Who is going to Kelling Heath?

[Delphine]

Hi

Who else os going to Kelling Heath this weekend?   I am booked to go tomorrow, Thursday,  but wondering what the weather will be like.   The forecasts keep changing!

Delphine

[Mike]

We are going down on Friday.

Forecast for Friday night looks OK at the moment but they are not to be trusted anyway.

[MarkS]

I'm not booked but hope you all have a great time.

Looks like a heatwave on Sunday and certainly a lot warmer than the minus 7.5C just experienced at DSC!

[mickw]

I'm not going but has anyone remembered the society solar scope ?

Good luck to those that are going

[RobertM]

I hope to be there Fri to Sun or Sat to Mon.

[Mike]

I'm not going but has anyone remembered the society solar scope ?

I have absolutely no idea where that is Mick. I've not seen it for about 3 years. Same goes for the Minitron camera we purchased that has vanished and never been used to my knowledge.

Anyone seen any solar scopes or Minitron cameras on eBay lately?

[Delphine]

Jim has it, i am going to pick it up now but I won't have room in my car for it tomorrow so I will need someone else to collect  it from me and take it to Kelling

Delphine

[Delphine]

I now have the solar scope.

I will have room in my car to take it to Kelling as I only have the scope not the mount.  Ken has the mount but we dont need it.

Delphine

[Mike]

Thanks Delphine. Anybody know who has the Minitron camera? (if it's not on astrobuysell already)

[Jim]

I've also got the camera Mike. Do you want it?

[Mike]

Jim is it something that gets used regularly at the Outreach events? If not would it be better used at Observing Evenings, DSC's, etc.?

I've never even seen it myself so I don't know how often it gets used.

[Jim]

Its not used Mike so you're welcome to it.

[Mike]

OK can you bring it along to the next meeting or event you come to please Jim. Thanks.

[Mike]

So how is it down at Kelling today Delphine?

[Delphine]

Sue, ian, roy and myself are in the pub keeping warm.  You will need to pack your thermals!  Sky is uniform grey.  No rain yet and ground is dry.

Delphine

[Delphine]

It is raining here today and forecast is for fog tonight!  But better tomorrow.


Delphine

[Mike]

Got here today at about 1:30. Was dry when we first started setting the tents up but then it started to rain. Typically it stopped as soon as the tents were up.

It is cold and foggy right now so it looks like a pub night. So far we have Delphine, Ian, Sue, Roy, Mike, Petra, Doug, Rose, Fay and our Special Guest has also joined us again.

Hopefully better weather tomorrow.

[Mike]

Woke up at 4am this morning to go to the toilet. Went outside and it was a totally clear sky.

This morning it's warm and sunny with blue skies. However the forecast says clouds and high winds due later.

Doesn't look like we'll have conditions suitable for astronomy any time soon.

[MarkS]

Wet and wild here in Kent at the moment.  It might be heading your way ...

[Rocket Pooch]

Was quite bad in West Sussex and heading up north.

But I did manage to get in a few rows of veg and plan seeds for my tomato and melon collection in the greenhouse and the chickens seem happy with thier new roof and perches.

[Delphine]

Wet and wild here in Kent at the moment.  It might be heading your way ...

Thanks for the warning Mark. It did indeed head our way last night.  Very windy with high speed gusts all night!!  Good test to see how our tents could stand up to such conditions!!

I suppose it was my fault because I bought a new telescope!

Delphine

[Carole]

What did you buy Delphine?

carole

[Rocket Pooch]

What did you buy Delphine?

carole

A new telescope

[Delphine]

Carole -  It is a Celestron NexStar 6SE.    Perfect for me as it is easy to assemble and light enough to carry.   I managed to sell my old one within 4 hours of buying the new one so I am very pleased all round!!  All I need now is a clear night!!

Delphine

[Mike]

Another very windy day today. However it was very warm with temperatures reaching 21°!

Went to Oxborough Hall today which is very nice. The forecast is saying there is a possibility of a clear sky tonight so I may finally get a chance to get my kit out the car and set it up.

[Carole]

It is a Celestron NexStar 6SE

That's the one you were originally going to buy.  Yes it does look ideal for you if you're not intending to do imaging, which I know you aren't.

Carole

[Mike]

Well it just goes to show how completely wrong weather forecasts can be sometimes. Yesterday every forecast I looked at said it would be cloudy all night with rain around 9pm. So, just before it got dark we weren't expecting any clear skies and went to the pub instead. After about an hour I popped my head outside and was greeted by a 100% clear sky. So we all rushed out of the pub and back to our scopes.

For the rest of the night it remained clear and only at around midnight did thin hazy clouds start to move slowly across the sky.

We saw Jupiter, Saturn, the comet, M3, M13, M51, M65/66, The Leo Triplet, Beehive, Double Cluster, Melotte 111, M101, and many other fuzzies. It was a great night. Tonight I'm definitely setting up for imaging instead of visual, just in case.

[Mac]

what is all this code you speak of. 

M3, M13, M51, M65/66, The Leo Triplet, Beehive, Double Cluster, Melotte 111, M101

is it German?

Its about time that someone is getting some clear skies to do some observing.

Mac.