What’s Up – Bath Astronomers

What are we up to?

Jan29

Member's Night; Short talks on your own projects and activities

29 JanHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 29th Apr – Monthly meeting. Bath Astronomers monthly meeting for all members and new comers to meet up, enjoy perhaps a new topic and a cup of tea and a biscuit. Held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street. The format is open and comprises an update for the month and a talk on an astronomy topic within the reach of amateurs. All visitors welcome and there is a charge of £5 which helps cover the cost of the venue. Reduced to £2 for juniors, students or Bath Astronomers members. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Feb26

Talk by Owen Brazell

26 FebHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 26th Feb – Monthly meeting. Bath Astronomers monthly meeting for all members and new comers to meet up, enjoy perhaps a new topic and a cup of tea and a biscuit. Held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street. The format is open and comprises an update for the month and a talk on an astronomy topic within the reach of amateurs. All visitors welcome and there is a charge of £5 which helps cover the cost of the venue. Reduced to £2 for juniors, students or Bath Astronomers members. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Mar21

Wells & Mendip Astronomers Messier Marathon

21 MarCharterhouse Outdoor Activity Centre

Wells & Mendip Astronomers are having their Messier Night on Saturday 21st March 20120 The event is open to the public and to Bath Astronomers. Discover Charles Messier’s deep-sky wonders in an almost moonless sky and listen to a Introductory talk.

Mar25

Talk by Bud Martin, A Life on Mars

25 MarHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 25th Mar – Monthly meeting. Bath Astronomers monthly meeting for all members and new comers to meet up, enjoy perhaps a new topic and a cup of tea and a biscuit. Held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street. The format is open and comprises an update for the month and a talk on an astronomy topic within the reach of amateurs. All visitors welcome and there is a charge of £5 which helps cover the cost of the venue. Reduced to £2 for juniors, students or Bath Astronomers members. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Apr29

Talk by Chris Starr, Cassini and Saturn

29 AprHerschel Museum of Astronomy

NASA APOD

Starlink Satellite Trails over Brazil

Egon Filter

What are those streaks over the horizon? New Starlink satellites reflecting sunlight. SpaceX launched 60 Starlink communication satellites in May and 60 more in November. These satellites and thousands more are planned by communications companies in the next few years that may make streaks like these relatively common. Concern has been voiced by many in the astronomical community about how reflections from these satellites may affect future observations into space. In the pictured composite of 33 exposures, parallel streaks from Starlink satellites are visible over southern Brazil. Sunflowers dot the foreground, while a bright meteor was caught by chance on the upper right. Satellite reflections are not new -- the constellation of 66 first-generation Iridium satellites launched starting 20 years ago produced some flares so bright that they could be seen during the day. Most of these old Iridium satellites, however, have been de-orbited over the past few years. Infinite Loop: Create an APOD Station in your classroom or Science Center.

Step by: Mode:
North latitude East longitude
DSOs Star names Constellation lines Constellation labels

Reproduced and extended by permission of Ernie Wright under GNU

Buying a Telescope

So you're considering buying a telescope and the internet is awash with advice. So what can we add?

The key advice is to not buy immediately. Try to use a variety of telescopes in the field before you buy. You can do this by going to a public stargazing event or joining a local astronomical society and going on an observing night. All you need is a pair of 10x50 binoculars and your curiosity.

You can pick up a cheap pair of 10x50 binoculars from Millets for £15 to £25 - not great quality but they'll help you find objects in the sky.

Small, cheap telescopes (less than £150) tend to be very poor value for money as the view through them is limited, often coloured or distorted, and the view wobbly. The kicker is their resale value is low too.

If you have space to store it and can confortably lift 10kgs then we'd recommend the Skywatcher Skyliner 150P and preferably 200P. These are Newtonian reflecting telescopes on a Dobsonian mount costing between £199 and £275. These push me pull you telescopes are quick to set up and simple to use. You'll need to learn your way around the sky but then that's part of the fun.

If you wish to be more "astro tourist" and SatNav than learning your way around then a small to medium sized computerised telescope is a lighter but pricier option. The most compact versions are Maksutovs and Schmidt Cassegrains comprising both lenses and mirrors.

You can see a map of telescope retailers here

New Moon	First Quarter	Full Moon	Last Quarter
Tue 26 Nov	Wed 4 Dec	Thu 12 Dec	Thu 19 Dec
Thu 26 Dec	Fri 3 Jan	Fri 10 Jan	Fri 17 Jan
Fri 24 Jan	Sun 2 Feb	Sun 9 Feb	Sat 15 Feb
Sun 23 Feb	Mon 2 Mar	Mon 9 Mar	Mon 16 Mar

Date	Mag	Start	Max	End
Wed 11 Dec	-0.8	16:40:51 look SSE alt 15°	15°	16:41:23 look SE alt 11°
Thu 12 Dec	-0.5	17:24:52 look WSW alt 10°	12°	17:27:34 look SSW alt 10°
Sat 21 Dec	-0.6	06:55:44 look S alt 11°	14°	06:58:57 look ESE alt 10°

Shower	Start	Peak	End	ZHR
Puppid-Velids	1 Dec	multiple	15 Dec	10
Monocerotids	5 Dec	9 Dec	20 Dec	2
Sigma Hydrids	3 Dec	12 Dec	15 Dec	3
Geminids	4 Dec	14 Dec	17 Dec	140

Messier	Name	Type	Magnitude	Constellation
M34	NGC1039	Open Cluster	5.2	Perseus
M45	Pleiades	Open Cluster	1.2	Taurus
M77	NGC1068	Spiral Galaxy	8.8	Cetus