Curiosity

I just watched an amazing video of Curiosity landing on Mars!  I don't know why they haven't shown this on the BBC news or any other news for that matter... Something as incredible as this is not even 'news' anymore. In 1969 we watched in awe as Eagle landed on the Moon. Now we have the technology to land robots on Mars and send back HD videos and photos at the same time.
Also today I looked at a HD photo taken from the mast camera of the view on Mars, it was spectacular!
Is it not time that these missions and photos returned to us are given a higher profile on television?

With the advances of our knowledge and understanding of the universe and our solar system it is so sad that Emmerdale and Coronation Street are more important in life that trying to answer the fundamental questions of life. Where did we come from and why are we here?

Here is the link to the landing video:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2192780/Mars-Curiosity-rover-landing-shown-new-HD-video.html

"Nasa has revealed a high resolution version of the spectacular landing of Curiosity on the red planet.
The Curiosity rover quickly beamed back a host of low-resolution images as it floated down to the surface of the Red Planet on August 5.
But, now the NASA vehicle has been on Mars for more than two weeks, it has had time to send full resolution, HD images it took of its own landing.
The space agency has released the video complete with the audio from mission controllers as they watched the descent."

Respect

 

 

A nice picture! Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin at Neil Armstrong's Memorial Service.

 

It is very strange on television because I expected to see lots of things about the Apollo Missions, but nothing! Last night I watched some of Apollo 18 on Sky, I have to say that it was rubbish, nothing like reality even though they used some clips from the Apollo missions. It kind of trashed the Apollo missions and astronauts almost like they guy that wrote it never experienced Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon.

 

Give these two guys some respect!

Neil Armstrong

 

He reached for the Moon, now he is with the stars!

Sad new about Neil Armstrong, he was a great guy, didn't want to rule the world, just be a normal person who inspired the young.

I am proud to have witnessed the first Moon Landing in 1969, something never to forget, I heard him say those words "One small step..." as I watched on television at 3.00am in the morning with Patrick Moore and James Burke.

The next generation find it hard to comprehend that a man walked on the Moon. Children now think that travelling to the Moon is like catching a bus with their IPads and vitual computer worlds. In 1969 this was real! They have missed so much...Neil Armstrong tried hard to make things real again!

 

 

"Neil Armstrong was a self-described "nerdy engineer" who became a global hero when he became the first person to set foot on the moon.

His first words upon stepping on the lunar surface have since been etched in history: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

An estimated 450 million people watched the grainy black and white broadcast that showed Armstrong, clad in a white space suit, climb down the lunar module's ladder onto the Moon's desolate surface.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.

As commander, it was also Armstrong who notified mission control that the module had made a successful landing. "Houston, Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed."

He and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the lunar surface, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs.

"The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I have ever been exposed to," Armstrong once said.

The third astronaut on the mission, Michael Collins, circled the moon in the mother ship Columbia 60 miles overhead while Armstrong and Aldrin went to the moon's surface.

Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5, 1930, Armstrong had an early fascination with aircraft and worked at a nearby airport when he was a teenager.

He took flying lessons at the age of 15 and received his pilot's license on his 16th birthday.

A US Navy aviator, he flew 78 missions in the Korean War.

He studied Aeronautical Engineering at Purdue University in Indiana, and later earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southern California.

In 1955, he became a test pilot at the High-Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where he flew about 50 different types of aircraft.

Seven years later, Armstrong was selected by the National Air and Space Administration to train as an astronaut in Houston, Texas.

After retiring from NASA in 1971, Armstrong taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati for nearly a decade and served on the boards of several companies, including Lear Jet, United Airlines and Marathon Oil.

Armstrong married Carol Knight in 1999, and the couple lived in Indian Hill, a Cincinnati suburb. He had two adult sons from a previous marriage.

Despite his worldwide fame, the lunar pioneer shied away from the limelight. After learning his autographs were being sold at exorbitant prices, he stopped signing memorabilia.

