Introduction to Astronomy – Week 1

Tonight I attended the first night of the Cambridge Astronomy Associations Introduction To Astronomy course which was held at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge.

Tonights talk was entitled “Things that go bump in the night” by Brian Lister. Brian took us through the basics of the solar system with some very interesting images of various craters. This included the Mead crate on Venus which is 280km wide, as well we the 65km wide crater in Quebec and the 200km Hellas Basin crater on Mars. There were also images of the Abulfeda crater chains on the moon.

Brian also conducted a couple of experiments, one was to demonstrate how stars explode, by inflating and exploding a balloon in a cardboard box full of packing material. See the video of this below, the experiment did not quite work as expected, or as I expected anyway.

After the talk was over and we had our tea and biscuits we headed out to one of the telescopes on the Cambridge site to view Saturn.

We used the Northumberland Equatorial University Observatory which was built in 1838. “The Northumberland” is the only remaining large instrument from the early days of the University Observatory. For many years it was one of the world’s largest refracting telescopes.

The main structure was built by the engineers Ransomes of Ipswich, and the fine mechanical work by the London Instrument makers Troughton and Simms.

The polar axis frame and the telescope tube are made of Norwegian fir. The original Cauchoix lens is not used anymore and the optics are now up to date, with a 12 inch aperture visual achromatic doublet designed by Dr R.V. Willstrop of the Institute and it was constructed by the local firm A.E. Optics Ltd, installed to mark the 150th anniversary of the telescope.

The steel dome covering the telescope was made in 1932, which was a replacement for the original 96 year old wood structure. The telescope was last used in a regular Observatory research programme for the micrometrical measurement of double stars in the 1930s. Although the telescope is still used for visual observations by members of the University Astronomical Society and for public observing at the Institute of Astronomy during the winter months.  So it’s great to see it still being used after 150 years.

Space Junk in Earths Orbit

I was amazed today to see these images on the internet depicting how many pieces of space junk or should I say satellites there are in Earths orbit.

This image shows a view of the Earth from over the North Pole.

Apparently the number of objects orbiting the planet is increasing by two hundred per year on average.

The vast majority of these objects in orbit are satellites, which remain in orbit around the Earth once their lifespan is complete.

These computer-generated images have been released by the European Space Agency.  The images show the incredible impact of travelling to the stars, as the planet has more and more dead metal floating around us.

Does this mean that we may before long see satellites collide? Or more satellites having to be shot down if the satellite breaks down, as happened previously.

15×70 Astronomy Binocular Review

I have never owned my own pair of binoculars before, even though it seems that as an amateur astronomer having a pair of binoculars is a must.

The binoculars being reviewed are from Telescope Planet and they are their own make, and are 15×70 (15x zoom with a 70mm lens diameter). They have a nice feel to them as they have a rubberised coating, which I am told is good for grip and reduces the formation of dew.

These binoculars are good for all types of viewing but really excel at astronomy, due to their 15x magnification and 70mm lens. It’s strange to think that even some telescopes have this size lens diameter.

The binoculars come in their own soft case and come with a binocular strap and cleaning cloth, as well as all eyepiece covers.

These 15×70 binoculars are not light, and I did find myself only being able to hold them for a few minutes before my arms got tired and I started to view star trails with my arms shaking.  I found the best way to hold these long binoculars was by holding the end of the binoculars with both hands, instead of up near the eyepiece and focuser.

The good thing is that they have a standard Universal Bush built into them beneath a protective screw on cover. I would thoroughly recommend purchasing a binocular L bracket (around £10) and putting them on a tripod to get the most out of these, perhaps something I should look at purchasing next.

I could then imagine myself just sitting in the garden on a chair with the binoculars on my tripod gazing up at the stars all night long when I did not want to setup my LX200 outdoors.

The binoculars come with a standard dioptre adjustment, and they allow you to change the distance between the eyepieces to match your pupil distance.

The focus adjuster was quite stiff and did appear to spring back a little, but it did keep focus and with a bit more use it should become easier to use.

Views of the moon were brilliant with a very fine crisp detail being provided of the lunar surface. I also managed to track satellites in the sky with these binoculars and I even managed to witness a shooting star through them, something that was not visible with the naked eye.

