Webmaster – Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Dartford

Face-to-Face Meetings Every Thursday

2nd March 2024

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Face to face meetings every Thursday plus we are live on Zoom*

As a courtesy to others please stay at home and attend via the zoom if you are feeling unwell - coughs, sniffs and sneezes etc.

* zoom will only be available with the lecturer's consent.

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Public Outreach Hall Place – Winter 2024

15th February 2024

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It was another sell-out and in-spite of heavy cloud, after the welcome, telescope guidance and night sky tour presentations we were so very lucky to have 30 minutes or so with gaps in the clouds. The public appeared to be very appreciative of a glimpse of the moon & Jupiter through a very wide range of scopes – Society Dob’s, member refractors and new-gen smart scopes.

Tea and comets followed the outside observing and we finished bang on time.

In all an extremely successful evening – we’re very grateful to the great many members who gave up their time (and possibly a romantic dinner) to support the event!

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Messier 3

11th February 2024

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Messier 3 is a Globular Cluster in the constellation of Canes Venatici.

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Images by Simon Dawes

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AstroFest 2024

2nd February 2024

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Many members have been at AstroFest this weekend, but it looks like the cost of living crisis and high prices seem to be having an impact, with many retailers and manufacturers not exhibiting at AstroFest this year. At least there isn't the crush of people from past years and a bit more space to have a coffee and cake or get get some practice in docking to the ISS.

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Janice Receives the Lydia Brown Medal from the BAA

29th January 2024

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Janice received the Lydia Brown medal from the BAA in recognition of meritorious service to the Association in an honorary capacity over many years.

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IMG-20240120-WA0005

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IMG-20240120-WA0006

IMG-20240120-WA0008

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Occultation of Asteroid 2000 SZ278

29th January 2024

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Observation of an occultation by Asteroid 2000 SZ278 using an eVscope by Mike Rushton.

Mike has just started analysing these himself rather than sending them off to California for a bot to do the work.

Asteroid 2000 SZ278 which is a Main Belt member and only 1.2km in diameter passed in front of a 13th Mag star. The shadow crossed Kent and blocked the stars light for 2.2 secs.

You can clearly see this in the light curve (The time series data are 0.3 secs apart.)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="704"] 2000-SZ278OCCULTATION-20240126

Occultation by Asteroid 2000 SZ278 on 2024-01-26[/caption]

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Making a Hi-Res Solar Telescope

11th July 2022

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Simon modified a cheap, old and unused telescope with significant chromatic aberration into a super high resolution Solar telescope, his video below explains how he did it.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1395"] Image taken with Simon's hi-res Solar Telescope.[/caption]

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Making a Solar Filter for my Skywatcher 190MN

5th July 2022

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NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

My Skywatcher 190MN telescope has a very wide field of view I can easily fit the full Moon or Sun on the chip, so I thought I'd get myself some Baader solar Safety Film and make myself a solar filter - the video below shows how i made it and shows some early results. Check-out our solar section for more images.

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Mesu e200 Mount Unboxing and Assembly

5th July 2022

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I recently bought a Mesu e200 (also know as the Mesu MKII) mount. This mount uses friction rather than gears so doesn't have any backlash, it is incredibly accurate and can handle a load of 100Kg (that's 18 stone! or over 200lb!)

Check-out the video for the full unboxing and assembly - the video isn't a review but you will get an idea of the quality from this video. Whilst the mount is expensive, it is far more economical than equivalent mounts, other owners have sold their Paramount's in order to fund buying more of these - they really are good.

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22 degree solar halo 2022-06-26

30th June 2022

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="3468"] 20220626_180915 A 22 degree solar halo created by tumbling plate ice crystals in the high atmosphere, taken by John Archer on a Samsung Smart Phone[/caption]

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