Activities – Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Dartford

The Societies activities are wide ranging, from our Thursday night lectures, short notice observing sessions or weekends away at star camps or BAA weekends.

Observing Evening 2019-04-18

Thursday, 2019-04-18 was an informal observing evening and whilst not ideal with an almost full Moon, we had lots of telescopes out and other members learning how to use the Peter Hindle Telescope.

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Occultation of the Beehive by the Moon

On Saturday 13th April I’d hoped to go to the Observatory and image the occultation of the Beehive cluster by the Moon but alas Diane and I had forgotten that we were taking part in a local RSPB quiz. We’ve taken part on a number of other occasions with fellow member Deborah and David, her husband, who are also keen bird watchers, so we had said yes to this quiz before we knew about the events clashing.

The skies were still clear after the quiz so we headed to the observatory, we got to the Pavilion at about 22:30BST (21:30UT) to find that no one else was using it. We imaged the Moon with the Beehive cluster from the patio then imaged some lunar craters and took a tour around the sky with the 16″. The skies remained clear until 02:10BST at which time Diane and I packed up and went home.

Kelling Heath Star Party Spring 2019

4 Members and 2 ex-Members travelled to the Kelling Heath Star Party, this star party has notoriously poor weather, but on this occasion we were blessed with reasonable views on Wednesday night and clear skies from dusk ’till dawn on Thursday Night, Friday Morning.

Many, many objects were observed with Keith’s 10″ Dobsonian and Simon’s 12″ Truss Dobsonian, Julian and another Simon both allowed us to view objects with their 20″ Dob’s.

Apparently the food was epic…

Auriga

no images were found

Camp Site

Mist on Sunday

Astronomy Outreach with Sutton-at-Hone School

We welcomed the Children of Sutton-at-Hone Primary school to the Dick Chambers Observatory on the 12th December 2018. They had a chance to look through the Peter Hindle telescope and from the photos it looks like they had a great time, whilst learning a bit about the science of Astronomy.

Parental permission given for all images used.

A group of children enjoying their visit to the dickchambers obsevatoryParemntalpermission#1

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Back to Basics Workshop

We hosted The 2018 British Astronomical Association Back to Basics workshop on 6th October.

These workshops are great for beginners just starting out in astronomy and wanting to learn how to use their telescopes or get started in Astronomy and over 50 people turned up – well done and thank you to all the Crayford Members who helped out.

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Astronomy Fun Day at the Priory Centre Dartford

The Society took part in an Astronomy Fun Day on Saturday 25th August 2018 at the Priory Shopping Centre to promote Astronomy, and encourage locals to visit the shopping centre, the day was well attended and along with CMHASD was an inflatable planetarium. During the day we were promoting the BAA Back to basics workshop we are supporting in October.

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Solar Observing at Hall Place – August 2018

The Society were at Hall Place on Sunday 19 August 2018 showing members of the public the Sun using safe observing techniques and talking to people about Astronomy in general. Whilst there was a fair amount of cloud about and the Sun was playing ‘hide-and-seek’ the day was a massive success.

The Society were at Hall Place on Sunday showing members of the public the Sun using safe observing techniques and talking to people about Astronomy in general. Whilst there was a fair amount of cloud about and the Sun was playing ‘hide-and-seek’ the day was a massive success.

2018 Summer BBQ

The summer BBQ was a great hit again. About 25 members attended and we had food for about 100! The day was very relaxed. We had a few glimpses of the Sun through our Dobsonian telescope, Anita using Baader Solar Safety Film, unfortunately there were no Sun spots visible.

BAA Summer Meeting 2012

This meeting was hosted by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society, the weather wasn’t great but we did manage to get the Solar scopes out for a short while. The lectures were great.

Europe goes to Jupiter

Dr Chris Arridge
All about project JUICE an ESA mission to Jupiter

Rosetta

Dr Dan Andrews
All about missions to comets with some insight into the Beagle 2 mission

Application of penetrators for the Exploration of planets & the Moon

Dr Rob Gowen
Title says it all really

Differentiating between dead comets and Asteroids

Prof. Iwan Williams
All about categorisation of asteroids and coments and how/ if they can/should be classified differently

Working on Mars

Dr Craig Leff
All about how to manage robotic missions on Mars.

