Members’ Observations: Iridium Satellite Flare Photographs by David Forshaw

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:38:35 BST on 28th June, 1998. Iridium 64, Magnitude -6.4, Elevation 42°, Azimuth 257° (W) Taken on AgfaCT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:38:35 BST on 28th June, 1998.
Iridium 64, Magnitude -6.4, Elevation 42°, Azimuth 257° (W)
Taken on AgfaCT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:29:37 BST on 1st July, 1998. Iridium 63, Magnitude -6, Elevation 37°, Azimuth 263° (W) Taken on Agfa CT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:29:37 BST on 1st July, 1998.
Iridium 63, Magnitude -6, Elevation 37°, Azimuth 263° (W)
Taken on Agfa CT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:17:50 BST on 6th July, 1998. Iridium 74, Magnitude -1, Elevation 30°, Azimuth 275° (W) Taken on Agfa CT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:17:50 BST on 6th July, 1998.
Iridium 74, Magnitude -1, Elevation 30°, Azimuth 275° (W)
Taken on Agfa CT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:11:49 BST on 7th July, 1998. Iridium 70, Magnitude -6, Elevation 30°, Azimuth 275° (W) Taken on AgfaCT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:11:49 BST on 7th July, 1998.
Iridium 70, Magnitude -6, Elevation 30°, Azimuth 275° (W)
Taken on AgfaCT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:13:25 BST on 16th July, 1998. Iridium 70, Magnitude -7, Elevation 14°, Azimuth 298° (NW) Taken on Agfa CT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

Iridium Flare, taken by David Forshaw at 23:13:25 BST on 16th July, 1998.
Iridium 70, Magnitude -7, Elevation 14°, Azimuth 298° (NW)
Taken on Agfa CT200 slide film at f1.4. Taken 2 seconds before and after flare. Average total exposure time 9-10 seconds.

-7 Iridium flare, with Jupiter Saturn and Passing plane. Photograph by David Forshaw, using a 28mm lens, January 22nd, 1999

-7 Iridium flare, with Jupiter Saturn and Passing plane. Photograph by David Forshaw, using a 28mm lens, January 22nd, 1999

Society News and Night Sky Notes – May 1999

Society News Headlines

  • May 1st: Mercury is 1.7° South of Jupiter.
  • May 1st: Mars at Closest approach to Earth.
  • May 5th: Ceres is 0.7° North of Venus.
  • May 7th: Neptune is Stationary.
  • May 7th: Neptune is 0.9° South of Moon.
  • May 8th: Uranus is 0.7° South of Moon.
  • May 8th: FAS AGM at Sidmouth, Devon.
  • May 9th: BBC’s Sky at Night with Patrick Moore. The Summer Sky. (Rpt May 15th BBC2).
  • May 13th: Jupiter is 4° North of Moon.
  • May 13th: Mercury is 0.7° North of Moon.
  • May 16th: Aldebaran 0.9° South of Moon.
  • May 18th: Venus is 6° North of Moon.
  • May 21st: Liverpool Astronomical Society AGM at Lecture room. (NMGM) Liverpool Museum 7pm.- Followed by Observational Reports.
  • May 22nd: Uranus is stationary.
  • May 22nd: Regulus is 0.7° South of Moon.
  • May 22nd: Webb Society AGM, at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory.
  • May 22nd: BAA Instruments & Imaging Section Meeting at Humfrey Rooms, Castilian Terrace, Northampton.
  • May 25th: Juno at opposition.
  • May 25th: Mercury at Superior conjunction.
  • May 26th: Mars 5° South of Moon.
  • May 26th: BAA Ordinary Meeting at 17:45hrs Savile Row, London.
  • May 30th: Venus 4° South of Pollux.
  • May 31st: Pluto at opposition.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF MAY 1999

Will it be cloudy to-night?, ask the The U.K. Goverment Met Office Weather service. To make your own star chart fo your location at any time, Click Here.


The Sun and Moon


All times are in BRITISH SUMMER TIME (BST). Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.
Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
Longitude +3.0 degs West.

              1st          6th        11th      16th      21st      26th        31st
SUNRISE    05:38        05:28      05:19     05:11     05:03     04:57       04:51
SUNSET     20:41        20:50      20:59     21:07     21:15     21:22       21:29
PHASES OF THE MOON DURING MAY 1999
NEW MOON
on 15th
at 01h:06m
FIRST QUARTER
on 22nd
at 06h:35m
FULL MOON
on 30th
at 07h:41m
LAST QUARTER
on 8th
at 17h:30m

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.


MERCURY.

Mercury is at superior conjunction with the Sun on the 25th, however it can be seen almost 2° South of Jupiter on the 1st of the month low in the West.


VENUS.

Venus is still riding high in the West after Sunset. Asthis celestial searchlight moves closer to the Earth its apparent size increases from 16″ at the start of the month to 21″ at the end with its phase decreasing to just under half. During May Venus leaves the constellation of Taurus and enters Gemini. Details below give the planet’s conjunctions with some of the brighter objects there. On the 18th at 16h:00m the Moon Passes 6° South of Venus.

  • 9th 1.5 degs North of M35 (Open Cluster). 10th 3degs North of Eta Geminorum. 12th 3degs North of Mu Geminorum.
  • 17th 41″ North of Epsilon Geminorum. 25th 3degs North of Delta Geminorum. 25th 3degs South of lota Geminorum.
  • 28th 2.5 degs South of Upsilon Geminorum. 29th 32″ South of Kappa Geminorum.

MARS.

Mars is a nice evening object,transiting at just before midnight at mid-month. Its diameter decreases slowly as it starts to move away from the Earth. On the 26th at 14h:00m Mars lies 4° South of the Moon. MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.


ASTEROIDS.

  • Juno is at opposition on the 24th.
  • Ceres is 0.7° North of Venus on May 5th. For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

By the end of the month Jupiter starts to show again in the morning sky, passing 4°.5 North of the Moon on the 13th in the constellation of Pisces.

Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.


SATURN.

