http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums From pluto the planet, planet venus, comets, mars and planet neptune to phases of the moon, saturn the planet, solar energy, jupiter and science fair projects. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:37:42 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/63074-tonights-bbc-insideout-light-pollution.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:05:27 GMT Did you see it? Designed to prick the conscience of everyone from households to 500w 'security' yard lights to councils with poorly designed street lamps and floodlit commercial building and venues - well done Beeb :cool: Will the Milky Way return to your street in your lifetime - I'll not be holding my breath :rolleyes: ]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/63074-tonights-bbc-insideout-light-pollution.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/63049-galloway-forest-park-dark-sky-park.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:12:06 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article6887233.ece might have to book next years holiday!!! apparently the first dark-sky park outside the USA! Will http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6887233.ece

might have to book next years holiday!!!

apparently the first dark-sky park outside the USA!

Will ]]> Astronomy Forums wrogers http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/63049-galloway-forest-park-dark-sky-park.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/63037-nibiru.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:45:57 GMT Does anyone know the story about Nibiru and is it real?

I have been reading on the internet and watching youtube vids about Nibiru and I must say its all a bit worrying if it's real and true. ]]> Astronomy Forums Birchy http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/63037-nibiru.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62841-amazing-mars-photos.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:52:23 GMT Some of these are just ..... Martian landscapes - The Big Picture - Boston.com (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/martian_landscapes.html) Some of these are just .....

Martian landscapes - The Big Picture - Boston.com ]]> Astronomy Forums Tringa http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62841-amazing-mars-photos.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62723-snaps-stars.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:32:10 GMT A bright gibbous Hunters Moon high in the east is not the best time to 'snap' some star:eek: but I tried it last night at midnight with my regular digital pocket camera [Fuji E500 in Night-Mode = ~3s exposure + high ISO setting to 400ISO on a tripod] with fair results below that I've annotated - give it a try:cool:

Note: under perfect dark skies away from city light the eye can see down to magnitude 6 stars [but only mag 3.5 from my London garden] and these pics show mag 4.5 stars in the Hyades star cluster which is pretty good in the circumstances;)

]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62723-snaps-stars.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62662-little-backyard-science.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:27:31 GMT Over the last week I've been recording a 'new star' low down in the SW after dusk discovered by Japanese amateur astronomers in late October. :D

The 'star' is presumed to be a nova [or exploding star] but a nova is only confirmed when a spectrum of its light is obtained - I managed to take a spectrum with my telescope two nights ago and yes the nova is confirmed by characteristic bright lines of hydrogen shown in my video clip YouTube - amateur confirms a nova
I've yet to find another such confirmatory spectrum but I'm sure they're around:rolleyes:

Feel free to quiz me on this one!

]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62662-little-backyard-science.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62598-special-event-tonight-tuesday-nov-3-a.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:57:33 GMT Hi - this msg posted on astro fora ... RARE ASTEROID OCCULTATION OF NAKED EYE STAR TUESDAY EVENING At around 2032 UT on Tuesday evening, November 03, the small (6km) main belt asteroid (31867) 2000 EG94 is predicted to occult the naked eye star alpha Aquarii (HIP 109074, magnitude 3.0).... Hi - this msg posted on astro fora ...

RARE ASTEROID OCCULTATION OF NAKED EYE STAR TUESDAY EVENING

At around 2032 UT on Tuesday evening, November 03, the small (6km)
main belt asteroid (31867) 2000 EG94 is predicted to occult the naked
eye star alpha Aquarii (HIP 109074, magnitude 3.0). The event *may*
be seen from somewhere in southern England. From central southern
England, the star will be at an elevation of 36 deg, in azimuth 203 deg
(SSW).

The maximum duration will be only 0.4 seconds, but the star will
disappear completely, although with the relative angular sizes of
the star and asteroid, diffraction effects may make the event gradual.

This astrometric update, made early today, shows the narrow shadow
track crossing central Republic of Ireland, central Wales (from near
Aberystwyth), parts of Herefordshire, Worcs, Gloucs, Oxon, Bucks,
Herts, Greater London, and north Kent. However, the uncertainty in
the track position is rather large and the track may shift to
anywhere south of a line from NI, IoM, Lancs to Lincs; (two standard
deviations).

More detailed information, with links to a track map and star charts
can be found here:-

(31867) 2000 EG94 / HIP 109074 event on 2009 Nov 03, 20:30 UT

Another useful map of the UK showing the track and the area of
uncertainty is on the following page (with other occultations):-

IOTA-ES … Call for Observation

At the time of writing, the usual source of Google maps showing the
track has not been updated to show this event, but it may be before
the event:-

Global Asteroid Events

Obviously this star will be visible to the naked eye, but for more
reliable observation, binoculars or a telescope are preferable.
Systems with the capability of video recording and timing the event
would be just perfect!

Good luck and clear skies!

