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First real NLC display of 2009

It was a short lived display for us here in Kerry and I would have missed it only that I got a call from Tony who has a commanding view of the northern horizon. the image opposite was taken at 23:44 when it was so extensive that I initially doubted that they were NLC, but the colour and the quick change in appearances (See the Gallery for a second image at 23:55 at the same exposure settings) left little doubt.

International Year of Astronomy 2009

To coincide with the International Year of Astronomy Kerry Astronomy Club will be doing our bit to bring the views of night sky with all its wonders to as many members of the public as possible. We have already visited some national schools in the area and are planning to get to more as the year progresses.

We took part in the 100 hours of astronomy with a sucessful public observing sessions on the 2nd of April at the Aquadome in Tralee. Thanks to all that turned up and to the Aquadome for allowing us use their carpark.

We had four telescopes and some binoculars and had a stady flow of people coming to have a look at the first quarter Moon (below) and Saturn and three of its moons.

100 Hours of Astronomy event Thursday 2nd April, 8:30pm to 11pm

Tralee Aquadome Carpark.

The Moon and Sirius

We are giving a talk at this years Samhlaiocht arts festival at Easter on Good Friday with, weather permitting, an observing session after.

We hope to get many other events planned and executed over the year, so check back here for up to date information.

CONJUNCTION OF MOON, VENUS AND JUPITER DECEMBER 1st 2008

For more pics click here              Pics by Trevor O'Donoghue

Moon on 16th September 2008

Taken through a skylux 70 mm refractor with a Canon 450D
For large version click here

Eclipses of August 2008

Partial Lunar eclipse on the evening of the 16th August.

Fifteen days after the Solar eclipse when the Moon was full again there was be a Partial lunar eclipse. This occurs because at this time the angle of the Moon's orbit intersects the ecliptic at Full and New Moon. This was a fairly deep partial eclipse with over 80% of the Moons surface in the umbral (total) shadow. It rose just as the Sun set at about 9pm and the deepest eclipsing occurred at 22:10 when the moon was just a little less than 10 degrees above the east south eastern (128deg) horizon.

From where I was in West Cork the Moon was visible for most of the eclipse with only the odd cloud interrupting the view, Picture is not the best as I had only a zoom lens and no tripod.

Solar eclipse of August 1st

On the first of August there was a total solar eclipse visible along a narrow track that started in eastern Canada, crossed Greenland, then the Arctic seas before making landfall in Northern Russia and ending in mainland China. Form here in Southwestern Ireland we saw a partial solar eclipse with less than 25% of the sun's diameter covered by the Moon.

First item as always is safety. NEVER look at the Sun directly, even with just your eyes. Use special eclipse glasses or proper solar filters. You can also use an ELECTRIC ARC welding mask if the filter number is 13 or higher. A safe way of seeing the event is to project an image of the sun onto a white card with one side of a pair of binoculars. If in doubt don't risk it! There will be more eclipses but you only have one pair of eyes.

The first signs of the moon in front of the Sun (first contact) was visible, on schedule at about 9:25 BST under pleasantly clear skies. The Moon's bite got bigger and bigger until its maximum cover for our location at about 10:09 am. as shown above. The event was over at 10:52 when the Sun regained its more usual round appearance.

For more images see our Solar gallery page.

Total Lunar eclipse of Feb. 21st '08 seen in Kerry.

Being the last total lunar eclipse to be visible from Ireland from start to finish a special effort was put in to see it. The weather did its best to spoil the show but thanks to a local weather effect here in Tralee where, given a strong wind over the mountains, we often get clearances in the lee of the hills. So with a bit of driving we were some of the few in Ireland to see the event more or less in its totality.

The partial phase always looks odd with "bite" missing out of one edge. However it is nothing compared with the eerie appearance of the totally eclipsed Moon with the stars (and Saturn) hanging beside it in the sky.

What was a bright moonlit night just half an hour previously turns into a surreal darkness with a ruddy red Moon hanging among previously unseen stars.

Totality numerically lasted for 51 minutes but the lower limb of the Moon never really darkened as it was always close to the edge of the umbral shadow.

The image over was taken at mid eclipse at 03:26 and is considerably brighter than what was visible to your eye.

For more images see the Lunar gallery page.

ISS with Shuttle attached

These are images of the ISS taken on the 18:38 pass with a webcam and a 222mm Dobsonian telescope manually tracked.

For more details see the Near sky gallery page

For better images by other Irish amateur's see the IFAS Forum discussion page

The International Space Station (ISS) is visible from Ireland in the Evening and Morning Sky for at different times throughout the year. Check the links below for times.

The times are available here for when it is visible from Killarney, Tralee and Dublin

SPEIR FEEDBACK FORM

MEETING FEEDBACK FORM

Telescope Collimation, A lot of you have been asking about collimating a reflecting telescope. As a starting point have a look at the links below
http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/howto/scopes/article_790.asp
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.scagell/collimate.html
http://www.atmsite.org/contrib/Carlin/collimation/
http://www.nightskygazing.net/maintenance2.html