24th September - Belper Dark Site - 19:30 to 20:00 start - ANY WEATHER (except torrential rain).

[+bryand]

The postcode is DE56 2RD.

Not checked the ground this month, but the site is quite well drained and not usually muddy. But the grass is wet and cold, so wellies might be a good idea.

[+RonC]

Thanks, just found it on Google Earth, not far from the old cricket club then?

I'll be there 7.30 - 8pm , see you then..

[+Bino-viewer]

4 hours ago, RonC said:

What are the ground conditions like after this rain?

 

 

What rain ? 😀

Pretty dry up there i would have thought.

 

[philjay]

4 hours ago, RonC said:

Thanks, just found it on Google Earth, not far from the old cricket club then?

I'll be there 7.30 - 8pm , see you then..

Just up the road a few hundred yards or so Ron.

We havent had as much rain here as the east. Had a bit yesterday but not bad.

[+RonC]

Hi Phil, it rained all night here so I was just checking!

See you tomorrow..

 

Ron

[Rusty Strings]

I cycled past today and were are no campers and the ground looks fine!

[+Derbyshire Dave]

1 hour ago, Rusty Strings said:

I cycled past today and were are no campers and the ground looks fine!

Good work that John!

[philjay]

Nice one John.

Forecast looks promising. Especially into early morning. Possibly a few clouds around till 22.00 but if theres gaps, should be ok for some planets.

Not imaging myself just a bit of visual so I will be off about 22.00 -22.30 ish, a few things to do sunday.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by philjay

[+Bino-viewer]

Been up since 04:00 for work, but i'm more than ready for a session so will be there tonight.

I'll be staying no later than about 23:00-24:00 as i'm up again for work tomorrow but am not in early.

 

Lets hope we get a few breaks in the clouds. Hopefully see you all there.

I will be in 'planet busting mode' this evening !! 🔭

[+Derbyshire Dave]

10 minutes ago, Bino-viewer said:

Been up since 04:00 for work, but i'm more than ready for a session so will be there tonight.

I'll be staying no later than about 23:00-24:00 as i'm up again for work tomorrow but am not in early.

 

Lets hope we get a few breaks in the clouds. Hopefully see you all there.

I will be in 'planet busting mode' this evening !! 🔭

Go for it Rob! See you there

[+Ibbo]

On 23/09/2022 at 12:45, RonC said:

What are the ground conditions like after this rain?

I have not been to this site before so has anybody got the Post Code please?

 

DE56 2RD

[philjay]

A good turn out last night, nice to see folks again and new commers.

Started out a bit cloudy here and there but for once the weather forecast was accurate and the Belper skies cleared about 22:00

 

Saw 5 planets, 4 with my old Towa 80mm, Jupiter ( a moon shadow transit made the views special), Saturn and Neptune and Mars. Uranus thanks to Rob.

 

Showed a few slightly inebriated Muggles Jupiter and Saturn, always a pleasure to show folks these show stoppers.

 

Unfortunately I had to get away before 23:00 and leave the skies to others, so I hope you made good use of them 😀

 

Here,s a quick shot of our pitch, I think thats Jupiter reflected in my van window.

Edited September 25, 2022 by philjay

[BAZ]

It looks fairly clear behind the low cloud. I am glad that you all got t see something. 

[Adam Firth]

I thoroughly enjoyed myself last night. It was nice to meet a few new people. Sorry for not introducing myself much but I guess I'm just used to observing on my own so I just got lost observing a bit. Those are the darkest skies I've seen since I got into astronomy with a very faint milky way. Thanks everyone and I think I will definitely be getting a dark site membership once some home expenses have been sorted. I saw Jupiter, Saturn, Mars (but very low down), andromeda, triangulum, pleiades, the double cluster and the hercules cluster. I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple but never mind.

[Jerry]

Thanks for a great evenings sky watching, managed to get my scope up and running and was pleased with the way it performed.

Learned a lot from speaking to everyone and have a much better idea on what eyepieces to start upgrading to from the being able to try out a lot of different pieces from everyone there.

