So who is going this weekend? The weather forecast is looking quite promising.
I've sent an email to Jackie at Rother Valley to ask about the state of the field and our usual corner.
Mike
I'll be coming if it's Rother Valley - it'll allow me to pop home and continue work on Dee's shed.
Ground conditions at home are much firmer now so I think it is also very likely RV is open.
Mark
OK it is definitely Rother Valley. Here is Jackie's reply:-
Dear Mike,
Yes we have plenty of space for the weekend. The condition of the field is fine, we had caravans and motorhomes over Easter Weekend without any problems.
I will save you pitches 12 onwards.
I won't be here myself and we have new Wardens and a new Reception so please let everyone know that they must stop when they enter the site and make themselves known to the new Wardens - Phil & Lindy.
Many thanks
Jackie
Petra and I will be there. It's been too long since the last one.
I would like to come, but as I got absolutely perished last night being outside for a few hours I don't think I can face it unless it warms up a fair bit before the end of the week.
Carole
Forecast looking excellent 8)
Friday night clear.
Sunny all day Saturday with little wind and a few degrees warmer than of late.
Saturday night mainly clear.
There is a slim chance I might be able to make this weekend too! :o
i wont be going as will not have enough time to recover for Kelling. if it was a nice weekend & a decent attendance, i may pop down for saturday
I'm trying to get over a nasty cough (2nd week) so unless a miracle happens and it fixes itself I won't be going :(
oh dear hope you get better Duncan. you have to look after that chest of yours
Quote from: The Thing
I'm trying to get over a nasty cough (2nd week) so unless a miracle happens and it fixes itself I won't be going :(
Shame :-(
We'll miss you.
Quote from: Fay
i wont be going as will not have enough time to recover for Kelling. if it was a nice weekend & a decent attendance, i may pop down for saturday
What do you mean "time to recover"? You mean you won't have time to process all the excellent data from 2 clear nights in time to go to a wet and windy Kelling?
Typical,
Having worked every weekend for the last two years, I finally managed to get the last few off, as weve finished
our big projects at work. :cheesy:
I was looking forward to this weekends DSC :P
Im now working Fri Sat and sunday, :(
so I wont be able to make it.
I've also managed to get Conjunctivitis 8) so that would have probably scuppered me anyway.
Mac.
QuoteI've also managed to get Conjunctivitis so that would have probably scuppered me anyway.
But only if actually wanted to see something :roll:
Bummer :(
QuoteBut only if actually wanted to see something
(http://www.reformparliament.co.uk/images/laughing-horse.jpg)
Quote from: MarkS on Apr 04, 2013, 00:18:18
Quote from: Fay
i wont be going as will not have enough time to recover for Kelling. if it was a nice weekend & a decent attendance, i may pop down for saturday
What do you mean "time to recover"? You mean you won't have time to process all the excellent data from 2 clear nights in time to go to a wet and windy Kelling?
Exactly.
it will be a big enough trial going to Kelling if the weather is bad. I have to get my strength up. of to Colchester tomorrow to get the heater mended on the car.
it is freezing in there. you have to take the whole dashboard off to do it properly, which would cost around £1,500, by a garage, but this place will do it thru a cut in the glove compartment. we were going to try ourselves, but could make a wrong cut!!!!!!!
Colchester ?
Blimey is there nothing local that can do a repair - Time to stop using Jeep dealers or sell the pile of poo to me for £1000 ;)
I've got all my gear ready.
Really looking forward to tomorrow.
It's been far too long since the last one.
I'll do it for £500 Fay!
THe garage we have always used has now shut down. the nearest is in Sydenham & they seem unreliable. although the only one to rely on for services .
cant buy another jeep. Some garages can do certain things but dont have the equipment or stock to do all of them. the replacement of the doors in the heater system will be around £200. i dont want to be driving to Kelling with no heater & if Matt had had a go, he could have cut something wrong or not been able to do it, i just need it working for next week.
So I can't have it for £1000 then :(
Still sounds like you're being conned though :-?
Well he sounds a very nice man............. :o
Quote from: Fay on Apr 04, 2013, 22:04:09
Well he sounds a very nice man............. :o
Apparently Ted Bundy sounded like a very nice man.............to the :police: after he was caught. :roll:
Tony G
Quote from: MarkS on Apr 04, 2013, 20:33:41
I've got all my gear ready.
Really looking forward to tomorrow.
It's been far too long since the last one.
Me too. Agreed.
I hope to arrive around 7:30pm
Alas, forgot I am supposed to be spending this weekend in Brighton so won't be able to make it after all. :(
Weather looking hopeful for imaging.
Comet Panstarrs looking very photogenic next to Andromeda Galaxy.
