Tomorrow, the night of Sunday 13th December to Monday 14th December is the peak of the Geminids meteor shower.

This is the annual shower of “shooting stars” that appear to emanate from the constellation of Gemini (however, they are NOT stars, just fragments of dust and rock debris burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere and they are also completely unrelated to the stars we describe as Gemini).

Nevertheless, the Geminids is a sky event well worth making an effort for. You MAY see a wonderful display of streaks of light across your sky, if you are blessed with dark and clear skies where you are.

The peak is expected around 5am UT (that’s the same as Greenwich Mean Time), but it should be worthwhile for you to look to the sky in the early hours at your local time. The Geminids is often a broad maximum, so you may be surprised. Anything around one meteor per minute, is very good!

Here is a sky map of where to look.

December Geminids Meteor Shower Radiant (click for larger image)

Best of luck.

What is it?

This shower of meteors (often wrongly called “shooting stars”) occurs every year. It happens when the Earth on its orbit about the Sun, passes through dust and rock remnants, left behind in the past by the comet Tempel-Tuttle.

The brief, bright streaks of light we may see in the night sky, result when this material burns in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Why is this shower called the “Leonids”?

Because the meteor trails APPEAR to originate in the constellation of Leo (the Lion), if you trace back an imaginary straight line across the sky.. (But note, they have no true connection with the stars we see in the constellation, which are MUCH further away)

This apparent origin is illustrated by the sky map below. It shows the position of Leo and the meteor shower radiant point, rising above the Eastern horizon at 1.00UT during the night of 17 – 18 November.

Leonids Radiant Rising In East, 1.00 UT, 18 Nov, Lat 51 N, Long 0 E (click for larger)

Is it worth looking this year?

It should be – the conditions are extremely favorable.

With the new Moon on 16th November, there will be scarcely any moonlight to disrupt observation of meteors.

Also, some meteor specialists have suggested there may be a strong, even “storm force” shower this year, such as occured in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

When exactly should you look for meteors?

Various specialists use models to try to predict exactly when the shower peaks (both minor peaks and major peaks) will occur. But these are only predictions, so it should be worth looking over the 17th – 18th period.

It will be best to look when the radiant point (see map above) is above your local horizon. The further South you are, the earlier in the night Leo will rise above your local East horizon.

Summary

Wrap-up warmly if you are spending time outdoors and good luck!

Top of 35 Ton Bronze Dome of Harrison Planetarium

It was for the special SPA Greenwich event.  

After setting off from Kent early, I reached Greenwich and parked on Crooms Hill with plenty of the time for the 9.45am (sharp – “latecomers will not be admitted”) start to the show.

The presentation was given by Tony Sizer – it was a very interesting and visually stunning, look at the Night Sky.

The highlight for me, was the “Trip to the Southern Hemisphere”.

The whole audience got to view the constellation of Crux, the nearest stars to our own  Sun – Proxima, Alpha and Beta Centauri – plus the Larger and Smaller Magellanic Clouds.  All without leaving our seats!

Good fun and informative.

“Spring Guide to the Night Sky” public event.. totally horrible, rainy and windy weather at 5pm. Event starts 6.30pm..

All clear! Plus very clean skies, after all the rain. Looked at 1st magnitude stars as they appeared from the twilight, then observed Orion and Saturn.  

We also saw two great fly-overs of the International Space Station (ISS) – the second pass was particularly bright.

About, 25 Cub Scouts came along with their Cub leaders.. made for a busy event.

Plus, I tried my Canon Digital SLR Camera in the mighty Alan Young 22.5″ telescope.

Fitted well mechanically, but poor images..

Here’s an example of an out-of-focus Betegeuse in Orion.

In Sufficient Focusser In-Travel On Star Betelgeuse

Insufficient in-travel on the focusser… It was not possible to move the camera in close enough, to bring the image to focus.

The difference between the Canon and the Mintron camera that’s usually used with this telescope, is the position of the ccd chip within the camera body. The Mintron has its chip very close to the front of the lens opening. The Canon’s chip however, is much deeper within the body.

However, we were much encouraged by the likely light-gathering power and plan to modify the focusser to move it’s travel inside of the tube. (We did consider moving the mirrors instead, to push the focal plane further outside of the telescope tube, but felt this would be too radical)

Stay tuned!

This will work, one way or another and deliver good results!

Telescopes "on parade" at the Astrofest trade stands

I have just been to this year’s Astrofest event in London.  And I thought you might find it interesting, if I interviewed some of the traders, exhibiting at the event.

The event is a very busy couple of days for the exhibitors.  So of course, the interviews had to be done quickly, right there on the trade stands..  no quiet, controlled studio environment, for this production!  So please make allowance for the noisy, background sounds in the recordings.

I wanted to cover a variety of astronomy retailers and manufacturers.   Here are the recorded interviews I captured, for you to listen to…

Just click the “Audio MP3″ graphic, to play the audio

Astrotrac – Richard Taylor

 Download  The creator of this innovative, driven camera mount for astro-imaging, discusses current  developments.

Telescope House – David Lawrence
Download  New product offerings and telescope tips, from this large astronomy retailer.

Artemis CCD – Rui Tripa
Download Hear from the manufacturer of the Atik range of high-quality cooled CCD cameras.

Altair Astro Sky Shed Pod – Ian Knight
Download  The supplier of these low-cost, prefabricated, domed observatories. (I was impressed – I want one!)

Orion Optics – Barry Pemberton
Download  Respected British manufacturer of optical components and telescopes.

Telescope Planet – Simon Heard
Download  Retailer of a wide range of telescopes and astronomy products.