Must remember to bring a hat next time also warmer footwear 🙂.

 

[+Derbyshire Dave]

3 hours ago, Adam Firth said:

I thoroughly enjoyed myself last night. It was nice to meet a few new people. Sorry for not introducing myself much but I guess I'm just used to observing on my own so I just got lost observing a bit. Those are the darkest skies I've seen since I got into astronomy with a very faint milky way. Thanks everyone and I think I will definitely be getting a dark site membership once some home expenses have been sorted. I saw Jupiter, Saturn, Mars (but very low down), andromeda, triangulum, pleiades, the double cluster and the hercules cluster. I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple but never mind.

 

1 hour ago, Jerry said:

Thanks for a great evenings sky watching, managed to get my scope up and running and was pleased with the way it performed.

Learned a lot from speaking to everyone and have a much better idea on what eyepieces to start upgrading to from the being able to try out a lot of different pieces from everyone there.

Must remember to bring a hat next time also warmer footwear 🙂.

 

 

Adam, Andy, great to meet you both. Glad you had a good night. Started off with a few clouds, but got much better.

 

Nice to be back, and to see all the regulars too..

[+Streetbob]

A most enjoyable night. Good to see everyone again and the newcomers, it was a good turnout. Saw the five planets M2,11 and others I can’t see from home. You’re right Phil the shadow transit on Jupiter was a bonus. Also got to show some D of E scouts the 5 planets which they were wowed with. Here’s to the next.

[+Bino-viewer]

Great to see everyone, an enjoyable evenings astronomy, and a great turnout and advert for our EMS astro group.

 

Definitely a planetary show last night, and i spent 90% of it on the 5 outer planets which are ideally placed.

The rest of the time i had a quick look at some of the usual suspects and the ISS paid us a visit too.

 

Thanks to Doug for helping me out with some alignment problems i had, and once done i had accurate 'push to's' for the rest of the night.

My scope performed well, its not fussy, cools down quickly and stayed free of dew all night without the heaters on.

 

I'm at an age now, where i'm finding cold really starts to set in after about 4 hours in the field up there. It's a cold place, and a harsh environment to try and keep warm in.

Yet it was still +8ºC when i left at 23:30 hrs but felt cooler. But i think it was the clearest i'd seen it up there, it was a really good clear night. It was a shame to leave,

but after 4 hours i was done and i'd been up since 4 🥱🥶

 

Last nights highlight : the Europa shadow transit on Jupiter.  It was good to watch the Solar System in motion in real time.

Looking forward to the next meet 😀🔭

 

 

[philjay]

I must admit to having to stiffle a laugh when one of the muggles put her phone up to my scope which was on saturn and tried to take a picture through the eyepiece. She didnt even turn the flash off

[tuckstar]

Sounds like you had a good night. I do need to get up to Belper again. Its been a while and Kelling has whet my appetite again, even if I did only get the scope out for one night, just used everyone else's on sat.

 

[+Derbyshire Dave]

41 minutes ago, tuckstar said:

Sounds like you had a good night. I do need to get up to Belper again. Its been a while and Kelling has whet my appetite again, even if I did only get the scope out for one night, just used everyone else's on sat.

 

It would be good to see you Andy

[tuckstar]

3 hours ago, Derbyshire Dave said:

It would be good to see you Andy

I missed you at Kelling. I did pop over to the blue field but not as much as I normally do, but then it was a case of rain dodging!!

[+Derbyshire Dave]

9 minutes ago, tuckstar said:

I missed you at Kelling. I did pop over to the blue field but not as much as I normally do, but then it was a case of rain dodging!!

I wasn't there this year Andy. First time in years. Had to go to Scotland for a seaplane flight (Xmas present!), it was too far to drive down to Kelling from there

[tuckstar]

50 minutes ago, Derbyshire Dave said:

I wasn't there this year Andy. First time in years. Had to go to Scotland for a seaplane flight (Xmas present!), it was too far to drive down to Kelling from there

Thats why I didn't see you then!!! How was the flight?

[+Derbyshire Dave]

It was fantastic