"I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer," he said during one of his rare public appearances in February 2000.

"And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."

However, he stepped back into the cameras in 2010 to voice his "substantial reservations" about President Barack Obama's space policy that shifted attention away from a return to the moon, with an emphasis on private companies developing spaceships.

Along with more than two dozen Apollo-era veterans, he signed a letter calling the plan a "misguided proposal that forces Nasa out of human space operations for the foreseeable future".

Armstrong underwent cardiac bypass surgery, earlier this month after doctors found blockages in his coronary arteries.

He died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, his family said in a statement. He was 82."

Solar filter results

My first attempt at taking photos of the Sun.

These images of the Sun were taken late in the afternoon on 12th May with my Skywatcher 80ED Pro and the Baader Solar Filter that I made. The sunspots are amazing and you can also see some detail of the surface. I used the Canon EOS350d with a variety of manual settings to try to get the best result. The image in White light was taken with the camera set to 1/2000s and ISO 400. With the colour filter the settings were different.

Taken wth the colour filter and Baader AstroSolar Safety Film (Click to enlarge)

Taken in White light with the Baader AstroSolar Safety Film (Click to enlarge)

Close-up of the large Sunspot

I also took some photos using the 2x and 3x Barlow lens, but with the camera I had to use them with the star diagonal fitted. Although I captured the images they were spoilt because I could see specks of dust on the mirror.

Make an ED80 Solar Filter

I have a Skywatcher 80ED Pro Telescope and have decided to make a Solar Filter so that I can view and image our nearest star, the Sun.
First I bought some Baader AstroSolar Safety Film which cost about £20. I have been looking at designs for a filter as well as the instructions that come with the Baader Film... then before embarking on a major construction job I had a thought...Hobbycraft...I wonder if they have anything that might make it easier to mount the filter onto the scope. I took a tape measure with me to Hobbycraft and spotted an array of different frame boxes. There I found a round cardboard box with a lid and top. It was exactly the right size to put over the front of an ED80! I bought one along with some double sided tape for £4 altogether and set off to build my Solar Filter.

This is what I did... First, the box..  http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-Paper-Mache-Medium-Circular-Box-With-Frame-Lid_16338.htm

 

Next, mark and cut the bottom and top parts...

Use a sharp knife to cut out the rings...

Use double sided tape to stick the Baader Film to the lid and bottom of the box. It is best to lay the film onto the tissue paper provided and then place the top ring onto the film. Trim the excess film with scissors, then place it carefully on top of the box unit. 

Put the cover on top of the completed unit. It fits perfectly onto my 80ED Pro scope!

Next, paint it to match the scope...

Now I look forward to some great images of the Sun!

Venus and Pleiades

A beautiful sight of Venus and Pleiades together. I didn't take the scope
outside, I took the photos with my Canon EOS350d with a 200mm zoom lens mounted
on a tripod in my back garden. The last photo is a wide angle view showing some
of the other star clusters.

The Moon and Venus

Tonight's image of the Moon and Venus.

Our Moon and Jupiter's Moons

This is a lovely photo taken last night of our cresent Moon with the Earthshine and Jupiter with some of it's Moons. (Click photo to enlarge)

There are some amazing sights in the sky with the constant dance between Jupiter, Venus and the Moon. Last night and tonight is beautiful to see!

The photos are taken with my Canon Eos 350d and 200mm zoom lens

Here you can see the whole of last night's picture with Venus at the top.

Venus and Mars

Had a lovely night in the garden last night. Venus was beautiful, Jupiter quite
low down. Mars high up.Took these images with my Skywatcher 80ED Pro and
Philips Toucam Pro II. These are 2000 frames at 10 fps, stacked in Registax.
Mars was quite difficult as it is small compared with Venus in the camera, but
you can see the Polar regions. Although the sky was clear, it was also hazy, so Orion and some of the objects low down were sinking into the haze.

The clarity of Venus is stunning with it's Moon like shape.