Overall, a very nice pair of binoculars with good magnification and viewing, and some really crisp views of the nights sky. They also have long eye relief (77m at 1,000m or 231ft at 1,000yds)

The only disadvantage is that they are a little heavy to hold, but these would excel when mounted on a tripod using an L type bracket.

UPDATE

I have now managed to get a large L-Type adaptor and have easily added these binoculars to a tripod and even though it is difficult to describe what you can see with them, here is an image of the Moon, taken with a Canon 400D SLR camera pointed through one of the binocular eyepieces.

I also managed to see Jupiter again in Summer 2008 using them, and amazingly enough they allowed me to see the disc of the planet and make out Jupiter’s Moons as stars.

Astronomy Binocular Specifications

• Model: TP 15 x 70 Astronomy Binoculars 
• Lens: 70mm
• Magnification: 15x
• Weight: 1.3kg
• Supplier: Telescope Planet
• Price (at 19th April 2008): £79

Buy these 15 x 70 Astronomy Binoculars from Telescope Planet.

New Young Astronomer Born

Not posted for a while as last Friday my first son was born at 9.30pm on Friday 4th April weighing in at 7lbs.

Mother and baby boy came home from the hospital on Tuesday. Although he sleeps most of the time, I’m sure his eyes are getting ready for viewing the nights sky.

My Meade Telescope Power Supply

I saw from my web logs that a few people have been finding my site whilst looking for a power supply for their telescope, and I have no main information on that, so I am adding some.

When I purchased my LX200 I did not purchase the official Meade power supply, but instead used a power supply which I already had.

For anybody that is looking for a general purpose (PSU) Power Supply Unit for their telescope then I can recommend this PSU currently being sold at Maplin, by the way mine is very similar to this one below which also came from Maplin and works really well.

Worldwide AC/DC Mains Adaptor ( Worldwide AC/DC PSU )

This PSU comes with 8 popular power supply tips and the benefits of this is that it also has attachments making it usable abroad, in case you take your telescope on holiday!

“The lead connecting the power supply to your appliance is 1.6 metres in length and mains cable from the power supply 1.7m. The mains cable is terminated in a moulded-on 2-pin European mains plug which can be fitted with any of the UK, USA and Australasian supplied mains plugs.

Dimensions: 133mm (L) x 68mm (W) x 37mm (H)

The high output current together with the range of popular power tips supplied means this power supply is suited to a multitude of uses. The power tips can be inserted either way around to provide a centre-positive or centre-negative polarity. Specifications:Input voltage:100-240Va”

Buy the Power Supply from Maplin here.

It’s always worth checking the Maplin website from time to time as they occasionally run special offers on this or similar power supply units.

The Hedgehog is Out

This is for anyone who read my previous post about my friendly hedgehog who used to come and see me in the garden whilst I was using my telescope.

Well over the winter the hedgehog ended up making a nest near a fence post, made up of leaves, moss and twigs.

Today whilst out cutting the lawn I noticed there is a big hole in the winter hibernation nest and he must be now on the loose again. I hope to see him soon.

It must have been the last two days of sun that woke him up.

Sir Martin Rees Lecture at CAA

Last night I attended the monthly meeting at the Cambridge Astronomy Association (CAA) at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. Tonight was a special lecture called the Michael Penston lecture.

Michael Penston was based at the Institute of Astronomy. In 1990 he was due to give a talk to the CAA, but had to cancel due to illness. Sadly, Michael died soon afterwards. In March 1991 the CAA held a lecture in memory of Michael, and a collection was made for cancer research. By the next year a fund had been set up in his name, administered by the Royal Astronomical Society, to help up-and-coming astronomers establish themselves in their chosen profession. Each year since then the CAA members are asked to make a donation to the fund after the talk.

This year’s lecture was given by Sir Martin Rees, who is a Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics and Master of Trinity College. Sir Martin holds the honorary title of Astronomer Royal and also Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and at Leicester University.

