A screening of “Nostalgia for the Light” will be on Saturday 2nd February at around 11.50am as part of a Latin American Film Weekend at Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre in Manchester. The film is a documentary about the astronomers who work at the telescopes in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Part of the film includes footage of people looking for loved ones who were disappeared by the Pinochet regime and buried in the desert. To see the details of the film go to Nostalgia for the Light . by Rodger King #Flim #Chile

A special meeting in the Wincham Community Centre on Thursday 27th December @ 7pm to 9pm Talk is about D.A.R.T. the earths defence system by Professor Richardson from Maryland university USA. He has offered to give this special presentation whilst he is visiting parents for Xmas Look forward to seeing there. by Ged Birbeck #DART

This is a simple video representing the relative sizes of the planets in our solar system. https://youtu.be/eB32ykkiJk8 by Unknown ADAS member #Video #SolarSystem #Planets

A transit of Mercury from the HLCO site on Monday 19th May. by Unknown ADAS member #Mercury #Transit #HLCO #AstroPhotos

What follows is genuine and not an April 1st Dimbleby Spaghetti joke! All at ADAS, - The front cleared Manchester in the early evening and with the Moon not rising till late it offered an excellent chance to catch the comet. Paul rang and I was further enthused after seeing a picture in that well known astronomical magazine 'Hello'(?) (Helen's copy, not mine - honest) which I took along for reference. Arriving at 2030 BST there was another car, another astronomer - Pete Warrington of Kearsley. Pete said he worked with Mike Oates, discoverer of more than ~100 plus comets using the SOHO images. We quickly found the comet, naked eye and brighter than we'd seen it before. The tail just seemed to grow and grow. First using Paul's averted vision technique but then direct vision. The comet was beautiful, a strong tail filling the fields of view in our scopes. We'd both taken along our £149(!) 80 mm f5 scopes which were just perfect. Pete pointed out some other sites- those of the Lancashire coastline at night. The 'scope was trained on Blackpool Tower, and then we watched Venus approaching the horizon, including one amazing view of it just above an oil rig in Morecambe Bay! We followed it till we lost it at 21.35 BST, without accounting for the elevation and shift in position from home my planetarium program said that it was 1.5 degrees below the horizon! The tail of the comet seemed very long, we thought it could be 7 then perhaps 10 degs, or slightly more extending to 51 And. Called it a day (night) at 2200 BST. The sight could be better, passing cars a hassle and not dark - suggestions? This site has been used by Paul for 3 comets Hale-Bopp, Linear S4 and now IZ, and ADAS for the Jupiter graze. Mersey Valley Event- May 1. I've drafted a handout which we can check for suitability. Now we're clear of the Bank Holiday I'll check with the centre on facilities and arrangements. Night night, Roger L. by Unknown ADAS member #Moon #Comet #Venus

It was probably the clearest 'seeing' I've experienced for at least two years. I counted 10 stars within the square of Pegasus with 2 or 3 more possibles. I also noted 9 Pleiades which, I think, is a first for me. I have often noted 8 on good nights so the clarity and LM  were very good. Used an 8.75" dobo so very little setting up time as I didn't bother with any polar alignment :-) I visited a few old regulars such as M42 and M31 and found M1 for the first time in my life! Also had some 'firsts' with M74, M77, M78 and M79 with many thanks to Paul C for his help in locating them. Had a superb view of Saturn with its rings at maximum opening. It'll be another 14 years before we see that again. Nearly permanently scarred my retina with the view of Jupiter. Could easily see two belts but no GRS. One day I'll see it. by Chris Suddick #LlynBrenig #Saturn #Nebula #Galaxy #GlobularCluster

