Released at last on Region 2 DVD on 28/12/2009, available at Amazon for less than a tenner...
It's been a long wait, I'm sure it will have been worthwhile.
Archive for 2010
Observing Report 6th January 2010 (hunting far and wide)
And now for something completely different...
Go on, click it, you know you want to!
Orion, snapped on 06/01/2010 @ 21:30 from my back garden - a single 10s NEF exposure @ ISO200, Nikon D50 with 35mm prime @ f/1.8, no filters, fixed tripod and none of the fancy astrogear that's currently out-of-bounds in the iced-over obsy.
Processed with PSCS3 and Noel's Actions, saved as a PNG.
Conditions: average-to-poor seeing, -8C, gentle breeze, low haze with significant light-pollution.
Suffice to say that other than getting some still-to-be-processed pics of Gemini, I didn't do much other observing as it was too damned cold to stay outside.
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
I've been thinking of the impending trip up to the Lakes for me and Ella to do some more winter-walking. In particular, I've been considering the financial costs of the "green option" - leaving the car at home and using public transport instead. There's a bit of maths involved but it's not too arduous...
By car: The "there-and-back" trip is usually 400 miles or thereabouts, depending on exactly where in Cumbria we head for. Suffice to say that I've never failed to get there, get around and get back home on one full tank of petrol, and usually there's some to spare. The cost of this is variable due to fluctuating fuel prices, but right now we're talking £55 tops. Factor in insurance and servicing costs and we'll call it £60. For this princely sum we can leave here after school on a Friday and return at any time on a Sunday, which means that we can fit in another half-day or full-day walk. Oh, and we also get the flexibility of travelling wherever and whenever while we're there. Food-stops, toilet-stops and fag-stops are taken as required, not as scheduled. The main journey time is about 4 hours each way.
By National Express coach: Tickets for the two of us to travel from Coventry to Windermere and back will cost £72.65, not too much more than the car option until other elements are factored in, elements such as 2x transport between home and Coventry, 2x transport between Windermere and destination, and probably transport between destination and walk start/end. Altogether it'll top £100. The main journey times are 6hrs 17mins out, 6 hrs 30 mins back. The outward journey starts at 12:40 on Friday which means a half-day of school must be missed, and the return starts at 08:55 which means no walking on the Sunday. Oh, and I don't get to play The Cure, The Blues Brothers, The Macc Lads, the B52s, The Sex Pistols or Beethoven's Pastoral at window-rattling levels either. Not good.
It doesn't help that I've had bad experiences with National Express, the worst one being on a return journey from Snowdonia. The coach stopped at Oswestry Station to set-down and pick-up. We asked the driver if we had time to nip off and go to the station toilets, he said we had fifteen minutes. We were back in five but he'd pissed off and taken his coach, his passengers and all of our gear with him. We had to pay again to get back to Brum by alternative means and pay some more to get our gear out of the "Lost Property" vault at Digbeth Station. What we didn't get was an apology, and we didn't get a refund. Arseholes.
By Train: Nuneaton to Windermere and back will cost us an incredible £98.55 and there are still the same getting-about costs to be added on as per the coach option, so we're looking at £125 minimum. Times are a bit more flexible and it is possible to do an after-school outward journey, but there's still no realistic chance of getting in a decent walk on the Sunday. Journey-times are just under 4 hours each way, and each trip has at least two changes of train, which means much potential for missed connections. It's hassle we just don't need. There is good news, though - there's no need to get off to use the loo!
So, we're talking more money for more hassle, less pleasure, more time and more chances of it going tits-up. If I'm going to spend that sort of cash on a weekend away, we might as well fly somewhere more, err, um, exotic. I can get two tickets to Zurich and back and a free taxi to and from the airport this end, all for less than £98.55, or there's East Midlands to Cork - two returns for less than £94 with more-or-less guaranteed free pickup, transport and digs over there from my uncle and aunt.
No, I think we'll stick with the car. It's the only working public transport system in this country. It covers almost any route at almost any time, and it'll do detours if necessary. It's made for going where you point it.
We'll point it northwards sometime soon.
Observing Report 3rd January 2010 (Quads workout)
After having had the weather spoil most of the meteor events of 2009 I was hopeful that the clear skies of the current cold spell would permit a reasonable view of the 2010 Quadrantids. Late in the afternoon the skies darkened and the clarity was good, so I prepped for a 2-hour session to start at 18:00.
The view northwards from the top of our plot is reasonable, looking out across dark gardens and a large low retirement-home. The radiant was just visible above the artificial horizon, so there was a fair chance that I'd be able to see most of the upper 180-degree arc of the display. Doing some rough maths I figured that if the peak rate was 120/hour I'd get a reduction of 50% due to the 180-degree restriction and a further 50% reduction due to the low elevation. If all went well, I'd be looking for 30 meteors during the 18:30 - 19:30 peak hour.
