cosmic dave Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 The forecast is looking good for tonight's meet guys, cloud for and hour or so at midnight but clear before and after, windy mind you but that should not bother us for the main event the Perseid meteor shower, See you tonight (probably about half eight) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Tonights meet went very well. Sorry that you were unable to attend Ron as i feel you missed out on a great night. The Perseids was the main goal of the night and we were not disappointed. A large number of meteors were seen tonight, some Perseids and some sporadics. The Perseids were particularly good with some bright ones leaving smoke trails and showing a distinct green colour. They were also very fast so if you were not looking they could easily be missed. They seemed to come in fits and spurts with several visible in a few minutes and then a short wait to see more. A really enjoyable meteor shower and all in attendance were happy with what was seen. Though the Perseids was the main goal of the night we would not be Astronomers if we did not do a little observing too. M31 was easily visible tonight naked eye and myself and others commented at how it appeared apparently large tonight. Even the Milky Way in Cygnus was so bright it was mistaken for cloud. M57 was seen well in all scopes and easily showed its central hole. M13 was observed in the not quite dark sky at dusk and still managed to look impressive. The double cluster was looking particularly good tonight and was an impressive sight even naked eye. As the night wore on The Moon and Jupiter made an attractive pair as they were rising on the North Eastern horizon and even though Jupiter and The Moon were low they were still putting on a good show. The equatorial belts of Jupiter look interesting at the moment as they are looking very different to one another. One being nice and dark and the other being more diffuse and larger. I for one would like to follow up on this when conditions are more favourable. Paul got Uranus with the Goto and whilst there was no detail visible in his scope it was showing a definate disc. All in all a good evening had by all and though most of the evening was spent looking for the Perseids, there were a few other interesting targets seen and meteors were being observed right up to the end of the session which was about 3am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Totally gutted Mark!! Could not leave the wife with the grandkids playing up though!! One of those things (although we will not be babysitting again for a long time!!) Glad you had a good night, how many people were there? Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 The usual suspects Ron, myself, Paul and Dave. Also a couple of other guys turned up to see what it was all about. We also had a flying visit from the Police. We did have another strange visitor that insisted on havnig a pee in front of us all. I am still wondering why as the car park is more than big enough to accomodate idiots like that. To be honest Ron i feel myself that we will get more interest when the nights get dark earlier, as the problem now is that you need to wait until about 10.30pm before any serious Astronomy can start, and events like last night (Perseids) do not really kick off until after midnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Agreed Mark, sunset at 8.30 ish this week so Sept meet will be a lot earlier!! By the way our Oct meet is the week after EMS1 so we better make a decision about it at our next (Sept) meeting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic dave Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 It was a very good night Ron, but personally I feel it may be time to see if we can find a better part of Gib Point to use, lots of visitors in cars inc pissed holiday makers ! Any Ideas anyone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 How about the beach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I always look at that little car park at the end of the golf coarse on the left, just a short walk up onto a tee for a clear view! Maybe a word at the sea View golf club?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Justinshaw Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Wish I could have stayed longer, sounds like was some good things to view, in the sky anyhow I ended up just lying out in my garden after I got my son to bed, was very nice just chilling out looking at the stars. Will def come next time to stay longer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 You would be more than welcome to join us again Justin. The more the merrier and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Justinshaw Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Want to see Andromeda and def want to learn more, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic dave Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Sounds like a plan Ron, maybe we should have a proper scout round and chat at the next meet ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest @ndyC Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 It was good meeting up with you all and letting me have a look through your scopes again.The shower was impressive as I had never seen so many in one night before especially the bright ones but I will have to get a sun lounger chair for future showers to save getting another stiff neck. I thought the local Skegness wildlife watering the foliage in front of us was definately not the highlight of the night but I suppose all planets harbour non intelligent life! See you all at the next one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Justinshaw Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 That is one bit im not sad about missing, Wish I had seen some of the shower though, what time did it all start kicking off, think I stopped looking about 11:40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 We started seeing meteors as soon as it was dark and continued to see then all the way through until 3am which is when we left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Justinshaw Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Is there any other meteor showers this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic dave Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 yes another good one in december, long bright slow meteors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 There's a list here : http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide Good to meet you at Gib. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Justinshaw Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I will have to keep eye out for the December one, I will be in America then though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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