Society for Popular Astronomy

Thanks, Brian. That occurred to me. What's more, I even have a laser pointer. I'll have to try strapping it to the finder.

On the other hand, perhaps I should just pop in the 25mm eyepiece and use the telescope to find things on 20x!

Mike, Hydra is huge, isn't it. A challenge for me to see much of here in south-west Scotland, though, being sub-Virgo! Jeff, I am glad that 90 degrees is working for you. You mention red dot finders ; it is using the red dot finder on my refractor that I often find irksome, requiring uncomfortable b...

I echo what you say about equatorial mounts on small instruments, Jeff. Having to tack around the sky like a yacht! My 4 inch rich field refractor came with an equatorial mount, unnecessary for observing at the low magnifications involved. Handy if you do photography, of course! I settled for settin...

That’s an impressive aperture ‘scope. Look forward to hearing about your observations. I guess that will bring Pluto into reach for you too? Best wishes, Jeff. Yes, though I have never tried. Almost all of my observations prior to about mid-November have been with the 14 inch - I love it! It was es...

brian livesey wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 4:16 pm It's pretty awesome to think that a cubic centimetre of matter from the White dwarf would weigh 4 tons on Earth.

Einstein said that imagination will take you everywhere, but mine fails to take me there!

How typically inconvenient, Antarctica being the best place to observe these phenomena, David!

Best wishes,

Nigel

Last night I was at last able to have a look at this, having recently suffered debilitating lumbar muscle spasms... :( What an interesting system - a white dwarf and red dwarf in such close proximity! I wasn't able to see the red dwarf of the system (Omicron2 Eradini-C), but I look forward to seeing...

On Space Weather website, just the two spots are shown. This with the prediction of another weaker than normal solar maximum in 2025. That said, NASA are saying that 2025 should see the end of a longer trend of decline that has taken place over the past four decades, the result of the magnetic field...

The same wateriness for me yesterday morning, Brian. Except that my lunar halo appeared late in the afternoon.

As with you, this morning the moon was sharply displaying its true nature, harshness and coldness.

Just like my frigid garden...

Interesting, Mike. Wikipedia tells me the following: To produce these arcs, rod-shaped hexagonal ice crystals need to have their long axis aligned horizontally. (Shame about the grammar! :) ) This article elaborates: https://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/column.htm The book sounds interesting. I hope you ...

Thanks for your comments, folks. Indeed our atmosphere has so many phenomena, Brian. And I have just been looking at one of them as I walked the dog, the enlarged moon sitting just above the pink-tinged horizon. I was explaining to a neighbour how if you bend down and look at the moon upside down th...

Actually, the spectrum is quite evident!

nature had a treat in store for me as I hiked up a hill in the snowy Galloway Forest yesterday afternoon...an aprox. 230 degree spectral arc around the sun with bright snow dogs either side.

The phenomenon lasted a good twenty minutes.

Sadly, it's very hard to see the spectrum in the photos!

Thanks, Brian. I've put this system on my bucket list.

A similar view this evening at 166x. The planet is getting smaller now. Too small at that magnification. Soon to be just a red blur again. I look forward to the next opposition, when I'll have my 14 inch reflector rehoused and in operation again! I've really enjoyed this opposition with it. Clear sk...