18:00 arrived and I set up the camera. Despite having taken it outside early to acclimatize, the internal optics hazed up within minutes due to the low temperature (-4C and falling) so pics were a no-no. I've an aversion to forcing heat into any camera, so I took it back indoors for a gentle rewarm and resigned myself to a visual-only session. I found myself a comfy place from where to watch.
As the minutes passed the horizon became a hazy yellow mess due to a combination of a thin fog and light-pollution from the local street-lights and from the retirement home. Seeing 30 meteors in the next hour was going to be a challenge.
The show started at 18:46 - a trail straight through the head of Draco. And another a minute later, this time up near Cepheus. Things were looking good, but then it stopped. I saw only one more trail - a gloriously-bright streak almost overhead, passing through Cassiopeia at about 19:20.
In summary, the show wasn't much of a success, but it was good to be out again, despite the biting cold.
The next half-decent show should be the Lyrids in April, active from the 16th to the 25th with peak activity on the 22nd. Hopefully there'll be better conditions allowing me to get some pics as well as views.
Slow start
The first quarter of the year is always poor for meteor viewing, there being only one major shower. Fair enough, there are a few minor showers in the first three months, but they hardly ever amount to much, which makes this post short and sweet...
The Quadrantids (QUA) are going to be peaking at around 19:00 on the 3rd of January, but seeing them isn't going to be easy as the waning Moon will be ruining the show. If you do get clear skies and the urge to observe, expect rates of 120/hour with the possibility of some variation between 60 and 200/hour. Speedwise we're looking at 41km/s. The Quadrantids are probably associated with minor planet 2003 EH1 (= comet C/1490 Y1?).
The Quadrantid radiant
There, that was easy. If you're going out to see them, good luck!
Self-Assessment 2009
In my first post of 2009 I set out a few objectives. Well, that year's done and dusted so it's time for a reality-check.
Here's the list again...
1a. More actually getting out and doing "stuff"
1b. Less talking about getting out and doing "stuff"
I reckon I did about the same amount of "doing" as I usually do in an average year, but you're no doubt relieved that I didn't waffle on about it too much. Yeah, that's right - I don't tell you everything. Mind you, this is WordPress, not Twitter.
2a. More "pushing the envelope"
2b. Less "comfort zone" dossing
Having had a relatively high injury-rate last year, I had to be content with just licking the envelope. Fellwalking with injury or in the post-recovery stage was definitely out of my comfort zone, but it was hardly what you'd call dossing.
3a. More meaningful blogging
3b. Less blogging of drivel
You lot can be the judges of that. The total number of posts for 2009 is 145, way less than the 215 totals for 2008 and 2007. Exactly how many of those 145 posts are drivel is a moot point.
4a. More gear-testing
4b. Less gear-envy
I didn't test anything new, apart from the Argos tent. I managed to fight off the urge to acquire a NeoAir, but the attraction of an updated Scarp 2 is still there. - hopefully Henry Shires will eventually get around to making one. As for the envy factor, there's very little kit out there that I've looked at and thought "that's a must-have item". If I'm envious about anything, it's the abundance of hill-time that others seem to have.
Actually, I've just lied to you about the envy thing. Truth be told, I'd like one of these.
5a. More improvement in use of the camera
5b. Less "missing the moment" while faffing with settings
I feel that I've done better with the camera, this being helped by the acquisition of the new lens. That said, I did faff with the settings while in Brum and therefore ballsed-up some potentially-good night-shots.
6a. More time out with the scope
6b. Less time-wasting while faffing with settings
Did well at this. Having the observatory up-and-running has helped a lot.
7a. More progress with astrophotography
7b. Less set-up time
I got my first images of Mars late on in 2009, but still managed to miss all of the major meteor showers due to unsuitable weather. On the bright side, there'll be some new kit here in time for the next closest approach of Mars on 27th January 2010 - this should enable me to make some major improvements.
8a. More Wainwrights
8b. Less use of traditional routes
Yep, did some more Wainwrights, but only seven "new" ones - nowhere near as many as I'd have liked to have done. Current tally is 180 out of 214. Tried hard to plough a different furrow, but had limited success. The solo ascent of the West Face of Ullscarf was fun, though!
9a. More local walking
9b. Less hiding behind the laptop
I failed miserably on this one. Had a few local walks but nothing special. That said, there were so many other things that kept me away from the countryside and the laptop.
10a. And, thanks to George, more data-storage, and hence
10b. less dross on the internal HDD
The huge USB HDD is excellent - how I managed without one for so long is a mystery that I'll never figure out.
So there you go - 2009 in a nutshell. More or less.
But what of 2010?
I reckon I'll stick to the same objectives, and try to do much better.
Whatever plans you have for your New Year, I wish you the very best of luck.