Saturn is still too close to the Sun for observations.


URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Uranus begins retrograde (Westward) motion during May among the stars of Capricornus. It shines at Mag 5.8.

 Positions for the 1st May:

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      22h:17m:07s           -16°:29':23"                   06h:54m             5.8

Bluish Neptune is also in Capricornus at this time, just two binocular fields west of Uranus. In early May it is less than 1° Southwest of the star Pi Capricorni

 Positions for the 1st May:

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:26m:29s           -18°:53':21"                   06h:04m           7.9

PLUTO.
Best time to look for the almost 14 mag planet is around New Moon. The dates below will be a guide for planning observations.


Positions for May are when pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°.

DATE                      R.A.                   DEC                   TRANSIT TIME
May  1st               16h:37m:22s            -10°:05':37"                 03h:18m
May  11th              16h:36m:25s            -10°:02':44"                 02h:38m
May  21st              16h:35m:24s            -10°:00':19"                 01h:57m

On May 31st Pluto at 13.4 Mag reaches opposition in Ophiuchus. It can be found less than 0.5° North of the star Zeta Ophiuchi. You will need an 8-inch or larger telescope and the best time to see Pluto is when the Moon is not around. It is best seen between May 8th – May 22nd.


S&T Outer Planet Finder Chart.


METEORS.

  • May 5th Eta Aquarids (40 per hour) Unfavourable.
  • May 13th ALPHA SCORPIIDS (20 per hour) Favourable.

COMETS.

  • Comet P/1991 V1 ( Shoemaker-Levy 6) at Perihelion on May 2nd at (1.135AU).
  • Comet 37P (Forbes) at Perihelion on May 4th at (1.446025).
  • Comet 4P (Faye) at Perihelion on May 6th at (1.6569).

Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.

OCCULTATIONS.

  • May 2nd at 03h:43m Reappearance of Eta Librae
  • May 22nd at 00h:21m Disappearance of Mu Leonis

Pex Hill Observatory Telescope Tests, April/May 1999

M3 CCD image of 70 Seconds Exposure. 22nd April 1999

M3 CCD image of 70 Seconds Exposure. 22nd April 1999

M64 "Black Eye Galaxy" CCD image of 2 Mins Exposure. 22nd April 1999.

M64 "Black Eye Galaxy" CCD image of 2 Mins Exposure. 22nd April 1999.

Telescope Mount Extension

Report by David Galvin

The telescope mount extentsion and Steve Southern, Pex Hill, 1999

The telescope mount extension and Steve Southern

The Telescope mount extension is constructed from a ½ thick 7″ inch diameter mild steel pipe that has two 3/8th” thick plates welded either end. These plates are same length and breath as the orginal grey top plate of the telescope pillar. There are four tubular sections, 1¼ diameter, welded at the four corners. The pillar stands at 3 feet (1 metre) high. The weight of this extension requires at least two people to carry it!

The purpose of the extension is to test out several different telescope designs/sizes to see if the vibration problems inherent in the building can be visibly reduced by using a more compact telescope such as a Meade 12″ Schmidt-Cassegrain instead of the tall 16″ Robertson Newtonian Reflector that we have struggled with over the years.

In recent weeks, we have tested out an 8″ Meade LX200 at X165 Mag and found that direct vibration from the floor stops at 5 secs, whilst from the pillar, dead at 7 seconds. This I feel is a vast improvement from the 20 seconds plus with the 16″ telescope. Finding and tracking was much easier. Over a dozen deep sky objects were observed in my first hour of testing, and they stayed in the centre of the scope. Bare in mind that it was not polar aligned and therefore not working at its optimum design.

The newly purchased CCD video camera was also used at this time, and showed that stellar objects could be positioned on the CCD chip and tracked, further testing in the coming weeks will hopefully include a 10″ and 12″ Meade LX200.My Thanks must be noted to LAS members Christos Spyrou who made available his telescope, and Steve Southern who helped me install the telescope mount at the Observatory.

CCD Imaging Trial – April 22nd 1999

Report by Rob Johnson

Would it or wouldn’t it?

Since the opening of The Pex Hill Observatory 5 years ago the big question has remained, with a suitably equipped instrument would the stability of the building be sufficent to allow serious astrophotography or CCD imaging through a telescope. As most members are now aware, despite extensive work, the 16″ Robertson reflector would never be a first class observatory instrument so the search was on for a replacement. Dave Galvin and Geoff Regan had started to arrange for different sizes and types of telescopes to be placed in the observatory and assessed for their potential usefulness. This would be an essential step before the Observatory sub-committee and council would splash out on a new telescope.

8" f10 Meade LX200 belonging to Christos Spyrou

8" f10 Meade LX200 belonging to Christos Spyrou

Now the interesting bit. I had a call tea-time from Geoff Regan “It’s going to be clear – will you come up to Pex Hill and try out some CCD imaging?”
Christos Spyrou had very kindly brought his 8″ f10 Meade LX200 and set it up on the new steel test pillar put in place by Dave Galvin & Steve Southern. Dave Owen, Chris Banks, Geoff Regan, myself and DG assembled under a clear sky with a first quarter Moon. The CCD was plugged in and Christos Spyrou started to align the telescope – you can guess what happened next – clouds swept in from the South-West to cover the sky! Chris frustratingly attempted to get an alignment for the alt-az mount on two stars, eventually he obtained an approximate alignment, which enabled the telescope to be roughly pointed at any object with the software.

For a couple of hours we dodged the clouds to capture brief exposure tests on various objects, M3, M64, M66, M95. It Quickly became clear that the supporting structure was stable enough to allow images of at least 30 seconds duration to be taken, this may not seem very long but CCD images can be easily “stacked” together to produce much longer effective exposures. Towards midnight we had a good clear slot sufficient to complete our tests. The image of M3 was surprisingly good considering the poor conditions and goes to prove what could be done. The Pex Hill Observatory was not quite as jelly-like as some of us had feared after all.