I'm going to do my best to get down before sunset. Depends when I can get out of work but hopefully before 7pm.
I emailed Jackie this morning with an update on the condition of the field. I have reveived this reply...
Hi Mike
We have had continual rain through the night and and this morning.
We have just been up to inspect the field,and it is slowly deteriorating due to the weather
So, should we change the venue to Blacklands or stick it out?
Mike
OK Rother Valley is ruled out...
At this moment in time i would suggest that it is not suitable, maybe check again in a few hours.
It is very wet at the moment, and is still pouring down.
I will get in touch with Leon at Blacklands.
What a pain!
But I'm wondering if we would actually get to see the comet at Blacklands because I'm particularly interested in giving the comet a go.
The ground is pretty hard around our way..
Mark - It is dead NW and pretty low down so the line of trees at Rother would probably block it out as they are dead NW from our corner. At Blacklands there will be a bit more light pollution but the view to the NW will be better if we camp up near the gate where the hook-ups are.
Chris - Rother Valley obviously had totally different weather than us. It's bone dry up here in The City too.
Well it was snowing when I left this morning, but it wont settle.
Looks like its Blacklands then.
Only if you're sure Mark as it's a long drive for you to Blacklands.
We can always reschedule if you don't want to go.
I'm fine with Blacklands but I'll arrive a bit later.
See you there.
Mark
Ok see you there.
Hi, planning to come as well. see you all down there.
I'll probably come over and camp and have a glass of the watery stuff
Whoever gets there first can you pitch your tent on the right hand side by the fence as you enter the field please. Tent on one side of the fence and your car on the other. There are hook-ups along that side. If we camp near the toilet block as normal we won't get a good view of the comet. I'm presuming at this time of year it will be empty anyway.
OK I'm here and camped and guess what; its cloudy, cold and blowing a hooley! :!
But I have whiskey.....
Gosh Jim, you already there!!! you keep warm!!
Well, how is it looking down there at the moment?
Tony G
Well still cloudy but hey, a pot noodle, ham sandwich and glass of wine so bliss!
:D
hope the bungalow searchlight does not upset you
Fay, Leon has built an extension onto the side of the bungalow that blocks out the light now.
There are 5 of us here at the moment and it is a clear sky. I'm trying to do M81/82 but the guiding is all over the place. Jim is still trying to align his finder scope. Mark is in the tent with our special guest chatting.
Special Guest.
Who may that be?????????
Tony G
Quote from: Tony G on Apr 05, 2013, 23:31:51
Special Guest.
Who may that be?????????
Tony G
It's all gone very quiet - It wasn't Ted Bundy was it ? :o :(
ummm back from the dead....
We are all still alive thanks. Despite the temperature dropping to -6° in the night. Our special guest nearly froze to death but Jim was OK as he had both a heater on and an electric blanket.
Nice warm sunny day now and the sausages and bacon are sizzling in the pan.
-6C last night. My water container froze.
Mystery guest is not Patrick Moore, is it?
I'm shivering just thinking about -6
I think I'll just sit by the fire :(
Any imaging done ?
Mystery guest is not Patrick Moore. They are slightly more alive than that.
I didn't get much imaging done as the gusts of wind were putting huge spikes in my guiding graph on a regular basis. I think Jim had a bit more success after his epic alignment process. Our special guest spent most of the night on some kind of epic sausage cooking session and Mark didn't bother as he turned up late and could see how windy it was.
Hopefully the wind will die down tonight as another clear night is forecast.
good that you keep us up to date Mike
Well come on then. Is the special guest John P or some-one else?
Glad I didn't come at -6.
Carole
Well I ain't special so def not me....
I'm afraid our special guest wishes to remain anonymous so the only way you can find out who they are is to pop on down and pay them a visit. They are happy to do autographs.
is he good looking and worth coming down for ;)??
I told you Fay I am not there....
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:glad you told me John, could have been a wasted journey
-6c ha welcome to my world, we walked home form the annual meeting in the village last night it was cold, but not that cold.
Tonight is forecast for 5mph winds no gusts and clear, currently humidity is 49% which is not bad.
I'll pop over later.
If the mystery guest is Brian Cox, I'm on my way!!!!
Carole
Warm and sunny and Jim and myself have just got through 2 bottles of wine.
lot of rubbish being spoken already then!!!
Quote from: Carole on Apr 06, 2013, 14:16:04
If the mystery guest is Brian Cox, I'm on my way!!!!
Carole
Brian's What!!!!! :o
Tony G
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
3rd bottle gone. Ameretto started. Sky completely clear. Huge array of equipment readied for comet.
6 mounts prepared for action!
What a weekend to be ill :( Makes me sick.