After a late departure (from the GM) I had a disastrous arrival at Llyn Brenig!  My flask had broken, was leaking coffee and left me with the daunting prospect of a caffeine free observing session! Starting low down I star hopped from gamma Hydrae to some nearby galaxies in Virgo.  NGCs 5084, 5068, 5087 and IC 4237 were a moderately interesting group.  NGC 5084 was a nice edge-on sliver.  I had started down here to try and find some large but faint planetary nebulae using a new OIII filter.  After some fumbling about I gave up trying to do long star hops with the heavy wide-angle eyepiece unbalancing the scope at these low elevations. Moving up into the Bowl of Virgo, I re-located NGC 4536.  This has a broad central bar with some faint arms.  Another visit to the NGC 4762/4754 combination gave a breathtaking view.  I was using a new 13 mm wide-angle eyepiece.  This gives a FOV wider than a 20 mm Plossl with 55x more magnification.  The bright edge-on spiral is set amongst 3 bright stars and a complete contrast to the nearby face-on galaxy. I then tried out the eyepiece on M51.  Astounding!  Stacks of detail at x158 with lots of surrounding dark sky.  I also took the opportunity to round up half a dozen nearby galaxies. The Deep Sky Scene in the Astronomy Now for May had brought M101 to my attention.  Armed with a detailed chart from SkyMap Pro I was able to identify 9 components of the galaxy honoured with their own NGC number.  M101 was at an elevation of 89+ degrees and the view was stunning.  Many fragments swirled around the two main brighter arms.  Again I took the opportunity to round up another 9 nearby galaxies. Using the magnificent combination of M81/82 as a starting point I searched out Coddington’s Nebula or IC2574.  This is a very large low surface brightness galaxy at 15.4 mag/sq arcmin.  No wonder I’d never noticed it through the 140 mm scope!  M82 showed great detail. Moving down into Canes Venatici I had a look at NGCs 5005 and 5033.  The former has a very bright area separated from the nucleus and looked very much like another ‘Black eye’ galaxy a.k.a. M64.  The latter showed up some mottling from dark dust lanes.  Both are quite bright at mags. 10.6 and 10.7. Finally, I turned to NGC 4565 in Coma Berenices.  This classic stretched completely across the field of the 13 mm eyepiece and looked stunning at x158. by Paul Clark #Nebula #Galaxy #LlynBrenig

I was looking for some information on the design and manufacture of observatories. I came across some plans to build this observatory. Even though this is not a traditional dome roof observatory it does look like a good option. If you are handy with a saw and comfortable doing a spot of DIY there are comprehensive instructions here. The plans come from a site run by Keith Ehren; a professional software Architect. He has over 25 years experience of designing and implementing software systems for government and commercial clients. He developed AstroWorkBench applications and has released them as freeware for other astronomers. If you want to look at his site you can find it here. by Unknown ADAS member #DIY #Observatory

This video and text about re-inventing space flight comes from SpaceRip. Lots more of their interesting video content on YouTube. Follow Dr. Ben Longmier and his team into the rugged Alaskan wilderness on a quest to build a whole new type of rocket engine. Their goal is to test sensitive components by launching them into radiation-filled environments of space aboard helium balloons. Their goal is to revolutionise space travel and exploration by harnessing the energy contained in the dynamic fourth state of matter: plasma. This action-packed episode explores a big dream at the moment of its birth… taking us along to witness dramatic balloon launches on mountain glaciers, spectacular imagery inside the Sun, and flights through colourful geomagnetic storms. This exciting show is about individuals who are challenging the odds and striking out to new frontiers. As part of a larger trend of private enterprise in space, their audacious plan is to seize the historic initiative by opening up whole new avenues of space exploration. https://youtu.be/W7vZmyfaaV4 by Unknown ADAS member #Video #SpaceRip #SpaceFlight

Chris Suddick sent over the image at left today attached to an e-mail describing his experience of the occultation along with 17 other e-mails sent to Graham C! Two e-mails were from Kay Bennett and Andy Elsey who had noticed a bright star (Jupiter) close to the Moon and they wanted to know what was going on! All the others were from ADAS members reporting their observations of the event. Except that is from Colin Henshaw in OMAN who missed Jupiter of course but had the bad luck to be in the Internet Cafe Muscat not knowing that Saturn was to be occulted a few days ago! He claims news does not travel fast in OMAN. Perhaps he needs to use Sky Map more often? The improved image composite below was sent over (today Monday 28th) by Mark C. Neat huh! The sequence R to L is of course astronomical. I hope the real video shows just how unlucky we were for the duration of the graze between image 4 and image 5! We basically did not see anything. Sad! Making the effort was a fun experience though - I think? Mark C, Richard Bullock, Mike P friend Pauline and Graham and Pauline C went off to Belmont to observe the grazing occultation of Jupiter at about 6 pm. Clear blue skies and very broken cloud made prospects good. A 30 mph wind made observing bitter and what was worse as dusk darkened the sky the cloud thickened! The images above show how cold Pauline and Mike were. Pauline C stayed in the car. The images at the right are from Graham C's video which got the start and end but little or nothing of the best bit which was the graze. Mark had similar luck but thinks his video might have better images of more of the graze segment. Mark C, Richard Bullock, Mike P friend Pauline and Graham and Pauline C went off to Belmont to observe the grazing occultation of Jupiter at about 6 pm. Clear blue skies and very broken cloud made prospects good. A 30 mph wind made observing bitter and what was worse as dusk darkened the sky the cloud thickened! The images above show how cold Pauline and Mike were. Pauline C stayed in the car. The images at the right are from Graham C's video which got the start and end but little or nothing of the best bit which was the graze. Mark had similar luck but thinks his video might have better images of more of the graze segment. by Unknown ADAS member(s) #Occultation #Moon #Jupiter #Belmont