Now the technical bit. The CCD was a Starlight Xpress mono parallel port camera with 12×16µ pixels, this gave an image scale of around 1.4 arc seconds per pixel, this is considered about the correct sampling size for typical seeing conditions. At f10 the telescope was slower than ideal for imaging, a faster f-ratio, by design or by use of a focal reducer, would produce a higher rate of signal and allow a good signal to noise ratio to be obtained in a shorter time.

Exposures were taken increasing from 5 seconds upwards. At 30s images showed round stars with no trace of vibration even when Chris Banks exited via the observatory trap door during the exposure. Despite high winds, at times entering the dome slit, the system proved able to cope. Exposures over 30s were slightly trailed due to the lack of accurate telescope alignment and stacked images showed field rotation because the telescope was mounted alt-az. Both of these problems would be absent in a permanently set up equatorially mounted telescope. Most of the images showed somewhat bloated stars due to poor seeing conditions, this I suspect was mainly due to the incoming weather system, though observatory domes are notorious for producing turbulent air, this will always be a factor at Pex Hill.

It was not possible to fully assess the pointing accuracy of the Meade because of the lack of correct alignment, however, most objects were very close to if not on the CCD chip most of the time. The periodic error of the drive was assessed from the image movement on multiple CCD frames and found to be no more than a few arc seconds.

Other Images

M103, M34, NGC2158

AND finally…..

It was a very exciting and enjoyable evening at Pex Hill where we answered our long-standing question – yes we will be able to do serious imaging – supernovae searches, asteroid positional measurement and lots more. All we need now is a first class telescope!

Many Thanks to everyone who helped with the testing
Geoff Regan, LAS Director of the Observatory

Society Monthly Meetings and Events for Session 1998-1999

DATE VENUE SPEAKER LECTURE TITLE
1998
Every Week on Wednesdays between 7pm-9pm.(No Meeting Between Christmas & New Year) Society’s City Observatory
NMGM Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street.
Details From Director of Observatory,
Mr Geoff Regan
September 18th Monthly Meeting and Cheese & Wine ReceptionLecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm Presidential Address
Mr Steven Hughes
The Work of the LAS in the 1950s and 60s.
October 16th 11th William Lassell Memorial LectureLecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm Dr Allan Chapman, MA,D.Phil.,F.R.A.S.
Wadham College, Oxford University.
To be announced.
November 20th Monthly Meeting at Lecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm. Mr Malcolm Jones
The Federation of Astronomical Societies.
The History of Radio Astronomy.
 A Croxteth Park Star Party
November 27th/28th/29th
Fri/Sat/Sun
Weekend STAR PARTY at Croxteth Hall & Park DETAILS HERE
December 11th (2nd Friday) Monthly meeting
Members Short Papers Night
Lecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm
Members of Liverpool A.S. Members Observations and Research Presentations.
1999
January 15th Monthly meetingLecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm Mr Chris Jordan
Salford Astronomical Society.
Cosmology
February 19th Monthly meeting
Lecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm
Mr David Ratledge. CCD Astronomy
A Croxteth Park Star Party
No meeting planned
Sat/Sun
Weekend STAR PARTY II at Croxteth Hall & Park Details To Follow.
March 19th Monthly meeting
Lecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm
Mr Paul Money, F.R.A.S.
Boston Astronomers.
Mars: The Next Generation.
April 16th Monthly meeting
Lecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm
Mr Barry Pemberton
Orion Optics.
Telescope Optics.
May 21st Annual General Meeting
Lecture Room – NMGM Liverpool Museum at 7pm – 9pm
No formal Lecture AGM will be followed by LAS members observational images & reports.
July 28th Special Public Meeting
Science Lecture Rooms – The University of Liverpool at 7pm
Dr John Eric Jones
Liverpool Astronomical Society & POL.
Chasing The Moon’s Shadow
Prepare for Eclipse’99.

For more information on the Society please contact:
Liverpool A.S. Hon Secretary
Mr Ken Clarke
(Contact details removed as no longer valid)

Society News and Night Sky Notes – April 1999

Society News Headlines

  • April 1st – Jupiter in conjunction with the Sun.
  • April 1st – 33rdBAA Winchester Weekend, Winchester, Hampshire. (ends April 3rd)
  • April 1st – Neil Armstrong guest speaker at University Meeting.
  • April 1st – Mercury is stationary.
  • April 1st – Juno is stationary.
  • April 2nd – Zodiacal light observational period begins.
  • April 3rd – Comet Schorr at Perihelion (2.847AU).
  • April 3rd – Mars is 3° South of Moon.
  • April 4th – BBC’s Sky at Night On BBC1 with Patrick Moore. Seeing red with guest Prof Peter Cattermole.
  • April 6th – Comet Singer-Brewster at Perihelion (2.032AU).
  • April 10th – Neptune 1.1° South of Moon.
  • April 11th – Uranus 1° South of Moon.
  • April 14th – Mercury 1.1° North of Moon.
  • April 16th – LAS Monthly meeting at 19:00BST NMGM Liverpool Museum. Mr Barry Pemberton on Telescope Optics.
  • April 16th – Mercury at greatest elongation from Sun- 28° West. However not visible from Liverpool.
  • April 18th – Venus 7° North Moon.
  • April 18th – Venus,Moon,Pleiades, Aldebaran close conjunction.
  • April 19th – Aldebaran 0.7° South of Moon.
  • April 20th – Pallas in conjunction with the Sun.
  • April 21st – Venus is 7° North of Aldebaran.
  • April 22nd – Lyrids Meteor shower Maximum.
  • April 24th – Mars at oppostion in Virgo.
  • April 24th – BAA Out-of-London meeting at Northampton.
  • April 24th – SPA meeting at University of Westminster, London 14:30 BST.
  • April 24th – Lunar Occulation of Regulus D at 22:16:17,R at 23:04:37 – times for Liverpool.
  • April 27th – Saturn at conjunction with the Sun.
  • April 29th – Mars 4° South of Moon.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL 1999

Will it be cloudy to-night?, ask the The U.K. Goverment Met Office Weather service. To make your own star chart fo your location at any time, Click Here.