Andrew Elliott
Assistant Director (Occultations), BAA Asteroids and Remote Planets Section
2009 November 02 ]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62598-special-event-tonight-tuesday-nov-3-a.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62561-venus-dawn.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:21:32 GMT Planet Venus is closing on the sun but continues to be visible in the dawn sky which it shared this morning with planes airport bound ;) Image: http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/data/61/thumbs/vendawn09102y.jpg (http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/showphoto.php/photo/116493)... Planet Venus is closing on the sun but continues to be visible in the dawn sky which it shared this morning with planes airport bound ;)

]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62561-venus-dawn.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62387-light-echoes-probe-space.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:55:11 GMT Just as echoes from within a canyon give a clue to the relative distance of the canyon walls the same applies to light even though it travels at ~300,000Km/s:eek: When a wall-light is switched on the immediate wall is lit first then the ceiling and floor and finally the opposite wall - and when... Just as echoes from within a canyon give a clue to the relative distance of the canyon walls the same applies to light even though it travels at ~300,000Km/s:eek:

When a wall-light is switched on the immediate wall is lit first then the ceiling and floor and finally the opposite wall - and when the light is switched off this wall 'disappears' last but its all too quick for the eye to see!

The same applies on a cosmic scale but because of the huge distances between space objects a burst of light [even travelling at 300,000km/s] can take months and even years to illuminate its surroundings - a classic example are the light echos surrounding the exploding star called V838 Mon below as recorded by the Hubble ST over some months.

A burst of light can therefore be used to probe space to build up over time a 3D image surrounding the light source and is an invaluable tool for the astronomer :) Further light echos references found in The Astronomer AGM video on this forum :)

]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62387-light-echoes-probe-space.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62336-remotest-galaxies-apod.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:17:28 GMT Today's APOD for October 28 is galaxy cluster JKCS041 at a remarkable distance of 10 billion light-years [10BLY] or three quarters back to the universe's origins of the Big Bang at
Astronomy Picture of the Day with apparently 16 faint galaxies within the blue x-ray envelope - remaining objects in pic are foreground stars and nearby galaxies. JKCS041 is well placed currently after dusk in the constellation of Cetus [below Taurus the Bull] but a bit too faint for amateur telescopes unfortunately:eek:

Picture take by combining many space telescopes working in X-rays, optical and infra-red. The previous remotest objects recorded are quasars - the brilliant core of single 'exploding' galaxies out to 12BLY:eek:

APOD is wellworth bookmarking for daily top astro-pics with a professional astronomer's explanation:rolleyes: ]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62336-remotest-galaxies-apod.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62245-astronomer-meeting.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:17:45 GMT Hi - we had a great meeting Saturday at Basingstoke at The Astronomer AGM ;) My video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq9ua8nVc8E Image: http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/data/61/thumbs/ta2x.jpg (http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/showphoto.php/photo/115738) Hi - we had a great meeting Saturday at Basingstoke at The Astronomer AGM ;) My video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq9ua8nVc8E

]]> Astronomy Forums nytecam http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62245-astronomer-meeting.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62129-aurora-activity.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:56:07 GMT The aurora should be visable at the moment in northern Scotland from Aberdeen/ Wick/ Stornaway and upwards into Shetland. The Geophysical Institute Auroral Forecast Short-Term PredictionPage (http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/auroraforecast/ShortTerm.asp) The aurora should be visable at the moment in northern Scotland from Aberdeen/ Wick/ Stornaway and upwards into Shetland.

The Geophysical Institute Auroral Forecast Short-Term PredictionPage ]]> Astronomy Forums wildherbalian85 http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62129-aurora-activity.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62099-hi-there-newbie-here.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:53:15 GMT hello peep's ..... my name is clive and i live in leicester,just been out and bought my first telescope , a celestron 130EQ-MD ..seems i should have done this a long time ago .... hope i can get to know a few of you ,and gain a little more knowledge about the sky above :)Now i have two loves in my life ....my family ....and the heavens above....;) ]]> Astronomy Forums chunkie http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/62099-hi-there-newbie-here.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/61927-big-little-dipper.html Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:16:48 GMT I tested my new camera last night on the stars and got this.... Ok i needed a little tweaking to bring out the best but i was surprised with just how many stars it caught... even i didn't see this many :D

Anyway i was wondering... is that the big dipper or little dipper i have caught??

Located towards bottom of picture and just left of center - it will help if you view picture in full size.

]]> Astronomy Forums wildherbalian85 http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/61927-big-little-dipper.html http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/61896-burning-up-re-entry.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:09:56 GMT One day last week I went to bed late at 2.11am, just as I got into bed I noticed through the window a pulsating white light come almost vertically down at an angle of 12 o'clock to 7o'clock on the clock face if you know what I mean.

This happened somewhere over the North Sea off the Suffolk Coast by Sizewell, maybe 10-20 miles off the coast and the duration was only for a second in which time it kind of pulsated 5 or 6 times.

I say 'kind of pulsated' as it was most probably a satellite or similar losing altitude and burning up as it re-entered our atmosphere and it seemed to fizzle out just above the roof tops or it could have been clouds or even a layer of atmospheric pollution which hid it.

I have seen plenty of 'shooting stars' before which last for only a fraction of a second and usually I have to crane my neck upwards to see them and are nowhere near so bright as this, and they usually travel horizontally and disappear high up, whist this one came down at a very steep angle.

Anyone agree it was something re-entering our atmosphere or could it have been something else.

Cheers,
Neil. ]]> Astronomy Forums fairplay http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/astronomy-forums/61896-burning-up-re-entry.html