Stirling Astronomical Society News

Edinburgh Science Festival 3 - 17 April

Venues all across the city like Zoo, Botanic Garden, ROE, University, Mound, St Andrews Square, etc.

Large A4 40 page brochure from libraries and tourist places. Of the many Astronomy related events, this is just a selection. If you have children/grandchildren, then there are many free events aswell.

9th April 'It is Rocket Science' - Adam House - 4.30pm

9 and 10 April Films with introduction and Q & A.at the Filmhouse

11 April 4pm. 'Equations'

12 April 8.30pm 'Seven Wonders of Solar System' (Brian Cox)

13 Apr. 6pm 'Blast'

14 Apr. 6pm '400 Years of the Telescope'

15 Apr. 6pm 'Journey to the Edge of the Universe'

National Library of Scotland - every day FREE. 'James Ferguson - Scottish Astronomer & Inventor'

Infotronics Forum - 5th Apr. 8pm 'Secrets of the Universe' (Paul Murdin)

Solar Images by Alan Cayless

After a quiet few years, the Sun is starting to increase in activity
again. These images of solar filaments and prominences were taken on
Sunday 7th March near Stirling.

The pictures were obtained with a Coronado PST Solar Telescope
belonging to the Society - this is a dedicated solar telescope with a
built-in filter system that transmits only hydrogen-alpha light
(656nm) and cuts down the overall intensity to a safe level. This
makes it safe to observe the Sun and highlights features such as
sunspots, filaments and flares.

A Nikon 4500 camera was attached to the eyepiece for these images.
The camera had some difficulty focusing on the monochromatic H-alpha
image, but with a little patience I was able to obtain these images
showing a filament and two small prominences at roughly the
ten-o-clock position. The second image is slightly overexposed to
show more of the detail on the solar surface.

The comparison image is from the NASA / Trinity College SolarMonitor website:

http://solarmonitor.org/full_disk.php?date=20100307&type=bbso_halph&indexnum=1

Reminder: observing the Sun can be dangerous. Do not look directly at
the Sun even for an instant, and NEVER attempt to look at the Sun
using a telescope or any other form of optical equipment, even if
fitted with filters. The Coronado PST is a specialised instrument but
even this must only be used with great care and under controlled
conditions.

Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke in Glasgow

Charlie will hold a public lecture at Glasgow Caledonian University in the centre of Glasgow on Friday 10th September 2010 and there is a dinner with Charlie on Thursday 9th. The lecture with question and answer session includes an opportunity for everyone to get a complimentary autograph and the tickets are £30. The dinner which includes a drinks reception costs £50. Any astronomy group that buys 10 tickets before the end of April can have a 10% discount. Full details are on www.walkwithdestiny.com

Gibbous Moon and Partial Eclipse

Society member Alex Houston  took these images of a gibbous Moon on 27th 
December and New Years Eve's partial eclipse.

Hogmanay Lunar Eclipse

Society member captures the last lunar eclipse of 2009 at the last blue moon of 2009!

Partial eclipse of the last full Moon of the decade, photographed in
Stirling, Scotland at 19:59 UT with snow on the ground by Alan Cayless. Although only
a very partial eclipse, the very clear frosty sky (-5 C) made for an
excellent view of the darkened southeastern limb.
 
Photo details: Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera, TAL1 Telescope.

This image also appeared on the SpaceWeather website::
 
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Alan-Cayless-Eclipse_4352_1262294670.jpg
 
Cheers, and Happy New Year !

The Moon on Christmas Day 2009

These were taken on the evening of Christmas day, with snow on the ground. The closeup shows Tycho and Clavius, and the Straight Wall (Rupes Recta) in Mare Nubium. If you look closely at the half-illuminated crater at the very lower limb you can see a small point of light on the night side - this is a peak on the far rim of the crater just being picked out by the first rays of the rising Sun. Images by Alan Cayless.

Once in a Blue Moon

The time taken by the Moon to circle the Earth (Full Moon to Full Moon) is just over 29.5 days and this period - 'Moonth' - gives us our Month. Generally there is one Full Moon in each calendar month but on rare occasions there are two. A genuinely blue Moon has been observed a few times when pollution in our atmosphere has affected the colour but nowadays, if a second Full moon occurs, this is regarded as a 'Blue Moon' to reflect the rarity of this happening.

On 31st December, the International Year of Astronomy finishes with a Blue Moon since we have already had one full Moon on 2nd December. However, another rare event occurs at the same time. As the moon circles the Earth it sometimes passes into the Earth's shadow causing a Lunar Eclipse. This does not happen every month because the Lunar orbit is tilted to that of the Earth and usually the Moon passes above or below the shadow. On Hogmanay, the Moon's lower edge drifts into the Earth's shadow around 7pm and if you look carefully you will see that not only is a small piece of the moon missing but the rest of the Moon is duller than normal. Actual times are 1853hr - 1942hr for the main eclipse but the Moon will not brighten completely until 9.30pm, when it clears the penumbra - the Earth's faint outer shadow.

The next Lunar Eclipse visible from the UK is at sunset on December 10th 2011 and the next Blue Moon is in August 2012.

Galloway Forest Park has been officially unveiled as the first Dark Sky Park in the UK.

The award, announced by the International Dark Sky Association, confirmed Galloway as one of the best places for stargazing in the world.

See here for full details.

Society Activities

Next Public LectureFriday 12th March 2010 at the Smith Art Gallery in Dumbarton Road, 7:30pm - 9:30pm. All welcome