Venus and Jupiter in harmony

A beautiful sight last night of the conjunction with Venus and Jupiter at their closest point together in the West. I can't remember ever seeing this before with such bright objects in the sky together. These two photos are taken from my back garden in England.

At the about same time, this lovely photo was taken by Birgitta in Sweden from outside her apartment building near to Stockholm.

Royal Astronomical Society spokesman Robert
Massey said:'Although conjunctions are not that rare, the interest in this one
is a result of how spectacular it is.
'Both planets are very bright in the night
sky. If you know where to look, you can even see Venus in the day. The two being
so close together will be beautiful. Last night they looked like two
beacons.
'It is also interesting for people because it
just happens to be something which you can see for yourself. In the northern
hemisphere we should look for them in the south west this evening. The pair will
appear to move to the west over the course of the night.
'While the pair will drift apart after a
couple of days, Jupiter will be visible for at least another two
weeks.

'Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2113888/Venus-Jupiter-pass-close-encounter-UK-skies-2-nights.html#ixzz1p8KlwC6T

Pleiades and Orion

Had a good night in the garden earlier this week. Wonderful sight of a Cresent Moon, Venus and Jupiter all together in a line. I set up my telescope with the Skywatcher 80ED Pro and Canon 350d to try to capture Orion and Pleiades. It was very clear and no clouds at all, my only problem was the battery on the Canon 350d which doesn't seem to hold it's charge for long now, especially when it is cold outside.

Pleiades with some nebulosity showing looks amazing. Only about 30 subs at 30 seconds each.

Orion shows some detail without burning out the core. I like this image even though I didn't quite get the focus right.

Airfix Space Shuttle

At last I have bought an Airfix Space Shuttle model kit!

I wanted one of these for Christmas, but couldn't find any in the shops and on e-bay they were few and far between usually going for more than the retail price. I think they produced the kit to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle. I spoke with the guy from the local model shop and he told me that Airfix only produced them over a short period of time and they are now becoming difficult to obtain.

I used to buy lots of model kits when I was very young, mainly airplanes. I would glue all the pieces together and paint them, then my Dad would hang them from the ceiling in my bedroom. This kit has lots of bits to stick together...it will probably take me weeks to complete it!

Jupiter, Venus and the Moon

This is a lovely photo taken by Birgitta in Sweden.

The Moon with Jupiter close by and Venus all together in the sky just after sunset. Here in Northern England the sky was cloudy so I couldn't see this sight.

Jupiter and Venus

On Monday 15th January I set up my Skywatcher 80ED Pro refractor in the garden and also the Philips Toucam Webcam with my laptop. The sky is clear and at about 5.30pm I can see both Venus and Jupiter together in the sky.

It took some time to set up the telescope because I needed three objects to align the SLT mount and I could only see two until it got a little darker. First I tried to take some images of Venus before it sank slowly in the South West. I used both the 2x Barlow and later the 3x Barlow along with the webcam to capture the images. I then captured around 2000 frames at 15 fps with the Philips Toucam.

After that I moved the telescope to track Jupiter and repeated the same thing again as with Venus.

With the image of Venus you can see some 'false colours' which is probably caused by the effects of using a refractor telescope. Maybe the Skywatcher 130m reflector would have been a better choice for imaging Venus as it is so bright.

Jupiter looks amazing, you can see the 'Great Red Spot' on the cloudbands at the top left and also a dark spot called a 'Barge' at the lower right in the cloud bands. These are storms in Jupiter's atmosphere.

Venus in Sweden and England

As the sun sets on a cold, clear night in Sweden the planet Venus shines like a beacon in the sky. Now the brightest object in the evening sky, even brighter than Jupiter. Birgitta in Sweden captured this image shortly after sunset...beautiful!




In England it is cold and frosty, the sky is clear giving a wonderful sunset. These images were taken here in Bolton of Venus just after sunset last night.



