Old Observer Reports

Observing Session Report Tuesday 22nd November 8pm Banna Beach outside Tralee.

Once again we had quite a successful observing session on Tuesday 22nd November. Somewhere between 25 and 30 members braved the cold through the course of the evening and were rewarded with stunning views of our universe.

On hand were 10" and 8" dobs, a meade etx70 a vast range of binoculars in all apertures from 40mm up to 80mm. The evenings kicked off with some constellation learning. First up was the great square of Pegasus followed by Paddy giving us a guided tour of the night sky with a laser pointer. The fainter constellations of the Zodiac, such as Aries, Pisces and Aquarius were next on the list. The Summer triangle and the great and little bear were also pointed out. As the night wore on, the winter favourites rose higher in the sky and I think most people that turned up will have learnt a number of new constellations.

Throughout the night the scopes and binoculars were turned on the old reliables, such as the Great Orion Nebula, (the maternity ward) the Pleiades, The Hyades, The gaggle of Messier clusters in Auriga, M41 in Gemini, and the Double Cluster. A good deal of time was also spent explaining the geography of our Galaxy and why we can see the Milky Way. To contrast with the Open Clusters, we also took in a number of Globular Clusters such as M13 early in the evening followed by M2 and M15. As if that was not enough, Galaxies were next in the eyepiece, M31 and 32 followed by M81 and M82. These were well received and were greeted with a number of "OOO's" and "AAAHS".

Mars was briefly observed but with the moon out of the way, the majority of the evening was spent on the deep sky targets. During the evening we were also lucky to catch a number of bright shooting stars with visible trails. As the night wore on we were treated to a spectacular orange rising moon, which seemed to appear as if by magic on the NE horizon. The night was wrapped up with some views of a shimmering moon and a fuzzy Saturn as, fog, dew and the atmosphere began to get the upper hand.

All in all an excellent evening and a great start to the winters observing. Lets hope for more of the same.

Observing session, Nov. 19th.

It was late when the weather showed promised but we said that we would take any opportunity that came so we headed to the Short Mountain accompanied by a rising last quarter Moon. There was some high cloud and together with the bright Moon it meant that deepsky objects were not going to be spectacular. However we had a good night picking out the constellations and examining Mars in close-up. There were just seven of us there, a consequence of the short notice and the night of the week.

Lunar/Martian observing session, Oct 13th

On Thursday 13th October Kerry Astronomy Club held a Lunar and Martian observing session. We all met on Short mountain outside Tralee at 9pm. There were a number of telescopes present along with a few pairs of binoculars. Among the scopes were a 8.75” and 10” dob, a Meade etx 70 and a pair of 70mm Skylux's. There was some low lying cloud and a bright moon that hampered conditions a little for the deep sky targets but did not dampen our spirits or the enjoyment of the night sky.

The first target was the moon and this proved particularly impressive, if a little bright. We had quite a few new members along to their first observing session and the moon never fails to please. Highlights included the Gassendi Crater, Mare Humorum, The Bay of Rainbows and the Jura Mountains. Gassendi was particularly prominent with the terminator running through the centre highlighting the central mountain. Its walls could also be seen extending into the darkness beyond the terminator.

Next up was a look at Mars, but it was down too low and the atmosphere was too unsteady to warrant serious study. The next few hours were spent explaining the use of a planisphere and pointing out constellations to some of the newer members and how we use these to find interesting objects in the night sky. We looked at Ursa Major/Minor, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Auriga, The Summer Triangle and its stars/constellations and Hercules.

Following our tour of the constellations, it was time to have a look at some of the more notable objects on view. We used binoculars to look at, The Pleiades, The Double Cluster, The Perseus Cluster, The Andromeda galaxy, The Coathanger cluster, and Alcor and and Mizar. The scopes were then turned to some of the same objects to illustrate what can be seen with each scope and the differences between the scopes and binoculars. The scopes were also turned towards The Ring Nebula, M13, the E.T. Cluster and Albireo. Despite the fact that there was a particularly bright moon, most of the objects were very impressive and served to illustrate what is accessible with the naked eye or a modest pair of binoculars.

Lined up on Mars with the Pleiades to its right

As the night wore on, the temperature dropped, the clouds cleared, the wind slackened and the atmosphere steadied allowing us at last to turn our attention to Mars. All scopes were trained on mars and detail was visible even in the 70mm scopes. Particularly evident was a dark grey section with a lighter pinkish area below it. The dark grey section is known as Syrtis Major and the lighter pink region is made up of four regions called Moab,Eden, Arabia and Aeria.

