A reason to get up early

[PhilW]

[quote="jdaw1"]Good diagrams showing apparent proximity of Neptune and Sun. [/qupte]Indeed, you might also not realise that Jupiter is over 2000x the diameter of Mars, or that Saturn can pass Jupiter without colliding; However, a fully to scale drawing might be somewhat less useful to the astronomer in this context.

A shame they used a factor of 2.5x for each order of apparent magnitude; if only they had used a factor of 3 for double apparent magnitude we could all have been confused about dBs instead.

[jdaw1]

Upon further thought, DNO should go further. It is the international year of the Dwarf Planet, in that spacecraft are visiting two of them. So in 2015 DNO should attempt to observe all five: Ceres; Pluto; Haumea; Makemake; and Eris. (Apparent magnitudes: 6.64 to 9.34; 13.65 to 16.3; 17.3; 16.7; 18.7. The last will be difficult. But, mercifully, you are not expected to see Dysnomia, as its apparent magnitude is ~23.1.)

[jdaw1]

I have the coordinates of Haumea for midnight tonight.

Weather?

[jdaw1]

Indeed, you might also not realise that Jupiter is over 2000x the diameter of Mars

Mass rather than diameter, surely.

[DRT]

I have the coordinates of Haumea for midnight tonight.

Weather?

Not high enough in the sky for me to be able to point at it from my viewing area.

Advice from a reliable source is "for visual a mag 17.3 would require at least a 37" scope, and to make it "easy", 40" and above would be required."

At that size a primary mirror costs roughly £1,000 per inch of diameter. the tube to hold it in costs about the same again. I am unconvinced that £74,000 to £80,000 falls into the category of "a large amateur telescope".

Astro-social media is buzzing with stories of Comet LG-Parker - no sightings yet.

[Glenn E.]

Indeed, you might also not realise that Jupiter is over 2000x the diameter of Mars

Mass rather than diameter, surely.

20x diameter, roughly.

[Glenn E.]

I have the coordinates of Haumea for midnight tonight.

Weather?

Not high enough in the sky for me to be able to point at it from my viewing area.

Advice from a reliable source is "for visual a mag 17.3 would require at least a 37" scope, and to make it "easy", 40" and above would be required."

At that size a primary mirror costs roughly £1,000 per inch of diameter. the tube to hold it in costs about the same again. I am unconvinced that £74,000 to £80,000 falls into the category of "a large amateur telescope".

I don't know, that seems rather large to me...

Or are you implying that if I managed to grow my Port collection by 3x that it might be considered a professional collection?

[djewesbury]

Tell me more about Comet LGTrotter.
Will it fizzle out after delighting us with its oohs, aahs, and sparkles?

[LGTrotter]

Tell me more about Comet LGTrotter.
Will it fizzle out after delighting us with its oohs, aahs, and sparkles?

Too insignificant to be seen with the naked eye, of interest only to specialists .

[DRT]

This evening I arrived at a star party near Hereford in my hired motor home for the first of four nights gazing at the wonders of the Universe through various bits of expensive glass.

After setting up my telescope I did what a boy alone should do - Boeuf Bourguignon with a couple of glasses of La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2001.

Off to look at Jupiter for a while then it will be Lagavulin time

[Glenn E.]

This evening I arrived at a star party near Hereford in my hired motor home for the first of four nights gazing at the wonders of the Universe through various bits of expensive glass.

After setting up my telescope I did what a boy alone should do - Boeuf Bourguignon with a couple of glasses of La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2001.

Off to look at Jupiter for a while then it will be Lagavulin time

What, no Port?

[jdaw1]

A moon of Jupiter received its official name only this month. Presumably your equipment is too small for a damsel seduced by the King of the Gods (whose equipment reached magnitude 23)?

[DRT]

A moon of Jupiter received its official name only this month. Presumably your equipment is too small for a damsel seduced by the King of the Gods (whose equipment reached magnitude 23)?

Alas, even at a creditable 12", my equipment is far too small for that particular damsel

[Alex Bridgeman]

This evening I arrived at a star party near Hereford in my hired motor home for the first of four nights gazing at the wonders of the Universe through various bits of expensive glass.

After setting up my telescope I did what a boy alone should do - Boeuf Bourguignon with a couple of glasses of La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2001.

Off to look at Jupiter for a while then it will be Lagavulin time

What, no Port?

Surely if you're in Hereford you are not there to be just gazing at the night sky. What's the forecast for Friday morning like?

[DRT]

What's the forecast for Friday morning like?

It is looking good at the moment but the forecast seems to change every few hours.

[PhilW]

Surely if you're in Hereford you are not there to be just gazing at the night sky. What's the forecast for Friday morning like?

indeed, I'm surprised you (collectively) are that far south. I'll be in Perth; though in meetings all morning, I'm hoping to get a brief break to head outside; it's been foggy and clouded over here all day though, hoping for better on Friday.

[djewesbury]

Very sunny here today but a misty start early on.

[DRT]

I'll be in Perth … hoping for better on Friday.

Good luck with that.

There is a reason why I came south…

Perth

Screen Shot 2015-03-18 at 22.20.12.png (38.01 KiB) Viewed 3980 times

Hereford

Screen Shot 2015-03-18 at 22.20.41.png (43.35 KiB) Viewed 3980 times

[DRT]

Very sunny here today but a misty start early on.

It was lovely here today. T-shirt weather with a nice clear blue sky and a few hours looking at the prominences and surface features on the Sun through my new Hydrogen-Alpha telescope.

But now it's cloudy

[DRT]

On Friday I am joining a group of astro-geeks at a place called Madley to view the eclipse. I think it is an old airfield but it seemingly has a very flat horizon which means the Sun will be above any pesky hills for the whole event. There will be 150 10 to 12 year old school children there and we have all agreed to let them look through our telescopes as part of a science project they are doing. Perhaps I should have brought as few bottles of Port and a spit bucket along and I could have started their education in the finer things in life? Perhaps not.

[jdaw1]

education

I am doing an astronomy talk tomorrow at my daughter’s school. Part of it will be a rant about the inaccurate mural; part will be seeing planets and moons to scale.

[DRT]

education

I am doing an astronomy talk tomorrow at my daughter’s school. Part of it will be a rant about the inaccurate mural; part will be seeing planets and moons to scale.

Please try really hard not to be Julian. Do you remember the garden? You were rewarded for that effort. Be nice, and don't scare them away from astronomy.

[jdaw1]

Please try really hard not to be Julian. Do you remember the garden? You were rewarded for that effort. Be nice, and don't scare them away from astronomy.

Easy peasy lemon squeasy. Tell children that their school has got something utterly wrong, and they love it.

[DRT]

Please try really hard not to be Julian. Do you remember the garden? You were rewarded for that effort. Be nice, and don't scare them away from astronomy.

Easy peasy lemon squeasy. Tell children that their school has got something utterly wrong, and they love it.

Hmmm?

"Dear children, your teachers are idiots." — "Mummy, an old man in cream chinos and a checked shirt spoke to us at school today and told us that teachers are idiots. I'm not doing my homework tonight because my teacher is an idiot." — {999} "Which service, please?"

Perhaps a better way would be to explain why some things are shown in an easy to understand {schematic} form (such as the London Underground) but that the reality is somewhat more complex?

There is a reason why the mural (and thousands like it) are to the scale they are. It is because the human mind finds it difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend the mind-boggling distances and relative sizes involved. Knowing the maths isn't the same as comprehending, it's just knowing the maths.

Don't leave the children thinking their teachers are idiots.

[Andy Velebil]

Please video it and post it.


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