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An astronomical autumn on Dartmoor

Autumn is easily my favourite season for astronomy, partly because of the return of the dark skies but also because of the wealth of objects visible in the sky around this time. On the one hand some of the stunning summer sights are still visible low in the west, while at the same time the grand winter constellations are beginning to appear over the eastern horizon.

This autumn I’ve managed to get to my favourite dark sky site, on Dartmoor, a few times – though, admittedly, the imaging conditions haven’t always been great. Below are a few of the astro-images I’ve got to show for those trips.

All were taken with an unmodified Canon 550D DSLR camera. The wide field images were captured with the DSLR on a tracking mount. The close-ups were taken with the DSLR mounted on a William Optics ZenithStar 66mm refractor on an HEQ5 Pro mount. The whole setup was autoguided by an 80mm refractor and a Sky-Watcher SynGuider.

The Milky Way in Cygnus, Cepheus & Lacerta. Credit: Will Gater
The Double Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884). Credit: Will Gater
The Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, M33 & the Double Cluster. Credit: Will Gater

The Hyades star cluster Credit: Will Gater

The Dumbbell Nebula. Credit: Will Gater

Posted by  |  Friday, 18 November, 2011 | Categories: astronomy | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

So You Want To Be A Scientist 2011

Last year I wrote about a new BBC Radio 4 competition called ‘So You Want To Be A Scientist?’ that invites members of the public to submit ideas for a scientific experiment they’d like to carry out. One of the finalists in last year’s competition was amateur astronomer John Rowlands who investigated the summertime atmospheric phenomenon known as ‘noctilucent clouds’. The competition is back this year and the team behind it are once again keen to hear your ideas for experiments.

If your idea is one of the handful selected by the judges you’ll be paired up with a professional scientist to complete the experiment you’ve proposed. When the results of your study are in you’ll then have to present your research at the Cheltenham Science Festival; a panel of expert judges will then select their favourite experiment, with the winning citizen scientist being declared the BBC’s Amateur Scientist of the Year. You’ve got until 31 October to get your ideas in, so get thinking — you never know what you might discover.

Posted by  |  Thursday, 13 October, 2011 | Categories: astronomy | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

A Draconid meteor drops from the sky

The Moon & clouds spoilt the peak of the Draconid meteor shower. Credit: Will Gater

After watching the clouds rolling in all day here I decided that the only way I’d have a chance of observing the peak of the Draconid meteor shower tonight would be if I followed the few gaps there were in the clouds by car. So, as the Sun was setting, I set off on a drive around Somerset looking for patches of clear sky. Unfortunately every time it looked as if I’d get a glimpse of the stars the clouds closed up obscuring everything. With complete cloud cover overhead I set off home thinking that was the end of the night.

Thankfully when I was about 15 miles from home the clouds broke and Jupiter and the Moon appeared to burst out of them in front of me. In an incredible stroke of luck there was a big lay-by about 100 metres ahead, so I pulled over and parked up. With small swathes of clear sky appearing overhead I set up the camera and began taking 20 second exposures at ISO 800.

Gaps in the clouds afforded brief glimpses of a starry sky. Credit: Will Gater

Before the clouds closed in again I saw four Draconid meteors including a relatively bright one which I managed to photograph (below). It was a lot of effort to capture just one meteor on camera. Hopefully next time the clear skies will come to me so I don’t have to go chasing after them.

A Draconid meteor shoots across the sky (click for a wide-field version). Credit: Will Gater

Posted by  |  Saturday, 8 October, 2011 | Categories: astronomy | Tags: , , | 2 Comments »

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2011 results night


Video courtesy of Sky at Night Magazine. Remember to select the 720p HD option.

Two weeks ago I, and the rest of the Sky at Night Magazine team, travelled to Greenwich for the 2011 Astronomy Photography of the Year awards night. You’ll no doubt have seen many of the winning images splashed across the pages of newspapers, websites and blogs over recent weeks.

This was arguably the most difficult year to judge so far, with an astounding array of superb images submitted from all over the world. Above is the video we made on the awards night, which includes an interview with the overall winner Damian Peach whose stunning image of Jupiter, Io and Ganymede you’ll see below. I’ve also embedded below an excellent video profile of Damian, which was made by Lonelyleap Film for the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

The overall winning image — Jupiter with two of its moons, Io & Ganymede. Credit: Damian Peach

Video courtesy of Royal Observatory, Greenwich/Lonelyleap.

Posted by  |  Thursday, 22 September, 2011 | Categories: astronomy | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Comet Garradd glides by the globular cluster M71

Comet Garradd, M71 and the star fields of the Milky Way. Taken with a Canon 550D on a William Optics 66mm refractor, autoguided by a Sky-Watcher SynGuider & an 80mm refractor. Credit: Will Gater

Comet Garradd is currently putting on a great show as it tracks across the night sky. In the past few weeks it has passed by several deep sky objects including the globular clusters M15 and M71. I captured the above image last weekend as the comet (top right) was moving away from M71 (bottom left).

It’s certainly worth looking out for this comet if you have a small telescope. I could see it with ease through a 66mm refractor; admittedly from an observing site, on Dartmoor, with nice dark skies. The image above shows much more detail than the eye sees though, as it is composed of five minutes worth of exposures.

By the time I’d finished enjoying Garradd & M71 — in the same field of view — the Andromeda Galaxy had risen higher in the sky and I couldn’t resist capturing this image of it below. If you want to track down Comet Garradd yourself you’ll find a finder chart here. Happy comet hunting!

The Andromeda Galaxy. Taken with a Canon 550D on a William Optics 66mm refractor, autoguided by a Sky-Watcher SynGuider & an 80mm refractor. Credit: Will Gater

Posted by  |  Friday, 2 September, 2011 | Categories: astronomy | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter

An artist’s impression of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Thanks to a tweet from the Guardian’s science correspondent Ian Sample I’ve been exploring this superb, Flash based, website covering NASA’s Juno mission.

After clicking on the ‘begin journey’ tab the site takes you through a series of narrated full screen videos that set the scene for the mission and explain some of key scientific objectives; between each video there’s an excellent interactive page, with further images and videos, allowing you to find out more about each topic. For example, here’s a page that covers the rocket that will launch Juno, while this one focuses on Jupiter’s atmosphere.

As well as the great graphics & engaging narration I particularly liked the ‘cluster’ of stars at the end of the presentation, each one representing an astronomical question.

As for the probe itself, it’s scheduled to be launched on an Atlas V rocket tomorrow (5 August). You’ll be able to watch the lift-off live, and in HD, on the NASA TV page here.

Posted by  |  Thursday, 4 August, 2011 | Categories: astronomy | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »

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