The Sun and Moon All times are in BRITISH SUMMER TIME (BST). Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE TO BST

Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
Longitude +3.0 degs West.


              1st          6th        11th      16th      21st      26th       May 1st
SUNRISE    06:46        06:36      06:22     06:11     05:59     05:49       05:38
SUNSET     19:47        19:56      20:05     20:14     20:23     20:32       20:41
PHASES OF THE MOON DURING APRIL 1999
NEW MOON
on 16th
at 04h:22m
FIRST QUARTER
on 22nd
at 19h:01m
FULL MOON
on 30th
at 14h:55m
LAST QUARTER
on 9th
at 03h:51m

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.


MERCURY.

Although Mercury reaches greatest Western elongation this month on the 6th, it is not favourable placed for observers in the Northern Hemisphere.


VENUS.

Venus is most definitely at its best now.Over 25° above the Western horizon at the time of evening civil twilight. Venus passes 2.5° South of the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus on the 14th so binocular observers will have the advantage over telescope owners in viewing this wide-field event. A 200mm telephoto lens with fast (in excess of 400ASA) film in the camera will record the passing with an exposure of around 20s although there will be a small amount of trailing ifthe camera is not tracked throughout the expsure. Asthe planet tracks through Taurus it passes North of the naked-eye stars Upsilon,Kappa, and Tau Tauri on the 20th, the 20th again and the 23rd respectively. At the end of the month the planets’ disk is 16″ across and shows a phase of 69%.


MARS.

Mars is at opposition on the 24th and speeds up its motion in Virgo.

Mars, drawn by Ken Clarke, as viewed through a 10" F4.3 Reflector 308x,432x. w=14.4, seeing 3-5, at 00:00 UTC on November 4th, 1990

Mars, drawn by Ken Clarke, as viewed through a 10″ F4.3 Reflector 308x,432x.
w=14.4, seeing 3-5, at 00:00 UTC on November 4th, 1990

In February Mars passed between the stars kappa and Lambda Virginis and this month, with the planet having changed direction, it encounters them again. On the 16th mars is 1°North of Lambda, and on the 23rd 1.5° South of Kappa. Binoculars offer a very poor view of Mars due to its small size – it is only 4,200 miles across – so a telescope capable of usefully using a high magnification is necessary to see any surface details. The use of blue filters at the eyepiece will increase contrast amd make the pastel shades of the features stand out slightly better.Mars shows a disk 15″ across,but in August 2003 the disc will be 25″ across. On the 30th at 00h the Moon passes 3° South of Mars.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.


ASTEROIDS.

  • Juno is stationary on the 1st of April.
  • Pallas is in conjunction with the Sun on April 20th.
  • Metis is at apposition at Mag 9.9 in Virgo on April 19th.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.


JUPITER.

Jupiter is at solar conjunction with the Sun on April 1st, but will appear in the morning sky near the end of the Month.
Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.


SATURN.

As with Jupiter, Saturn is at solar conjunction but on the 24th April.


URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Uranus is slowly recovering from its February solar conjunction, and can be seen at Mag 5.8 in Capricornus.

Positions for the 1st April

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      21h:13m:40s           -16°:43':46"                   08h:49m             5.8

Like Uranus, Neptune is recovering from its solar conjunction and at mag 7.9 the approaching twilight will hinder chances of locating this outer planets.

 Positions for the 1st April

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:25m:04s           -18°:58':09"                   08h:00m             7.9

PLUTO.

Pluto can be found on the border of Ophiuchus and Scorpius, above and to the right of the mag 2.6 star Zeta Scorpii. The best time to look for the planet is around New Moon. The dates below will be a guide for planning observations.

Positions for April are when pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°

DATE                      R.A.                   DEC                   TRANSIT TIME
April  1st             16h:39m:18s            -10°:15':43"                 05:18
April 11th             16h:38m:50s            -10°:12':15"                 04:38
April 21st             16h:38m:10s            -10°:08':50"                 03:58

Pluto is best seen between April 9th – April 23rd.



METEORS.

  • April 12th VIRGINIDS (6 per hour) Unfavourable.
  • April 22nd APRIL LYRIDS (20 per hour) Favourable.
  • April 28th ALPHA SCORPIIDS (20 per hour) Favourable.

COMETS.

  • Comet C/1999 H1 (Lee) discovered April 16th by Steven Lee Australia.
    Will reach North Hemisphere in early May in Hydra into Cancer. Expected to reach Mag 7 when it reaches perihelion in early July.
  • Comet Schorr at Perihelion on April 3rd (2.847AU).
  • Comet Singer-Brewster at Perihelion on April 6th (2.0232AU).

Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.

 


OCCULATIONS.

  • April 18th at 21h:51m Disappearance of Gamma Tauri.
  • April 23rd at 21h:45m Disappearance of Pi Cancri.
  • April 24th at 22h:16m Disappearance of Alpha Leonis – Regulus.
  • April 24th at 23h:04m Reappearance of Alpha Leonis – Regulus.
  • April 26th at 02h:34m Disappearance of Chi Leonis.

Pex Hill 5th Anniversary Open Day – 20th March 1999

Report by Geoff Regan

Dave Forshaw and Rob Johnson setting up Rob's Starlight Express CCD camera at Pex Hill's 5th anniversary Open Day, 20th March 1999 Solar observing at Pex Hill

On the 20th March we celebrated 5 years at Pex Hill and to mark this event we had an open day and evening at Pex Hill. Over 200 members of the public turned up over the whole day. There were enterained with views through members telescopes of the Sun and slide shows in the classroom. Dave Galvin, showed weather satellite images on the society 486 computer. Steve Southern, used a computer projection system to show members of the public what to look out for in the night sky, and Eric Jones gave a talk on the August 11th Eclipse.