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The Dartford festival 2012

We attended the Dartford show and were able to show members of the public the planet Venus as well as the Sun

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More Society Activities

$Image by Honor Wheeler This was taken using: Skywatcher ED80 refractor Canon 700D set in movie mode @50fps 2x Barlow EQ3 mount Date 2020.04.20 13:09UTC Transit time was 0.9 sec 16 frames extracted from the original video using PIPP and then the layers merged in Photoshop elements 6. Additional processing also done in Photoshop E6.$

$Image by Honor Wheeler Skywatcher ED80 refractor, Canon M6 Mark2 camera. EQ3 synscan mount. For the full disc I used a x2 Barlow and the close up x5 Barlow. Processed using PIPP, AS!3 & PShop elements6. I could have done better but didn\'t have clear skies really for long enough and at the moment the sun is so darn low! Anyway happy to get these.$

$Image by Jim Burchell 11/07/20. Image\'s taken with a pentax K70 Comet is c/2020 F3 Neowise$

$Image by Jim Burchell 11/07/20. Image\'s taken with a pentax K70$

$Image by Jim Burchell 11/07/20. Image\'s taken with a Pentax K70$

Comet_C-2020_F3__NEOWISE__2020-07-13_1860s

The-Great-Conjunction-of-Jupiter-Saturn-2020-12-20-1645

$Image by Steve Goldson 1/8 sec f5.6. ISO 6400. taken at 18.02. 20/12/2020. (Inset image: 1/8 sec f5.6. ISO 3200 taken at 18.07. 20/12/2020. - Note Steve captured 3 of Jupiter\'s moons)$

Flying-Horse-Nebula-NGC-7380-Sh2-142-Sept-2020

$Venus in the dawn Sky. By Jim Burchell Image taken in Eynsford on 20/11/20. Using Pentax K70 iso 400 f 5.0 1\"1/3s 18.00mm.$

Comet-C-2020F3NEOWISE-Reculver-Towers-2020-07-13_01-27UT-

Comer-C-2020F3NEOWISE-2020-07-12-2240UT1

$Image by Diane I took this image of Venus before the sunrise on the way back from imaging the mornings NLC\'s Canon 750D, 55mm lens ISO 500, 1/80 @ f5.6, Static Tripod, 18.06.20 @ 04.18 Diane Clarke, Crayford Kent$

$Image by Honor Wheeler finally found this image of the Milky Way taken from my back garden on the evening of the 23rd of August 2014. I\'d just got back from the cinema and the sky was amazing. As you\'ll see it was a single shot with my Canon 1100D on a tripod, no tracking! Black and White as light pollution was an issue.$

MOON-Mare-Imbrium-Mare-Serenitatis-Plato

JimBurchell-Moon-and-Mercury-20200525_095543

$Image by Stephen Goldson \'First time I\'ve seen Mercury clearly\'$

John-Howarth-Moon-Mercury-Venus-May24_2056UT

John-Howarth-Moon-Mercury-Venus-May24_2045UT

$Image by John Howarth Image taken through glass in upstairs window. (Window will open but not in the right direction. Telephone wires are a nuisance too, just in wrong place..or perhaps Mercury\'s in the wrong place!)$

Conjunction of the Moon Jupiter Sature and Mars

M51-60m-IDAS-LPS-D2-20m-Ha-20m-SII-20m-OIII

$M51 Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici Taken by: Keith Rickard 25 April 2020 Paddock Wood, Kent, UK 10\" Meade LX200 Classic SCT at F6.3 SBIG ST-7XME CCD 19 x 300 seconds using Luminance Filter Captured and processed using: MaxIm DL$

$Image by Kevin Langford This is one 3min sub of NGC4565 Needle Galaxy taken on the 19th April 2020 at 21:35. Photo-Boomed by Elon Musk\'s Skylink satellites.$

Iss-slipping-between-the-now-moon-and-Venus-at-20.33-2020-03-28-at-20.33.23

$Altair Astro AO EQ6-R, ZWO ASI294MC Pro St Mary\'s Platt, Kent.$

$Image by Simon Dawes It\'s been 11 years, 1 month and 5 days since I last imaged Venus, now I remember why...$

The-Moon-2020-03-02-1959-8bit-1500-of-3000

$Image By Jim of a wide conjunction of the Moon and Venus. Pentax K70 F5.6 4\" ISO 400 Sutton-at-Hone$

NGC2024 Flame Nebula + Horsehead Nebula By Kevin Langford

$Image by CMHASD Members 16\" LX200 Total of 360s unfiltered$

$After checking out spaceweather.com for any astronomy updates yesterday, Honor couldn\'t believe the Sun had finally got some sunspots. Being up early anyway to walk her Mum\'s dog, she got home and got her ED80 refractor set up on an EQ3 and took some photo\'s.$

M31_438s_from_5s_and_6s_subs_WOED80_Skywatcher_Star_Adventurer_Olympus_EPL6_ISO_8000

$A total of 243 Perseid\'s were identified, out of a total of 503 meteors analysed. The brightest being of magnitude -3.4 A graphic by Simon Dawes$

$Image by Honor Wheeler Date: 2019-06-21 21:36UT Location: Kelling Heath Norfolk, England. I must admit that the clouds were so extensive that I didn\'t think they were NLC\'s! I was not prepared either, as the only lens I had on me was a 70 - 300 lens, which didn\'t do the scale of the clouds justice.$

$Image by Honor Wheeler Date: 2019-06-21 21:35UT Location: Kelling Heath Norfolk, England. I must admit that the clouds were so extensive that I didn\'t think they were NLC\'s! I was not prepared either, as the only lens I had on me was a 70 - 300 lens, which didn\'t do the scale of the clouds justice.$

