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~ Beautiful First Quarter Moon ~

10/21/2015

~ Beautiful First Quarter Moon ~

I can’t believe we finally have a clear evening so I can capture a lovely image of the first quarter Moon through my 127mm refractor telescope on the evening of the 20th October 2015.

Usually I take my lunar images through a Meade 8inch or 10inch Schmidt-Cassergrain telescope, but the view through this refractor is so clear and crisp that I just wanted to try it out…and I’m so happy with the result :-)

Images were taken with a North Group APO 127mm refractor using a Canon 700D camera at prime focus which was mounted on a HEQ5 PRO mount…there were 25images stacked in RegiStax 6 and lightly processed in Photoshop. Camera settings were 1/100th second exposure and ISO200.

~ First Quarter Moon ~

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Final Update on our Stargazing Guinness World Record Attempt

10/16/2015

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To everyone who participated in the Guinness World Record attempt
For Most People Stargazing Across Multiple Sites in a Country (Australia).

Congratulations!

Australia now holds the title for the most people stargazing across multiple sites in Australia - 7,960 people across 37 sites. Smashing the old record of 3,006 across 33 sites.

The Gold Coast Community has once again done our country proud. We’re officially confirmed as having 265 of the 7,960 people and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who participated.

Kind Regards,

The Hon Karen Andrews MP

Thank you to all our members and friends from the Southern Astronomical Society for supporting this wonderful event for Science Week…if the weather had been kinder to us we may have reached our 800 target, but sometimes quality not quantity is the best when you see how much everyone enjoyed the night.
Best wishes to all and thank you :-)
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
Southern Astronomical Society on the Gold Coast

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~ Just One little Sunspot ~

10/12/2015

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Nearly a completely blank solar surface today the 10th October 2015

On the 10th October 2015

There was just one little sunspot on the Suns surface today (AR2430) but when viewed through the Ha solar telescope there was a lovely active prominence on the eastern limb (top left on image below)

White light image taken with a Meade 80mm refractor with a glass solar filter attached and a Canon 700D camera, 20 images stacked in RegiStax6 with settings @1/500th second exposure and ISO200.

~ The H-alpha image had a lovely little prominence on the solar limb ~

The view through the Lunt Solar Telescope

H-Alpha images taken with a Lunt 80mm solar telescope and the same camera, the image is a composite, one image for the solar disc and one image for the faint prominence, which were combined in Photoshop.

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NASA's New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on Pluto

10/9/2015

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NASA's Media release Oct. 9, 2015

Pluto’s Blue Sky: Pluto’s haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn’s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles (called tholins) that grow as they settle toward the surface. This image was generated by software that combines information from blue, red and near-infrared images to replicate the color a human eye would perceive as closely as possible.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
http://www.nasa.gov/nh/nh-finds-blue-skies-and-water-ice-on-pluto

~ This image is just so remarkable...a blue atmosphere on Pluto ~

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~ Beautiful First Quarter Moon ~

Final Update on our Stargazing Guinness World Record Attempt

~ Just One little Sunspot ~

NASA's New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on Pluto

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