Dave Forshaw uses his C5 Celestron with a 1000 Oaks Sun filter at Pex Hill's 5th anniversary Open Day, 20th March 1999LAS member Dave Forshaw used his C5 Celestron with a 1000 Oaks Sun filter to show the Sun. Dave also did a talk which he titled The Restless Sky. Tony Williams did a talk and slide show about his recent visit to COAA in Portugal, my personal favourite image was M46 which is an open cluster in Puppis. This open cluster contains a planetary Nebula near its Northern Edge.

Juan Rivero demonstrates Solar Observations at Pex Hill's 5th anniversary Open Day, 20th March 1999

Juan Rivero demonstrates Solar Observations

Dave Owen showed members of the public the 16 inch Roberson reflector. Juan Rivero brought his 6 inch F6 Reflector on a Vixen mount with a Sky sensor. Chris Spyrou also brought his 8-inch Meade LX200 which he used with a Mylar filter to observe the Sun. Colm Jackson also brought along his computer and showed off his very impressive Space Art. Rob Johnson set up his Starlight Express CCD Camera and showed members of the public how CCD imaging is done.

In the evening we were let down by the weather and unfortunately we were not able to use the telescopes, but thankfully it did not rain and the barbecue went really well for those of us who cooked the food properly. Because of the weather the evening schedule relied heavy on talks and slide shows.

8" f10 Meade LX200 belonging to Christos Spyrou

Chris Spyrou’s 8-inch Meade LX200

On a personal note I would like to thank all LAS members who helped on the day and give a special thanks to my wife Beverly without who’s understanding I would not be able to do these events.

©LAS/Geoff Regan
All images © David Galvin


Many Thanks to everyone for helped to make it an enjoyable day.

Geoff Regan, LAS Director of the Observatory

Back to The Pex Hill Observatory Web site

Society News and Night Sky Notes – March 1999

Society News Headlines

  • Mar 1st – Regulus is o.2° South of Moon.
  • Mar 4th – Comet P/1998 U4 (Spahr) at Perihelion. (3.826 AU).
  • Mar 3rd – 30th Anniversary (1969) of Apollo 9 launch. Lunar Module tested in Earth Orbit.
  • Mar 3rd – Mercury: Greatest elongation 18° East.
  • Mar 5th – 20th Anniversary (1979) of Voyager 1 flyby of Jupiter.
  • Mar 6th – BAA Deep Sky Section Meeting 11:00 -17:00, Northampton.
  • Mar 7th – Mars is 3° South of Moon.
  • Mar 7th – BBC’s Sky at Night with Patrick Moore.(Rept BBC2 on March 13th).
  • Mar 7th – Comet P/1998 U3 (Jager) at Perihelion. (2.153 AU).
  • Mar 8th – Comet Tsuchinshan II at Perihelion. (1.771 AU).
  • Mar 9th – Mercury is Stationary.
  • Mar 9th – Comet Skiff-Kosai at Perihelion. (2.789 AU).
  • Mar 13th – Neptune 1.4° South of Moon.
  • Mar 14th – Uranus 1.3° South of Moon.
  • Mar 15th – Pluto Stationary.
  • Mar 16th – 102P/Comet Shoemaker I at Perihelion. (1.979 AU).
  • Mar 18th – Mars Stationary.
  • Mar 18th – Jupiter is 3° North of Moon.
  • Mar 19th – Mercury at Inferior Conjunction.
  • Mar 19th – Liverpool Astronomical Society Monthly MeetingCCD Astronomy – Mr David Ratledge:7pm at lecture room, NMGM Liverpool Museum, Wm Brown St.
  • Mar 19th – SPA Alston Hall Weekend. (ends March 21st).Amateur Telescopic Observing.Speakers incl Dr Eric Strach.
  • Mar 20th – Saturn is 3° North of the moon.
  • Mar 20th – Venus is 3° North of Saturn.
  • Mar 20th – Pex Hill Observatory Public Open Day & Night.
  • Mar 20th – SPA meeting at the London Planetarium, 10:00
  • Mar 21st – Comet Mueller III at Perihelion. (3.010 AU).
  • Mar 21st – Vernal Equinox at 01:46UT.
  • Mar 22nd – Lunar Occulation of Alpha Tauri (Aldebaran). D18h:23m, R19h:22m for Liverpool.
  • Mar 24th – Vesta is Stationary.
  • Mar 25th – 25th Anniversary (1974) of Mariner 10 first Mercury flyby.
  • Mar 25th – LAS sidewalk astronomers event: 7pm Stadt Moers Country Park, Pottery lane, Huyton.
  • Mar 27th – BAA Special General Meeting (link removed as URL is invalid) followed by the Ordinary Meeting. 14:30 – 17:30.Savile Row, London.
  • Mar 28th – Regulus 0.3° South of Moon.
  • Mar 28th – British Summer Time Begins (TBC).
  • Mar 30th – The Astronomer Royal to give the 10th Leverhulme Memorial Lecture: Our Universe & Others at 17:30 at Liverpool University. Tickets from G.Gilligan.
  • Mar 31st – Blue Moon, second full moon of the month.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF March.

Will it be cloudy to-night?, ask the The U.K. Goverment Met Office Weather service. To make your own star chart fo your location at any time, Click Here.

Sky map for March 1999

Sky map for March 1999


The Sun and Moon

All times are in GMT the same as U.T. Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K. BST begins on MARCH 28th

Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
Longitude +3.0 degs West.

            2nd      7th       12th      17th      22nd      27th       1st Apr
SUNRISE    06:58     06:46     06:34     06:22     06:10     05:58      05:56
SUNSET     17:52     18:01     18:11     18:00     18:29     18:38      18:47

 

PHASES OF THE MOON DURING MARCH 1999
FULL MOON
on 2nd
at 07h:00m
LAST QUARTER
on 10th
at 08h:41m
NEW MOON
on 17th
at 18h:49m
FIRST QUARTER
on 24th
at 10h:19m
FULL MOON
on 31st
at 22h:50m

March 21st marks the date of the Spring Equinox when the Sun crosses the celestial equator in Pisces heading North. March is also the month when the clocks are traditionally advanced by one hour in Britain to take us into British Summer Time. As far as this page is concerned, you will have to added one hour to any times stated to obtain BST.


THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.


MERCURY.

 

Table

Mercury is at its best in the evening sky this month. with it lying in the rather faint constellation of Aquarius there are no bright stars around to confuse you when trying to indentify the planet. Wait until half an hour after the Sun has set and slowly scan the Western horizon with binoculars, moving up slightly after each sweep.

Planets on view in the South-Western evening sky, February - March 1999

Planets on view in the South-Western evening sky, February – March 1999

Placing the binoculars on a camera tripod should assist in this. Mercury will soon give its location away by being the first ‘star’ to show itself (apart from Venus and Jupiter which are higher up and much, much brighter) as the sky darkens. On the 19th Mercury is back at the Sun for an Inferior conjunction.


VENUS.

On the 20th the Moon passes a wide 6° South of Venus as they travel through the constellation of Pisces, presenting an excellent opportunity for a photographic record. Also on the 20th Venus and Saturn lie 2.5° apart, Venus being the much brighter of the pair.

Sky map: Venus, Saturn and the Moon in the South-Western evening sky, February - March 1999

Venus, Saturn and the Moon in the South-Western evening sky, February – March 1999


MARS.

Mars is very well placed in the early eveing sky. You should by now br familiar with its position against the background stars of Virgo as it tracks to the East. Note though that this month Mars slows its apparent motion and early in April starts to move Westwards. This is known as Retrograde motion and is a phenomenon caused by the Earth orbiting the Sun at a faster rate than Mars. Using background stars as a reference the Earth overtakes Mars and starts to head away leaving Mars lagging behind. After a period of a couple of months or so normal prograde motion resumes. On the 7th Mars is 2° South of the Moon.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.


ASTEROIDS.

8 Flora can be found in Virgo at Mag 10 during the month. Its at opposition on March 23rd.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.


JUPITER.

Jupiter is now unfavourably close to the Sun for observations.

Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.


SATURN.

Saturn, its brief dalliance with Venus now over, will soon move too close to the Sun to be observed.


URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Both outer planets are unfavourable for observations at this time.


PLUTO.

Pluto can be found in Ophiuchus, above the 2nd magnitude star Zeta Ophiuchi. The best time to look for the planet is when the Moon is not around. With this in mind the dates given below, calculated as either side of the New Moon, maybe used as a guide for planning an observing session.

Best seen between March 10th and March 24th.

The Positions have been calculated for every ten days at 00h U.T. throughout the period of March 1999 when Pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°.
 Positions are for Epoch 2000.
Date                        R.A.                DEC              TRANSIT              ELG
                           h  m  s           °     '  "           Time                 °
Mar 2nd                   16 39 26          -10    24 57         06h:16m              091
Mar 12th                  16 39 37          -10    22 13         05h:37m              100
Mar 22nd                  16 39 34          -10    19 05         04h:47m              110

 

METEORS.

No Major showers during March.

COMETS.

  • Mar 4th – Comet P/1998 U4 (Spahr) at Perihelion (3.826 AU).
  • Mar 7th – Comet P/1998 U3 (Jager) at Perihelion (2.153 AU).
  • Mar 8th – Comet Tsuchinshan II at Perihelion (1.771 AU).
  • Mar 9th – Comet Skiff-Kosai at Perihelion (2.789 AU).
  • Mar 16th – Comet Shoemaker I at Perihelion (1.979 AU).
  • Mar 21st – Comet Mueller III at Perihelion (3.010 AU).

Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.


OCCULTATIONS.

  • Mar 22nd at 18h:23m Disappearance of Alpha Tauri (Aldebaran).
  • Mar 22nd at 19h:33m Reappearance of Alpha Tauri (Aldebaran).Bright Limb
  • Mar 31st at 04h:09m Disappearance of Sigma Leonis

Society News and Night Sky Notes – February 1999

Society News Headlines

  • Feb 1st – Galileo spacecraft makes 19th flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
  • Feb 2nd – Regulus is 0.3° South of Moon.
  • Feb 2nd – Uranus in Conjunction with the Sun.
  • Feb 4th – Vesta at Opposition.
  • Feb 4th – Launch of Russian Space Mirror from MIR space station. Znamya (Banner) Home Page
  • Feb 4th – Mercury at Superior Conjunction.
  • Feb 5th – Public Open Evening at The Pex Hill Observatory. 7:30pm – 9:30pm.
  • Feb 6th – Planned launch date for NASA’s STARDUST spacecraft, – Comet sample return mission.
  • Feb 7th – Mars 3° South of Moon.
  • Feb 9th – BBC’s Sky at Night with Patrick Moore. February’s Program – Looking for Trouble. (Rept Feb 13th).
  • Feb 9th – Comet C/1998 W3 (LINEAR) at Perihelion, (4.863AU).
  • Feb 11th – Pluto becomes the farthest planet from the Sun again, after 20 years.It will cross the orbit of Neptune at 14:20 UT to-day.
  • Feb 12th – LAS members Evening at Pex Hill Observatory. 7:30pm until late!.
  • Feb 12th – The Start of Astronomy Now’s ASTROFEST’99 at the Kensington Town Hall. (ends Sat 13th Feb).
  • Feb 14th – Neptune 1.5° South of Moon.
  • Feb 16th – Annular Eclipse of the Sun – not seen from Liverpool.
  • Feb 18th – Venus 1.8° North of Moon.
  • Feb 18th – Jupiter 2° North of Moon.
  • Feb 19th – LAS monthly meeting at Lecture Room – Liverpool Museum (NMGM) starting at 7pm.
  • Feb 20th – Saturn is 3° North of Moon.
  • Feb 22nd – Launch of the Russian TM-29 Soyuz mission, the proposed last crew to MIR?.
  • Feb 23rd – Aldebaran is 0.4° South of the Moon.
  • Feb 23rd – Venus is 0.1° North of Jupiter. Astrophoto Time.
  • Feb 27th – BAA Ordinary Meeting – London. 2:30pm.
  • Feb 28th – Mercury at Perihelion.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 1999.

