Night Sky Astronomy

Archive for the ‘Moon’ Category

Unfortunately I didn’t see many of the Geminid meteors at all.  I went out on the 12th December for about an hour, intending to solely keep an eye out for them, but got sidetracked by the Moon and Jupiter.  They were both high up in the sky and shining brightly. It was a very clear night.  I had both the telescope and the binoculars out and the moon showed up brilliantly.  Looking at Jupiter, I couldn’t see any of the moons this time which was a shame.  This may be because Jupiter is getting darker and further away now, since its peak in November.  In between looking at these two, I did scan the night for the Geminids and saw two shoot over the sky, coming from a Northerly direction and moving towards the West.

I went out occasionally over the next three nights, but there was a lot more cloud in the sky.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see anymore Geminid meteors, so will have to wait until next year’s show!

Time: 20:00 – 21:00, Longitude: 50.435423, Latitude: -4.093217, Viewing: North and East

Finally, with the help of my wife, we managed to calibrate the telescope correctly so that the viewfinder was lined up almost perfectly with the telescope lens and pointed it at the moon.  The sky was clear so the moon showed up bright and crisp, with the craters showing in great detail.  It was an amazing view, but then is started going hazy due to the cold night.  We are hoping to catch it on a clear night again soon and use greater magnification to really see it in detail.

Earth’s Moon (source: Science On A Sphere)

Time: 18:30 – 18:45, Longitude: 50.435423, Latitude: -4.093217, Viewing: North East

For my 30th birthday (17th October 2010) my wife gave me a telescope, which was something I have been after for years and years, but never really been able to afford it.  (for more info on the telescope, have a look at the equipment page).  Even my little boy who is 2 years old wanted to get it out straight away, but we waited until the evening.  Luckily, it was a clearish night with the moon being very bright and right over head.

We managed to get it together but, with it being my first ever telescope, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I didn’t really have a clue about the lenses to use as there was a few that came with the telescope.  I obviously new the basics, but didn’t know about the combinations to use.  It was also too late to line up the view finder with the actual telescope, so I had to go by eye. Luckily, the moon was full, large and bright so it was pretty easy to find it.

I looked through the telescope and was amazed to see the clearness of the craters on the moon and how bright it was.  It was really great and whet my appetite for more! My wife and I stared at it for a good hour or so, so I was very pleased with my first attempt.

On each of my posts, I am going to put the date and time of the observation from my back garden, and will also give the longitude and latitude of my house, as a point of reference for any other nearby astonomers. You never know, this may come in handy for someone.

Time: 20:00 – 21:00, Longitude: 50.435423, Latitude: -4.093217, Viewing: North East