Society News – Page 15 – Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Dartford

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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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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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The Moon – 17th Dec 2023

23rd December 2023

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A lovely image of a Waxing Crescent Moon taken on the 17th Dec 2023 by member Honor Wheeler. On this day the Moon was 4.72 days old, 27.01% illuminated and in the constellation Aquarius.

The image was taken using a Skywatcher ED80 Refractor, Skywatcher EQ3 Synscan mount, x2 Barlow, Canon M6 MRKII Camera set at ISO100 and exp. 1/20s.

The Moon – 19th Dec 2023

21st December 2023

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A stunning 10 frame image of the Moon taken by member Neil Webster on the 19th Dec 2023. The Moon was in the First Quarter phase, 47% illuminated, 7.07 days old and in the constellation Pisces.

The First Quarter phase comes roughly 7 days after the New Moon and is when the moon has completed one quarter of its orbit around the Earth hence the name First Quarter. The Moon in this phase is also referred to as a Half Moon too.

Neil acquired is image using a R/IR filter, ZWO ASI 290MM, EQ6 R, AA 115 triplet APO, and Firecapture. 10 frames stitched in Microsoft ICE. Each 90s x 33fps. 20% stacked in AutoStakkert. Post processed in Photoshop.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/53409456667/

Below are a couple of individual frames from the above image.

To see more of Neil's brilliant images check out his flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/with/53409456667/

Venus, Spica & Moon – 8th Dec 2023

21st December 2023

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Two super images by member Jim Burchell taken on the 8th Dec 2023. The 1st image shows Venus, the star Spica and the Moon going lower left to top right. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo and one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky. The 2nd image is of the Moon with Earthshine.

The Moon on the 8th December 2023 was 24.88 days old, 22.05% illuminated and in the Waning Crescent phase. This is the phase where the moon is less than 50% illuminated but has not yet reached 0% illumination which would be a New Moon.

Jupiter using a red filter – 5th Dec 2023

19th December 2023

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A great image of Jupiter taken by member and trustee Simon Dawes.

The image was taken on the 5th Dec 2023 using a Celestron EDGE11HD, with a red filter, f2800mm (f10), Rising Cam CMOS sensor and Mesu e200 mount. Sharpcap Pro, 2 min of video, stacked in AutoStakkert, processed in Registax 6 and Photoshop.

For more member images of Jupiter check out the Jupiter section on our website.

For more information about using filters for visual observing of the Moon and planets https://britastro.org/2018/filters-for-visual-observing-of-the-moon-and-planets

Moon – 28th Nov 2023

19th December 2023

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Two lovely images of the Moon taken by members Jim Burchell & Kevin Langford on the 28th Nov 2023.

On this day, the moon was 14.57 days old, 99.58% illuminated and so in the Waning Gibbous phase and found in the constellation Gemini. The Waning Gibbous phase is the first phase after the Full Moon. It lasts roughly 7 days with the Moon’s illumination growing smaller each day until the Moon becomes a Last Quarter Moon with an illumination of 50%, sometimes referred to has a half moon.

Gibbous has its origins in the Late Latin word gibbosus, meaning 'humpbacked' and the Latin word gibbus, meaning "hump." It was adopted into Middle English to describe rounded, convex things.

Kevin Langford's image taken using a Cannon 750D and a 150 to 600 mm Sigma lens.

Jim Burchell's image taken using a Pentax KP, F8.0, 1/400 sec, 300mm, iso 800 and cropped in Snapseed.

Aurora – Norway – November 2023

19th December 2023

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Member George Buckberry's sister Val Hicks went on a cruise up to the North of Norway in November this year and has kindly shared her photos with us of the stunning Aurora display that she saw. Some truly beautiful images :-)

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Category: Society News

AstroFest 2024

Janice Receives the Lydia Brown Medal from the BAA

Occultation of Asteroid 2000 SZ278

The Moon – 17th Dec 2023

The Moon – 19th Dec 2023

Venus, Spica & Moon – 8th Dec 2023

Jupiter using a red filter – 5th Dec 2023

Moon – 28th Nov 2023

Aurora – Norway – November 2023