To celebrate all of the above I recently bit the bullet and purchased myself a portable observing set-up which will compliment the 8” Newt I already own (but which is down at my parents house due to storage issues up here in Scotland). After much research into the burgeoning 80mm doublet market I am now the proud owner of:

Vixen ED80sf (80mm F/7.5 Semi-Apo Refractor)
Vixen Portamount (Alt-Az)
Moonfish 2” Diagonal
Moonfish 2” 30mm Ultrawide Eyepiece

It took a couple of Saturdays to take delivery of everything but finally earlier today I had everything in place and, coming back from the pub, I noticed that the stars were shining overhead in what initially appeared a reasonable, clear sky.

A big factor for me in buying this kit was being able to easily carry everything in one trip around to my observing location. With the diagonal and eyepiece finding a home in the telescope case this was achieved, although I still need to find a space for the mount’s plastic accessory tray.

It took only a few minutes to get everything ready, the mount extended and accessory tray attached, the OTA onto the mount via the dovetail plate, finderscope onto the OTA, 2” diagonal, then the eyepiece. It is all weighty stuff and although the tube is reasonably balanced I found that the tension in the mount axis was not sufficient to hold the scope when moved away from the horizontal. Given that it was (obviously) dark I didn’t want to spend too much time playing around with Allen keys so this is something I will sort before my next session.

With sky quality degraded by high level cloud I chose some of the more obvious targets for my first light and it was the bright, nearly full Moon that attracted my attention to begin with. The 30mm eyepiece gives a huge field of view, the Moon sitting nicely in the centre with plenty of black space surrounding it. The focus was pinsharp and the action very smooth. Colours were excellent with no hint of aberration. My only problem was internal reflections from lights across the way. It was a stunningly detailed view and I spent a few minutes taking it all in.

Next I used the wide Field of View to observe both M45 and the Double Cluster. The Pleiades fit perfectly into the field of view, their blue colour apparent against the jet black sky. The collimation looked good with symmetrical airy discs on both sides of focus. Unfortunately the sky was really deteriorating and by the time I swung up to the Double Cluster, almost directly overhead, it was a murky and faint target. Still, it fitted nicely into the FoV and this will definitely be a target to return to.

With more and more cloud moving in I packed up and headed back inside. Putting everything away only took a couple of minutes. I’m hugely pleased with my purchase and can’t wait to get more observing in as the season progresses.

From NASA’s Phoenix website:

The HiRISE acquired this image on May 25, 2008, at 4:36 p.m. Pacific Time (7:36 p.m. Eastern Time). It is a highly oblique view of the Martian surface, 26 degrees above the horizon, or 64 degrees from the normal straight-down imaging of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image has a scale of 0.76 meters per pixel.

So here we have a robotic probe photographing another robotic probe from its orbit of an alien world whilst the latter probe makes its way down for a historic landing north of that alien world’s Arctic Circle. Pretty neat.

With the summer now well advancing the remarkably clear sky was still fairly light even as people started to arrive at around 10:30pm. Despite this we were able to show them views of the moon and Saturn through telescopes and binoculars all of which elicited responses of delight and amazement. As the twilight advanced the stars began to twinkle overhead and we got people to identify the constellations of Leo, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia and Bootes.

During the evening people came up to ask a variety of questions and also where they could find out more about the stars. We were able to direct them to a variety of resources as well as suggest they come along to one of our meetings in the Autumn. It was all very encouraging, particularly to see so much enthusiasm for astronomy from both children and parents and everyone in between.

The S&T article is accompanied by some examples of the beautiful sights we see, and one in particular caught my attention which can be seen at the bottom of this page. It shows a beautiful set of Noctilucent Clouds seen over Sweden in 2005. Unfortunately I find the caption slightly misleading as it claims that these clouds are a rare atmospheric phenomenon. Perhaps this was true in 2005, but last year, thanks to the photographs collected in his stunning gallery, Irish astronomer and comet hunter Martin McKenna showed that on almost every night from late May to mid-July there was some level of NLC activity.

With April fast ticking by it has already got me excited about the prospects for the 2008 observing season which should kick off in around six weeks or so. It will be interesting to see how it compares with last year, particularly as there is still being work done to understand these summer visitors. Could they be one of the more eye-catching side-effects of global warming?

In the meantime have a browse around The World At Night website and perhaps think about what stunning sights you may be able to capture, close at hand or in far-flung lands. I certainly know that I’ll be hoping to equal some of the amazing shots I got last year.

Moving from the study of galaxies with unusually bright nuclei by Carl Seyfert in 1943 through to the early sixties when Quasi-Stellar Radio Sources (Quasars) were discovered we were introduced to the full and diverse catalogue of massively bright objects that have been observed. Quasars in particular gave a clue as to the magnitude of this activity. These were faint sources, initially of radio emissions, which when looked at more closely turned out to be huge distances away (measured in redshift rather than kilometres) putting their absolute magnitude up so high that they quickly took over as the brightest objects ever discovered. As more intensive studies were made of these objects it was found that they weren’t stellar at all, but the nuclei of galaxies that completely dwarfed any light given off by the rest of the galaxy. Some were found to have jets of material streaming from them and in general the catalogue of these massively bright objects continued to expand, confounding astronomers.

