Astronomy every Thursday
CMHASD member George Buckberry caught this plane transit across the sky below Orion on Thursday 27th February from Dartford. George used a Canon EOS 760D and Samyang 14mm wide Angle lens at F4. The camera was set to ISO 3200 and Bulb with Intervalometer set at 10 Sec exposure.
NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.
A lovely selection of images taken by member Jim Burchell. Details of how Jim took the images are on most of the photos.
1st March 2025
2nd March 2025
Crescent Venus below....
3rd March 2025
CMHASD trustee John Howarth spotted Mercury with a crescent Moon on the 1st March 2025 and quickly took these 2 photos from Bexley.
The first photo shows the Moon top right and Mercury, very faint but clearly visible, halfway down the roof line, just above the cloud near the end of a twig. The second photo just shows a faint Mercury in about the same spot.
Last night, Wed 8th February, a group of us returned to Wentworth Primary School, not far from Crayford, to educate and entertain the pupils. There were telescopes on display, activities in the gym & hall as well as a presentation on the night sky and member Aurora images. The teaching staff were delighted with how things went, and hoped we will return next year, (perhaps with clear skies).
CMHASD member George Buckberry who attended the event wrote ''It was a very good event, my first at a school. The children were of a similar age to a couple of my great grandchildren with similar energy and enthusiasm and interest. I took some books and pictures and a stellarscope that they liked a lot. My set up was a camera on a tripod with an intervalometer attached. It was viewing the Jupiter model and many of my visitors took a photo of it, a little bit of hands on, and delighted in the image they took on the screen. Horrible night to be out but it was well worth doing. Great fun.''
CMHASD chairman John Archer wrote ''I want to thank those who braved the sleet, and gave up their evening to share their interest and knowledge of astronomy with the younger generation – It’s entirely possible that the next generation of space explorers or alien life discoverers were with us last night – stranger things have happened!''
There are no photos of the event due to safeguarding.
The observatory and telescope are ready to use by members for visual observing. The telescope is fitted with an eyepiece. Any questions please direct them to Keith, Steve, Simon and Andy.
On Saturday 15th Feb 2025 CMHASD held their annual Society Meal. A large contingent of members ventured to the Chequers in the drizzle, to be met with a warm welcome and a splendid evening of food, drink and merriment. Credit to the Chequers team front of house and in the kitchen for their efforts as everything went off very well indeed :-) and a big Thank you to Malcolm Gough and John Archer for organising the event.
Below are a few photos taken of the super evening.
A wonderful widefield image of the Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) in Orion; taken on the 3rd Feb 2025 by member Neil Webster.
Neil acquired his image using a WO GT71 Apo, EQ6 R, 0.8x Reducer/Flattener, ZWO ASI 294 MC, 50mm Guide Camera, ZWO 290MM Guide Camera, and a Optolong L Enhance filter.
33 x 240s Subs, 10 x Darks, 45 x Flats/Bias
Processed using APT, PHD, Nebulosity, and Photoshop.
CMHASD Trustee John Howarth has been thanked for his help in a paper called SAO28567: One that got away published in a recent edition of the BAAVSS, written by Chris Lloyd of the RAL.
John said ''Chris originally suggested to Roger Pickard and Malcolm Gough that this would be a good object for the APT, as there had been a conflicting observation and they passed their data to me for analysis. Subsequently the star was shown to be a double and was being pulled out of shape by the gravity of its companion, hence the variability. I still had the data, so was able to send it to Chris Lloyd for his analysis, and the paper shows this.
I was pleased to be mentioned but it is also a great tribute to the Jack Ells APT and its operators. Timely too, because we are currently trying to find a permanent home for the APT, or at least for its photometer.''
To view the paper click on the link below to download the edition of the BAAVSS circular that has the paper in it.
NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.
A superb selection of member images taken on Friday 3rd January 2025.
The Sun at midday taken by Dr Mike Rushton taken using a Dwarf II smart scope. 20 x 1/250 sec at Gain 0 with a ND6 solar filter.
The Sun taken by Honor Wheeler
The Sun taken by Jim Burchell
The Pleiades by Dr Mike Rushton using a Dwarf II smart scope. 200 x 10sec exposures at Gain 60.
Crescent Moon and Venus taken by Honor Wheeler. Venus is top right of the Moon.
Saturn, Venus and the Moon taken by Honor Wheeler. Venus is top right of the Moon and Saturn is near the top left corner of the image.
On Wednesday, January 8th, members of the Society visited Wentworth Junior School in Crayford for an evening of stargazing. Unfortunately, poor weather prevented outdoor stargazing, so the event moved indoors. Despite this, the pupils remained enthusiastic, engaging with the activities and asking questions about telescopes, meteors, the phases of the Moon, and the solar system. The pupils were also fascinated by images of recent auroral activity. Overall, it was a rewarding and enjoyable evening for everyone involved.
Wentworth School wrote in their newsletter ''Our year 5 children welcomed the Crayford Astronomy group to school. They came armed with different telescopes and a mountain of knowledge! This happened to fall on the day that snow was predicted. With snow comes clouds and limited visuals and therefore a tweak to the proceedings. The children experimented by looking at a model of Jupiter, and saw a variety of pictures of the sun, moons and planets that had been taken throughout the South East of England. They also learnt about the orientation, facts and amount of moons and other features you find in space. We even discovered that there was an asteroid named Wentworth! This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening arranged by the astronomy group and we are extremely grateful that they could share their expertise!''
CMHASD Chairman John Archer wrote ''Last night (Wed’s 8th) a group of us returned to Wentworth Primary School, not far from Crayford, to educate and entertain the pupils. There were telescopes on display, activities in the gym & hall as well as a presentation on the night sky and member Aurora images. The teaching staff were delighted with how things went, and hoped we will return next year, (perhaps with clear skies).
I wanted to thank those who braved the sleet, and gave up their evening to share their interest and knowledge of astronomy with the younger generation – It’s entirely possible that the next generation of space explorers or alien life discoverers were with us last night – stranger things have happened!''
Below is a wonderful card made by the pupils in appreciation of our visit last week despite the horrible weather.