A thoroughly enjoyable night and hopefully the first of many over the next few months

Summer observing session, June 10/11th.

After a couple of sunny days (that were all followed by foggy nights), late on the Friday night we decided to have a go for an observing session. As it is near our midsummer, the sky never reaches "astronomical twilight" levels so we were able to see the twilight on the due north horizon at about 1:38 BST. From Kerry the sun is only 14 degrees below the horizon at Solar midnight. We decided on the Banna observing site over the "Short Mountain" due to the higher risk of fog on the hills.

Despite this there was plenty of objects to see. Initially, at 11 PM we saw Venus low in the north-western sky and a young Moon with nice Earth-shine a little higher and to the left.

Saturn should have been visible too, but a patch of persistent cloud kept us from having probably our last view of it for this apparition.

Next on the list was Jupiter. All four moons were visible to the west of the planet as well as the various cloud bands on the planet itself.

With the sky as dark as it was going to get and the Moon set we had a look at some of the favourite summer Deepsky objects. M57 proved to be easy in the bigger Dobsonians but the Dumbbell M27, which usually stands out well was surprisingly difficult due to the residual sky brightness. However M13 in Hercules was stunning. It was interesting to see the difference that aperture made to its appearance. From a smoky patch in 50mm binoculars to a swarm of individual stars in the 250mm Dobsonian

M10 and M12 in Ophiuchus were also viewed, appearing as smaller, fainter versions of M13. To their south lay the constellation of Scorpio. There are many targets in this area and in nearby Sagittarius but the haze near the ground made for fruitless hunting.

We also did some hunting for the comet 9P/Tempel but failed to see it. Maybe post impact it may be visible?

After 2 AM the wind picked up a little and everything instantly dewed over. Cloud also materialised so we packed up. The temperature never dropped below about 13 degrees C and it was a most pleasant nights viewing.

Lunar observing session, March 19th.

All week we were hoping for a clear night towards the end of the week to try to have our first Lunar observing session. On Saturday morning the skies were hazy but mostly clear of large cloud so the e-mails and text were sent out for a session that night. We decided to hold it town as the Short Mountain would be too exposed to the wind and for lunar observing a dark sky is not necessary. This was just as well as a large gorse fire near there would have ruined the seeing at least and necessitated our evacuation at worst. We settled on the Fels Point carpark near the Aquadome.

We set up two telescopes and with the Moon so high in the sky, the occasional cloud did not interfere too much. At 20:15 we also saw the ISS make a bright pass all the way from west to low in the east. In total we had about 18 observers including a few of erectors from "Tuam Pleasure Tents" working on the tent for Tralee's Easter Spring fair. We had a good look at the prominent craters along the terminator of the Moon, at Saturn that was just positioned below it and later at Jupiter as it rose over the eastern horizon.

By ten o'clock we were ready to tidy up and as I left one of the tent erectors drove out with me. He had been waiting in silence for nearly an hour for us to finish up so that he could lock the gate! Thanks....

Observing session, March 6th.

Following a long cold spell the forecast was for a clear but very cold night on Sunday, March the 6th. The e-mails and texts were sent out on the Saturday for an early start at 7:30pm. This was to catch Mercury before it set in the west at 8:06. As we drove down the road to the observing site at Banna beach Mercury was directly in front of us promising a good start to the night.

By the time we were setup the sky was darkening and there was just time to catch a couple of pictures of the inner most planet before it set.

When the sky did darken quite a crowd had gathered. We had seven telescopes set up from 70mm to 250mm and there was about 25 to 30 people in attendance, difficult to count in the dark.

As it is spring, (although the weather was definitely winter), the ecliptic is at its greatest angle to the horizon in the evening in the west after sunset. This makes it the best time to try to see the Zodiacal Light. This is sunlight reflected off of minute grains of dust that orbit the Sun. The precise composition and distribution of this dust is still not totally understood but the reflected sunlight can occasionally be seen from these latitudes. Further south, where the ecliptic is steeper, it is a common sight.

Tonight the Zodiacal light was very obvious and brighter than the milkyway to its north. I have tried to get pictures of this before on film but without success. This time, armed with a digital Canon 300D I think that I succeed in capturing it. It is a very large and gradual effect.

The rest of the night was spent on Saturn, and all the other splendours on view, finishing off with Jupiter when it had risen enough to be worth viewing. We caught seven or eight of the galaxies under Leo and saw what might well be the last good view of Comet Machholz for another 119,000 years!

