Notifications
Clear all
Observing and Imaging Group
4
Posts
3
Users
0
Likes
60
Views
Topic starter
Dear Members
The weather gods seem to be in the festive spirit so it looks like we will be holding our planned observing session this Friday on Blackheath. If Scrooge takes an interest and the weather interrupts we will try for Saturday. The location for this event will be our usual spot on Blackheath, starting at 7.30pm. The Moon will be absent so more of the deep sky should reveal itself.
For those arriving early Uranus will be just past the meridian and it should be possible to discern its faint green tint if conditions allow. Also just past the meridian, high up in the darkest part of the sky will be M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: normal;">possibly our best opportunity to see it as anything other than a smudge from central London. Moving on through the night we will have a collection of clusters to admire including M45, The Pleiades, M38, The Starfish, M36, The Pinwheel, M44, The Beehive and the festive NGC2264 Christmas Tree Cluster. Not to be missed will be M42 the Orion Nebula and rising into view before we pack up will be Jupiter.
So we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. Bring a scope if you can, if not just turn up for a look. There will be other scopes available.
Blackheath is quite exposed, so please remember to wrap up warm. The plan is to meet on Blackheath, just north of Talbot Place at 7.30pm. Talbot Place is a right turn off Goffers Road as you head towards Shooters Hill Road or the first left after the Tea Hut. Talbot Place is a cul-de-sac, where free parking is available from 7.30pm. A map of the site can be found on the Flamsteed website
Best regards and clear skies
Rupert
Flamsteed Observing and Imaging Group
Posted : 18/12/2014 12:12 am
We need to look like Michellin people and definitely wrap up warm as there will be 20-25mph gusts apparently 🙂
See you guys tomorrow
Posted : 18/12/2014 7:44 pm
Was an enjoyable session on Friday, skies were clear albeit a little hazy. Thanks for organising, Rupert. And thanks for the lift too.
Also, sorry guys for my silly error in rendering my telescope useless for our visitors all because I didnt bring one little crayford focuser in which the eyepieces go into! This time I thought to bring only my HEQ5 mount to get more use to it (usually, I bring both my Nexstar and HEQ5 but just end up using the Nexstar!). In doing this I separated the Celestron components from the HEQ5 pro at home but allocated the focuser to the wrong "set" hence my error. I'll be more careful next time. At least I practiced my polar alignment on it so not a waste to have fetched, ahem!
Despite that, I still enjoyed the evening, looking through Mike's, Rupert's and Barry's telescopes (including Mike's finderscope, doh!). I also brought my Helios Quantum 4 70mm binos which gave a lovely view of the Pleiades, Beehive cluster, Andromeda and surprisingly I could see the Orion nebula through them too. However, when I do bring those binos next time, I should bring a camera tripod with it for its pretty heavy to hold for long. RUpert's 100mm APM APO triplet telescope blew me away again as I looked at the Orion Nebula through it which had such a fantastic contrast, i thought there must be a UHC filter in but nope, no filters, the quality of optics are that amazing.
Posted : 21/12/2014 7:03 pm
Yes, it was a very fun evening.
Rupert and I commented on the increased light pollution on Friday. In hindsight, of course, I realise that it was probably due to the number of Christmas illuminations around at this time of year!
Posted : 21/12/2014 7:15 pm