Conventional understanding of stellar energy processes could not explain the massive energy output seen from these objects, particularly as it was being emitted across a broad section of the electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma rays to radio waves. It was established that the most likely explanation was a black hole, one many times more massive than the sun, a type which were described as supermassive black holes by Martin Rees. The theory goes that the supermassive black hole is surrounded by an accretion disk made up of dust and gas and other materials. When material from the disk interacts with the black hole there is a very efficient conversion of energy from kinetic and potential to radiation. There are further emissions from the disc itself which heats up due to the dynamic forces prevalent on it. It is theorised that much of the emissions are absorbed by a further layer of surrounding, cooler material, thought to be toroidal in shape so that the black hole can only be seen from above and below but not from the side.

The different types of AGN observed are thought to be dependent on the amount of energy being emitted (i.e. accretion disk composition and dynamics) and the orientation of the black hole with respect to the observer. Quasars and blazars are thought to be orientated such that we are looking almost straight down onto the black hole and therefore seeing virtually unimpeded emissions, whilst Seyfert Type 2 galaxies are where we are looking perpendicular to the edge of the torus and the accretion disk meaning that we are seeing re-emissions rather than the bright primary emissions from the black hole.

Ian then went on to discuss non-active galactic nuclei such as those possessed by most large galaxies in our neighbourhood, including our own Milky Way galaxy. Observational evidence suggests that there is a supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy, but we do not see the bright emissions associated with a typical AGN. He showed the compelling evidence for Sgr A* to be a supermassive blackhole and explained its quiescent behaviour by saying that the black hole was devoid of material in its close vicinity. Without a fuel supply essential this enormous engine would not display the same level of activity seen in Active Galactic Nuclei. He suggested this was part of galaxy evolution and that astronomers have found AGNs to be much more prevalent in the early Universe than in the current epoch.

This discovery suggests that super massive black holes formed early on when the conditions for luminous AGN were more readily available. This is likely because there was a much higher availability of cold gas near the centre of galaxies than there is now. He also went on to suggest that there is no reason why our Galaxy could not once again become an AGN, given a big enough disturbance. This would most likely happen when the Andromeda Galaxy collides with the Milky Way in the distant future. He showed several simulations of galaxy mergers indicating that this was the type of disturbance necessary to set-up the conditions for an AGN.

Altogether it was an excellent talk, delivered clearly and concisely by someone who is clearly intimately familiar with the subject matter and gave me several insights into these fascinating objects.

January – A Spectacular Comet

Comet McNaught by Andy Ciavarella

The year started off with the spectacular Comet McNaught, which thanks to ill-placed trees, buildings and patchy skies, I managed to miss during its brief appearance. Luckily other people in other parts of the country did get a chance to see it and the picture shown here was taken by Andy Ciavarella who observed the comet with a few other people up in Durham. McNaught was only present in our skies for a few brief nights but when it travelled into the southern skies later in the month it went the cometery equivalent of supernova. We’ll be back for another spectacular comet later in the year.

February – Mercury Makes an Appearance

The early months of the year gave us a few chances to check out the planet closest to the sun which only a small proportion of the population have seen with the naked eye. On several occasions it could be seen shining close to the much brighter Venus. We also introduced a few members of the Society to it, as well as members of the public when we held an observing session next to Durham cathedral. In June the MESSENGER probe, heading for Mercury, made a second fly-by of Venus.

March – When The Moon Turned Red

March 3rd was the date for the most spectacular total lunar eclipse I’ve witnessed so far. Not only did it take place at a respectable time of the evening, but it was also completely clear and along with almost 30 other people, we observed it from start to finish with the Astronomical Society in Durham. It was one of the very best observing experiences during my time at Durham and the images that everyone got hardly do justice to what it was to witness it in person. Read the report on my website.

March was also the month of my first Messier Marathon, when along with Alex, Richard and the hardcore observing skills of Andy we tracked down and observed 66 of old Messier’s objects in one mammoth session held over 12 hours in Durham. We lost two hours in the middle of the night to passing cloud and never really made much headway on the low summer targets but had an unforgettable night. Read my report on the blog.

April – A New Dawn

It was announced this month by a team of astronomers that the most Earth-like planet so far discovered has been found a mere 20 million light froms us. Dubbed Gliese 581 C it was a monumentous moment in our continued exploration of our galaxy. It appears to be the first terrestrial extrasolar planet discovered in the hypothetical habitable zone surrounding its star, where surface temperatures might maintain liquid water.

May – Burning the Midnight Oil

Despite being somewhat tied up with Finals at University there was still plenty of observing to be done in May, a month which of course had some of the finest, clearest skies of the year. Along with various conjunctions between the Moon and inferior planets I also took my best picture yet of a bright Iridium Flare, a result of staying up until 2am.

