On 9 May 2016, shortly after 12 noon, the planet Mercury passed across the face of the Sun and the whole transit, lasting over seven hours, was visible from the UK. Resistance is futile, and the prospect of the transit screamed “TIME LAPSE VIDEO!” even though Mercury would be only 9 pixels in diameter on the 12MP … Continue reading
Monday night was forecast to be clear until midnight, but Monday night was also this month’s meeting of the Eddington Astronomical Society, where I was scheduled to be a contributor. The second hour of the meeting was a presentation by another member and it would have been rude to cut and run, so I arrived at my dark … Continue reading
Sometimes it’s really hard to motivate yourself to get up at 3am for astronomy. I’m more of a late night person myself, and early mornings are not my style. One way to make it happen, to get that motivation going, is to share your intention with a friend – preferably one who is relying on … Continue reading
I’m slowly moving towards full automation of my astrophotography. My mount and camera form a stand-alone system which is more than good enough for me to take great pictures, but the addition of a computer-controlled guide system has drawn me into using the computer to manage taking the pictures themselves. Canon users will be familiar with the well-known … Continue reading
NGC6946 is known as “The Fireworks Galaxy”, probably because of the distinct array of colours found within, from the deep yellows of the dying old stars at its centre to the hot blue clusters of younger stars in its outer arms. It presented almost at zenith just after the onset of astronomical full darkness last week, … Continue reading
Torn between astrophotography and sleep for this one! Our walking holiday on the Amalfi coast had finished on Saturday with a beautifully long slow lunch among friends on the terrace at Leonardo’s in San Lazzaro, and our late flight out of Naples finally put us down at Gatwick at about 11.30pm. Overnight hotel at the … Continue reading
