SPA observing events

Imaginary occultation

2008-07-03T09:24:00.000+01:00

An occultation of the bright star HIP 123, by asteroid 4766 Malin, will take place on the morning of Sunday July 1st. For more details visit the SPA Observing Forum.

Title for event

2008-06-20T16:58:00.005+01:00

Whatever is going to happen with a few brief details about it, and including a hyperlink to any special page if that is important. Whatever is going to happen with a few brief details about it, and including a hyperlink to any special page if that is important.

May spectacular

2008-05-13T17:56:00.000+01:00

Something amazing will happen in May. Not sure what yet, as I don't have a PA to hand, but I can feel it in my water. We shall just have to hope for such events, otherwise that area of the home page will look very empty. Oh yes, it will.

Spring meteors

2008-04-27T15:38:00.000+01:00

The Eta Aquarid shower are active from etc. Mission scientist Louise Prockter said: "Caloris is a quarter of the diameter of Mercury, with rings of mountains up to two miles high. Which has nothing to do with the event but fills space to see how the rss feed works.

Mira shines bright

2008-04-23T08:28:00.000+01:00

Observers are reporting that the famous variable star Mira, currently visible in the evening twilight, is at its brightest for over a decade. SPA members saw the star at around magnitude 4 in January, but it has recently been reported at about magnitude 2.4.

Robin Scagell's test page

2008-03-06T18:13:00.005Z

Following Paul's invitation I've decided to try a sample page. Go to New Post and you get a simple word-processing form. For some reason it's coming out in an unusual typeface instead of the standard Verdana, though I discovered that on publishing, it's replaced by Verdana. But if I click on Preview, I see the text appearing on the page. What isn't obvious is that it will be topped and tailed with standard SPA banners, just like on the real website.

So let's try to insert an image. Go to the image icon at top right, choose an image from my collection (a picture of Comet McNaught by Jamie Cooper) and there it is. A limited opportunity to position it, however, and no obvious means of adding a caption or of editing it once it's in place.

Up to now it has been fairly easy, but with very limited possibilities. For text only, fine, but not for the more adventurous.

At the moment, blogs are published with a 'next blog' link at the top. Click that and you go to something completely different, but I believe that when the system goes live, this option will not be present so members will not suddenly find themselves admiring a photo of someone's dog.

Having now clicked on Publish, I see that I can edit my own post (using the pen symbol at the bottom). So I encourage Section Directors to have a go and we all promise we won't laugh.

Robin
6 March 2008

2008-02-19T13:38:00.001Z

Temporary home page

How to get to Woodrow High House

2008-02-19T11:02:00.012Z

Here is how to get to the SPA's Starting from Scratch event.

Postcode for your satnav: HP7 0QG

For a map showing the location, enter the postcode at click here.

Coming from the Amersham direction on the A404, take the turning (the second one) which looks like this (signposted to Woodrow and brown sign to Shardeloes Farm Equestrian Centre):

After 300 metres, turn left into the grounds of Woodrow High House

There is a car park at the end of the drive (right fork), but if that is full park along the road. The meeting will be held in the building to the left of the car park

This is the entrance to the building. The meeting is in the Sports Hall, which is down the stairs on the left.

Want to know more about astronomy?

2008-02-19T10:58:00.007Z

Come to our first

Starting from Scratch

meeting on

Saturday 23 February, 11 am - 5 pm

at Woodrow High House, near Amersham, Bucks

For full details of how to find the location, click here

Display of Celestron telescopes by David Hinds Ltd will be available

Speakers will include

Ian Crawford
University College, London. SPA President 2006-8

Francisco Diego
Physics and Astronomy, UCL. STFC Science in Society Fellow

Martin Lewis
Telescope expert

Robin Scagell
SPA Vice President

Jerry Stone
Space expert, popular lecturer

Topics to be covered:

Learning the sky
How to get your bearings, how to recognise the constellations, how the sky moves from night to night and month to month

Methods of observing – naked eye, binoculars, telescopes
What you can see and how to observe with various instruments. Setting up a telescope for the first time. How to align an equatorial mount. Basic GO TO rules. Using different eyepieces

What you can observe – Solar System and deep sky
Separate lectures on observing Solar System and deep-sky objects, with tricks and tips for observing each, plus basic sketching and imaging

The Solar System and its features
A professional's view of the Solar System and what we know about the objects within it, their origin and how their features were shaped

The Universe of stars and galaxies
How stars work, and how the Universe evolved over its lifetime

Detailed timetable

10.30 Doors open. Trade stand viewing

11.00-11.30 Preparing to observe – Robin

11.30-12.00 Using telescopes and taking images – Martin

12.00-12.30 Looking at the Sun – Jerry

12.30-1.00 Observing the deep sky – Martin

1.00-2.00 Lunch and tours of Wycombe Astronomical Society observatory.
Sandwiches and other refreshments will be available for purchase

2.00-2.30 Observing the Moon – Jerry

2.30-3.30 How the Moon and planets formed – Ian

3.30-4.00 Viewing the Moon and planets – Robin

4.00-5.00 Universe: Creation within Evolution: from the vast simplicity of pure energy to the tiny complexity of the human brain – Francisco

The event is open to all, whether SPA members or not.

