Society for Popular Astronomy

Hi Again Robin
Please put your next meeting dates here.
Regards Mike

Hi Robin It is good to hear that you are off to a good start, membership-wise. Experimenting with images is obvious a possibilty during cloudy spells but of course you need clear spells to capture the photons to start with. As I am basically a binocular/monocular astronomer, imaging is not 'my thing...

I attended the Adur Astronomical Society opening meeting with 6 members of the FTAG. I have already written privately to Robin ,himself an ex-FTAG member, about the meeting and the group generally and I will not go into that here. However there is a particular point I would mention here from the exp...

The 14th May Today Mercury will certainly be highest up being at elongation, however it was brighter earlier on: so it is either brighter lower or fainter higher. Which is west, depends on one's local situation.
MAF

Managed to see Mars & Moon about 3 degrees apart in 8 x 36 binos in the evening!
MF

Of all branches of science, astronomy makes the widest appeal to most minds - scientific and lay- possibly because of the greatness of the conceptions with which it is concerned, but more probably on account of a spiritial instinct which turns the thoughts of man to the skies for relief from the we...

Sorry duplicate posting here. MF

It really summed up cosmology!My wife incidentally watched S&N 666 and at the end she was very vocal about what she considered the pointlessness of all the "research" for which we are no doubt all paying. The good point was Patrick's interjection of "we just don't know" and "is dark matter & dark en...

Yes, I saw the Moon & Mercury too, about 2 degrees apart (in 10 x 50 Bresser monocular) from here, the land of the South Saxons (Sussex) , last evening. Best observation fror sometime!
MF

Re hour problem. Is one UT and the other BST? I have even had problems with some planetarium computer programmes as one is often uncertain of times given in summer. At least the clock on my microwave over is still set at UT (nearlyall the other house clocks are radio controll;ed and change automatic...

I awoke at 2amBST the morning to find a clear sky so ventured outsde with 8 x 30 binoculars and located M81, M3 , M5 etc and then popped in for a moment to look at a star atlas to confirm seeing NGC6633 only to go back outsde to find the sky completely overcast! A nasty word echoed around the outerw...

I regularly see the Milky Way from my suburban garden in Portslade although over time additional security lighting and illuminated conservatories are slowly eroding the night sky.
MF

Cloudy at club meetings eh!? It is now never clear at the FTAG (Foredown Tower Astro Group) evenings, and has not been so for ages. Over the years one has been lucky to get one in six even partially clear. I expect the next one in June will be clear though because, of course, it will be too light th...

I believe the error, in this book, of transposing the two star clusters M23 and M25 (in Sagittarius) has unfortunately been carried over to the latest edition so do not be misled here.
MF

This is perhaps rather odd because you are using a reflector, the mirror of which does not refract the light and therefore produced no fault colour. Is it one of those short ones with a lens inside? Otherwise it must be caused by the eyepiece.
MF