We all packed up by 11:15pm with frost on all the telescope tubes and the thermometers reading minus 3 degrees C.

Observing session report from Banna January 6th.

The forecast for Sunday night was good so the texts and emails went out for an observing session on Banna Strand. At 7:30 Tralee was totally clouded, but a call to Paddy confirmed that all was well there. There were six of us there and 5 telescopes from 70 to 250mm.

The sky was excellent with an LM of about 6.1 and with no moon and the Sun well set we all saw the Zodiacal light stretched along the ecliptic in the west. Once your eyes got used to the dark it was nearly as bright as the milky way!

Saturn was well placed for observing and as the night progressed we got through quite a few of the delights that were on view.

Comet Machholz was nearly directly overhead and two tails were visible in the telescope. One long and thin (about 3 degrees) and the other much broader and shorter.

We looked at quite a few of the Messier objects, M1 the Crab nebula, M31, M32, M33, M35, M36, M37, M38, M41, M42, M43, M44, M45, M51, M81, M82.

Observing session report from Killarney January 5th.

The forecast for Saturday night was for rain although it was clear all day. But given some clear skies it was decided to go to Killarney to check out the Aghadoe Heights observing site with a new local member (and now our PRO) Trevor. The sky was partially clear and the clouds came and went.

In the clear spells the western sky was excellent there but from the Northeast to the Southeast the lights of the Hotel and the town do interfere significantly. It would be suitable for planetary and some binocular observing but is too bright for deepsky and meteor showers. The LM there towards the west was about 5.8 but only about 3.5 to the east. We did see one very bright meteor at about 10 p.m. low in the east.

Report on observation session held on December 10th

At the last minute, a committee meeting on the 10 th. of Dec. turned into an observing session on Banna Strand under a foggy sky. Nice visibility overhead at 9 p.m. Later the sky cleared in larger patches and we found comet Machholz low in the south east between bands of clouds. Quite easy in binoculars. Could not really make out any tail though.

Saturn never quite steadied enough for a good view.

Report on observation session held on Thursday, October the 7th.

With clear skies forecast and following a nice clear day we headed for a 9:30 rendezvous at the Short Mountain carpark.

There were about nine of us there and we had some of the clearest skies that we have seen in a long time, specially towards the south. To the north we have the light-glow from Tralee. There was a north-east wind that generated some light cloud as it pushed the moist air up the hill. This cloud quickly dissipated on the downward slope leaving a clear, dark southern sky.

We had several pairs of binoculars in use and three telescopes. The deep-sky objects like M27, the Dumbbell Nebula really stand out from the dark background in conditions like these.

Unusually (for those of us living in Tralee with the mountains to the South anyway), we easily spotted the star Formalhaut in the southern constellation of Piscis Austrinus. This star only ever climbs to a max. of about 8 degrees above the southern horizon.

Of note also was the high number of meteoroids, 'Falling stars', seen. We (those of us that were not always looking the wrong way that is!) saw about 15 in total over a period of two hours. Most of the session was spent just identifying the various constellations on view. This was ironically made more difficult by the sheer number of stars that were visible. Not a bad complaint!

Report on observation session held on Wednesday, September the 8th.

Given a favourable short term forecast for Wednesday, September the 8th, we headed to the south "Lookout" carpark on the "Short Mountain".

There were no clouds but the high humidity left us with a haze that reflected a lot of the light pollution from the towns, giving poor seeing near the horizons. However higher up was quite good with a limiting magnitude of about 5.6 near the zenith and given that it was one of the few clear nights in the last month we made the most of it.

There were about ten of us gathered there and we set about locating the main constellations of the summer sky, stopping off at the usual gems. Of the Messier objects we logged M13, M31, M92, M45, M27 and the double cluster in Perseus. Other items that proved difficult in the binoculars were located with the aid of one of the three telescopes we had set-up. These included M33, M27, M57, M51, M81 & M82. Later in the night we located Uranus as a turquoise disc low in the South.

We also saw about ten sporadic meteors, some quite bright with short lived trails and plenty of satellites.

By midnight the dew, and the requirement to get up in the morning, sent us home to our beds.

Perseid Meteor Shower - 11th August.

This year conditions for seeing what should have been the best Meteor shower of the summer months, were to be quite good with the Moon not interfering with observation. However the clouds and the rain did interfere!