Cost: £5.00 per person. To book, send £5 (payable to SPA) to 36 Fairway, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5DU.

Refreshments will be available for purchase.

Total eclipse of the Moon - Feb 20-21, 2008

2008-02-14T17:02:00.001Z

Night owls in the UK and Ireland will be able to enjoy a total lunar eclipse this month - if the clouds stay away. But you will have to stay up late to see it! The eclipse occurs when the Full Moon glides through the shadow of the Earth in space.

It can actually be seen from much of the world, including Europe, Africa, western Asia, South America and most of North America.

From Britain, the entire event happens in the early hours of February 21st, meaning you will have to wait up on the night of February 20th.

The Moon will travel deep into the Earth's shadow and will turn a deep shade of orange or red - to see how dark or red it actually becomes, we shall have to observe it for ourselves! It could resemble the picture of a total eclipse shown here, right, by Robin Scagell.

The Earth's shadow is actually composed of two cones, one darker one within the other. To understand the geometry of this, visit this webpage. The outer, lighter shadow cast is called the penumbra and is where the Earth blocks some of the Sun's light but not all of it. The darker central shadow is the umbra.

The diagram below, showing times for the eclipse in GMT, is reproduced courtesy of NASA's "Mr Eclipse", Fred Espenak. (Click on the graphic to view it full-size.) Diagrams for other time zones can be found here. Note that the Moon actually moves into the shadow from the right, although the Moon itself will appear to be crossing the sky in the other direction as the Earth rotates.

First contact with the Earth's pale grey outer penumbral shadow occurs at 00:37 UT (37 minutes after midnight GMT), and the Moon is completely enveloped within an hour.

Since the penumbra is faint, all that is likely to be noticed during that period is a slight darkening of the Moon's leading (left-hand) edge. At 01:43 UT the Moon makes first contact with the umbra, i.e. it begins to enter the darkest part of the shadow.

Totality starts at 03:01 UT, when the Moon is completely immersed in the umbra. Given good conditions, the Moon will be visible with the unaided eye because sunlight is refracted by the Earth's atmosphere onto the Moon, giving it a reddish hue. At some eclipses the Moon appears a bright orange at totality, while at others the Moon assumes a rich brown colour.

Totality lasts for 50 minutes, with mid-eclipse at 3.27 UT, making this the deepest eclipse visible from the UK until June 15th, 2011. At 03:51 UT, the Moon's leading edge emerges from the umbra into the relative brightness of the penumbra, ending totality.

During the eclipse the Moon will lie in Leo, close to Regulus and a few degrees away from Saturn. From the UK, the Moon remains fairly high, with an altitude of around 44 degrees at first umbral contact, 33 degrees at mid-totality (03:27 UT) and 18 degrees when it finally leaves the umbra completely (05:09 UT).

Steadily-held binoculars are the best instruments with which to enjoy lunar eclipses. Most viewers prefer to gaze at these events without worrying about recording them, but some enjoy noting the definition of the umbra's edge and the colour of the Moon, along with timing the contact between the umbra and certain prominent lunar features.

If you are keen for a project, try estimating the totally eclipsed Moon's brightness, using binoculars held the wrong way round, by comparing the Moon's small image with a star or planet. Comparison stars include nearby Regulus (mag 1.35) and Saturn (mag 0.2), Procyon (mag 0.38) and Spica (mag 0.98).

The SPA Lunar Section always welcomes reports from members. You can also post your pictures and results, and check those of other observers, on the SPA Forum.

Join Lunar Section Director Peter Grego at www.lunarobservers.com for a live webcast of the total eclipse of the Moon on February 21, from 01:30 to 05:15 UT (if the event is clouded out a real-time computer simulation of the eclipse will be broadcast).

Peter will be using a 200-mm SCT and a Philips ToUcam Pro, and the view will take in the entire lunar disc.

The next total lunar eclipse visible from the UK will not be until December 21st, 2010, but that sets during the event. There won't be another one fully visible until September 28th, 2015!