Three bottles and amaretto, makes you sick! Maybe there's some justice to come later - could be the vomit comet!
Scopes in the garden ready to record the skyglow...
just put the scope to where the comet will be, around sunset, was going to get onto the garage roof, with tripod, but (VERB) oak tree is too large!!!!!
Quotewas going to get onto the garage roof, with tripod
Blimey Fay.
Carole
I was going to sit on the patio with a beer, but the comet's getting boring now :lol: :lol: :lol:
Chris and his son have just turned up.
We are all set up and ready to go...
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WI4lzP-IarM/UWBU-gTVTTI/AAAAAAAANqI/grpuVgNZXRI/s679/20130406_180049.jpg)
Good luck everyone, It's looking very good for tonight
4th bottle of wine and Ameretto disappearing. Pastis and Scotch in reserve. Wind has died and sky looking fabulous. 6 tracking mounts and 2 fixed tripods at the ready. Even the mystery guest is ready for visual observations.
Special guest. He's special. Very special.
On garage roof with canon just in case I can see comet
Quote from: Mike on Apr 06, 2013, 20:05:09
Special guest. He's special. Very special.
Wot. Like Special Brew?
Yay! Found the comet.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KS_jSK9qAM0/UWCCJOf6rQI/AAAAAAAANq4/qKDL-MDr4Mg/s768/comet.jpg)
Woohoo
Well done :D
Well Done!!!
And you could not pick a better night.
How many others managed to capture it.
With Marks luck, he'll get an image of the comet with the ISS passing it, with his lucky camera, and that's after 4 bottles of wine and the Ameretto......... ;)
North Downs in my way :!
I want Micks fields.........
Tony G :(
Great Mike!!!
it was just out of view from my roof! what equipment etc etc etc
QuoteNorth Downs in my way
I want Micks fields........
Tra-la-la
I felt obliged to have a quick peek with the bins, Comet, Andromeda, Pleiades, Orion, Jupiter etc.
Would have stayed out but fancied a beer :lol:
QuoteOn garage roof with canon
Oh Fay, that did give me a laugh, when I first read it, for a moment I thought you were on the roof with a cannon. I thought, "what the......." and then the penny dropped.
Well done Mike.
Carole
had enough trouble getting myself out the window about a cannon. nearly damaged for life on the window catch :x
Now almost midnight. -4C and too cold to light gas for hot dogs :cry:
That's a bummer. No-one got an electric cooker down there?
Carole
Problem sorted. Special guest put gas cylinder next to fire to warm it up. :radiation:
Hot dogs now in orbit !!!
[Joke]
what a good idea. i thought only i came up with plans like that :o
I think the special guest should get into one of your sleeping bags with you, in case he freezes to death tonight!
Quote from: Fay on Apr 07, 2013, 00:15:03
I think the special guest should get into one of your sleeping bags with you, in case he freezes to death tonight!
Fay,
I popped down there yesterday and you do not want that special guest in your sleeping bag, or I would not anyway.
Was nice and chilly around here last night, I wonder if they are all cold?
Chris
how many got the comet?
If this is some-one who wishes to stay anonymous and is very special and gives out autographs, I am wondering whether it is some-one from Sky at Night, as the new team are talking about getting involved with amateurs and their astronomical activities.
I hope we are going to be enlightened once the weekend is over, the suspense is killing me.
Either that or you're pulling our legs. :!
Carole
Was -7.5C last night. Colder than the infamous DSC at Stairs Farm.
OMG are you all thawed out?
QuoteWas -7.5C last night.
OMG, I am glad I didn't come.
Did you all get some good imaging time, it was clear here all night except for a small amount of passing cloud just before mightnight which didn't last long?
Was up until 3am.
Carole
Thanks Mike, that's fantastic !
How long is he in the country ?
-7.5C! Something wrong with my thermometer as it said +3C here :roll:
Glad I wasn't there or I would have iced lung or some such this morning :unwell:. Hot Dogs would have been welcome though - of course if I'd made it we'd have been able to use my electric hob, probably to sit round trying to warm up!
The skies were very transparent in Beckenham so I have some subs to process at last, how did imaging go last night? Mike comet image looks great and I'm guessing Mark got some as well.
Is he Spartacus!!!! :-?
Tony G
No. Im Spartacus. :cheesy:
Well you all missed a great weekend. Great skies and it was gorgeous and warm today.
I hope our special guest also enjoyed it.
Yes a great weekend. My attempt at the comet.
4 x 2 min subs CCD CLS filter. Unguided.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8120/8627516755_c359422b25_b.jpg)[/url]
excellent Jim, unguided too!