Really looking forward to watching 'Stargazer's Live' with Prof Brian Cox on BBC2 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm sure the sky will still be clear at the beginning of the week. Should be good. The programme is to be filmed at Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope in Cheshire.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/stargazing/

Lenticular Clouds

This is a rare sight and I must admit that I had never heard of these type of clouds. These were seen in West Yorkshire yesterday.

Weird and very beautiful. It seems that these are caused by winds which pass over the Pennines causing air turbulants that produce 'standing waves'. Standing waves are all to do with resonant frequencies. They rarely happen in this country, but they can be seen in America near to mountains. Sometimes people think they are flying saucers!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud

Latest Jupiter Image

Last Thursday I took my Skywatcher 80ED Pro into the garden to try to capture an image of Jupiter in all it's glory. It was a beautiful, clear evening and Jupiter had moved far enough from the almost full Moon. I have not taken a planetary image with this scope before using a webcam, so I wasn't sure about the focus settings. I remember having problems with this and had to mess about with it. Once I had the telescope set up and tracking I was able to set up the Philips Toucam Pro to get the image onto the centre of the CCD sensor. After taking a couple of avi videos using K3CCD I tried with the Barlow lens to make the image bigger. This is quite tricky, because it is usually hard to find the target and it needs to be dead centre. When I put in the Barlow lens I found Jupiter was aligned perfectly! The tracking was perfect as well, so I was able to capture up to 3000 frames of video without it moving.

After capturing Jupiter I then went inside, stacked and processed the image using Registax 3 and Photoshop.

In the larger image I can see a dark spot or shadow on the left of the surface. I am not sure if this is a Moon in transit or a storm in the atmosphere of Jupiter. The image was taken at about 8.30pm GMT on 10/11/11.

I am really pleased with this image, my best of Jupiter so far!

Swedish Moon

The Moon and Jupiter has been wonderful in Sweden and here are some lovely photos sent to me by Birgitta taken from Storvik which is North of Stockholm in Sweden. Birgitta has used a Canon Powershot A650IS to capture the images.

A beautiful image from Birgitta of the Moon and Jupiter seen from Sweden. Here in England it was cloudy, so we couldn't see this. The sky cleared the next day, but Jupiter had moved to the other side of the Moon.


I love this photo of the Moon....very spooky! Thank you Birgitta!

New LRO photos of Apollo Landing Sites

Remarkable new images of the Apollo landing sites on the Moon have been released by Nasa. (click photos to enlarge)

The pictures clearly show the hardware left on the lunar surface by American astronauts in the 1960s and 70s, including Apollo 17's "Moon buggy".

The images were acquired by the robotic Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been circling Earth's satellite since 2009.
Such shots have been returned before, but these are the best yet.
LRO has recently lowered its orbit from 50km above the Moon's surface to just 25km.
This makes it easier to see equipment, such as the descent stages that put the astronauts on the surface. Some of the science experiments are visible, also - as are the trails of bootmarks left in the dirt as the crews positioned these science packages.
Harrison Schmitt sits in the LRV
The Apollo 17, 14 and 12 sites are the focus of the latest release.
They were viewed by the narrow-angle imaging system on LRO's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) instrument.
At the lower altitude, this instrument sees objects at a resolution of 25cm by 25cm per pixel.
In an extreme blow-up of the Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), it is just possible to discern the condition in which the astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt parked the buggy - with its wheels turned to the left.
LRO has been a highly productive mission. It has now returned several hundred thousands pictures of the lunar surface.

Return of the ISS

After a long absence during the summer months the International Space Station can now be seen at a reasonable time. I went into my garden to watch this spectacular object pass overhead. I would like to capture a still image with my Skywatcher 130, but it is so difficult to get the image onto the sensor of the webcam. I need a lot of patience, something that I lack at the moment.

It's hard to imagine how the ISS can stay in service without the Space Shuttle. What happens for instance if one of the astronauts in the ISS becomes ill and needs to return to Earth. Would they have to rely on the Russian Soyuz craft?