# Astronomy 🔭



## Geoffrey Rea (11 Nov 2021)

Just wondering if there is anyone else into astronomy on UKAPS?

The winter is almost upon us… so it’s nearly time for woolly hats, gloves, wellies and having a legitimate reason for standing around in fields in the middle of the night 😂

Any photos, do share!

Here’s a few taken from the back garden…










Venus against the backdrop of the Pleiades:





A simple long exposure straight up using an iPhone, The Plough dead centre:





Hopefully there’s others on here with a love of looking up  🔭


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## KirstyF (11 Nov 2021)

Astronomy not my thing but fabulous to see the night sky with so little light pollution. 

Beautiful photographs.


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## MichaelJ (11 Nov 2021)

Yup! I am... been stargazing since I was a young adult...  nowadays mostly astro photography - bought this rig last year (highly recommended for its price and versatility) - mainly using it with my Canon EOS 5DSR and really fast EF L glass. - unfortunately, I am too lazy to bring that out when photographing my tanks 

Cheers,
Michael


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## PARAGUAY (12 Nov 2021)

I like watching documentary series  like Brian Coxs latest and Dr Ian Stewarts Earth and all things about space travel ,moon landings , etc but havent really been active telescope user .Now am l right about Venus when visible to naked eye looks like a bright star . My son as a telescope looks quite impressive and I did phone him about Venus is visible but  dont think he looked! Everytime go to his house the telescope is in same place


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## Geoffrey Rea (12 Nov 2021)

MichaelJ said:


> nowadays mostly astro photography - bought this rig last year (highly recommended for its price and versatility) - mainly using it with my Canon EOS 5DSR and really fast EF L glass.



Nice 😎 Heavy duty tripod or the weight of the rig enough on something lighter?

The workhorse here is just a 6” Newtonian with a Baadar Hyperion Mark IV Zoom lens most nights as the kids are impatient. Can set it up really quickly, one adjustable lens for fast alignment and it fits in the back of the car without taking much space when we go places. The best scope is the one you’re willing to take with you right? Those shots in the first post are just afocal shots using the Newtonian and an old iPhone 5S held by hand - cutting edge stuff 😂



PARAGUAY said:


> Now am l right about Venus when visible to naked eye looks like a bright star



Second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. Really easy target with a scope and pretty cool when it's in partial shadow.


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## MichaelJ (12 Nov 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Nice 😎 Heavy duty tripod or the weight of the rig enough on something lighter?


This is mounted on a very sturdy Manfrotto Tripod that almost cost as much as the tracking rig. Works well, even under windy conditions. I usually do nn shorter (say 10-30 sec.) exposures and align and stack the RAW files.


Cheers,
Michael


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## MichaelJ (12 Nov 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> The best scope is the one you’re willing to take with you right?


That is absolutely correct. Same goes for photography in general...


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## Geoffrey Rea (12 Nov 2021)

MichaelJ said:


> That is absolutely correct. Same goes for photography in general...



There’s this horrible little plan, way down in the recesses of my mind that thinks a massive dob for deep sky viewing is a superb idea 😂



MichaelJ said:


> This is mounted on a very sturdy Manfrotto Tripod that almost cost as much as the tracking rig. Works well, even under windy conditions. I usually do nn shorter (say 10-30 sec.) exposures and align and stack the RAW files.



Wind is the enemy. It’s why most observations here are restricted to home as you’re reasonably sheltered in the garden. It’s good you’ve found a pod to team up with the rig that works.


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## MichaelJ (12 Nov 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> There’s this horrible little plan, way down in the recesses of my mind that thinks a massive dob for deep sky viewing is a superb idea 😂


Dobsonians are awesome... I never owned one but had friends that did . They don't really travel well though as mirrors get easily misaligned etc. but in terms of light collecting for the buck they are unrivaled...  i'd say go for it


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## pat1cp (12 Nov 2021)

PARAGUAY said:


> I like watching documentary series  like Brian Coxs latest and Dr Ian Stewarts Earth and all things about space travel ,moon landings , etc but havent really been active telescope user .Now am l right about Venus when visible to naked eye looks like a bright star . My son as a telescope looks quite impressive and I did phone him about Venus is visible but  dont think he looked! Everytime go to his house the telescope is in same place


I've just watched the latest Brian Cox series, I enjoy them too. I had to keep pausing it to TRY and get my head around the numbers being quoted........and couldn't.


