark
Atmospheric Optical Phenomenon - generally interesting things in the (daytime) sky such as rainbows and sundogs

Articles

See the articles I have written on this page