Saturday 21st October, the forecast was for a clear and frosty night.  An opportunity to try and find some really dark sky.  Heading off early I arrived at my intended destination after 1 hour and 20 minutes drive.  A little low cloud was gathered around a rise to the south east so I retraced my tracks and turned off onto a forest track to investigate an alternative location.  After 5 minutes I chanced upon a vehicle turnaround with a 1 degree horizon to the south east, south, south west and west.  The east and north were at about 10 degrees. How dark was it?  There was no, I repeat NO, light glow on any of the low horizons!  There may have been some to the north and east but this was hidden by trees or swamped by the combined brightness of Jupiter and Saturn!  It was clear and dark down to the ground.  Capricornus was completely visible, the Milky Way brightly visible way before the end of twilight, objects were observed at less than 5 degrees elevation.  The location of the North American nebula was given away as a very bright part of the Milky Way at the start of the Cygnus Rift.  Observations with the 140 mm Maksutov were clearer and brighter than those made through DaveT’s 10” reflector at Gradbach! Starting in twilight I picked off a few old acquaintances in Ophiuchus, the bright globular clusters M10, 12 and 14.  A new find in this constellation was the bright open cluster NGC 6633, at mag. 4.6 it was a lovely sight. Moving on to Sagittarius.  I was hoping to find the Little Gem Nebula, a mag. 10 planetary.  To my surprise it was easily located and showing a clear disc at x100.  The large and bright globular M22 was very well resolved despite the 7 degree elevation. I had rushed observations in Scutum the last time I was out.  I therefore spent some time observing the beautiful Wild Duck cluster, M11.  This was very bright and reminded me of views I had from Portugal.  I also viewed M26, a pale and diffuse mag. 8 open cluster followed by the nearby mag. 8.2 globular, NGC 6712. Turning to observe in Draco before it became too low in the north west, I relocated M 102 and identified a couple of relatively bright nearby galaxies, NGC 6503 and 5907.  Dropping down into Ursa Major M101 was very large and appeared to exhibit detail.  By far the best view I’ve had. It was now time for some work with the filters.  The previous session I’d had problems with glare using the UHC filter.  This time was slightly better however, the best views were with the Deep Sky filter.  The Helix Nebula, low in Aquarius was very bright, well defined and showed hints of structure.  The Eastern Veil in Cygnus was equally well displayed. I next located NGC 6781.  This is a mag. 11.8 planetary nebula in Aquila.  Completely missed last time from Gradbach it was now visible as a large, pale version of the more famous Owl Nebula, M97. Working gradually eastwards my next target was in Pegasus.  I had failed to observe Stephan’s Quintet on several occasions.  The only success was with DaveT’s 10” reflector from Gradbach.  This time, the grouping was obvious.  It was visible in direct vision and brighter than seen previously.  The nearest and brightest galaxy of the group is the mag. 12.6 NGC 7320.  Dropping down I revisited “the best barred spiral in the northern hemisphere”.  This time NGC 7479 appeared as an oblong fuzz as the central bar became more visible.  Dropping lower still, a large, pale galaxy NGC 7606 was visible near some bright stars in Aquarius. I continued eastwards collecting M76, the Little Dumbbell, and M34 a nice bright open cluster.  Another failure had been NGC 891 in Andromeda.  Often touted as the best edge-on galaxy, this large, low surface brightness object was easily visible and very spectacular.  It fits nicely in the FOV and looks like the quintessential galaxy. For the past hour I had been wiping dew off the Telrad and finderscope.  Now the OMC 140 was showing some early signs of dewing.  Taking the OTA off the mount I popped it into the car and ran the engine to heat it up a little.  Coffee and chocolate was consumed whilst leaning back in my chair to take in the glorious canopy of stars.  After half an hour I continued with the ‘scope. Yet another failure from Gradbach was to be put to rest.  Low down in Cetus and Sculptor were a couple of Caldwell objects.  NGC 246 is a planetary nebula listed at mag. 8.5.  I had expected to locate a relatively bright star or disc.  Having failed a couple of days before I checked the Caldwell guide and RASC list.  “More like mag. 11” and “four stars surrounded by nebulosity” gave the reasons for my earlier failure.  This time a 4 by 3 arc minutes haze was visible around four stars!  Moving lower down the enormous and bright, mag. 7.2 spiral galaxy NGC 253 was observed.  I thought I could see detail even though it was at about 10 degrees elevation. Winding down I looked at a few old favourites.  The views of the Ring and Dumbbell nebulas were the brightest and clearest I’d ever experienced.  Astounding detail was visible in both.  M33, the diffuse face-on spiral in Triangulum showed detail for the first time.  M81 and M82 made a beautiful pairing, I noted whilst logging my observations that a large number of relatively bright galaxies are available around Ursa Major. Moving back towards the east I picked up a couple of galaxies in Cetus along with M77.  M38 in Auriga and a very bright M1 in Taurus were my final Deep Sky Objects for the evening. To finish Jupiter and Saturn were riding high.  In occasional periods of good seeing the Cassini division was visible in Saturn’s rings, another first for me.  Jupiter also showed incomparable detail! It was well worth the drive. by Paul Clark #OpenCluster #GlobularCluster #Galaxy #MilkyWay #Nebula