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## Geoffrey Rea (12 Nov 2021)

KirstyF said:


> Astronomy not my thing but fabulous to see the night sky with so little light pollution.



There’s been a marked improvement since the street lighting was modernised in this county; downward focused, turned down or off after midnight.



MichaelJ said:


> Dobsonians are awesome... I never owned one but had friends that did . They don't really travel well though as mirrors get easily misaligned etc. but in terms of light collecting for the buck they are unrivaled...  i'd say go for it



You can always want more regarding light capture so it keeps getting put off. Biggest determinant of viewing is location really, there’s an unofficial dark sky site not far from here with sweeping 360 degree views. The Newtonian does a good job at that site and caught more than our fair share of deep space targets.

Good month this November really even with a 6” Newtonian. Venus in the west after sunset, with Jupiter and Saturn in the southern sky, Andromeda galaxy rising in the east, double cluster in Perseus and the crowd pleasing Pleiades out to play. Get passed the full moon next week and fill in the time with crater spotting as we head back to new moon. Plenty to obverse with or without a dob! ( PS Just trying to sell myself out of that idea @MichaelJ but really will never stop wanting a stupidly impractical dobsonian for whatever reason 😂)



pat1cp said:


> I've just watched the latest Brian Cox series, I enjoy them too. I had to keep pausing it to TRY and get my head around the numbers being quoted........and couldn't.



Brian does love mentioning big numbers 😂


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## Nick potts (12 Nov 2021)

Great pics @Geoffrey Rea, especially for handheld iPhone.

I don't currently have a telescope but have had a few over the years, mostly just to use with the kids. Also been to the local observatory a few times to have a go with their big 14" scope.


pat1cp said:


> TRY and get my head around the numbers being quoted........and couldn't.



This is one of the things I find fascinating about space, just the sheer vastness and numbers are mind-boggling, we humans just can't comprehend.


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## zozo (12 Nov 2021)

There is still one thing I would like to see before I leave this life.. Not sure if it will ever come to that...  But that is gazing at the stars in a clear sky without any light pollution. As the ancient people did, I would like to see for once how they have seen it... The closest I got to it was in the Austrian mountains seeing the Milkyway for the very first time, and that was an amazing experience. Imagine seeing something that was there forever for the first time at age 38, is actually rather strange. But I guess that's something you only can realise once you've seen it. Still, there was too much light pollution from the villages at the foot of the mountain to see the rest around it.


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## mort (12 Nov 2021)

I have loved all things space since I was a child when we saw a shuttle go up from Cape Canaveral (also standanding next to the Saturn V rocket and feeling very small), I still remember the sound to this day. I've been closely following SpaceX and their Starship developments. Apparently when they get it all going properly they will be able to launch a space telescope ten times the size of Hubble, so that's something exciting for the future.

In terms of astronomy I do a little but don't take photos because I don't have the equipment. When we are away somewhere like North Wales or the Lake District, we try and climb a mountain in the middle of nowhere, to reach the top for sunset, then wait for the stars. I also did an field trip when at uni to Iceland and we saw the northern lights and plenty more.


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## Geoffrey Rea (12 Nov 2021)

zozo said:


> There is still one thing I would like to see before I leave this life.. Not sure if it will ever come to that...  But that is gazing at the stars in a clear sky without any light pollution. As the ancient people did, I would like to see for once how they have seen it... The closest I got to it was in the Austrian mountains seeing the Milkyway for the very first time, and that was an amazing experience. Imagine seeing something that was there forever for the first time at age 38, is actually rather strange. But I guess that's something you only can realise once you've seen it. Still, there was too much light pollution from the villages at the foot of the mountain to see the rest around it.