$Image by Neil Webster Altair Astro 115mm APO EQ6 R Canon 600D, f7, ISO 800, ZWO ASI385 MC, Backyard EOS, PHD, Nebulosity, Photoshop, Astronomy Tools 9 x 270s Lights St Mary\'s Platt 2019-04-21$

Mars_Pleiades_California_Nebula_48m-50pc_resize_for_BAA

$It was a beautiful night, zero cloud, limiting visual magnitude of 4.6 (in South East London!) Image by Simon Dawes This was my first outing with narrowband filters, and the result is my first ever attempt at processing narrowband images - I\'m sure they could be processed better but I\'m happy with the result, I may come back to this another day but I had an itch to scratch to see what my first ever narrowband images would come out like. No werewolves in sight, I\'m beginning to think they only exist in my imagination...$

full moon_2018-01-31_20-48-05_L_ISO100_1-640s61Framesstacked

$Image by Simon Dawes 2015-02-24 5\" Achromat Refractor Canon 600D (full spectrum mod) IR Pass filter$

Moon_2019-03-12_21-02-24_ISO100_1-160s_600D_stack_of_100

$Image by Honor Wheeler, taken hand held, at the eyepiece of an 8\" F8 Dobsonian.$

Rosette Nebula Caldwell 49, by Simon Dawes

$Image by John Howarth. Taken hand-held with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ3 with somewhere near X3 optical magnification, at 0700UT (to within about 1minute by the camera\'s internal clock).$

Moon Venus and Jupiter in a January Morning Sky (2019)

$Image by Neil Webster \'Hole in a Cluster\' Altair Astro 115 APO, NEQ6, Canon 600D, ZWO AS1385 MC, ISO 800, f/7 Exposure: 26x 180s St Marys Platt, England$

$Images by Honor Wheeler The top image is at the beginning of Totality @ 04:41UT Middle image at mid-Totality @ 05:12UT Bottom image at the end of Totality @ 05:43UT All images were taken with a: Canon 1100D Sky-watcher ED80 Refractor Sky-watcher EQ3 Synscan mount. ISO100 20sec exposure on all images Temperature was approx -5°C :)$

LunarEclipse2019-01-21LeighSlomer_PPhoto_1548286223576

LunarEclipse2019-01-21LeighSlomer_Photo_1548286224148

LunarEclipse2019-01-21LeighSlomer_Photo_1548286223856

LunarEclipse2019-01-21LeighSlomer_Photo_1548286223273

MartinCrowBBCBreakfastNews21january2019LunarEclipse

20190122- LUnnar Eclipse Montage by Jim Burchell

$Image by Honor Wheeler I\'ve been lucky to have imaged the comet twice myself, once on Friday 7th & again on Sunday. The seeing has been pretty poor but it was just visible in 10x50 binoculars and looked pretty good in my 72mm refractor and 40mm eyepiece.$

46PWirtanen2018-12-16_0030_cottowoodArizonaRB

46PWirtanen2018-12-13_cottowoodArizonaRB

Total Solar Eclipse Image by Andy Barber 01/08/2008 11:33

Total Solar Eclipse Image by Andy Barber 01/08/2008 11:18

Total Solar Eclipse Image by Andy Barber 01/08/2008 11:07

Eclipse China Image by Andy Barber 01/08/2008 11:07

Solar Eclipse 2008 China ANdy Barber01/08/2008 10:25

$Ground map of the Orionids these show meteors that the Nemetode group have been able to triangulate. Our meteors are those associated with the \'Dartford\' Observatory.$

$Ground map of the Draconids these show meteors that the Nemetode group have been able to triangulate. Our meteors are those associated with the \'Dartford\' Observatory.$

$Image by Martin Crow 2014-04-04 19:58UT DMK41as02 on 80mm Eqinox Refractor Lucksall Herefordshire$

$Image by Martin Crow \'Earth Shine\'$

$Image by Keith Rickard LX10 8\", Olympus OM10, prime focus.$

$Imaged by: Martin Crow Instrument: 80mm Equnix ED Refractor @ f6 with Canon 400D 8x 60s$

$by: Simon Dawes Method: 12\" Orion Optics DX300 Newtonian Reflector on Vixen GPDX mount, Artemis 285AL CCD, 8 x 15sec exposures, artificial \"flat field\".$

$Imaged by: Andrew Wilson Method: LX200 8\", MX916 CCD$

$Imaged by: Andrew Wilson Method: LX200 8\", MX916 CCD$

$Imaged by: Roger Pickard Date: 6 May 2004, 23:41 UT) Method: LX200 12\", Hale CCD, 30 seconds$

$Imaged by: Julian Tworek Date: 1 March 2003 Method: LX200 10\", MX716 CCD, F3.3, Red 6 x15 sec, Green 5x15 sec, Blue 5x15 sec, Luminance 5x15 secs - all averaged together.$