Great Night Observation

Night from April 29-30 : very good weather and seeing conditions. Relative humidity 85% and temperatures around 2°C - 4°C. The moon was only visible untill midnight.

Observations held with Helios collegue Guido Gubbels mainly to discuss and to learn alternative observation techniques.

Following objects observed :

Waxing Crescent Moon 16%

Star Asterims Hat of Napoleon near Arcturus. Drawing was made. As part of this observation I found out more asterisms are available via this web site.

NGC 6229 - Globular Cluster in Herculis - See my observation

Jupiter and Saturnus - See my observation

M3, M5, M9, M10, M12, M13 all globular Clusturs

M23, M27, M51, M57, M63, M65, M66, M81 and M82.

All observations done with Dobson 12" - mostly with 2" 9mm Scientific Explorer. 

Biggest learnings identified :

- polar allignment difference EQ5 vs EQ6 - need to clarify

- use of detailed charts to hop between stars as synscan is not always accurate enough

- use of color filters for planets; great contract using yellow filter for Jupiter

- asterims are something to enjoy and to learn the night sky

Observing Jupiter and Saturnus and use of color filters

In the morning of april 30th observations done of both Saturnus and Jupiter.

Observation were done using 12" Dobson with yellow, orange and grey filter for Jupiter. In all cases the filters did enhance the contrast. Three belts could be observed, aswell some darker spots in the northern belt. Callisto was on the west side of Jupiter, all others (Europa, Io and Ganymedes) on the east side.

I did try out the use of yellow, orange, grey and OIII filter for Saturnus but I can not make any conclusion at this stage. With Jupiter I was certain that the use filters can make a difference. I'm not sure for Saturnus. 

No real structure could be observed on Saturnus. Probably because Saturnus was only 20° above the horizon. Three moons of Saturnus are observed, east of Saturnus : Rhea, Titan and Japetus.

Filters provide during test by Guido Gubbels

NGC 6229 - Herschel 400 (320)

NGC 6229 is a small, bright globular cluster, magnitude 9,4 and located near Herculis 52. The object is listed as object 320 in Herschel's 400 Observing Guide.

Seeing conditions were very good. Relative humidity 85%, temperature 4°C and no moonlight.
Visual observation done with Orion XT12" - 9mm Scientific Explorer. Drawing made by Guido Gubbels.

Chriet Titulaer Overleden

Voor diegene die de jaren '80 nog hebben meegemaakt, kent zeker Chriet Titulaer. Als wetenschapper en sterrenkundige presenteerde hij op Nederlandse TV o.a Wondere Wereld. Een programma over PC's en ruimtevaart en dat mij zeker heeft beïnvloed in datgene wat me vandaag nog altijd boeit.
Chriet Titulaer overleed vandaag op een leeftijd van 73 jaar.

Exhibition Solarsystem in Herentals by Polaris

Yesterday I visited the exhibtion of the solarsystem in Herentals.
Yesterday and also today, ASH Polaris organises an exhibition of the latest evolutions of our solarsystem. An overview of the history of our solarsystem from ancient Greek till today is presented aswell as an update and latest news on dwarf planet Pluto. Beside this, also Jupiter, Mars and Mission Rosetta are covered. But most I liked the presentation of the observations done by the members of Polaris themselves. This presentation showed multiple observations of the sun and all of the (dwarf) planets of our solarsystem. It's impressive that amateur astronomers can see all aspects of the solarsystem from their backyard.

An immediate eyecatcher is located at the center of the exhibition where you can find an impressive model (scale 1:4) of ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

VVS Annual Meeting

Bruparck in Brussels was choosen to host the annual meeting of the VVS. Beside the mandatory aspects of an annual meeting, two things to mention.

First, Claude Doom presented two new booklets. Twaalf Maanden Sterren Kijken and VVS Sterrenbeelden Atlas. Two nice editions for amateur astronomers. For sure the first book "Twaalf Maanden Sterren Kijken" I would recommend.

Second, Jan Janssens gave a great presentation on the latest insight of Space Weather. As a member of the Royal Observatory of Belgium and working at the SIDS, he is on top of this interesting subject.

Jan Janssens - SIDC

Active Sun

After two weeks hiding, the active sunspot region is showing up again.

Time Lapse Video

How to share big files like documents or videos using Blogger. The easiest way is using Google Drive. In order to try this out a made a short Time Lapse Video this cloudy afternoon.

See the result on this link "Time Lapse Video".

Nikon D60 Shutter Count

Using software Opanda IExif 2.3 it's possible to track shutter counts. To date my Nikon D60 has 46514 shutter releases. 

Different databases show an average shutter lifespan for a Nikon D60 around 49500 counts based on consumer data entry inputs. Nikon guarentees a 50000 shutter count for the Nikon D60.

New Nikon D7500

This week Nikon announced the new Nikon D7500 DSLR camera. It will probably replace the Nikon D7200 and the D7500 has almost the same features as the DX flagship D500. Availability is foreseen in June 2017. It's not a fullframe camera, has 20Mp CMOS chip, 4K video and up to ISO 51000. Shutterspeed up to 1/8000s and 8 frames per second shooting in raw. Connectivity is realized using Wifi, Bluetooth and wire(less) remote features. Let's wait the reviews and other Nikon releases before making the decision to replace my Nikon D60.

Lucie Green - answer on my feedback.

Nice respond from Lucie Green, author of the book "15 million degrees", on my feedback of the book.

My review of the book in the Magazine "Heelal"

Helios Averbode

Helios in Abdij van Averbode - 360° Foto Pascal

De abdij voor Averbode was zo gastvrij en zorgde er voor dat de lokale vereniging voor sterrenkunde Helios Averbode haar vergadering in de abdij kon plaatsvinden. Het was de eerste vergadering na het onverwachte overlijden van onze voorzitter Dr. Jan Cuypers. Guido Gubbels neemt het voortouw en zal de vereniging verden leiden.

Helios Leden - Foto Urbain

De opkomst was talrijk met in totaal 11 leden. Van de vergadering onthouden we de geweldige film die Guido gemaakt heeft over de workshop "Praktisch planeetonderzoek voor de zaterdagochtend (zondagnamiddag) georganiseerd bij Lieven Philips afgelopen Januari. We mochten ook al een glimp opvangen van de Guido zijn film over het zonnestelsel. Een knap staaltje van uitwerking.

Daarna mocht ik mijn werk over "Onze zon - de meest nabije ster" toelichten. Het boek 15 million Degrees heb ik gebruikt als leidraad. Bijkomende info heb ik afgelopen 4 maanden gehaald uit heel wat andere boeken, presentaties, websites en doctoraten. Voor mij was dit een leerrijke ervaring die ik dan ik vol overgave heb gedeeld met de Helios leden.

Helios In Vlaamse Zaal Abdij Averbode - Foto Pascal

Moon 50%

This evening the moon is Waxing Gibbous and 50% illuminated. Picture taken with Nikon D60 and Dobson 12".

Nikon D60 f/4.9 ISO1600 1/160s

Weather Summary March 2017

In comparison with 2015 and 2016, this March 2017 was average much warmer with about 4°C. I regsistrated only 6 air frost days - about 16 air frost days in 2016. Rainfall was normal and same as previous three years.

Bookreview 15 Million Degrees in Heelal Magazine

My bookreview of "15 million Degrees" is this week published. It can be read in this month's edition of the magazine Heelal.