Four superb single shot images of the Milky Way captured by member Honor Wheeler whilst on holiday in Kelling Heath, Norfolk. In one of the photo's there is a meteor!
Author: WebMistress
CMHASD supporting the BAA at New Scientist Live – ExCel London 2023
Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Dartford (CMHASD) were out in force at the recent New Scientist Live event at ExCel Centre, London Docklands on the 7th to 9th October 2023. We were there to help the British Astronomical Association (BAA) on their stand over the 3 days to promote the BAA and answer questions from members of the public, school children and teachers on all things astronomical.
CMHASD member Diane Clarke wrote ''As part of our display we had several 3D printed items which included: M51, painted scale models of the planets Mars & Jupiter and a section of the largest canyon in the Solar System the Valles Marineris.
Issac and Tinie the CMHASD Dobsonian telescopes were a favourite with all. Visitors to the stand were able to look through Issac and Tinie at a 7m diameter inflated printed globe of the planet Mars.
All of these proved great talking points enabling us to make several sales as well as promoting membership of the BAA.
Among the visitors to the BAA’s stand was Professor Richard S. Ellis with his family; who had earlier in the day given a talk titled When galaxies were born: First results from the James Webb Space Telescope to a packed audience.
All in all, everybody who staffed the stand enjoyed the experience. Over the 3 days their enthusiasm & knowledge radiated to everybody that visited the stand, hopefully resulting in future new members of the BAA.''
CMHASD would like to thank all their members who helped over the 3 days and to Diane Clarke for sharing her photos of the event.
CMHASD Solar Observing at Hall Place – 19th August 2023
NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.
On Saturday the 19th of August several members of the Society were present for the second of our 2 solar observing sessions at Hall Place & Gardens. Below are some photos of the day. Thank you to Dr Mike Rushton, Honor Wheeler, Jim Burchell, Omila and Diane Clarke for sharing your photos.
The Sun in Hydrogen Alpha taken by Honor Wheeler using a Personal Solar Telescope (PST).
The Sun in white light taken by Omila using an iPhone with an adapter and telescope fitted with a Solar filter.
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Full Moon & the final Supermoon of 2023 – 29th Sept 2023
Several CMHASD members were out on the 29th September 2023 to image the final Supermoon of 2023 and below are their images. This full Moon is also known as the Harvest Moon as it is the closest Full Moon to the September equinox this year.
Most years, the Harvest Moon is in September but around every three years it’s in October. When the Harvest Moon occurs in September it replaces the Corn Moon. When it happens in October it takes the place of the Hunters Moon.
Kevin Smith's image taken from Deal, Kent.
Honor Wheeler's images taken from Dartford, Kent.
Dominique Ferrand's image taken from Cordoba, Spain. Dominique's image is of the full Moon and Jupiter.
For more information: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/harvest.html
Annular Solar Eclipse 2023 – Richard Bohner
NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.
On Saturday 14th October 2023 an annular solar eclipse crossed North, Central and South America.
Member Richard Bohner; who lives in the USA wrote ''Hello all. There will be an annular solar eclipse here in Arizona on 14 October at 9:30 AM. The path is crossing the “Four Corners” area (where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico come together). I am coming back from a week holiday in Colorado, but leaving early in morning (6 AM) to get to my spot to observe the eclipse at 8:30 AM. I will have photos to post.'' and here they are...
Some info on eclipse - Moon distance 246,504 miles and Moon coverage of sun 95.2%
Richard used his old Meade ETX 70 to acquire the photos.
The Sun and the Wilson Effect – Simon Dawes
NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.
On the 26th September 2023 member Simon Dawes imaged the Sun. One of his images of the sunspots on the Sun that day showed an interesting effect called the 'Wilson Effect'. The Wilson effect is the perceived depression of a sunspot's umbra or centre in the Sun's photosphere.
Sunspot AR3443 showing the 'Wilson Effect'
https://britastro.org/section_information_/solar-section-overview/wilson-effect-observers-challenge
WOW – Rare Super Blue Moon captured by Jim Burchell
A fantastic image of a Full Moon, a Supermoon and finally a Blue Moon all captured by member Jim Burchell on the 30th August 2023 from Dartford top road in Kent. WOW!!!!
The combination of a Blue Moon and Super Moon is very rare, so this was a very rare chance to see what is known as a Super Blue Moon. The last one was back in 2009 and we will have to wait until 2037 to see it again.
A blue Moon happens when the pattern of days in a year means there are 13 full Moons instead of the usual 12 and so one month has 2 full moons. This year the month of August had 2 full Moons.
Anyone hoping to seen the Moon tinged the colour blue would have been disappointed. The name of the Moon has nothing to do with colour but instead is so called because it does not fall in the usual scheme of named Moons. It is thought that the rarity is where the phrase "once in a blue Moon" may come from. The last blue Moon was in August 2021 and the next one will be in 2026.
This blue Moon is also known as a supermoon too and so appeared larger and brighter than usual in the sky. This was due to the fact that the Moon was near it's closest point in its orbit around the Earth.
Finally, the 30th Aug 2023 full moon was the biggest and brightest Super Moon of the year as this year there are 4 Supermoons!
For more information click on this link https://moon.nasa.gov/news/197/super-blue-moons-your-questions-answered/
ExoPlanet transit of TrES-3b by Dr Mike Rushton
The transit of Exoplanet TrES-3b by CMHASD member & trustee Dr. Mike Rushton using an eVscope for the ExoClock project.
TrES-3b is a gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star GSC 03089-00929 a G-type star and is 0.02282 AU from its star. It has an orbital period of just 31 hours and nearly twice the mass of Jupiter. It was found by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey in 2007. It was discovered in the constellation Hercules about 10 degrees west of the star Vega.
The planet TrES-3b is named Umbäässa. The name was selected in the NameExoWorlds campaign by Liechtenstein, during the 100th anniversary of the IAU. In the local dialect of southern Liechtenstein, Umbäässa is a small and barely visible ant.
Crepuscular rays at the pavilion by Honor Wheeler
A lovely image taken by member Honor Wheeler on the 10th August 2023 whilst at the pavilion on an informal night of some crepuscular rays.
''Crepuscular rays are sunbeams that originate when the Sun is just above or below a layer of clouds, during the twilight period; which extend over the western sky radiating from the position of the Sun. Crepuscular comes from the Latin word crepusculum meaning "twilight". Loosely, the term crepuscular rays is sometimes extended to the general phenomenon of rays of sunlight that appear to converge at a point in the sky, irrespective of time of day.'' Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular_rays
''The radiating appearance of the bands is caused by perspective, as demonstrated by the fact that when on rare occasions the rays extend across the entire sky, they appear to converge again on the eastern horizon. This rare related phenomena are called anticrepuscular rays and so appear at the same time (and coloration) as crepuscular rays but in the opposite direction of the setting sun (east rather than west).'' Ref: https://www.britannica.com/science/crepuscular-ray
ExoPlanet TOI-1728b transit by Martin Crow
Another for the ExoClock project by CMHASD member & trustee Martin Crow of ExoPlanet TOI-1728b; a warm Super-Neptune orbiting an M-dwarf host.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dam46uPBtNU