After studying at Trinity college, Cambridge, Sir Robert held post-doctoral positions in the UK and the USA, before becoming a professor at Sussex University. In 1973, he became a fellow of Kings College and Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy here in Cambridge (continuing in the latter post until 1991) and served for ten years (1977-82 and 1987-91) as director of the Institute of Astronomy. In 2005 he was appointed to the House of Lords, elected President of the Royal Society and last year in 2007 was awarded the Order of Merit.

The talk itself was entitled “The Next Ten Plus Years  in Cosmology” which lasted about 45 minutes, and was very interesting.  The talk was accompanied with many varied and amazing photos.  Some of the main topics covered included the possibility of a 4th dimension and how the universe may be textured.

I did want to include the talk on this post as an audio file, as I recorded the talk via my mobile phone voice recorder, but unfortunately the recording was very quiet, perhaps the application was not made for distant recordings, I should have sat a lot closer to the front.

Just to mention, the CAA and Institute of Astronomy are running a 6 week introductory course on astronomy in April and May. Hopefully I will get to see and use some of the main telescopes on site so I am planning on attending and blogging details about it once it starts. I shall try and include photos as well.

Titan Oceans and Mars Salt Deposits

Saturn’s moon Titan may have a deep, hidden ocean according to an article in the journal Science.

Radar images from the Cassini-Huygens mission reinforce predictions that a reservoir of liquid water exists beneath the thick crust of ice.

If confirmed then it could mean that Titan would have two of the key components for life, which are water and organic molecules.

Mars appears to be covered in salt crystals from ancient dried up lakes. A NASA probe has found signs that the southern hemisphere is dusted with chloride mineral, which could be like the common table salt.

The Mars deposits are a good place to search for traces of past life which may be preserved in the salt.

Atlas of the Universe Book Review

Philip’s Atlas of the Universe by Patrick Moore is now in its sixth edition. The Atlas of the Universe is quite a big book; it’s a hardcover book and is a full size type coffee table book.  The full colour photographs, images and diagrams are absolutely breath taking, with pictures from space missions and images of planets, nebulae, constellations and more.

Atlas of the Universe is divided into seven sections, these are “Exploring the Universe”, which covers the history of astronomy and space exploration and the latest results from the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.

“The Solar System” chapter contains information on everything in our solar system including the earth and the planets, with images and maps of the planets from visiting spacecraft including the Cassini probe, the Mars Express and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

“The Sun” chapter covers visible phenomena, from sunspots to solar eclipses including images from the SOHO and TRACE spacecrafts.

“The Stars” chapter covers nebulae, supernovae, black holes, stellar clusters with images from the VLT or Very Large Telescope.

“Into the Universe” includes the structure of the Universe, our Galaxy, quasers.  It also discusses the possibilities of extraterrestrial life.

Towards the rear of the book there are more practical astronomy chapters, including Star Maps, a complete atlas of the constellations (northern and southern hemisphere) stretched across 22 maps.  There are also tables accompanying the maps which give co-ordinates, magnitudes and other data.

The final chapters contain beginner’s guides which teach beginners such basics as how to use a planisphere and an introduction to binoculars and telescopes.  There are sections on digital imaging with cameras and CCD cameras. The final section covers having an observatory.  Atlas of the Universe ends with a 25 page glossary which includes colour diagrams.

Overall The Atlas of the Universe is a magical book, if you don’t like reading these types of general astronomy books, and then just look at the images, they are amazing. I could imagine this book to be a brilliant gift for the avid astronomer or for any child who is studying astronomy or has a school project to complete.

Atlas of the Universe is available at Waterstones

Moon and Pleiades Conjunction March 2008

I popped out last night with just my static tripod and camera to try and get some shots of the conjunction of the moon and pleiades.  I spent about 30 minutes outside in the wind, which was making the camera move.  So I ended up taking about 50 shots in total.

Unfortunately as the moon was so bright getting the faintness of the pleiades with the brightness of the moon was very difficult. I took all the shots at ISO800 on my Canon 300mm lens with varying exposure times.

Below is the best I got, which is pretty bad, I think I would have been better taking the photos of the pleiades  and the moon separately and then just putting the scene together in a photo editor program.

The only good thing to come out of the 30 minutes was this shot of just the moon. It’s quite amazing what a 300mm lens can do, and it shows you don’t need a telescope in order to take nice images of the moon.