Will it be cloudy to-night?, ask the The U.K. Goverment Met Office Weather service.
To make your own star chart fo your location at any time, Click Here.

The Sun and Moon

All times are in GMT the same as U.T. Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
Longitude +3.0 degs West.

          31st Jan     5th Feb      10th      15th      20th      25th      2nd Mar
SUNRISE    07:59        07:50      07:41     07:31     07:20     07:09       06:58
SUNSET     16:53        17:03      17:13     17:23     17:32     17:42       17:52
PHASES OF THE MOON DURING FEBRUARY 1998
NEW MOON
on 16th at 06h:40m
FIRST QUARTER
on 23rd at 02h:44m
FULL MOON – – LAST QUARTER
on 8th at 11h:59m

FULL MOONLESS FOR FEBRUARY!

After January’s double full moon, February manages to skip a full moon. At 28 days, its the only month short enough to accomplish this feat.February last lacked a full moon in 1961 and will miss one again in 2018. After January,the first full Moon will be on March 2nd followed by another blue Moon on March 31st.


 THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.


MERCURY.

Mercury is at superior conjunction on the 4th but swiftly rises in the evening skyto reach a maximum altitude of over 10° early in March. This table and the diagram below should enable you to locate this surprisingly bright planet, especially as Venus and Jupiter are higher up and the Moon comes very close on the evening of the 17th. Mercury also passes close to some faint stars in Aquarius throughtout the apparition.

Planets on view in the South-Western evening sky, February - March 1999

Click to enlarge – Planets on view in the South-Western evening sky, February – March 1999


VENUS.

Venus starts to become entangled with Jupiter in February and a quick glance thrugh a telescope will show the vest difference in size between the two planets. Venus, quite close to us (1.48AU mid month were 1AU is equivalent to approximately 93 million miles) appears as a 12″ disk whlist Jupiter (5.72AU away appears nearly 3x larger at 34″ across. On the 24th the two planets are only 8′ apart so a low power eyepiece on a telescope or a pair of 10×59 binoculars will show them both in the same field of view.A series of short exposure photos (4 to 6 seconds on 400 ASA film) taken a day or so apart will record this celestial ballet with the Moon putting in a cameo appearnace on the 17th & 18th, passing 2.5° South of Venus on the 18th at 07h:00m.

Venus and Jupiter in pre-dawn sky at 06:30 U.T. January 26th 1995, by Gerard Gilligan

Venus and Jupiter in pre-dawn sky at 06:30 U.T. January 26th 1995


MARS.

Mars’ apparent diameter is slowly increasing as it approaches the Earth for an April apposition. Passing through the large constellation of Virgo, the red planet passes South of the Naked eye star Kappa Virginis on the 7th and North of lambda Virginis, anotherStar visible to the unaided eye, on the 15th. Also on the 7th Mars is 2° South of the Moon.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.


ASTEROIDS.

Vesta is at Opposition on February 4th at Mag 6.2 and can be found on the Leo/Cancer border, moving into Cancer in March.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.


JUPITER.

Jupiter, as mentioned above, is associated briefly with Venus, the two planets heading off in different directions after their February 24th encounter, Venus risubf to even greater heights with Jupiter heading towards an April 1st appointment with the Sun. On the 18th at midnight Jupiter is 3° North of the Moon.

Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.


SATURN.

Saturn, half the diameter of Jupiter at the Moment is slightly more favourable but soon it too will descend into the evening murk. On the 20th Saturn is just over 3° North of the Moon.


URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Uranus is at solar conjunction on February 3rd and Neptune is still unfavourable for observations until May/June.


PLUTO.

Pluto will be out of view until the end of March.

PLEASE NOTE:
On the 11th February Pluto will cross the orbit of Neptune and once again, after 20 years, becomes the farthest planet from the SUN.



METEORS.

February 3rd and 13th Alpha Aurigids ZHR is 12 per hour. ( Fairly favourable)


COMETS.


 

OCCULATIONS.

  • Feb 1st at 19h:45m Reappearance of Nu Leonis
  • Feb 3rd at 05h:00m Reappearance of Chi Leonis .
  • Feb 28th at 03h:04m Disappearance of Omicron Cancri.

Evening Apparition of Mercury – February/March 1999

MERCURY VENUS JUPITER MOON
DATE TIME (GMT) ALTITUDE ° AZIMUTH ° ALTITUDE ° AZIMUTH ° ALTITUDE ° AZIMUTH ° ALTITUDE ° AZIMUTH °
Feb 17th 18:09 1.4 253 14.3 244 19.3 240 6.7 247
Feb 18th 18:11 2.1 253 14.6 245 18.8 241 17.0 239
Feb 19th 18:12 3.0 253 15.0 245 18.4 243 27.2 230
Feb 20th 18:14 4.5 253 15.9 245 17.8 244
Feb 25th 18:23 8.0 255 16.5 249 14.8 249
Mar 2nd 18:32 10.1 259 18.4 251 11.7 255
Mar 7th 18:40 9.6 264 19.1 254 8.7 260
Mar 12th 18:49 5.8 270 20.7 256 5.5 265

Members Observations (Up to December 1997)

Drawings by John Knott

Astrophotography by Gerard Gilligan

Venus and Jupiter in pre-dawn sky at 06:30 U.T. January 26th 1995, by Gerard Gilligan

Venus and Jupiter in pre-dawn sky at 06:30 U.T. January 26th 1995

Astrophotography by David Forshaw

The Setting Sun behind the Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral. Photographed from Mersey heights, Frodsham. Taken via prime focus through a Celestron C5 Telescope, f10. Using Agfa 200 slide film, by David Forshaw, May 23rd, 1997

The Setting Sun behind the Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral.
Photographed from Mersey heights, Frodsham. Taken via prime focus through a Celestron C5 Telescope, f10. Using Agfa 200 slide film, by David Forshaw, May 23rd, 1997

David Forshaw’s Astronomy Homepage (link removed as URL is invalid)

Noctilucent Clouds photographed by David Galvin

Noctilucent clouds, taken by David Galvin on June 23rd/24th 1995 at 03:30 BST (02:30 UT) 30/40 sec exps, 50mm standard lens at f2 200 ASA colour print film. The bright star is Capella.

