Archive for November 2009

We need a go, no-go for launch

Posted by on November 30th 2009 in Fundraising Folk, Great Escapes, In the News, Lakes Escapes, Weather

There's snow on them there Cumbrian Fells and the winter gear's prepped and ready for the off when the opportunity arises.

But there's a dilemma. Something twisting in my mind that I've got to get straightened out before I can commit to another visit...

During the current post-flooding clean-up and repair operation, would my going be a drain on the resources of the area or would it help to contribute to the local economy?

Just getting there could be a strain on the transport infrastructure, what with the trashed roads and unsafe bridges that are the focus of repair gangs and the Army. I'd planned to stay at one of the YHA hostels and maybe eat and drink out, but I can't see that much of the spend would benefit those who are in most need. Besides, I'm sure that the LDSAMRA would have better things to do than to chug up a hill to stretcher me down if the need arose. They're all volunteers from the local community, they've been involved as rescuers during the recent disaster and no doubt they all know somebody who's suffered because of the deluge. I don't want to be a potential distraction while they deal with the aftermath of the floods.

Maybe the best thing for me to do is to stay away for a while and let them concentrate on getting the basics sorted out. In the meantime, a contribution to the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund via The Cumbria Community Foundation website or to the Cumbria Flood Appeal 2009 via The Wainwright Society's website would seem to be the best way to ensure that help gets to the folk that need it. John Hee recommends supporting MREW's Basecamp, more details here.

The people and places of Cumbria have given me much joy over the many years that I've been going there.

It's time to give something back.

Going back to Mars

Posted by on November 29th 2009 in Astrostuff
Tags:

I had a spare half-hour which I used to process that Mars composite a bit more. There's a bit more detail in there and the colour and contrast seem a bit better to me, but the terminator's suffered a bit. Swings and roundabouts, eh? To see the originals, just run your mouse over the pic:

 

 

Gotta get me some of this stuff

Posted by on November 25th 2009 in Video (YouTube, Vimeo etc.), Weather

I suspect that they'll have sold out already up in the Lake District...

 

 

These boots aren’t made for walkin’…

Posted by on November 25th 2009 in TKMaxx

These Karrimor Snow Fur boots are so roasty-toasty that my feet would probably parboil if I wore them for a decent walk. As footwear for being out in the cold doing more sedentary stuff, however, they're excellent. I wore them all night long a few nights ago while out using the scope, and didn't feel the cold at all despite getting the outsides of them thoroughly wet due to the dew on the long grass of the lawn. They're a fine pairing with the Astrobreeks so long as nobody's looking!

Here's a copy&paste of the text from the 2009 Karrimor Footwear Catalogue:

  • Uppers utilising top quality waterproof, stain-resistant leathers; using Karrimor’s exclusive weathertite® waterproof and breathable laminate bootie lining and Thinsulate™ insulated fabrics for comfort in cold, wet conditions.
  • Added fit benefits of asymmetrical lateral tongue post, and internal pockets and pads for added comfort, fit and support.
  • Moulded Shell design for better traction in soft snow

If you feel the urge to get some for yourself, they're being sold off super-cheap at TKMaxx.

 

 

They seem suitable for use in a boat while trout and salmon fishing, where there's no room for walking about to warm the feet. I'll have to wait until next spring to test that theory.

😉

Observing Report 21st-22nd November 2009 (Mars at short notice)

Posted by on November 24th 2009 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports
Tags: , ,

Saturday evening was forecast to be cloudy and wet, and I was resigned to an evening of avoiding Strictly, Casualty and the rest of the Beeb's prime-time twaddle, but the forecasters got it wrong - just for a change there was more gap than cloud. I grabbed my chance and cranked-up the obsy.

At such short notice I'd not had much time to think ahead, so, as the Newt's cooling-fan purred away, I sat back and looked up for inspiration. Rising in the East was Mars, and just for once it looked fairly bright. Target acquired!

After the scope had been cooled and the collimation checked I slewed it around to Mars and set about trying to get a decent focus - not easy, as the scope was dancing around in the wind, sending the image dancing all over the webcam chip. After a quarter of an hour of this malarkey I was happy with the focus and set about grabbing some .avi data. While this was going on I was on the lookout for Alpha-Monocerotid meteors - a minor shower that peaked on the 21st. I managed to spot a couple of them and a few sporadics as well, but didn't have the dSLR set up so there are no pics. 

Most of the webcam runs had some blurring and fading due to clouds and hence got consigned to the Recycle Bin, but some were OK. By about 03:00 a full cover of cloud had rolled in and spoiled the show so I closed the roof, had a cuppa and started processing the data. I figured that the night had finished so I parked the scope and packed away.

Leaving the obsy at 04:00 I looked up again and all was clear, so I did a smart about-face and went back in. Half an hour later I was set up again and looking at Saturn for the first time in ages. I grabbed a few .avis before the clouds spoiled things again, and this time there was some drizzle so the session was definitely finished.

After a couple of hours of kip I finished processing the Mars data, ending up with some rubbish and a few decent images. From these I've made a composite image just to see if there are any noticeable differences due to processing or planetary rotation. For an explanation of what's what, see the text below the pic:

 

Upper images from a 7200-frame avi taken at 02:08 - left: best 10% of frames stacked, right: best 90% of frames stacked.
Lower images from
a 7200-frame avi taken at 02:20 - left: best 10% of frames stacked, right: best 90% of frames stacked.

Damned if I can tell any difference between them!


I'm quite pleased with this - it's by far the best Mars image-set that I've done to date, not bad for a cheapo webcam. I'm inspired to get some better data later this month when Mars is a lot higher in the sky.

As for the Saturn data, I've not yet found time to process it properly. First impressions are that the data's not worth the effort, but I might be tempted to have a whack at it. If I get anything worthwhile, I'll let you know.

 

And now for the rest of the astronews...

Followers of this blog will know that I'm a keen meteor observer, and they may be wondering why there are no observing reports here about the recent showers. Well, the weather's the main culprit...

The Orionid shower  peaked on the 21st of October. I managed a short visual session during the preceding evening when all was clear for an hour or so, and managed to spot four Orionids, but the main night was clouded out. Typically it was much clearer the night after too, but I was too busy to get out. It was a similar story with the Leonid shower on the 17th of November - clear the night before when I spotted about ten Leonids, and then cloudy and rainy for the main night and for the rest of the week.

Let's hope for a break in the weather around the 14th of December for the Geminid shower, which is always a good display.

Blue Suede Shoes II

Posted by on November 20th 2009 in TKMaxx
Tags: ,

Here you go - a much better piccy of the Mantas, primarily because this pair have been liberated from TKMaxx and are now taking refuge in our house.

:mrgreen:

Well, it would have been stupid to have ignored such a bargain.

😉