The sky on Anglesey was lovely and clear on Bank Holiday Monday so I went up in to one of the fields near our caravan and spent a nice session touring the late Summer sky with my TeleVue Ranger and GP mount. There is very little LP from here and by 10:30 when the sky was fully dark the NLM was an easy +6.1. You could see thousands of stars with in the Milky Way as well as the Scutum SC which appears as a ghostly haze to the naked eye . The seeing was ANT II with excellant transperancy. What did I see?. Epsilon Lyrae. I was able to spilt the double double using my 6 mm LV eyepiece (x80). M27. With the Vixen LV zoom set to 8mm (x60) M27 showed a bright nucleus with the outer edges of this planetary fadeing north-south to blend in with the black sky. I used my 24 Pan for a low power view. Thousands of stars filled the fov of the 24mm and M27 was a small ovel spec of gey light. M16 and M17 24mm Pan and OIII (x20). Oh my god!. Tonight M16 reveald it's self to me as a glowing milky haze surrounding a cluster of very young stars. It was very bright through the OIII and 24 mm TV Panoptic. When I used the zoom eyepiece to see more detail I lost the nubulosity and was only able to view the star cluster. So I guess the trick is to use low power on this one. M17 was also easy to see. It's cheveron shape was quite unmistakable. I also cought a glimpse of M25 before it disappeard behing the trees NGC 6960 The Veil nebula. Looking through the 24mm Pan and OIII, NGC6960 is visible as a grey braided band of nebulosity running north-south. The southern part of NGC 6960 is much brighter. Moving the telescope I thought I could see some of the other portions of this vast SNR but I can not be sure. M71 With my 6mm LV (x80) M71 appears as a patch of granular haze in a rich Milky Way field. M13 Again using the 6mm I was nearly able to resolve M13. But, it appeared as a medium sized granular haze which became brighter towards the core. M31 This galaxy looks good in anything. But my Ranger and 24 mm gave me one of the best views I have seen of this galaxy. A bright nucleus with faint and milky spiral arms were visible in the Ranger and 24 Pan. M33 This galaxy was also easy to see. It appeard as a spiral haze with a faint nucleus through the 24mm. Mars Seeing was not brilliant as the planet was still very low but I was able to see the SPC as well as Mare Erythraeum using my 6mm (x80) Vixen LV. by Paul Brierley #Mars #Galaxy #MilkyWay #Nebula

