Lecture on Space-X @ Urania

On May 26th, a Lecture will be given on Space-X @Urania, Antwerp. With this Lecture, Urania will officialy end it's Calender Year 2017-2018. In September, the new year 2018-2019 will be kicked off.

Jupiter Opposition on May 8&9

Jupiter, the largest and most massive planet of our solar system is at opposition on May 8 & 9. The day after, the planet will be closest to Earth, which is about 4.4 AU or 65MM Km. This all means that the planet is visible the entire night. Have fun.

The Sun Unleashed : monster filament in UV

Credit NASA GSFC SDO

In 2011 a moderate flare erupted from the sun, but after that flare eruption a enormous ejection of plasma was seen in UV. The timelapse shows this ejection and how it "falls" back on the sun following the magnetic field lines - which in normal condition are invisible.

Click Here for the video Time Lapse.

Heavy Rainfall

This morning my rain gauge showed a rainfall of 44 liter/m2. It's not a record, but still a lot of rain. It's also 50% of the rainfall so far during the month of april (82 liter/m2).

Black Holes Video

Interesting video talking about black holes. Quit interesting (and new for me) is the fact the scientist believe that alone in our own galaxy 1 billion black holes are hidden - and only 60 are "found".

For the video use this link.

ATT - Essen Germany - Biggest Astronomy Exhibition - 1 week to go

The ATT is Europe's biggest exhibition especially for amateur astronomers. You will find state-of-the-art telescopes and accessories as well as used and homemade instruments. Here you meet manufacturers and experienced amateur astronomers from all over Europe to share your thoughts with. Furthermore the ATT offers a platform for public presentation of observatories and astronomy clubs. In short, this is the place to be for anyone who is interested in astronomy. You will get plenty of ideas and inspirations for your hobby. Come and find out for yourself, and we are looking forward to meeting you at the ATT in Essen, Germany.

Prof dr John Heise explaining Multiverse

Selfie with Prof dr John Heise 

As part of The Best of Lectures of Studium Generale at the University of Maastricht, Prof. dr John Heise explained the Inflation theory and the link with Multiverse.

In the beginning their was nothing and then it exploded. A quantum fluctuation out of the vacuum could form this new universe with different physical constants as ours. The result could be a new world or a fast collapsing universe aswell. As the multiverse is so far away we will never be able to prove this .... neither we can deny the theory :)

Anyway, great presentation and well explained by John Heise.

Cloudformation

Great cloudformation above #Averbode

Venus in the evening sky

The wind was blowing the clouds away and Venus appeared bright in the evening sky. Picture taken using Nikon D7500 f/5.6 56mm ISO100 0.8s

Sunspot 2706

Last week a new sunspot showed up on the sun's disk. Sunspot 2706 is currently seen at the east side of the Sun. Picture was taken using TAL200K scope. Using Helios Viewer, I added the position angle P of the north end of the axis of the sun's rotation.

Publishment of my Nightscape Startrail Picture

My nightscape startrail picture of the "Maagdentoren" in Zichem was published in the local magazine "Stadsinfo - Scherpenheuvel-Zichem" april 2018 edition.

Green Laserpointer and obstruction of air traffic

The use of (green) laserpointer for astronomical use can be a dangerous. Last week an amateur astronomer was using a cheap green laserpointer and pointing to the night sky when F-16 Fighting Falcon Jets flew around. The pilotes were "blinded" by the laserbeam and police was informed. The police could trace the beam and the laserpen was taken in custody. Furthermore a formal report was made against the astronomer, risking up to 20 years jail in theory because of "obstruction of air traffic"

First Experience with 16inch

I had the opportunity to look into a 16inch dobsonian collapsible telescope from a Helios member.
Observations were done when it was not yet dark and seeing was moderate, but those observations were already awesome, even comparing with my 12inch scope.
Messier 13, 51, 68, 81 and the Eskimo nebula was observed and what great details could be seen.
The moon was seen using 32 ocular (x60) resulting in a "3D image".
Picture was taken afocal with iPhone 6.

Weather Summary March

March 2018 was a cold and wet month, comparable with March 2016. We had 18 days with tain and 15 days with temperatures below 0°C.

100 days to go

The lunar eclips of July 27, 2018 will take place exactly 100 days from today.

Nightscape Venus and Moon in the evening sky

I could not resist taking a photo of the Moon with Venus this evening. The young Moon is only 4% illuminated. The picture was taken using Nikon D7500 at 70mm.

Halo around the Sun

Send by iPhone 6 iOS 11.2.5




Perfect halo around the Sun in Aarschot.

Sunbeams

Send by iPhone 6 iOS 11.2.5




Perfect sunbeams above Astorga. Picture taken from Forcebadon (Castilie Leon)