Starlight Xpress – Terry Platt
Download  Well-known manufacturer of ccd cameras for astro-imaging.

I think it’s interesting to hear from a range of businesses, all present at a single event like this.

If you enjoy a particular clip, or pick-up a useful insight, please leave a comment here.

Astrofest 2009 Lecture Theatre

I’m just back from European Astrofest held in Kensington, London over the past two days.

And it was a treat!

Interesting presentations in the lecture theatre, plus a wealth of trade stands full of knowledgeable people to learn from. And not forgetting, astronomy products to drool over.

A real highlight today was the “Apollo 11 Remembered” session – a moving recall of those triumphant days in Summer 1969 (which I well remember as a schoolboy), when it seemed as though Science had no boundaries…  We, humankind, really could achieve anything if we worked together, applied our cumulative knowledge and set out single-mindedly towards a clear goal.

Apollo 11 Remembered with Moore, Hunt and Turnhill

The Apollo 11 Remembered session was presented by the very people so many of us remember from that time – Patrick (now Sir Patrick) Moore, Garry Hunt and Reg Turnhill.

After this inspiration, I did mini-interviews with a number of the exhibitors at Astrofest today, which I found most interesting.

The interviews will appear here as podcasts very soon.

Outside SOAS

I travelled to London on the train, to attend the quarterly meeting of the SPA.

These meetings are always held at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), which is part of London University and located just off the splendid Russell Square in Bloomsbury.

In the morning, there was the SPA Council meeting, but at 2pm the main interest of the day began – the quarterly members’ (and their guests) meeting.

There were a number of entertaining and informative talks, but the highlight was Professor Derek Ward-Thompson from Cardiff University.  

He presented on the formation of Stars and Planets, using recent long wavelength (radio) evidence.

In Front Of SOAS - With SPA Vice President Taking A Photo

I left the meeting with the strong impression, the human race is beginning to understand our ancient origins.  

Quite astonishing.

Come to the next SPA meeting – I recommend it.

It’s a chance to visit the ancient library of St John’s College and take part in the Sir Fred Hoyle day – one of John’s most successful and remarkable fellows.

The event details are Saturday 8 November 2008, from 11am to 4.30pm, at St John’s College Cambridge (it’s located right in the middle – park nearby and enjoy the short walk through the atmospheric Cambridge streets)

Once there, you can absorb talks and tours of the library.

Also, you will be able to view Sir Fred’s collection of books, childhood records, wartime memories and important astronomical correspondence.

Funded by the National Lottery, it’s an event, not to miss.

PS..

Entry is free.  More details here

David founded this new astronomy group, just about six months ago. But already, it’s well established and growing fast. The fact that membership is free, probably helps!

Public Observing

What’s really good, is they run regular public observing sessions, using their own varied collection of telescopes and other equipment. You can bring your own equipment too, of course, if you have some and it’s portable.

The observing nights are held every two weeks or so, at two carefully chosen and fairly dark sites – Butser Ancient Farm and INTEC, both in Hampshire.

You don’t have to be member to go along, but you do have to reserve an observing pass in advance. For some sessions, there is a small fee, payable on the night.

If you are within striking distance, this could be a great chance to do some practical astronomy with like-minded, experienced people on hand to help out.

Monthly Download Magazine

The other striking thing David does, is to publish an impressive monthly magazine, you can download from their website.

Called “Look Up!” and now running to about 20 pages, it seems to get bigger every month. It’s packed full of articles, great colour images and useful astronomy information.

And did I mention? … the magazine is free too! Not surprising, the number of copies downloaded is increasing by 30% a month, according to David.

My Suggestion..

Definately check out the Hants Astro website and the Look Up! magazine. And perhaps get yourself along to one of the observing nights, if you possibly can.

Kings College Cambridge, plus punts on the river

Blessed with beautiful sunshine today, I travelled to Cambridge for the 2008 Convention of the Federation of Astronomical Societies.

On arrival, I found represented a good selection of astronomy equipment retailers, specialist organisations and astronomy societies.

Plus, a very interesting programme of talks in the IOA lecture theatre.

Dr Barry Jones (Open University) was particularly good on “The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life”. As was Prof, Andy Fabian on the “Power of Black Holes”.

Barry Jones speaks to the lecture theatre on the search for ETI

There was also a tour of the historic telescopes the IOA has on its “Observatories Site”, such as the Northumberland telescope.

This is the most historic telescope they possess. It was commissioned for the newly-formed University Observatory in 1833 by the Duke of Northumberland, hence it’s name.

As an 11.6 inch refractor, it was then one of the largest in the World. It was installed with great care and precision by the then Director of the Observatory, George Airy (of “Airy disc” fame).

The Northumberland is the famous telescope which “almost” discovered the planet Neptune, under the guidance of Prof. Challis. However, the discovery was not recognised and another astronomer published first.

Today, the telescope is largely in it’s original condition, although the objective lens was replaced a few years ago with a slightly larger, 12 inch lens. Also the original wooden dome was replaced some decades ago, with the current metal item.

Northumberland Telescope Observatory

The Northumberland is still in regular use today. Indeed on most Wednesday nights, you can use it yourself, as it is made available for the public observing sessions, which are held there.

Northumberland Telescope From the Observer’s Viewpoint

The telescope tour also included the Thorrowgood 8 inch f14 refractor…

Thorrowgood Telescope

And finally, the 17 inch Schmidt, made in the 1950’s. It is not used very much now, because of light pollution in Cambridge city, but may soon be transferred to an observatory elsewhere in UK.

Schmidt 17inch Telescope, No Longer In Use

All in all, a very interesting day and an chance to discuss astronomy with like-minded people.