LOCATION: Wildboarclough Car Park near the Crag Inn. INSTRUMENT: TeleVue Ranger 70mm f/6.8 (light cup) MAGNIFICATION: x20 and x13 and x40 (2x Barlow) SEEING: ANT IV NLM: +6.0 DATE/TIME: 18:00 hrs to 23:30:hrs I spent tonight observing the winter sky through my TeleVue Ranger. This is an excellent grab and go telescope and shows pin point stars. I started with the comet. Comet Machholz looked magnificent at x20. From this dark sky the comets dust tail was very obvious but I was still unable to see the Ion tail. The California Nebula. Located near the star Menkib in Perseus. NGC 1499 is a difficult nebula to see visually. Fortunately with Paul C’s H-Beta filter and my 24mm Panoptic (king of the 1 1/4 eyepiece's) NGC 1499 was easily visible, as a wisp of pale light located between the magnitude 6.39 star HD 18769 and magnitude 6.98 star HD 24747. This is the first time I have seen this nebula. Rosette Nebula NGC 2237 I was not able to see this nebula through my TeleVue Ranger. But it was an easy target through Kevin Thurston’s 12" Dobsonian. He used a high power eyepiece and Paul’s OIII filter. The nebula is a faint haze surrounding the open cluster NGC 2244, which I did manage to see through my own telescope. M42 I have seen M42 before through this telescope and tonight it was as clear as ever at x20. I then added my x2 Orion Optics Barlow that gave me x40. At this magnification the nebulosity seemed to grow. I could see the dark nebula known as the fish’s mouth, together with bright wisps of nebulosity stretching out from the Orion Nebula. Inside the Orion Nebula I could see the four stars of the Trapezium. I was also able to see the faint reflection nebula NGC 1980. This nebula surrounds the star Iota Orion. It is very similar to the Merope or Thumb Print nebula in the Pleiades. NGC 1980 is visible as bright patch of grey, light with a hint of blue colour. M81/82 Through the little TeleVue both these galaxies fit nicely into my 24 mm panoptic eyepiece. Although small you can see detail in M82 and see the circular nebulous glow of M81. Barnards Loop SH2-276 This is another first time. I saw the faint glow of this huge nebula through my 24 mm Pan and Paul’s H-Beta filter. When you know where to look this nebula is clearly visible a ghostly white glow against the background sky. M45 This is one of the skies finest naked eye open clusters. Through the TeleVue and 24 mm Pan. M45 fills the FOV. You can see nebulosity surrounding the star cluster; and the brightest is of cause the Merope nebula. This surrounds the star Merope, and appears as a bright blue "Smudge". Praesepe or M44 This is sparse open cluster in Cancer. It contains many faint stars, which are all visible through my 24 mm Panoptic. M35 and NGC 2158 M35 is always nice to observe in any instrument. At x20 you can see M35 and the near by open cluster NGC 2158. M35 is big and bright, and is situated near the star Eta Geminorum. The best views of M35 are when it is near the meridian, which at this time of year is around 23:00. I also spent some time just looking through the telescope and using my 35 mm Celestron Ultima that gives me a low power (x13) and large field of view. I was fortunate enough, to see the messier star clusters 36 37 and 38 and M 48. What made tonight’s observing session more enjoyable was the company. Paul Clark and myself were joined by further members of Altrincham Astronomical Society, who were. Don Utton (80 mm Sky Watcher), Richard Bullock (Meade LX90), Kevin and Norman Thurston (12" Callisto), Mark Crossley (80 mm Megrez) and Nick D (Tal 1). We all returned home at 11:45 after a good night. by Paul Brierley #OpenCluster #Comet #OpenCluster

We will be having a farewell get-together on Friday 21st July from 9.00 pm at our new venue the Scout hut to say goodbye to our old observatory site just across the sports field from the Scout hut. If you want to you could bring a few nibbles or if you fancy something different to tea and coffee, what you may want to drink. We will all no doubt spend some time over at the obs site reminiscing. Our new venue every Friday for both meetings and usual Friday get-togethers is upstairs in the Scout hut on Park road near to the junction with Stockport road. Heading from the junction it’s on your left and there is ample off road parking. It is also marked on the map on the “where to find us” page on the web site. Please enter through the single door nearest the car park. by Kevin

This holiday Sunday, 26th August, I experienced clear blue sky, miles of clean sand and warm sea… …on Anglesey!  A day spent swimming, building sandcastles and playing beach cricket was an ideal starter to a very clear and dark night with the ‘scope. The Moon was to set at about 23:45 BST.  I started observing in the northern sky about an hour earlier.  The open clusters M 52 and NGC 7789 were both easily visible in the finder, a good sign.  I re-visited NGC 40 a bright planetary nebula of mag. 10.7, a 1 arc minute central something was surrounded by a circular haze. I moved over to Delphinus and found NGC 6891 a planetary nebula at 10.5 and quite unstar-like, brightening with the UHC filter.  The nearby globular cluster NGC 6934 seemed very bright for mag. 8.9.  Fruitless searches for some small planetaries near M11 in Scutum followed. The Moon had now set completely and I went for the first of my four main aims for the night,  Barnard’s galaxy.  The nearby Little Gem nebula was easy to find but some low-level light glow prevented a confident positive sighting of this large low surface brightness galaxy in Sagittarius.  My next target, the Crescent nebula in Cygnus.  NGC 6888 is given an integrated magnitude of 10 and a size of 20x10 arc minutes.  The location is easy to find with an obvious asterism of 4/5 stars pointing the way.  I looked for some time.  Took off my spectacles and re-focused.  Clasped my hands around the eyepiece to block out the non-existent stray light.  Scanned around the field, nothing.  Moving the focus a little to allow a little space between the eyepiece and my eye I then moved the UHC filter into and out of the FOV.  Suddenly, all became apparent.  An arc/filament of nebulosity started at one star curved through another and for some way beyond.  A half letter C became obvious.  I noted the sighting and was delighted to see it match perfectly with a picture of the Crescent when I came to log the observation in SkyMap Pro some days later. Observations of some of the many open clusters were next.  A very bright contrasty view of the Veil Nebula allowed lots of braided detail to be seen.  I also thought I could pick out some elements of the central component of the nebula. 1 a.m., a text from Dave T interrupted.  He and Roger L had just christened his new ‘scope at Tegg's Nose.  Sounded very good. My third aim of the night was to observe objects from the NGC catalogue that are parts of other galaxies!  Moving over to Andromeda I stopped off at Stephan’s Quintet, easily visible to direct vision as a couple of amorphous blobs it lies just down from the nice, edge on galaxy, NGC 7331.  Attempting NGC 2 something in the Andromeda galaxy was a failure, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.  Did I imagine some brightness?  How large should it be?  M33, the big, face-on spiral in Triangulum was plan B.  NGC 604, an emission nebula was obvious!  Why hadn’t I seen it before?  It was easily found near an obvious asterism and adjacent to a foreground star.  The filter improved the view. My final aim of the night was to pick off some of the few remaining Herschel 400 galaxies.  Three nondescript objects were found low down in the glow around Cetus and Aquarius. A final few minutes were spent just sitting back and looking up. by Paul Caugh #Nebula #OpenCluster #GlobularCluster

An observing session was held the previous night at Gradbach Hill, including: Richard Bullock, Paul Clark, Roger Livermore, Mike Cook from Mobberley A.S., and myself. This turned out to be an excellent night's observing, partly due to the mostly clear, dark skies, and the wide range of scopes that had been brought along, i.e. Paul C.'s 18'' Obsession Dobo, my Vixen open-tube 200mm Cassegrain, Richard B. brought his 8''LX90 SCT and Mike Cook with a 12'' LX200 SCT and a 4'' Takahashi fluorite apo refractor. Proceedings were proceeding pretty nicely by around 10.30, although it would be almost 2 hours before it would become fully dark. I had a few problems getting a 3 point alignment out of the skysensor, which eventually cleared up; and to ease my frustration, I wandered around to check out what the others were observing. Mike had M17, the Swan Nebula in Sagittarius in the 12'', and the image was reasonable - ( Later on Mike and I spent some time accurately collimating our scopes and the improvement in both scopes was more than obvious. In particular, I had pointed my scope at mars before collimation, and was disappointed to see a featureless orange blob, my misery increased as I had just moments before had to tear myself away from seeing the planet through Mike's Takahashi, where I had enjoyed a razor-sharp view of both polar caps, and the dark 'canals' also. After an accurate collimation of my scope, I too could see fine details on the planet's surface, and the polar caps.) So after a fragmented start, I homed in on a few favourites, e.g. M13, 92, 56, 57, 15, 27, 71,also NGC 7662, the 'Blue Snowball' planetary nebula, NGC 7331, a mag. 9.5 semi-side-on spiral in Pegasus, seems to have quite a bright core, and is thought to be much like The milky Way. I also could just about make out Stephans' Quintet, a dim 5- component galaxy grouping very close to NGC 7331. This was a first observation of this object(s) in an 8'' scope for myself and Paul C, and proves to me it is possible. The best observation of the night for me was M57 in my scope, using Paul's 13mm Nagler eyepiece. For the first time , I could make out a hint of blue in the nebulosity within the ring itself. Very nice. Richard had pointed out a couple of bright Iridium flares for us to enjoy, and the last object for most of us was the new Supernova 2003GS in the galaxy NGC 936 in Cetus. Some of Roger's comments: 'Mars was probably a revelation to all of us. Both it and the deep sky objects took me back to my first astronomical book, the Observers Book of Astronomy by Patrick Moore..its taken me this long to see these sights such as the Veil nebula and the globulars amazingly resolved, and did we see the canals on Mars? Now if I were to have trouble falling asleep I could call up the mental images of the nebulae, galaxies, clusters and Mars.' Paul: 'Observing from Gradbach Mars was absolutely stunning through Mike's 4" APO! Both 8"s of Dave and Richard gave great views whilst the 18" provided a deep skyfest of the best and brightest (and was to say the least poor on Mars)! Richard highlighted -7 and -8 Iridium flares. I picked out the new supernova in NGC936. We packed up as dawn broke. What a night!' by Various ADAS members #Nebula #MilkyWay #Galaxy #LlynBrenig

For tonight’s meeting (Friday 6th) we welcome Ken Irvin from Salford Astronomical Society to talk about electronic imaging.  The last month has seen two new members Julie and Ken.  Julie has a Newtonian f/5 8” and has been trying out the goto capabilities of Graham C’s Celestron.  Ken McConville is rejoining, he was an active member ’some time ago’ and sends his regards to ADAS members.  He’s in Brisbane Queensland!  He won’t be able to come to the monthly meetings but as an associate member has offered to be our southern hemisphere correspondent as we extend the ‘and District‘ to Australia.  Congratulations to Sean on passing the exams to get into Altrincham Grammar, we wish you every success.  ‘Messier Marathon Man’ Paul Clark was successful in doing a Messier half-marathon using the ADAS/MIA binoculars from Llyn Brening followed by a dusk to dawn run of 101 objects, the maximum achievable from these latitudes -is this a first for the society? The council contractors have commenced repairing the observatory site and will provide hawthorns. Communications The society has doubled in size in the last year two to three years and is being quite active.  This makes it important that it stays in touch with what members want of the society and that we let each other know what’s happening.  We don’t want the society to be formal but we have come up with some suggestions on communications that should help. Responsive: Members please let committee members know your views. For junior members Sean Oldbury will act as the representative.  Please tell Sean what you want the society to do.  He will take part in committee discussions as an honorary committee member. Keep in Touch: For major issues let the chairman know. For other significant issues let the relevant committee member know and copy in the chairman as appropriate. Recommend that all committee members join Ad.Astra newsgroup. Members are encouraged to join Ad.Astra to receive news of ADAS events and news items. The newsgroup is working well now and should not produce excessive numbers of e-mails. We will produce a membership form for including optional details such as e-mail, telephone numbers, and postal address to help us keep you informed.  The chairman and treasurer (as membership secretary) will have the list. For those members not on the Internet please let us know what events and news you are interested in and we will try and keep you informed. Events such as dark-sky trips will have a co-ordinator who will inform Ad.Astra and anyone not on it that has expressed an interest in such events. To join Ad.Astra go to http://ad.astra.listbot.com Don’t forget that if there is an event spread the news. An aurora, nova, new meteor shower, make a telephone call to those who may be interested. External Communications: We are all representatives of the society and it benefits us to have good relations with those we come into contact with.  For external publicity Paul Clark is the appointed officer. Earthquakes Graham Sinagola has remarked on the recent apparent correlation of earthquakes with the New Moon.  You may recall that a major earthquake in Turkey followed the solar eclipse of 1999.  Since then earthquakes have also noticeably fallen just after New Moon, such as the recent ones in El Salvador, Gujarat and Seattle.  Initially it looked coincidental but the recent pattern looks worth investigating.  Graham is now following this up with some checking on the earthquakes of the last century and the phase of the Moon at the time.  The initial data appears to show that the major earthquakes were more likely around the time of the New Moon.  We predicted the Japanese ‘quake of 24 March, Richter 6.5 UFOs Satellites continually produce a number of UFO reports and recent developments are contributing to these.  Mir has now been lost but this was bright and could flare to above mag –2.  The last three years have seen the ISS grow in size and brightness and many people have now seen it, often without knowing what it is. The Shuttle missions have given the opportunity to see it and ISS close together.  ISS can flare as the sunlight hits the very large solar panels.  The best-known ‘flarers’ are the Iridium satellites have been in the skies for four years and have produced flares up to mag –8 which is bright enough to cast a shadow.  There have been recent reports of double flares, where the flare dies down and then reappears. There are less conspicuous flares from geosynchronous satellites transmitting satellite TV.  From this latitude they occupy a belt of the sky at about declination – 5 degrees.  Usually they are about mag 10 but around the equinoxes they can flare to mag 2. This autumn should see the launch of a ‘super-flarer’; this is the experimental Cosmos Solar Sail satellite. It is expected to produce flashes perhaps reaching mag -12, the brightness of the Full Moon. It will be in a near polar orbit and an altitude of about 850 km, deploying a 30-meter solar sail.  The Solar Sail will use the pressure of sunlight to increase its orbital energy and raise its orbital altitude. The purpose of the mission is to conduct the first solar sail flight and demonstrate the technique for travelling between planets -- and someday, to the stars. Apart from the flares there are numerous other unusual sights in the sky, amongst these are the USA’s spy satellite system NOSS or ‘White Cloud’.  These are a series of triplet satellites that fly in formation and are used to get fixes on ‘enemy’ warships.  They are usually mag 6 so that under good skies they may be visible to the naked eye and can reach mag 3.  Colin Henshaw first saw a triplet in the late 70’s but was ‘warned‘ that he shouldn’t have seen them!  Orbital elements and predictions are now available to enable anyone to find them.  The older triplets have lost formation but NOSS 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 each form a triangle that fits in the field of view of binoculars. It is quite eerie to see them fly through the stars and particularly when they go into eclipse one by one.  To get predictions the easiest way is from Heavens-Above, http://www.heavens-above.com Go to ‘select a satellite from the database’, under satellite name enter NOSS% and select one of the later satellites. This takes you to information on the satellite and from here go to ‘passes’. From the plot of the track pick an easy to find group of stars fairly high up and watch at the appointed time using binoculars. The satellites should be right on time and if you can see stars down to mag 7 with the binoculars then you should see NOSS. OBSERVING NOTES Sun             In Pisces and Aries.  Recent large sunspots and aurora. Moon         1st Qtr 1st, Full 8th, Last Qtr 15th, New 23rd. 1st Qtr 30th. Mercury    in superior conjunction 23rd Venus        Emerging as a morning ‘star’ Mars         Rises at midnight, in Sagittarius, Moon nearby on 13th. Jupiter      In Taurus above Alderbaran, Moon nearby 25th/26th Saturn      Also in Taurus, Moon close on 25th. Uranus     Morning object in Capricornus, mag +5.8, Moon nearby on 17th. Neptune   Fainter at mag +8 in Capricornus. Pluto         In Ophuichus mag 14. Comets     McNaught-Hartley in Draco, mag 10/11 and fading.   24P Schaumasse is in Taurus mag 13 and brightening. Meteors   Lyrids 21st/ 22nd with ZHR of 10, Moon favourable Variables R Leonis at max. Delta Scorpii is normally magnitude 2.3, but slowly flared up last July and fluctuated last autumn. It is currently shining at about magnitude 1.8, more than half again its normal brightness, noticeably changing the look of the head of Scorpius. . Delta is a hot giant star of spectral type B0. It is apparently undergoing a long-term, Gamma-Cassiopeiae-type eruption and mass ejection.  Compare it with Beta Scorpii, magnitude 2.6, and Antares, magnitude 1.1.  If it stays bright for a few more months it will bring an altered Scorpius into the skies of summer evenings. Satellites  Mir has decayed but see http://www.btinternet.com/~mikejtyrrell/mir for an image of it taken with a 10” LX200 from Altrincham! More information from Roger Livermore on 0161-969-4507 or e-mail at Roger.Livermore@btinternet.com Ad.Astra newsgroup at http://ad.astra.listbot.com. by Rodger Livermoore For the previous newsletter, click here.

I was down on the beach 60kms north of Dubha on the Red Sea last weekend. It is an absolute pleasure to go snorkeling in the sea, and to see all the fish. As the sun went down I pointed out to a Polish friend of mine that he should pay particular attention the the last segment of the sun as it went down. I said it should flash green. He probably though pigs could fly. Anyway, we watched it, and just as I said the sun flashed green just before it disappeared. My friend was absolutely gobsmacked. He had never heard of the green flash before. For my part it was also a first. I have looked out for it many times over the course of my lifetime but have never seen it until now. However a good clear sea horizon is needed. I did see it on Venus, however, from Zimbabwe, as the planet was rising. During twilight, the International Space Station passed over and was very bright at around mag -5. Later, after twilight, I saw a superb display of Zodiacal Light. Combined with the Milky Way it created an enormous V-shaped configuration. Very impressive. by Colin Henshaw #Sun #ISS #Venus #MilkyWay

Colin H and I saw ISS and the Shuttle on Saturday night in Colin's back garden - ISS was brighter than we expected and the shuttle was further behind than we expected. We then went on to Lapwing Lane where we met Paul B. Paul and I set up our 'scopes 20 metres or so beyond the gate while Colin observed naked eye and binocular variables. We were all impressed by the seeing, the Milky way was clearly visible. Paul and Colin could see NGC 752 naked eye and Colin could see variables naked eye to mag 5.7 - 5.8. We all thought it was definitely worth further visits. Subsequently I have contacted SIBELCO the nearby quarry operators who are responsible for the site. The estates manager, based at Sandbach, was sympathetic but raised two hurdles. Firstly, the site comes under the regulations of the 'quarries and mines' act. We could probably resolve this with appropriate paperwork absolving them of any liability if we hurt ourselves etc. (Any comments Roger?) Secondly, they are only tenants and would need to get permission from the landlord . We were also warned that there have been problems with poachers who can turn aggressive! Two possible options come to mind. Firstly, do nothing but continue to occasionally use the site low key as individuals, rather than as an overtly ADAS "group". Alternatively, approach the quarry management's landlord directly. My preference is to wait a while and communicate again in a few months. by Don Utton #ISS #LapwingLane #OpenCluster

This meeting was held at 8pm Wednesday 26th July. The main lecture was by Jonathon Shanklin, director of the BAA comet section (Jonathon was co-discoverer of the hole in the ozone layer in his day job with the Antarctic Survey - true!). Chester's meeting hall GPS was +53degs 12.07mins N, -2degs 52.34mins W, which was a church hall that is now being refurbished. You can contact Richard Sargent of Chester AS, through NWGAS, to get the address of the new meeting place. by Unknown ADAS member #ChesterAS #Meeting #Comet