Some of us did turn up on the Short mountain hoping for a break in the cloud cover, but at 11pm the rain and the clouds descended on us, so we headed for home.

Reports from other parts of the country were of around 110 meteors per hour from about 23:30 onwards.

The next Meteor Shower with similar rates will be the Geminids on the 14th of December, only two days after the new moon. There is also the Orionids on the 22nd of October and possibly the Leonids on November 17th.

This year on the morning of Tuesday the 8th of June, the planet Venus passed directly between the Earth and the Sun. It began its transit at approx. 6:20A.M. and was across the Sun by 12:30.

Because this was such a very rare event we arranged to head to Banna beach for the start of the transit. Banna has a low and unobstructed view of the NE horizon and is far enough North of the mountains to clear any local cloud they generate. The forecast and satellite images did not bode well with total overcast conditions predicted. At 4:45 with a totally overcast sky it was very tempting to stay in bed but the arrangements were made so no excuses!

At the beach the sky showed more promise with a little brightness in the direction of the Sun.

The time of first and second contacts came and went with total cloud cover but then at 6:40 the heavy cloud cleared allowing our first look. Higher cloud remained but the inky, crisp outline of Venus was obvious just inside the lower right edge. We had two telescopes set-up with solar filters, a glass filter form Thousand Oaks and the other a Mylar film filter, Baader, AstroSolar. We also set up some binoculars to project the image.

Given the short spells of visibility the projection method was easier for relocating the Sun whenever the clouds cleared (we had no driven 'scopes) It also allowed some viewing when the cloud made it too faint to see anything through the filters.

At about 7:40 most of the cloud cleared for about twenty minutes. This allowed us some of our best views and gave me time to set up the webcam and capture some videos. The processed results can be seen in the Sun Gallery page. Then the cloud rolled back in again so we packed up to head for the Town Park (after a welcome cup of tea in Paddy's).

In the Town Park things did not look hopeful and it was 10:30 before we got another glimpse of the event. As luck would have it a couple of people came by at that time and got their look at this rare event for themselves. By 11:20 the sky had turned very overcast with a persistent, tempting, blue sky to the Northwest, so the decision was made at 11:30 to move to attempt to catch the egress events.

That blue sky proved very elusive and we adopted a distributed approach with Kevin staying in the Town park, Paddy in Banna and I was in Mounthawk. The third contact was clouded out but it cleared for myself and Kevin at 12:13 just as Venus was crossing the edge of the Sun's disk.

True to form the cloud returned just in time to hide the fourth contact so no event timings were possible but we were glad that we made the effort.

This will occur again on June 6th 2012 but will not really be visible from Ireland. It is finished when the Sun will have risen by just 3 degrees above the morning horizon. You will then have to wait until 2117 for the next one, and it will be the year 2247 before the whole event will be visible again from Ireland!

Safety Warning!

Observing the Sun must only be done with great care, as the heat and brightness of the Sun through any optical aid will instantly and permanently damage your eyes. Never look directly at the Sun. Never ever use binoculars or a telescope unless it is properly equipped with a purpose made solar filter(s) in front of the objective lens/mirror or you are projecting the image as described.

The safest way to view the sun is by projecting an image of the Sun onto a white card using a telescope or binoculars. However never leave a telescope that is aimed at the Sun unattended as someone will "have a look". We showed samples of suitable set-ups at our May meeting.

With the Comet NEAT Q4 rising into darker skies we were hopeful of getting our first view of it on Sunday night, the first night that the clouds cleared in weeks.

We gathered at just after 22:00 (local time) in the South carpark on the Short Mountain. The skies were clearing but the humidity was high and smoke from a gorse fire meant that the sky was slow to darken.

With no stars visible at that time between Leo and Gemini it was difficult to locate in the twilight. Scanning with binoculars it was the Chairman, Paddy that found it first in his 20x80's at about 22:35. Having located it by first finding the Beehive Cluster M44. It was nearly 10 minutes later before the rest of us were able to pick it up in our 10x50's.

As the sky darkened it became easier to locate and through the telescopes (222mm f5.7 and 250mm f4.5 Dobsonians) we could just begin to notice its broad tail. Later in the night when the sky had become fully dark the tail could easily be traces for more than one degree. At this time we could just see the beehive and the comet with the unaided eye. Both were about similar brightness but the beehive (M 4.5) was "bigger" in the sky, putting its magnitude at about 4.8 to 5.0.

We were also treated to a nice pass of the ISS at about 23:32, it being nearly from horizon to horizon and nearly over head at its highest.

