Friday, 15th June
2045-2100
Melbourne suburbia
A clear night after a cloudy, drizzley day. Moonless.
Had a quick look at Scorpio and enjoyed a couple of clusters found there.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The Transit of Venus
June 6 2012
Suburbian Melbourne Primary School - one of the most satisfying days I ever had
After nearly a whole week of overcast and mostly rainy days, Wednesday 6 June 2012 dawned clear and bright. Fantastic!
We made it to the school and set up in time to see Venus just complete its entry onto the disc of the Sun.
We were soon swamped by kids wondering what was going on,and the interest they showed was wonderful!
The rest of the morning went fast as a couple of the 5/6 grades and some 1/2 cycled through, listening with interest to my little blurb about the telescope (a 'reflector', bouncing light around), the history (Captain Cook in 1769), the significance (measuring the solar system), and how long it would be until this ever happened again.
The afternoon clouded over, but was patchy enough that we still managed to grab short views of the transition, right up to the end - when the clouds finally parted again at the last minute to let us see Venus move off the disc of the Sun.
My home made light box, allowing the projection of the Sun to be seen by the audience beside the scope.
Venus and sunspots were clearly visible.
Another shot of Venus and some sunspots.
Suburbian Melbourne Primary School - one of the most satisfying days I ever had
After nearly a whole week of overcast and mostly rainy days, Wednesday 6 June 2012 dawned clear and bright. Fantastic!
We made it to the school and set up in time to see Venus just complete its entry onto the disc of the Sun.
We were soon swamped by kids wondering what was going on,and the interest they showed was wonderful!
The rest of the morning went fast as a couple of the 5/6 grades and some 1/2 cycled through, listening with interest to my little blurb about the telescope (a 'reflector', bouncing light around), the history (Captain Cook in 1769), the significance (measuring the solar system), and how long it would be until this ever happened again.
The afternoon clouded over, but was patchy enough that we still managed to grab short views of the transition, right up to the end - when the clouds finally parted again at the last minute to let us see Venus move off the disc of the Sun.
Friday, June 1, 2012
First Winter night
1 June 2012 2315 - 0030
Melbourne suburbia.
A beautiful clear night, but with a very bright waxing gibbous moon high in the sky adding to the general light pollution of the city. And cold, very cold - but not the coldest it will get later in Winter!
Checked out the moon first. Very bright - dazzling through the scope even using the cover with the hole exposed. Looked for the volcanic crater that I read about in the Sky and Telescope mag recently, but no joy.
Then moved to Saturn. Beautiful views of the plant and rings. One small point of light to the left of the planet possibly a moon.
Then to Alpha Centauri, very bright and was able to make out the binary system.
Beta Centauri was noticeably a much colder bluer colour.
Found some nice looking open clusters in Scorpio, and spotted an interest trio (plus one?) of very faint, but very red stars. Very pretty.
Then casting about in Sagittarius stumbled across a fuzzy. Looking closer and trying to block out any extra light by cupping my hands around the eyepiece, I could make it out better.
At first I thought it could be a galaxy, but looking a bit longer and better it seemed more like a cluster. Skyeye on the phone helped and I'm sure it was M75. A tight Globular Cluster some 65,700 LY away.
M75 (Image copied from Wikipedia)
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