2018 Retrospective As the rest of Phil s Scribblings, this is now written in Word and exported to PDF.

Transcription

1 2018 Retrospective As the rest of Phil s Scribblings, this is now written in Word and exported to PDF. Annual Summary This will be completed at the end of the year. May In the United Kingdom, even in the southern parts, there is very little dark sky and, for those of us who have work and study the next day, what little darkness there is happens after our bedtimes. There were some very wet and cloudy days but, fortunately, I still managed significant numbers of observations and photos. Many were of the Sun but I also caught Jupiter s moons. The Sun I saw some minor sunspot activity on the images from the professional observatories but was unable to see any myself. Even though the Sun was quiet, I still got some decent shots in hydrogen alpha light.

2 Sun May 7 th Sun May 27 th

3 Sun May 27th

4 The Moon As during April, I was never in the right place at the right time. I only had the Mak out on the Moon once. Moon May 21st Planets In theory, Venus could haver shown a phase but was poorly placed behind a tree from home. I did not attempt to image Jupiter s disc but took some shots of the moons. This was the highlight, with one moon partly visible.

5 Jupiter with moons May 5th

6 Constellations My main problem with constellation shots was that the camera lens I bought was not compatible with my DSLR. I hadn t resolved it but managed one of Lyra. Lyra May 5th Deep Sky I did not manage to photograph any deep sky objects. Meteors Remarkably, I caught two meteors on film. Meteor May 2nd

7 Meteor May 5th Report The full report is on my blog: Video This video shows the best of my May shots, accompanied by One of these Days by Pink Floyd: April April is a notorious month for showers in England, especially if you live in the south west, as I do. Weather-wise it was a very strange month, with temperatures dipping near freezing at times and reaching 28 degrees (Celsius) at others. I missed some clear sky due to work commitments. I was also testing some Helios Stellar II 15x70 binoculars for a review. The Sun A single sunspot was visible for a few days around the 22 nd. It was very small and hardly registered on my photograph. As my solar hydrogen alpha photography had finally improved, I managed quite a few full disc shots. Although I experimented with a few quadrant shots, they did not work well and, in any case, my full disc shots taken afocally with my DSLR showed more detail than my old quadrant shots with a compact digicam. Here are some highlights.

8 April 19th April 22 nd

9 April 26th

10 The Moon I was never in the right place at the right time and have only one half-decent shot that is worth sharing, taken on April 22 nd in daylight. Planets Venus is now back in the evening sky. However, its disc is very small and a single photograph using my Maksutov and DSLR did not show a clear phase. I was hoping that later months would mean I could use my Bresser Electronic Eyepiece on the planet. Jupiter was barely clearing the horizon in the evening during the back end of April. I was hoping for some shots of its Galilean moons later in the year.

11 Constellations My main problem with constellation shots was that the camera lens I bought was not compatible with my DSLR. Deep Sky I managed three images of note: of the polar regions, Melotte 111 and the double star Nu Draconi, one that I had been hoping for with my DSLR for ages! Polar Regions April 4 th

12 Melotte 111 April 3 rd Nu Draconi April 20 th Meteors I neither saw nor photographed any meteors during April, despite trying for the Lyrid shower. Report The full report is on my blog:

13 Video This video shows the best of my April shots, accompanied by The Crying Game by Boy George: March Weather and work restricted my viewing and photography but I managed to do a little more than the month before. The Sun The Sun was very quiet. Not a single sunspot was visible, not even on the professional observatory images. I took a nice shot in hydrogen alpha light with my Coronado Personal Solar Telescope and DSLR camera. Sun in hydrogen alpha light March 28th

14 The Moon I had a bit more luck with the Moon. Not only did I take more photographs of the full disc, with my Mak and DSLR camera but also had a memorable session with my Mak and Bresser Electronic Eyepiece. I caught a very thin crescent phase on March 19 th. The Moon March 19 th The close-up session was on March 25 th and these are the best shots. I am really pleased with these results and just wish I could have more similar sessions. Lunar close-ups March 25th Planets I saw both Venus and Mercury through my binoculars but did not have a camera handy. I did not detect any phase shape, other than 100% full for both planets but it was the first time I had seen Mercury at all for ages.

15 Constellations I did not manage any constellation photos in March and was still waiting for my first of the year. Deep Sky I took some shots of the Pleaides, the best being a widefield view on March 16th. Pleaides (Seven Sisters) March 16 th My shot of the Hyades included a meteor, so it is shown below. Meteors I caught a meteor purely by accident while shooting the Hyades star cluster.

16 Meteor near the Hyades star cluster Report The full report is on my blog: Video This video shows the best of my March shots, accompanied by the old classic Freight Train by Chas McDevitt and Nancy Whiskey: February Weather and work restricted my viewing and photography but I managed to do a little more than the month before. The Sun The Sun was quiet. I struggled with hydrogen alpha light but made some progress with afocal photography with my DSLR. Some sunspots made a fleeting appearance.

17 Sunspot Drawings February 6 th, 9 th, 11 th and 12 th Sun in hydrogen alpha light February 28th The Moon

18 Owing to shortness of time and cold weather, I only took photos with my DSLR. The best was on February 23 rd. The Moon February 23rd Planets Venus is now visible in the evening sky. Its disc is rather small and it will be a few weeks before any of us can take photos that show anything other than a full phase. I caught it in the evening sky on February 25 th, shortly after sunset.

19 Venus in the evening sky February 25th Constellations I did not manage any constellation photos in February, either. Deep Sky I took no deep sky photos in February.

20 Meteors I neither saw neither meteors nor photographed any during February. Report The full report is on my blog: Video This video includes the January and February shots, accompanied by Because the Night by Maniacs: FeycYHvs0ZwCSHl3LAi1xg&index=9. January Some of my off-field issues were resolved or I had started the process of resolving them. On-field, the general pattern of 2017 spilled over into The weather was mostly awful and, when it wasn t, I was working or ill! The Sun The Sun was very quiet, even in hydrogen alpha light. Unfortunately, my compact digital camera packed up, so I was unable to do any shots, not that any shots would have shown any detail. I saw two sunspots through my binoculars one day. Even the professional observatories did not show much.

21 Sunspot Drawing January 17 th The Moon I made some interesting visual observations but, for the first time for ages, did not take any worthwhile photos. It was a pity that the UK was one of the few places on Earth where the total lunar eclipse was not visible. Planets No bright planets were visible in the evening sky. Constellations I did not manage any constellation photos. Deep Sky I took some deep sky photos but only one was interesting and of acceptable quality.

22 Polar Regions January 18 th Meteors The Quadrantid meteor shower was clouded out and my camera lens packed up, so no sporadic meteors seen or photographed either! Report The full report is on my blog: Video This video includes the January and February shots, accompanied by Because the Night by Maniacs: FeycYHvs0ZwCSHl3LAi1xg&index=9.