Jupiter also had Io's shadow on Jupiter's disk until 23:12 UT at which time Europa just entered occultation behind the planet and then at 23:14 UT, Callisto began a transit of Jupiter. Three events within 2 minutes!

As the first few weeks of June progress Comet C/2002 T7 LINEAR will climb higher over the SW Horizon but as it has passed its closest point to the sun it will be decreasing in brightness each night. The Moon will be out of the evening sky now but the twilight persists until midnight. You will need binoculars to find it and a dark location away from the light pollution of our towns and villages.

Total Lunar Eclipse on the 4th May.

The 4th of May dawned with rain and gales. The prospects for seeing the eclipse were poor to say the least. However we headed for our observing site on the "Short Mountain" at about 20:30. There was the occasional patch of blue sky in between the hail showers. After a confirming with a compass the direction to where the Moon would rise, we waited.

By 21:30 the sky had darkened but with the Moon at an altitude of just 5 degrees, and the amount of cloud at that elevation it was 21:50 before we caught the first hazy sight of a brown moon through the clouds. At this time the Moon was still totally eclipsed but it was slightly brighter on its lower edge.

Through the telescope and despite the gale blowing the colour was a dark copper, darker than other eclipses I had seen. The residual brightness of the sky probably added to this effect, but it did seem to be quite dark, certainly not pink anyway.

On schedule at 22:08 the total phase of the eclipse gave way to the partial phase. The brightening of its lower edge was immediately noticeable. For the next hour or so the brightness progressed up across the face of the Moon. During this hour it looked like a 'bite' was taken out of the top right of the Moon.

By 22:30 another shower rolled in so we packed up and headed for home. At about 22:50 I got a chance to take a few more pictures of the partial phase of the eclipse.

Observing session #3 report.

Our third observing session was a rushed affair as the weather forecast on Tuesday was for showers and rain for St.Patrick's night, but at 4 p.m. the sky was blue and clear, clear enough to do some solar observing. There was rain forecast for much later that night but was to be clear up to midnight so the calls were made. Again we gathered in Banna carpark at 8 p.m. There were about seven of us there and a couple of telescopes and sets of binoculars.

There was also a wind from the south so we positioned the 'scopes in the shelter of some dunes and it was not too much of a problem. Again we looked at each planet in turn. Venus, nearly at half phase now was clearer than before due to its higher altitude. Mars showed little more than a tiny disk. Saturn, was beautiful with its rings and Cassini division on show. Jupiter showed nice detail occasionally but it was to our east over the land and hence there was frequent air turbulence.

We also looked at the star clusters in Canis Major and Puppis, M41, 46 and 47. In M46 we also saw the planetary nebula, NGC 2438.

At about 10:30 the seeing and Limiting Magnitude deteriorated over the space of five minutes and there were clouds appearing in the West, so we packed up after an excellent couple of hours. By 11:30 it was starting to rain.

Observing session #2 report.

Our second observing session was on Friday 21st of February under a 7 day (48% illuminated) moon. We again tracked down comet LINEAR T7 although the moon and low cloud in the west did not help. It was difficult to see and estimated the magnitude to be about 6.5 to 7 with a stubby broad tail and a barely noticeable core when viewed in a 222mm f5,8 Newtonian. The moon was a treasure of detail and the three bright planets, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter, all got their turns for examination.

We wrapped up after about four hours when high cloud began to roll in and the cold had made its presence well known.

Observing session #1 report.

We held our first official observing session on Wednesday 18th of February.

The forecast was good on Tuesday but by Wednesday evening there was about a 90% cloud cover but with an optimistic clearing in the west. By 7:30 the sky had completely cleared. We all met as scheduled in the main carpark at Banna beach, just 8 miles Northwest of Tralee. About 15 people attended and we toured the sky, with the planetary highlights being Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars.

We also saw a good few of the Messier objects, M1, M45, M31, M51, M81 & M82, M105, M95, M96, M44, M42 & M43, M31, M32 and M110. Earlier in the evening we saw Comet LINEAR T7 in the west and caught a few of the more notable double and multiple stars on show.

The skies were dark, (about LM 6.2) with the Milkyway dominating the sky overhead. Seeing was fairly steady most of the time except for where Jupiter was, low in the east. Venus made a beautiful sight with its reflection in the calm sea of Tralee Bay turning a deep red-orange before finally setting.

When we packed up at about 11:30pm there was frost on the cars.