The Elusive Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

The Whirlpool Galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Plough) is more or less at zenith (straight up!) My computerised mount won't cope with this as it is outside it's limits for tracking so I have tried to find this elusive galaxy with my Skywatcher 130M.

I know where to look, but I just can't find it! If I could at least see a fuzzy object, I could point the camera and take some long exposure images and maybe see something.

So...I called on the BRT to try to take an image for me...and here it is!

This would be a super object to capture with my own equipment...maybe one day?

Here are the settings of the BRT in Tenerife:

Request ID
49535
Job ID
35899
Object Type
MESSIER
Object ID
51
Object Name
The Whirlpool Galaxy
Exposure Time
120000 ms
Filter Type
Colour
Dark frame
Instant
Site Name
Tenerife
Telescope Type Name
Galaxy
Telescope Name
Galaxy Camera
Request Time
22:59 on Friday 25 May 2007 (21:59:51 UTC)
Completion Time
04:22 on Monday 28 May 2007 (03:22:33 UTC)
Comments
Whirlpool Galaxy
Status
Complete

Dawn Mission to the Asteroid Belt!

All Aboard the Dawn Spacecraft!

During the “Send Your Name to the Asteroid Belt” campaign, at NASA's JPL site:

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.asp

more than 360,000 people signed up to participate in a virtual voyage to the asteroid belt. The computer chip holding all the participants’ names has now been installed on the Dawn spacecraft in preparation for flight in June.

I managed to add most of my family names to the 'chip' for it's journey to Vesta and Ceres and who knows beyond...

I think that it is amazing that we are being digitally transported to Deep Space and to Mars! Even if the spacecraft doesn't make it that 'chip' will float around space until eternity...makes you think a bit doesn't it!!

The Vesta Asteroid can be be seen at the moment near to Jupiter with binoculars but gets brighter in about a weeks time. The surface of Vesta has a high reflective surface and will in fact make it visible with a naked eye as long as you know where to look!

I'm going to try to find it next time the sky is clear...watch this space!

Phoenix Spacecraft to Mars

This e-mail came out of the blue!

Dear Stephen Macdonald,

Thank you for participating in The Planetary Society's Messages from Earth project!
Your name is now one step closer to Mars. The silica glass mini-DVD with a quarter million names on it -- including yours -- has been installed on the Phoenix spacecraft, and is ready to go to Mars!
The spacecraft has just successfully been flown to Cape Canaveral, and now will begin final testing and preparation for launch. Phoenix will arrive and land in the northern near-polar regions in late May or early June 2008 (exact date dependent upon launch date). We’ll keep you updated on the mission as it progresses towards launch, and of course, update you on its launch and landing.

Sincerely,

Bruce BettsDirector of Project
The Planetary Society

WoW!! I'm going to Mars!

Last year during the window where you could add your name to the spaceship database so I added some names to travel to Mars!

Out of this world!!

Jodrell Bank

On the North West side of Bolton, there lies a hill called Winter Hill. The views from the side of the hill to the South on a clear day are superb! You can see the town of Bolton, the city of Manchester and as far as the Cheshire Plains and even the mountains of North Wales.

When the sun sets, and the telescope is pointing roughly North, the Jodrell Bank Telescope catches the sun and can be seen easily from Winter Hill.Here was the view tonight which shows some of the old mills in Bolton, Trafford Park (an industrial area in Manchester) and the Cheshire Plain where Jodrell Bank is located. Jodrell Bank is about 40 miles away (as the crow flies!)

On the right of the image, just further down and right from Jodrell Bank is a huge mill called Swan Mill. This was once the largest Cotton Mill in the area and it's now a listed building because of it's stunning architecture. Some of the mills that now survive in Bolton are being converted into expensive 5 star apartments. It must be great if you are an astronomer...you could set up an observatory on the roof of a 10 story mill away from the Light Pollution!!

Hope you enjoy the image, taken with my Canon 350D and 200mm zoom lens from Scout Rd.

Earthshine Moon and Venus

The view to the Western Sky at the moment from my back window is superb!

I can see the Moon, Venus, Castor and Pollux along with a setting Saturn. Earlier, I took some images of the Moon and Venus with my Canon 350D and 200mm lens.

The weather today has been awful!

Gale force winds, torrential rain, hail....I even had to watch that (dreadful) cup final!

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0....I fell asleep at half-time!!

Weird how the weather changes so quickly...tonight brought a beautiful sunset...no wind...clear sky...wonderful Moon and Venus!

National Grid for Learning (NGfL)

Well, Tony Blair is moving on to pastures new, but politics apart, his vision of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) has made quite an impact in schools. Children can now access on-line resources that were unheard of ten years ago via broadband links!

Multimedia is now a way of life for most kids.

Remote telescopes like the Bradford Telescope, JMU (John Moores University) and Faulkes can now be accessed and controlled from the classroom. Hubble images, S@N and NASA Television can be viewed on large screens and Interactive Whiteboards in Primary School classrooms. Children can research for information on the internet and write reports and produce Powerpoint Presentations about their findings.

I wish I had all this when I was at school!

Hand on heart...you got it right!

Technology Rules...OK!

Bank Holiday Blues!

Beehive Cluster with added spikes!

The weather for the last four weeks has been wonderful! Wall to wall sunshine every day, temperatures into the mid 20's. At night the skies have been clear with Venus dominating in the West.
I took out my scopes last week to try out the SLR computerised mount linked to the laptop and 'Starry Night 5' software to control the mount. I was really pleased with the results, got the computer to slew to M5 and there it was for the first time. Tried to image, but made a real mess of focussing the scope. It's quite difficult when switching from the camera to an eyepiece, i'm hoping that the flip mirror will help (when Astro-Engineering and Green Witch decide to send me the adaptor I ordered four weeks ago!)
Captured a nice wide field image of the Beehive Cluster using the ST80 and Canon 350. It's great to have the remote control now for operating the shutter. I don't need to touch the camera at all once set up.

Well, guess what...it's now Bank Holiday and the weather duly changed to wind, rain and cloud just in time! So what's new...never fails does it!!