Solar Orbiter : 10 days before lift off

On Februari 6th, thursday morning 5h27 (CET), ESA's Solar Orbiter will be send to space for it's solar mission.

For more information see also my blog.

My first achievement on Open University

Completion of the course "The Sun" on the Free Learning zone from Open University. The training was well written and a provides a good introduction on "The Sun".

Darkest Night Skies in Belgium area

My first experience of a dark night sky was in Valle (south of Grand Canyon). A couple of days later I stayed in the area of Arches national park and decided to re-enter the park at night. What an amazing experience and what a dark sky. I was able to take some pictures of the night sky but unfortunately my Nikon D60 get broke and I was unable to fix it. So, since that moment I want to experience a dark night sky again. As I'm living in Belgium, a dark night sky isn't obvious.
Some locations can be found via the Deepsky Team of the VVS.

Also France has some pretty good locations. Both the north, central as south of France are known for their dark night skies. Currently I'm looking in the area of Les Ardenesses in France; Grandpré area like Berzieux are potential locations which i want to try once weatherforecast is favorite for an entire weekend.

Dark Night Sky in Thailand Koh Phangan

ATT Essen, Europe's biggest astronomy fair

Block your agenda : ATT Essen on May 9th, 2020

The ATT in Essen (Germany) 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,

Compilation : From Full to New Moon

Most of the time it's easier to photograph the Moon from New Moon till Full Moon. So I tried to capture the Moon from Full Moon to New Moon. It took me 7 months to capture most phases of the Moon. The challenge: getting up early in the morning and praying for a cloud free sky :)

All pictures are taken with Nikon D7500 on TLAPO80/480 f/6. Raw pictures are converted into DNG files and edited using CS4.

Moon 42%

The Moon (42% illuminated) this morning during a sporadic moment without clouds. Picture taken with Nikon D7500 and TLAPO80/480 f/6.

Moon 65%

The Moon this morning, 65% illuminated. Picture taken with Nikon D7500 on TLAPO80/480 f//6.

360° Halo Around the Moon

Very early this morning, the moon high in the sky with a 360° Halo. Without thinking I took my camera and made some pictures. The auto function of the camera was choosen making sure no time was lost. Unfortunately this resulted in an ISO of 12800.. a little too high. But still a great picture.

Lecture : Black Holes explained

Werner Poets will give a lecture with as topic Black Holes. What are Black Holes and what is waving in gravitational waves?  In order to understand this, Werner Poets will be using Einstein"s special theory of relativity.  The lecture is foreseen on January 31, 2020 in Grimbergen (MIRA).

Mercury Transit in Heelal

My summary of the trip with Walter to Germany, observing the Mercury transit of November11th, 2019 is published. The publishment is made in the magazine "Heelal" of January 2020.

Visiting De Slegte in Ghent

As a result of visiting the second hand bookshop "De Slegte" in Ghent, I bought two books : The Sun - a biography and Gravitational waves. Perfect reading material when clouds cover the sky :)

Happy Astronomical New Year 2020

Happy New Year with a lot of astronomical highlights and don't miss the occultation of Venus by the Moon in June and Venus between the Pleiades beginning of April.