Noctilucent clouds, taken by David Galvin on June 23rd/24th 1995 at 03:30 BST (02:30 UT) 30/40 sec exps, 50mm standard lens at f2 200 ASA colour print film. The bright star is Capella.

Noctilucent clouds, taken by David Galvin on June 23rd/24th 1995 at 03:30 BST (02:30 UT) 30/40 sec exps, 50mm standard lens at f2 200 ASA colour print film. The bright star is Capella.

Noctilucent clouds, taken by David Galvin on June 23rd/24th 1995 at 03:30 BST (02:30 UT) 30/40 sec exps, 50mm standard lens at f2 200 ASA colour print film. The bright star is Capella.

Drawings by Geoff Regan

Jupiter

Jupiter and 3 satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8" f6 (200x) at 21:33 UTC on 24th July, 1995

Jupiter and 3 satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8″ f6 (200x) at 21:33 UTC on 24th July, 1995

Mars

Mars, drawn by Geoff Regan, using a 6" f6 (225x) at 21:35 UTC on 4th March, 1995

Mars, drawn by Geoff Regan, using a 6″ f6 (225x) at 21:35 UTC on 4th March, 1995

Mars, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8" f6 (200x) at 01:03 UTC on 12th March, 1995

Mars, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8″ f6 (200x) at 01:03 UTC on 12th March, 1995

Mars, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8" f6 (133x) at 21:30 UTC on 21st February, 1995

Mars, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8″ f6 (133x) at 21:30 UTC on 21st February, 1995

Saturn

Saturn, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8" f6 (200x) at 02:00 UTC on 25th July, 1995

Saturn, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8″ f6 (200x) at 02:00 UTC on 25th July, 1995

Saturn and satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8" f6 (200x and 266x) at 23:59 UTC on 8th/9th October, 1995. At full moon, seeing V. Good, air steady.

Saturn and satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8″ f6 (200x and 266x) at 23:59 UTC on 8th/9th October, 1995. At full moon, seeing V. Good, air steady.

Saturn and satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8" f6 (200x) at 22:11 UTC on 9th October, 1995.

Saturn and satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8″ f6 (200x) at 22:11 UTC on 9th October, 1995.

Saturn and satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8" f6 (200x) at 20:30 UTC on 9th November, 1995.

Saturn and satellites, drawn by Geoff Regan, using an 8″ f6 (200x) at 20:30 UTC on 9th November, 1995.

Comet Hyakutake

Comet Hyakutake drawing by Geoff Regan, 27th March 1996 at 00:45 UT. 3 deg field. 20x60 using 8" F6 Dobs telescope. From North Wales

Comet Hyakutake drawing by Geoff Regan, 27th March 1996 at 00:45 UT. 3 deg field. 20×60 using 8″ F6 Dobs telescope. From North Wales

More drawings by Geoff Regan (August 1995 – February 1997)

CCD Images by Rob Johnson

Images taken between June 8th – 25th 1996 using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera.

M57 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 8th June 1996, Exp. 45sec. Slightly hazy night, unguided

M57 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 8th June 1996
Exp. 45sec.
Slightly hazy night, unguided

M13 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 12th June 1996, Exp. 2 mins. Good transparency, twilight

M13 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 12th June 1996
Exp. 2 mins.
Good transparency, twilight

M27 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 12th June 1996, Exp. 5 mins. Good transparency, twilight

M27 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 12th June 1996
Exp. 5 mins.
Good transparency, twilight

M92 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 15th June 1996, Exp. 2mins. Very hazy night, limiting mag ~2 - 3

M92 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 15th June 1996
Exp. 2mins
Very hazy night, limiting mag ~2 – 3

M56 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 16th June 1996, Exp. 8mins. Very hazy night, limiting mag ~2 - 3.

M56 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 16th June 1996
Exp. 8mins.
Very hazy night, limiting mag ~2 – 3.

M51 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 18th June 1996, Exp. 11mins (1x5mins plus 2x3mins combined)

M51 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 18th June 1996
Exp. 11mins (1x5mins plus 2x3mins combined)

M3 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 18th June 1996, Exp. 6mins (2x3mins) while the Sun was -10degs

M3 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 18th June 1996
Exp. 6mins (2x3mins) while the Sun was -10degs

M11 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 24th June 1996, Exp. 2mins in twilight with the Moon low in the Western sky

M11 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 24th June 1996
Exp. 2mins in twilight with the Moon low in the Western sky

Barnard's Star - Clearly shows motion over 5 years. Photo (left) taken in 1991, CCD image (right) taken 24th June 1996, exp. 30secs. Both images taken by Rob Johnson with a 14" Reflector

Barnard’s Star – Clearly shows motion over 5 years.
Photo (left) taken in 1991, CCD image (right) taken 24th June 1996, exp. 30secs.
Both images taken by Rob Johnson with a 14″ Reflector

NGC 7331 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach's Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 25th June 1996, Exp. 8mins. Twilight sky, Sun -13 degs, no moon

NGC 7331 CCD image taken by Mr. Rob Johnson using Mr Eric Strach’s Xpress SXL8 CCD Camera on 25th June 1996
Exp. 8mins.
Twilight sky, Sun -13 degs, no moon

Comet Hyakutake C/B2 1996 image by Mr. Rob Johnson on 10th April 1996, Exp. 10mins with 178mm f4. From Formby Beach, Merseyside, U.K. Printed on grade 3.5 paper

Comet Hyakutake C/B2 1996 image by Mr. Rob Johnson on 10th April 1996
Exp. 10mins with 178mm f4.
From Formby Beach, Merseyside, U.K. Printed on grade 3.5 paper

Some more CCD images from Rob (November 1996 – October 1997)

Observations by Colin Murray