Well done Jim great image, and you can say that you seen the comet, unlike some. :cry:
I see in the top left hand corner a satellite passing..........did Mark get the ISS in the same frame? ;)
Tony G
Well done team, and I'm glad you have now seen how wrong the forecasts are around here, they are all based on Horsham not little old campsite. It's been really cold here for 3 months now, I can only guess what my heating bill is :-)
Jim, yay comet!
Excellent Jim & Mike on capturing comet - hopefully some other images to - I look forward to seeing them - John
Excellent comet Jim, you must be really chuffed. Mike's isn't bad either. Was any other imaging managed after all that wine and guest entertaining?
Cracking image Jim and far better than the weird looking thing on APOD
Really good image Jim!! It has come out really well!
The background subtraction can't have been easy because the sky was relatively bright down where the comet was.
Mark
Thanks everyone. I was lucky in that I had spent hours the previous night getting a good polar alignment so I was able to lock onto it straight away. I did get some colour data but can't seem to process it; I think because the comet is moving relative to the stars and each channel was taken together so they are some minutes apart. I think you probably need to guide on the comet itself and maybe use a one shot colour camera to get a good result. I think using the CLS filter helped the background.
Very nice image Jim
julian
Well done Mike and Jim, two decent images of the comet at last (apologies for anyone's image I may have missed :oops:).
Jim, I don't think I've seen a better image of this comet, it a really good capture.
Robert
Processed my image of the comet. It is very noisy as I completely forgot to do darks and I also had the ISO setting at 6400. DOH!.
7 x 30 second exposures with Nikon D7000. Guided on the comet head.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MIGwTb_jFa4/UWMctnYtRwI/AAAAAAAANsU/8tJE6nNc-2M/s768/Comet.jpg)
Very nice that.
Quote from: Mike on Apr 08, 2013, 20:40:50
Processed my image of the comet. It is very noisy as I completely forgot to do darks and I also had the ISO setting at 6400. DOH!.
Well I don't think you'll be the only one, I'm sure most of us will be a bit rusty when we finally start imaging again !
Robert
Quote from: RobertM on Apr 08, 2013, 21:30:05
Well I don't think you'll be the only one, I'm sure most of us will be a bit rusty when we finally start imaging again !
Ouch! :boom:
Very nice image Mike
julian
Beautiful image Mike!
Don't worry about the ISO 6400 - the high ISO won't add noise to the image - it will just restrict the dynamic range and dynamic range is not so essential in this particular image. The only thing likely to saturate is the comet's head.
You said you guided on the comet's head - did you notice any movement against the star background at that scale?
I haven't had a chance to look at my widefield data - I've been working on the shed all daylight hours since arriving home (including day off work on Monday).
Mark
DSC by day and night. The night exposure was 2 minutes at ISO 800
(http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2013/6apr2013day.jpg)
(http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2013/6apr2013night.jpg)
:o
Was it brighter at night!!!!!!!!!! :o
Tony G
Forgot to say that we obtained a sky quality meter reading of 20.8 both nights, which is not at all bad.
Mark
Nice comet Mike, I don't think the "cock ups" have done much harm.
I miss DSCs :(
Quote from: MarkS on Apr 09, 2013, 05:36:30
You said you guided on the comet's head - did you notice any movement against the star background at that scale?
Only slightly. I only got 7 x 30 seconds so in just over 3.5 minutes it would not have moved that much against the background stars.
Quote from: mickw on Apr 09, 2013, 08:31:23
I miss DSCs :(
So get your arse into gear and start coming again then!!
How long have you been in that house now?
Just over a year and the only astro related image is a bloody sunset :!
:cry: :cry:
I think it's well over a year. Surely your campervan is cleared out by now?
Quote from: Mike on Apr 09, 2013, 11:00:15
I think it's well over a year. Surely your campervan is cleared out by now?
Hmm, that could explain why I still can't find stuff :oops:
Been here a year to the day of the february meeting and the last DSC I went to would have been in 2011 :(
Quote from: mickw on Apr 09, 2013, 14:06:48
Been here a year to the day of the february meeting and the last DSC I went to would have been in 2011 :(
Shocking!!
Stoppit :P
:cry: :cry: :cry:
when is the next DSC?
June.
But nothing prevents a uDSC in May.
Oh good. Was worried it was this weekend and not prepared.
Fay...
http://forum.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/index.php?topic=8800.0
As Mark said, nothing stopping a uDSC being organised. Full Moon is on the 10th May so the weekend of the 10th-12th May would be best.
Mike
QuoteFull Moon is on the 10th May
Er - New Moon
Actually the moon won't be rising until around 2:30 on this Friday and obviously getting progressively later
Yeah - should be New Moon. :roll: