Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. You can download it and install it on a PC or laptop and download apps which allows you to load it onto your tablet or even mobile phone. For the beginner Stellarium gives you a great starting point to help you to find where stars, planets and constellations are in the night sky. You can either use it indoors to keep warm whilst you gaze at the sky or take it outside and use it as a guide to tell you what specific things you can see in the sky. To download Stellarium or to find out more click here. If you already have Stellarium there is a great beginners tutorial below that covers the basics. For more advanced use of Stellarium you can always do a search on Youtube or come along to a meeting where one of our experts will be able to help. https://youtu.be/1opPoR6A3bU (video updated from previous) by Unknown ADAS member #Video #Link #Stellarium

Our meeting on Friday May 5th at our new venue was, judging by the reactions of those present, a great success. Our new venue 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 door nearest the car park. by Kevin

Have a look at this fascinating tour around the ISS. This is an excellent video (25 Mins) from NASA and illustrates much of the way that astronauts live. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k by Geoff Flood #ISS #NASA #Link #Video

Friday 27th Borg 101ED A range of observers saw a mixed bag of objects in a clear sky and blinding nearly full moon. Coathanger Cr 399 3.6 asterism - Vulpecula Dumbell M27 7.4 planetary nebula - Vulpecula Albireo 3 colourful double - Cygnus Owl cluster NGC 457 6.4 open cluster - Cassiopeia M39 4.6 open cluster - Cygnus M103 7.4 open cluster - Cassiopeia Mizar & Alcor 2 double/triple - Ursa Major NGC 6633 4.6 open cluster - Ophiuchus M15 6.3 globular cluster - Pegasus Makes a change! by Paul Brierley #OpenCluster #GlobularCluster #PlanetaryNebula

So far, we have 2 confirmed sightings of the object by Roger Livermore Richard Bullock and Phil Masding. No such luck for Paul Brierley or myself. Interesting to see that varying equipment produced varying results - Roger's sighting was with a 10'' SCT, and Richard's with a 4'' Newtonian. Paul drew a blank using a 12'' Newtonian, and I also failed to see it with the society's 20x100 bins. I was definitely looking in the right place at the right time, but no luck, ho hum. Don Utton and Colin Henshaw may well have managed to image the asteroid, so let's hope they were successful in their attempts, and watch this space for results. by Unknown ADAS member #Asteroid

The Newsletter of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society. Society News January 2001. Tonight’s meeting (5th January) we hope to have Mark Adamson, subject Astrophotography. The Christmas quiz was an outstanding success thanks to the organisers Chris, Chris and Derek and Don together with our resident caterers the Oldburys (a question for Sean-where were the Keane prawn sandwiches?).  The event was memorable for seeing other societies join us, particularly the far-travelling Gwynedd team from Bangor, and the prizes for all teams given by Gavin.  It did of course also produce the right result as the Hale-Boppers ran in as narrow winners.  I’d feared a home loss due our lack of training and our waterlogged pitch.  But now the ADAS trophy sits proudly (!) on my sideboard and Sean, Paul, Colin S and I have our NASA T-shirt prizes. Kevin won the audience participation constellation quiz and the collective of Joan, Helen and Kirsty won the cartoon caption competition (click HERE to have a look at the cartoon AND their winning caption!?).  The annual European Astrofest takes place in London at Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall Feb 2nd and 3rd.  Away from observing, Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs made a rare excursion into astronomy when it shipwrecked Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, the discoverer of pulsars (click HERE to access the page of photos from  her IAU lecture in August).  In addition to the tale of discovery which some of us heard in August she also gave insights into the status of women in science during the 60’s and 70’s.  From a Quaker perspective she gave a gentle balance of religion and science, which accommodated both.  Also at last there has been recognition for Patrick Moore who received a knighthood in the New Year’s honours list for his services in popularising science.  Indeed there can be few who have had such an influence in any field. Lapwing Lane. Paul Clark confirms this site at Monks Heath near Chelford, 822 724 as a good dark sky site. ‘After the December meeting I drove out to the site at the end of the lane overlooking the disused quarry and woodland.   Keeping at a reasonable elevation (above 30 degrees) I could see Planetary Nebulae down to mag. 13 and 12.8, Open Clusters to 11.5 & 10.2, Galaxies to a surface brightness of 13.6 and a diffuse Globular Cluster at mag. 10.4.  All seen with a 140mm Mak-Cass.  Many of the showpiece objects showed up very well. The Orion and Eskimo nebulas, the Messier clusters etc. I set my telescope up on the road, not over the gate. This was more than adequate with the trees providing shelter from the wind and some of the Manchester light pollution.  It is about 30 minutes drive from Timperley and a good alternative to the exposed and cosmopolitan Teggs Nose.  Promisingly Don has found a good site. December Observing. December saw some observing between the clouds and rain with Graham C using his digital video camera on the 14” Newtonian.  Good images were obtained of the Moon, Jupiter’s cloudbelts, and Saturn.  A case is being made to purchase a colour system for £130 from Peter Drew of the Amateur Astronomy Centre plus an additional monitor for the clubhouse.  A two monitor system would enable the thin-blooded society members to sit in the clubhouse watching the screen whilst the hardy workers find and focus the objects from the observatory roof out in the elements.  I still get this impression of us moving towards imitating the Royle family, all sat around watching television.  The fact that they live within our catchment area just compounds the image.  As was sensed Christmas did give some good observing with the Moon out the way. Our pre-Christmas observing gave a good night with the 14” and Paul’s Maksutov.  There was an Ursid on the night of the maximum and Kevin set the scope up with good contrast views of the Orion Nebula and of the open cluster M36 in Auriga with a field full of stars and a bright red star at the centre.  Paul set about a festive tour where we tried to find objects with a seasonal connection. We first got the Rosette nebula cluster NGC 2244 near Betelgeuse and followed it with the Christmas Tree cluster NGC 2264, in Monoceros near 15 Mon.  Next was the Snowball cluster, Cassiopeia followed by the Eskimo planetary nebula, NGC 2392 near delta Gem. Then the imagination ran out, - any other suggestions?  Mark took images of Jupiter and the Orion Nebula using a hand-held digital camera, the Nikon Coolpix 880, on the 14”.  For more of Mark’s images visit his very popular site at http://www.carmine.demon.co.uk/astro/astro.htm.  The Christmas holiday did bring some clear skies and excellent views of the major planets, and the star fields of Orion and Monoceros.  The national press and BBC gave good predictions of the International Space Station, which must have meant that many more would have seen it.  The ISS has increased in brightness since the fitting of the larger solar panels, though the difference is variable depending on their angle relative to us. TV and radio gave good coverage of the passes.   The morning of the 27th gave a first sighting of the long period comet McNaught-Hartley at mag +8 near alpha Librae. Party. In considering a joint event with other societies we are now planning to hold an August meteor watch for the Perseids from Teggs Nose.  The shower peaks at 15h on the Sunday 12th so a watch on the night of Saturday 11th should be productive - skies willing.  There is the option of a BBQ if we have the equipment and there are no local byelaws against it.  We have plenty of time to contact other societies via NWGAS and to make arrangements. The Astronomy Centre star party takes place on Easter Saturday George Alcock. The death of George Alcock has been announced by the RAS (according to Colin H, FRAS).  He was a successful amateur astronomy responsible for comet and novae discoveries. The most famous of these was Nova Delphini, also known as HR Delphini.  Many of us will remember seeing the nova in 1967 when it rose to +3.5 before slowly fading.  It is currently about mag 12.5 and still within reach of amateur ‘scopes.  It is at RA 20 40.1 Dec + 18 59  Starchart from me. Comet C/2000 WM 1(LINEAR) A comet discovery by LINEAR has given us the promise of another naked-eye comet later this year. C/2000 WM 1 was originally thought to be asteroidal when first picked up on November 16 but by a month later was seen at mag 17 with a 10" coma and a broad, faint tail some 10"-20" long in p.a. 45 deg.  It will only come within binocular range during October and November when it will be swooping south through Perseus, Aries and Cetus brightening to around mag 4 or 5 as it moves well south and is lost to us. OBSERVING NOTES. Earth   At perihelion 4d 09h, 147 million km. Sun   In Sagittarius / Capricornus. Moon  Total eclipse on 9th, totality between 1948-2052, it enters the umbra at 1842 and leaves it at 2200. Click HERE to access a SkyMap Pro7 composite of the predicted eclipse detail. There are also occultations visible at the same time. ZC 1125 mag +6.5 at 1947, ZC 1129 mag 5.3 at 20.21 but marginal if visible from here, Timperley.  1st Qtr 2nd, Full 9th, Last Qtr 16th, New 24th. Mercury  Visible in the evening skies, greatest eastern elongation on 28th, near the Moon on 25th and 26th Sets about 1.5 hrs after sunset about the 20th, low in the south-west. Venus Brilliant object mag –4.5 in the western evening skies, greatest elongation of 47 degrees on the 17th. Near the Moon on 28th. Mars  Morning object and brightening to mag 1, moves from Virgo into Libra by the end of the month. Rises by 2am at end of the month. Moon nearby on the 18th. Jupiter, mag –2.5 in Taurus, stationary point 27th. Sets by 3am, Moon close on the 6th. Saturn mag 0 also in Taurus, stationary point 27th. Moon nearby on the 5th. Uranus +6 and very low in evening twilight in Capricornus Neptune +8 and also in Capricornus Pluto  Emerging as a difficult morning object in Ophiuchus. Meteors  The Quadrantids took place on the 3rd but there are no reasonable showers now till April’s Lyrids.  However this year should be a good year for meteors with the Moon missing the major showers, unlike last year.  It will also be a year to try for the Leonids, which could storm in November. Comets  C1999 T1 McNaught-Hartley is now visible in the morning skies moving northwards in Serpens at around mag +8 and so within binocular range Asteroids 16 Psyche +10.1 in Taurus and 64 Angelina  +10.5 in Gemini. Variables Mira-type variable Chi Cygni at maximum of about +5 ~24th. Satellites Mir is visible in the early evening for the first part of the month.  This could be the last chance to see the space station before it is due to be brought down in February.  It has been in our skies for the last fourteen years and has probably become the most seen man-made object.  Mir is due to re-enter between 26 & 28 February (hopefully) east of Australia. The Sun from SOHO. (Dave T. recommended)!: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov The Sun as observed this day  through the Mees white light telescope in Hawaii: http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/MWLT/mwlt.html Stars from ADAS's Sky Map 8 planisphere: http://www.adas.u-net.com/skymaps.html Planets via Sky and Telescope ‘What’s Up?’: http://www.skypub.com/sights/sights.shtml Asteroids via Heavens-Above: http://www.heavens-above.com Comets BAA: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds Comets NASA: http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html Meteors  the IMO calendar via: http://www.imo.net Aurora alert  York University: http://www.aurorawatch.york.ac.uk/ Satellites from Heavens Above: http://www.heavens-above.com Variable stars, novae and supernovae AAVSO: http://www.aavso.org by Rodger Livermoore For the previous newsletter, click here.

It seems the weather in the good old North-West of England has lived up to it's usual reputation, robbing us of yet another meteor shower following last year's cloud cover for this event, the Leonids and the Geminids. The sky was beautifully clear right up until about an hour before sunset, and then right on cue, in rolls heavy cloud cover from the west. I sat on my back doorstep and watched in dismay as pristine blue sky gave way to total cloud cover, which has remained up until the time of this posting, just after 2am, Tuesday morning. Now I must go and sulk. The Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, September 6th at 8pm, at the village hall as usual. I hope to make the Latest News page an interesting place to visit, and welcome any suggestions regarding improvements, etc., so please don't be backward in coming forward if you have ideas. Tony Blair commented on winning the General Election in 1997 that his new government had to 'hit the ground running', whereas I have just, well, 'hit the ground' when it comes to web publishing, and will be continuously looking at ways to improve 'The Astroadas Experience'. That's all for now, more updates soon. Well, another observing season beckons with the approach of the Perseids Meteor Shower, on 'The Glorious Twelfth' (unless you happen to be a grouse of course, and then you'll stay in bed if you know what's good for you) Paul Brierley has suggested a visit to Siddington that very night to view proceedings, so please keep an eye on the dark sky page for confirmation and details if you are interested by Unknown ADAS member #MeteorShower #Perseids

Friday 12th November Llyn Brenig NELM ~6 A late start saw me hiding in the forest from the cold north wind. A few clouds passed through but generally the session from 22:00 –02:30 was clear. I spent the first few hours using the 18". Comet 78P Grehels is visible in Aries. The expected magnitude is~11.8, however, it is currently ~1.5 magnitudes brighter. It appeared as a well formed comet! I had previously failed to find a couple of galaxy groups inLacerta. This time I star hopped from Pegasus and found 2 interesting groupings of ellipses and spirals near NGCs 7242 and7265. These ranged from a bright 12+ to a barely detectable 15+. Off the east side of the square of Pegasus another loose grouping of15 galaxies was picked up. Centred around NGC 80 these had a similar magnitude profile. A trawl around in Pisces found more objects. One of some interestwas NGC 676. At ~mag. 12 this edge-on spiral has a mag 10 star superimposed exactly on the central bulge! A large wedge of cloud had me putting away the Obsession and settingup the 4" Borg refractor. Camelopardalis… …Kembles Cascade is a beautiful string of stars that were perfectlydisplayed in the 4 degree FOV. The nearby open clusters of NGC 1502 and Tr3 at ~mag 7 were nice. IC 342, a big local group face-on galaxy was quite difficult. In contrast the similarly bright NGC2403 was easy picking. I had a quick look around the Ursa Major Messier objects. The M81,82 combo is stunning in almost any aperture. The Owl nebula was readily seen w/o filters. A wallow around the Orion nebulae concluded the session. by Paul #Galaxy #Comet #OpenCluster #Nebula

ADAS had the usual yearly stall at the Gatley Festival, last Sunday, 6th July. The weather held out for us and the Sun even came out for a while! According to Ged B., we were kept busy until later than last year; I could see the event was very well-attended, and the crowd was well-natured. The end result is that we raised just short of £120, which will come in handy. Many thanks to Ged B, Chris S, Richard B, and Geoff F for their efforts. by Unknown ADAS member #GatleyFestival #FundRaising

Have a look at the Sun. A line of 6 Sunspot groups along the equatorial line has now been added to by a group of 2 spots much higher in latitude nearer the pole. This was written before corroboration. I (GC) hope I have the facts correct. If I have the start of the next cycle is in place! by Unknown ADAS member The SUN 16th July. Two spots close to the poles look like the start of the next Sunspot cycle. I hope I have got my facts correct!? (G. Cliff) From Dave T. - SUNSPOTS  Wednesday 28th. A significant increase in solar activity has been observed during the last week following almost 3 months of very quiet activity. The Sun appears to be in a state of ENERGETIC Sunspot growth. This is evidenced by the appearance of a large Sunspot group that recently rotated around the eastern solar limb. This Sunspot group, which is now visible to the PROTECTED naked eye, is the largest and most complex Sunspot group we have observed in many months. Do NOT look directly at the SUN! The second picture is from Chris Suddick. Rec'd 30th March. SUNSPOTS AND STORMS!? The recent inclement weather in Britain (the flooding) and the fact that this year (2000) is Sunspot maximum reminds me that the last bad storms were 1987/90, nearly one Sunspot cycle ago! This was the last time we had major Aurora Borealis, just like we have had this year (2000)! And apparently the USA has had clear skies, hot weather and drought in the midwest! The start of 2001 has had reports of coldest ever temperatures in parts of the USA and Siberia whilst Moscow has had warmer than usual temperatures. All blamed on global warming!? At least the EURO's value is NOT blamed on global warming or will it? Is there even any correlation between Sunspot cycles and El Nino? In fact is there any chance of anyone out there getting  research data identified to chase up the BAD WEATHER Storms/Sunspot connection and NOT simply a temperature connection? Dr. Chris Butler of Armagh observatoryand planetarium, Northern Ireland has already demonstrated that there exists a temperature connection between Sunspot cycle length and temperature in the literature. That is for the last 200 YEARS at least! ie when there was NO global warming!?  I remember recently an explanation on TV that the solar wind detector satellites sent up by NASA were there to check for particle densities in near Earth orbit to anticipate satellite interference problems. However there was also speculation that higher Sunspot activity, increasing the Solar wind density, could also result in an increase in particles getting into the Earth's atmosphere. This potentially had the knock-on effect of causing more rain generally, therefore FEWER clouds and hence clearer skies, which meant then, in warmer climes, more evaporation and therefore more water in suspension in the atmosphere. This would subsequently fall elsewhere as rain because of the increased availability of the particles on which moisture could condense. And so NASA thought Sunspots and Storms/Heavy Rains are related - QED!? Are there any storm record achives that anyone knows of and which could be accessed by private individuals? Anybody out there got any thoughts on this interesting hypothesis? Wednesday 18th October provided an opportunity to check for Sunspots. The effort was a complete waste of time.  "TWO" groups only worthy of comment and certainly not worth photographing or even going to MEES in Hawaii for a decent picture! Sadly the naked eye Sunspots reported below have gone and been replaced by a line of Sunspot "minnows"! C'est la vie.  They were seen Friday 22nd September from Shrewsbury rail station (on the way to Portmeirion) using pin-hole projection, to other rail users amusement. Did anyone see any Aurora caused by them? YIPPEE!!!! Two NAKED EYE Sunspots! Can you believe it? At LONG last!!!!!! Click ON the thumbnails below to get the BIGGER pictures. You will then need to go BACK in your browser to return to this page.  The BW picture is courtesy Paul Brierley from England taken at 10.15 UT 21st September. Even better you can have a look yourself at the Mees White Light Telescope image set from Hawaii, from which the first thumbnail below was taken. If you try it visually do not forget to use last year's eclipse shades!? MWLT access is indicated below. by Unknown ADAS members #Sun #SunSpot #Photo

Since Peter Drew's talk to ADAS in April this year (1999) we at ADAS have been trying to organise an outing to visit the Amateur Astronomy Centre. This effort resulted in a visit by 5 members to the Star Party of the 30th October. Roger L  took Graham C, Pauline C, Tony A, Sean O and himself (Roger L) to the complex circa 2pm in weather conditions which simply got worse. If you do not live in English weather conditions count yourself  Astronomically lucky! If you have a copy of Astronomy Now for March 2000 you will see ADAS members in the picture of those attending the AAC meeting in the front row ready fo Mike Frost's lecture. The visit was worth it however. The talks were excellent. Tony A was reminded of Lockyer's obs in Sidmouth 50 years ago by Mike Frost, he and the Cliffs were reminded of this year's eclipse and of last year in Curacao (1998) and quite simply a good time was had by all, especially Sean. by Unknown ADAS member #AmateurAstronomyCentre #Trip

Last weekend various ADAS members were at the BBC's 'All Night Star Party' to commemorate Mars' closest proximity to the Earth in 67,000 years. People from other societies throughout the north - west were present, displaying various astronomical oddities, such as a pair of binoculars (?) made from a pair of 6'' F8 refractors, skillfully lashed together, or Paul's 'extra lightweight' 10' dob, or an 8'' F3 spider-less newtonian, with the secondary being mounted on a flat glass plate, at the front of the scope. The Isaac Newton 2.3metre scope in La Palma was ours for the night, as it were, and was taking requests from viewers and visitors. (well into the night for the visitors) Roger L was pictured at the start of the programme, stuffing his face with food, and Paul C was given a short slot to demonstrate his 10-incher to everyone. One startling fact also became apparent as the night went on, and that was I noticed that the 250m. Lovell Radio Telescope actually moves more quietly than an LX200. It truly whispered along it's tracks, barely audible. OOPS! nearly forgot to mention there was a photography competition as well - Phil Masding and Mark Crossley both took prizes, Mark's webcam image of Jupiter was commended as being particularly good - nice one Mark, I don't like completely hate you at all or anything, but poor me didn't even get a mention for my efforts :-( by Unknown ADAS member #JodrellBank #Jupiter

Geoff (6" Dob) NickD (8" ADAS Meade) Chris (Miyauchi 20x77 binoculars) and myself spent a lovely three hours stargazing from one of our local dark sky sites. The sky was slightly hazy with a limiting magnitude of +4. I could easily make out Cr 399 and the Scutum Star cloud with the naked eye. The seeing was excellent ANTII but unfortunately it was breezy. I spent most of the time hunting down faint globular's and planetary nebulae through my 12" and 24 Pan. Whilst the others just had a look around the sky. I particularly like Geoff's 6" dob. It is a very neat well made telescope with excellent optics. Below is a brief account of what I saw. Globular Clusters M13 in Hercules. It was very nice to compare the view of M13 through Nick and Geoff's telescopes. I think that Geoff's image of M13 was probably one of the best views I have seen in a telescope of this aperture. It appeared small, round and granular. Through my 12"M13was a glowing ball of star light. Visible through my 12" were the globular's M14 M10 M12 Ophiuchus NGC 6760 Aquila NGC 6934 Delphinus and M15 Pegasus. M14 M10 and M12were resolved and appeared as gra iny balls of star light. M15, because it is brighter and bigger was clear and bright with many stars visible almost to its core. NGC 6760 and 6934 were difficult globular's to resolve because of there size and magnitude. Both appeared as tiny and slightly granular balls of star light. You need high power to see resolve them into individual stars. Planetary Nebulae I also had a look at some small planetary nebulae. I had a look at the show piece objects M57 and M27. But also some of the lesser known ones. NGC 6572 Ophiuchus NGC 6803 Aquila NGC 7009 Aquarius and the Cats eye nebula in Draco. We all had a look at Neptune and Uranus. They appeared as tiny round fuzz balls in my 12" and the ADAS Meade. Towards midnight we started to see a number of Persid meteors. Which were bright and slow. Lets hope it is clear next Wednesday for the peak. by Paul Brierley #PlanetaryNebula #GlobularCluster #MeteorShower

Saturday 28th December Location; Ripon NELM: 6 (occasionally) Duration: 19:00 – 23:30 Conditions: Intermittent cloud for first 90 minutes, then clear with no wind or dew until end when clouded out. First off, some ‘easy’ globular clusters in M31. Using some recent research data I’d plotted 26 clusters with an accuracy of 1/100 of an arc second in SkyMap Pro. The brightest 8 ranged from mag. 14.2 down to 15 and up to 3 arc minutes in diameter. Appearing star-like or occasionally fuzzy they were found without much trouble. I used the nearby M32 and M110 as starting points. Under better conditions I hope to get down to near mag. 16 on these. M31 could be traced out for about 3.5 degrees and M33 showed up some good detail in the very widespread spiral arms. Next, I trawled 14 galaxies off the base of Triangulum. A break in the clouds then had me hunting down some nice galaxy triplets near the head of Pisces. It then cleared completely to provide 3 hours of excellent observing conditions. Starting at the open cluster of M34 I wandered around near the zenith picking off galaxies at leisure. Of the 18 NGC 1023 and very close companion are recommended. Moving over to the desert of Camelopardalis I found the very big and pale face-on local group galaxy IC 342. A mottled centre and many stars superimposed on a faint round halo were visible. A dip down into Eridanus (right and up a bit from Rigel) found more galaxies suffering from the LP of Harrogate and Leeds beyond. In darker sky a bright nebula, Sh2-224, forms an arc in Auriga. Then, hopping off from the Pleiades (swathed in nebulosity) I found a nearby planetary nebula PK 171-25.1, a mag. 13.9 disc. The Horsehead was visible using the UHC filter and the deep sky challenge object J900 shone out using an OIII. At 300+ the Eskimo looked just like a small black and white version of the Hubble photograph. The twin lobed planetary of NGC 2371 was also magnificent with the high power. Browsing around with the low power big 2” eyepiece and OIII combination found the supernova remnant IC 443 near M35 and the Medusa nebula between Gemini and Canis Minor. As clouds started to encroach from the south west I cruised around using the short-tube 80mm and 32mm Plossl combination. This gives x13 with a 4 degree FOV. I also used the UHC filter. Many of the big Messier clusters were easy pickings. The filter brought out the nebulosity of NGCs 2175, 1931 and ICs 410, 417 very well. This weather is desperate! by Paul Clark #Galaxy #GlobularCluster #Nebula #Supernova

An observing log from Paul Clark. Enjoy!? Well, finding an opportunity for observing between family, weather and the 'flu proved quite difficult.  A few hours cloud watching with DaveT appeared to be the highlight of the season… …however the following day (Wednesday 27th Dec ?) brought clear blue sky with a forecast of heavy snow for later in the night.  The satellite animation on the BBC weather website promised a good four hour window for observing that evening. By the time I had set up at Gradbach it was 1740, Venus was high in the south, twilight had another half hour to run and the temperature was about –2.  Numerous layers of clothes and a total lack of wind made the conditions feel quite pleasant! Aligning the finderscope and Telrad using Venus gave an opportunity to have a rocksteady view of the 60% phase.  When undertaking a marathon of all the Messier objects in one night a key object to find in the evening twilight is M74, a face-on, low surface brightness galaxy in Pisces.  So I thought I'd have a try now.  It proved easy to find in the clear air although it was well away from most of the glow in the west.  A mag. 7.3 open cluster in Cygnus was an oversight from one of my observing lists.  NGC 6819 showed up well despite the Milky Way background.  Next I aimed for the Blue Flash Nebula, a mag. 12 planetary in Delphinus.   Well into the western twilight this was very surprising as it popped into view without using the filter as an elongated brightness.  As twilight drew to a close NGC 7217, a mag. 10.1 galaxy near pi Pegasi was logged.  I had missed this on a couple of occasions previously owing to poor conditions. The finder and Telrad had showed signs of dewing after the first 10 minutes of observing however, the problem took on a different dimension as the dew froze onto the optics and streaks of hoar frost developed along the side of the tube. Turning to the south I searched out some galaxies from the Herschel 400 list in Pisces, NGCs 488 and 524 were straightforward at mag. 10.3.  Moving down to Cetus I worked along a chain of four galaxies near theta Ceti.  The third galaxy, NGC 615, proved a real struggle at mag. 11.5 and I abandoned hopes of searching further down for faint targets.  I revisited the 'southern blue snowball' in Eridanus for some bright relief.  The cold was taking it's toll so I had a cruise around the magnificent Messiers in Orion before retreating to the car to warm everything up for 45 minutes. After the restart the Eskimo nebula was excellent and bright against the dark sky background.  Detail could be seen at higher powers and it appeared a different object to that visible from Timperley.  After a previous failure I hoped to find NGC 1961, a LSB galaxy in Camelopardalis.  This proved tricky at mag. 11 with the alt/az. mount being unhelpful around the zenith.  The scope was completely free of dew and offered an opportunity for me to try for some Bright (ha, ha) Nebulae that I had outstanding.  The first object was a complete shock.  NGC 1931 is given an integrated visual magnitude of 10.1.  It was obvious as a small cluster of stars involved with nebulosity and at 3 by 3 arc-minutes was very striking.  It can be found near M36 in Auriga.  Next NGC 1491, a 6 by 9 arc-minute oblong was easily seen in Perseus!  This has no magnitude available however, it was found with the aid of a detailed SkyMap Pro chart.  NGC 281 at mag. 7.4 surrounds a bright star near alpha Cas.  An area of brightness could bee seen when compared to adjacent stars of similar magnitude.  So maybe they are 'Bright' nebulae afterall?  I finished off with a look at a few old favourites as the temperature reached a balmy –5. We awoke the following day to a beautiful winter wonderland and went sledging.  Yes! by Paul Clark #GradbachHill #Venus #Galaxy #MilkyWay #OpenCluster

I wasn’t going to write up anything about this trip.  I’m sure people have heard enough from me by now however, endless cloud and rain have forced me to re-live a very enjoyable session. The Tuesday weather forecast suggested a good Thursday night.  Decreasing northwesterly winds, rising pressure and heavy showers dying out through the evening.  By Thursday lunchtime it was looking very unlikely but, as predicted, the clouds and showers began to break .   At 8 p.m. it was getting dark, cold and very clear. I arrived at Gradbach at about 10:15, the waxing Moon was still visible but soon set behind a ridge to the southwest.  After aligning the Telrad and finderscope using Polaris, I swung the 'scope over to the darker eastern sky and the Pleiades.  I was using a couple of new Tele Vue eyepieces for the first time.  The 32 mm at x63 gave a good view of the cluster.  In the preceding days I had generated a list of the brighter planetary nebulae and using a star chart, printed from SkyMap Pro, I located IC 2149 in Auriga.  This appeared as a non-twinkling star with the suggestion of shape at x100. A couple of my observing targets were the Helix and Veil nebulae.  A borrowed (from Roger L - GC?) Ultra High Contrast filter was to be very helpful.  Turning to the south I orientated myself between Capricorn and Aquarius with an observation of M30, a mag. 7.5 globular cluster, easy to find near 41 Capricorni.  From here I hoped to locate the Helix Nebula.  Initial alignment with the Telrad and finderscope was difficult at the low altitude with some slight light pollution from the town of Leek and the Moon!  I swept over the area where I expected to locate the nebula but found nothing.  Resetting the 'scope to my starting point I put the UHC filter in the eyepiece.  Half a FOV later a large ghostly straight-sided oval nebula moved into view.  Filling half the eyepiece it is an impressive sight!  Invisible without the filter or at higher power, clear as day with the filter in a low power wide FOV. Next the Veil Nebula.  For some reason observing the Veil has been a long standing personal goal.  I think it goes back 25 years from pictures seen in magazines and books.  The sky was very dark and clear now.  The Moon had set completely and Cygnus was at about 60 degrees in the west.  I had carefully printed out a chart at home and using this I starhopped my way to where the eastern segment of the Veil should be.  Looking into the main eyepiece I couldn’t believe my eyes.  A broad band, Veil even, of light crossed the eyepiece.  This I followed back and forth detailing the full 1.5 degree shape of the eastern Veil.  Thickening, thinning, braided brighter and fainter.  After "gawping" for many minutes at this remnant of an age-old supernova I remembered that there was a western Veil to find.  This was a snap with the bright 52 Cygni to pinpoint the field.  The northward arc of the Veil was easy to follow using the UHC filter and I took my time savouring the view. Previously, from dark sky in the Lake District, I had failed to spot the Blinking Planetary amongst the profusion of Milky Way stars.  This time, equipped with a better star chart, I was successful.  A clearly defined disk but no blinking for me at x100.  A quick look for Stephan’s Quintet failed but a very good view of the edge-on mag. 9.5 spiral NGC 7331 was some reward.  Next NGC 772, mag. 10.3 galaxy in Aries was located.  This was seen easily at x100 whilst I warmed a dewed up low power eyepiece under my duvet.  Wandering down to Cetus the Seyfert galaxy, M 77, was observed along with nearby NGC 1055, a mag. 10.6 galaxy. The final ‘find of the night’ was NGC 1514, a mag. 10.8 planetary nebula in Taurus.  Nearer to Perseus, this has a bright central star surrounded by a lovely 2-3 degree circular nebula.  I recommend this to everyone.  The UHC filter gave some improvement however, concentrated observation and averted vision does the trick. I wound down with quick views of M74, 33, 31, 32 and 110.  Finally, the optics dewed up completely and I drove home very satisfied. by Dave Timperley #Galaxy #Moon #Nebula #PlanetaryNebula #Gradbach #MilkyWay

Please remember that looking directly at the Sun WILL damage your eyes. If you wish to look at the Sun during an eclipse there are certain precautions you can take. However there is no totally safe method for looking directly at the Sun for a prolonged period. Click here for some basic guidelines on safety. Please note we will be selling mylar eclipse 'shades' (to a CE standard) at our meeting dedicated to eclipse observing (June 4th). The last eclipse visible in England was the eclipse of 1927 which crossed Wales, Lancashire and Yorkshire. In case you are wondering where is the best place to watch the eclipse,  some industrious person has already done all the hard work for you. The best place is in Iraq!  If you are going to be watching the eclipse from the U.K. (poor thing), then you need to be in the "Toe of Cornwall". Falmouth is almost on the centre track and there is talk of the police trying to stop people going (something about public order). Just remind them that you have the right to travel freely and unhindered on the Queen's highway. For those venturing further afield, the most accessible locations will be in Northern Europe, particularly France and Western Germany. For those with a real wonderlust, here is the entire European eclipse track. The maximum duration of the eclipse is near the Black Sea.    Members below ready and eager to  see the eclipse in August!! If it is cloudy, wet, stormy or snow bound etc. where you are and you cannot observe the Sun then look at  Mees White Light Telescope.   Daily images are maintained for your convenience. The picture below shows Dr. Colin Steele (L) and Dr. Don Utton (R) with Chair(man) Chris Suddick after the entertaining society meeting concerned with the forthcoming August eclipse. Don has the highly technical colander shadow machine and Colin has the probability chart of cloud cover! ( These appear elsewhere on our web site as does the eclipse 98 photo-insert). CCD Solar Images Don Utton and Roger Livermore are combining forces to get CCD pictures of the Sun. Don has provided high quality mylar filter medium and Roger the CCD and the time and effort to get the pictures! His first CCD solar effort is below, much sharpened and contrast enhanced but at least the sunspots can be seen on a day that was filled with rolling cloud (that's CLOUD not ROCK!). The picture right is their most recent attempt. Better with no cloud and greater magnification. Well done chaps. by Unknown ADAS member #Eclipse #Sun

I’ve recently purchased a ‘take me anywhere’ ‘scope. At 60mm aperture and f5.4 the OTA comes in a 10” long when assembled. It can easily fit in any bag, especially my overfull briefcase. A 24mm Panoptic eyepiece gives a fov of ~5 degrees and x14, a 13mm Nagler offers a ~3 degree fov at x25. Both OK for unmounted use and weighing in at less than 1 kg altogether. The first view was a magnificent Machholz and Pleiades in the same wide view from the back garden. The ‘scope was a revelation under the darker skies near Wildboarclough. The Double Cluster, Stock 2 and nearby nebulous wisps were all visible. M52, M103, NGCs 7789 and 663 were all great open clusters in Cassiopeia. The Pacman also showed up. The views in and around Orion and Auriga were magnificent, nebulae and clusters galore. The killer observation was an unfiltered pick-up of the California nebula. Repeated and confirmed over 2 sessions this object requires very clear, dark skies and usually an H-beta filter. The H-beta filter did reveal Barnard’s Loop. M1, the Rosette and M109 were 3 of a large hotchpotch of objects scored. The lovely pairing of M81 and M82 also warrant a special mention. All the above observations were made handheld either freestanding or resting against the car. I should know better but I have been amazed at the capability of this small ‘scope. Clear skies. by Paul #Nebula #DoubleCluster #OpenCluster

Don Utton, Paul Clark and myself went to Llyn Brenig on Thursday night, 5th Dec. The sky had been gloriously clear all day, and my hopes of taking some good photos were raised. I was greeted on arrival by a pristine clear sky, the Milky Way visible from horizon to horizon, but unfortunately this was not to last. Throughout the night, large bands of cloud kept sweeping in, and observing was only possible during the clearer periods, which thankfully were fairly long. I managed to view a few favourites, M15, 37,78, 42, NGC 1977,(Running Man Nebula) 7331, (mag 9.5 galaxy in Pegasus) 2264, (open cluster adjacent to the Cone Nebula in Monoceros) and about half a dozen other open clusters from my target list, heading southwards to NGC2239, the open cluster at the centre of the Rosette Nebula. I did manage to take a couple of photos, piggybacking a camera and 300mm lens, but by 1.30am the periods of cloudy sky became longer than the periods it was clear for, so the decision to pack up was made. by Dave Timperley Desperate Measures The weather has been so bad for dark sky trips! We are now into December and this was only the second rather patchy observing session at Llyn Brenig since mid-summer. Don and I arrived about 18:00. It clouded over after 5 minutes. After setting up the scope it cleared for about an hour. I looked at the Veil for a treat and then searched low down in Aquarius for an obscure and pale mag. 11.3 globular cluster NGC 7492. A re-visit to the area around 1 Arietis found 8 galaxies down to mag. 15 arranged in a ‘tick’ formation. We waited for gaps in the cloud. Abell planetary nebulae are usually faint but realitively large and un-starlike. Numbers 84 and 77 were found near the zenih. Near the Owl Cluster lies another big planetary Sh2-188, originally thought to be an emission nebula this looks like a nice brushed curl of nebulosity. Dropping down to Pisces I(could only just)C 1613 is a very low surface brightnes face-on local group galaxy. A nice trio of NGC galaxies is on the way there. Another similar trio was seen up in Andromeda, NGCs 48, 49 and 51, I don’t know where 50 went. Again intermittent cloud gave opportunity for a coffee break. I found out Dave T had already been there for an hour or so. Abell 4 is near M34, a stiff target at mag. 16.7? The visual magnitude must be higher, it came forth using the OIII filter. Whilst in that area I got an excellent view of the pale edge-on spiral NGC 891. I also picked up 17 other nearby galaxies. Hopping off from the Double Cluster landed me on Maffei I, another local group galaxy. If this was not hidden by the dusty Milky Way it would be *way* bright. I also showed Mayall II to Dave. This is the brightest of the Andromeda galaxy globular clusters. Another big planetary was picked up in Auriga along with the small globular Palomar 2 at mag. 13. The sky became very clear for a while. I saw good spiral arm detail in M74 and also the Horsehead nebula without the aid of a filter. A brief respite allowed some nice views of M35 and NGC 2175, a cluster with lots of nebulosity. Abell 10 in Orion was the last of the night along with some nice views of M42.The cloud set in so we set off home. by Paul Clark #Nebula #LlynBrenig #DoubleCluster #Galaxy

The Monster, as my wife has christened the 18”, had brought on the ‘new scope’ curse with a vengeance.   Ten days of solid cloud cover had followed delivery (the 1 day old Monster is seen at the last General Meeting left with Bin Wu, Mark Adamson and Paul - GC).  The Sunday forecast suggested a brief interlude between two weather fronts.  A message on the Internet (to Adastra_ADAS) brought no replies.  Not surprising with the drizzling rain!  I set off at 16:30, the car full of telescope.  I arrived to hill fog at Llyn Brenig however 4 miles nearer the coast brought a good clear sky. The mirror box is as heavy as I can lift out of the car.  Set up went OK apart from the laser collimator falling apart! I started off using a 31 mm Type V Nagler eyepiece.  The view through this is like having a porthole on the Universe.  Stars galore spread across an 82 degree apparent field of view.  M42 was stupendous at only 20 degrees elevation., a maelstrom of swirling nebulosity.  Nearby nebulae gave up detail for the first time.  M35 was unrecognisable! I moved over to Stephan’s Quintet in Pegasus.  All 5 components were revealed in a beautiful cluster of galaxies down to mag. 13.5.  Nearby Jones 1 is a huge annular planetary nebula.  Visible with the UHC filter this low surface brightness object was a treat. After an hour the hill fog started to intrude and I packed up to go home.  Heading directly towards the coast instead of the usual route via Denbigh resulted in the sky clearing again.  However, the limiting magnitude deteriorated to about 5.5 owing to the nearby lights of the coastal resorts. Setting up on an unknown side road I found the wind had started to increase.  Freezing my hands and buffeting the telescope.  NGC 7789 competed with the Double Cluster for the title of best ‘open’ of the evening.  Observed on tiptoe, I’d forgotten to bring a step to reach the eyepiece!  Using the 32 mm Plossl with the UHC filter allowed me an excellent view of IC 443 a large, broad curving supernova remnant in Gemini.  Dropping down to Orion the long wide reef of IC 434 dropped down from Zeta Orionis.  A while later the dark notch of the Horsehead nebula became apparent. The conditions were deteriorating and I loaded up to come home.  I’d had two quality hours with the new scope.  (To my surprise) I experienced quite a few teething problems and hopefully learnt a few lessons to make the next time even more successful. by Paul Clark #Dobsonian #DoubleCluster #LlynBrenig #Nebula