Suddenly makes sense once you do as to why the ancients had their gods and built monuments. Without the understandings we have today you could argue it was simple utility; celestial clock foretelling when to sow crops etc. But they would have felt something and would hazard it brings the same out in us even now. A shared awe across time with our predecessors. Get a trip booked @zozo sounds like a grand idea 😊 



mort said:


> When we are away somewhere like North Wales or the Lake District, we try and climb a mountain in the middle of nowhere, to reach the top for sunset, then wait for the stars.



Eskdale valley in the Lake District on a cold winter night has produced one of the clearest viewings of anywhere so far. It’s on home turf as well and is more dependable than Scotland for clear skies. Really good spot a little higher up in the valley as it is sheltered from the light all around and will be empty at late hours. Not to be missed and quite a fun route up to the col if you still want to catch the sunrise on a peak thereafter.

The tops have a lot of light pollution in the Lakes, enough to make night nav training a bit of a joke on anything other than a new moon. Even when climbing in the Alps before the kids arrived, was quite surprised how much the light from the valleys suppressed the viewing so always on the lookout for dark valleys for viewing.



mort said:


> was a child when we saw a shuttle go up from Cape Canaveral (also standanding next to the Saturn V rocket and feeling very small), I still remember the sound to this day.



Bet that was quite something 😍


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## zozo (12 Nov 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Suddenly makes sense once you do as to why the ancients had their gods and built monuments. Without the understandings we have today you could argue it was simple utility; celestial clock foretelling when to sow crops etc. But they would have felt something and would hazard it brings the same out in us even now. A shared awe across time with our predecessors. Get a trip booked @zozo sounds like a grand idea



I believe so too, I was since the days I started to read very much intrigued by ancient mythologies that are based upon astrology for a great deal.
Yet I'm not sure where to go to be able to gaze at it to its full extend, maybe the middle of the Sahara or something. I'm of Germanic origin and would like to see it somewhat similar to what my ancestors did in my native region. But that is a dream never come true again, too much light in Europe.

Did you ever read Emanuel Velakovski - Worlds in Collision and watched the follow-up documentary from mythologist David Talbot - Remembering the end of the world.?

Looking at it with an open mind it's a very intriguing story about why the planets are the Gods and why so many different ancient cultures independently from each other referred to them in a similar fashion in their mythologies and sages. Mainstream astronomists call it a Pseudo History and laugh about it.
But it ain't that far fetched to think something spectacular must have happened in the skies that all cultures over the planet witnessed that was independently from each other worth recording in lore. It points to something and nobody knows what it could be. Even if it is only romance it still is a beautiful intriguing story about the Ancient Golden Age. Anyway, I expect Holywood to jump on it one day in the future to make a movie about it.


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## zozo (12 Nov 2021)

Thunderbolts of the Gods is another one from David Talbot... Could all be spectacular fantasy I don't know, who can? Who knows what the universe still has in store for us, more than we can possibly know I guess.


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## Tim Harrison (12 Nov 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Just wondering if there is anyone else into astronomy on UKAPS?
> 
> The winter is almost upon us… so it’s nearly time for woolly hats, gloves, wellies and having a legitimate reason for standing around in fields in the middle of the night 😂
> 
> ...


Fantastic images. It's one of those hobbies I've always meant to get in to but somehow never managed.


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## PARAGUAY (12 Nov 2021)

pat1cp said:


> I've just watched the latest Brian Cox series, I enjoy them too. I had to keep pausing it to TRY and get my head around the numbers being quoted........and couldn't.


Try reading if you havent already Bill Bryson "A Short History Of nearly Everything" just impossible not to have refer back pages . So much to take in


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## not called Bob (18 Nov 2021)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> There’s been a marked improvement since the street lighting was modernised in this county; downward focused, turned down or off after midnight.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


our local council in their vast wisdom went from 23:30 -24:30 depending if winter or summer lights out, to on from dusk till dawn, as the led lamps use the same amount of power. who cares about the light pollution increase and the increase in petty crime, now the criminals can easily spot things in their way and don’t stick out with a touch in a front garden


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## zozo (14 Dec 2021)

HDR Picture of the solar eclipse 2017






If you google it, there is a series of it at different settings.


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