June – The Sky Goes Electric

This month was memorable for the two spectacular displays of Noctilucent Clouds I was priviledged to witness, one from Durham and one from Northallerton. Both of them held me completely captivated and I’m already looking forward to the summer to see my next displays of these beautiful, electrifying entities. See my reports here and here.

July – The Southern Skies

In July and August, to celebrate graduating, I went on the most incredible trip to New Zealand where I got the opportunity to see the incredible southern skies. With less distinguised constellations, but many more stars, a much more intricate Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds amongst the highlights it was a remarkable sight. Unfortunately I struggled to capture them appropriately on camera.

August – Asteroid!

This month one of the largest asteroids, Vesta, made its closest approach to the Earth, a path which happened to take it close to Jupiter which was hanging out low in the southern sky. As well as observing it with my telescope I caught the asteroid along with Jupiter with my camera. Read the report on my website.

September – That Aged and Weathered Rock

In September, as well as moving to Aberdeen to start my first job after graduation, I also got some great observing done. Tracking down interesting deep sky objects in the Cygnus region and also capturing some good shots of the Moon. The one shown here was caught using afocal project and then boosting the contrast on my computer. Read the report here.

October – A Heavenly Dance at Dawn

In October another Comet appeared on the scene but it wouldn’t be until November that it would be truly spectacular. In the meantime the dawn skies played host to an intriguing conjunction with the Moon joining Venus and Saturn, along with the star Regulus. I caught this sight whilst waiting for the Chinese Grand Prix to start. Read the report on my website.

November – Cometary Jellyfish

An obscure, dim periodic comet called Holmes flared up to an incredible mag +2 in late October. Since then it has continued to expand eventually overtaking the Sun as the largest object in the Solar System. It was strange to see a new, fuzzy, star-like object in Perseus but even stranger when you saw it through the binoculars or took a long-exposure photograph to reveal its remarkable structure.

December – Martian Invaders

Throughout November Mars grew and grew in brightness, as well as rising earlier in the evening. By December it was the dominant feature of the winter sky, a spectacular and vivid red point of light high up above, watching over the rise of Orion and hinting at the promise of great observing to be done.

I stepped out last night just before midnight to be greeted by spectacularly clear skies. Earlier flurries of snow had chased me down the road from work, but now with the world a quieter, calmer place, the stars had regained their rightful place in the sky. In the south-east Mars was shining, having doubled in brightness over the last few weeks as it rapidly approaches opposition,  and behind the flats to the south I could spy the mighty shape of Orion creeping silently upwards. It was a beautiful sight, the true stars of winter.

Above me I spied Perseus and as I suspected no sign of the comet against the bright moonlit background but it only took a couple of test shots to get Holmes, along with the stars of Perseus, in the view. I took a few shots at around 20s exposure with the lens at f/2.8 and ISO 400 (hence the noise). The only processing was to adjust the curves and darken the sky. Even with such a straightforward approach it has picked up the comet nicely, although not as nicely as the recent shots of Comet Holmes from Hubble…

Seen at the target point in this widefield shot of the Perseus region, high above at 23:30 GMT, I was able to observe it in the binoculars which revealed a bright, expansive coma with slight eccentricity indicating its direction of travel.

Discovered in November 1892 by British amateur astronomer Edwin Holmes during a moment of similar outburst it is thought this brightness may be sustained for several weeks.

This is an easy one to find for yourself as Perseus is visible all night from mid-northern latitudes. SImply grab yourself a suitable finder chart and go check out this intriguing visitor.

The red giant star Arcturus was clearly visible in the West North-West with other stars of Bootes above it, and the Northern Crown to its upper right. Over to the right things were still rather lost in the lingering sunset, but after ten minutes or so I could see Cor Caroli, with the stars of Ursa Major above it.

With binoculars I now started scanning the area I knew the comet to be, using a couple of triangles I’d found in the finderchart provided by Martin McKenna on his website. It didn’t take too long to pick up the comet, though it was obvious that at these low altitudes the seeing was less than ideal – light pollution exacerbated by haze was reducing the contrast turing this faint mag 6 object into a diffuse object that could only really be picked up with averted vision.

Still, it definitely was the comet: a green, compact round glow in my binoculars which didn’t reveal any hint of a tail.

I then turned my camera on the area and using exposure times between 15-25 seconds, an aperture of f/2.8 and ISO 200-400 have picked up the comet (just!). Here is a widefield view first with Arcturus over to the left, the Northern Crown to the top left and Cor Caroli up to the right. The comet is slightly below and left of center and is detectable on my monitor as a faint, small patch of fuzz.

Click to see this image on black for a better view. I’ve also cropped and contrast-enhanced this image to further pick out the comet which definitely appears green and round in shape. Arcturus is the bright red star off to the extreme left.

Click to see this faint image of View On Black“>Comet C/2007 F1 LONEOS on black for a better view.

With less than ideal conditions it was a successful comet hunt, and now I’ll be sure to track it on successive clear nights.