tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693749013324155402024-03-14T06:29:45.385+00:00PHUTURESPACEAstronomy Related Stuff!Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-47527514041748953602013-11-27T23:45:00.000+00:002013-11-27T23:45:06.247+00:00Comet ISON Live BlogFor up-to-date news on Comet ISON checkout the website<br />
<a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/comet-ison-live-blog.html" target="_blank">Comet ISON live blog | The Planetary Society</a>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-72088647855937333462013-04-02T07:21:00.001+01:002013-04-02T07:21:47.525+01:00Comet PanStarrs at last!Clear skies finally arrived after a month of poor weather. At about 8:30 I ran out to the nearby garages and placed my camera and small tripod on the roof of my car, pointed it in the general drection of where I thought was the comet and shot off four or so 30sec exposures. I used an IDAS light pollution filter on a 24-42mm 4/3 micro lens, Panasonic Lumix gf3 camera.<br /><br />Spent about an hour looking at the images and processing them on my PC along with a deep sky location map of the comet from the web. <br />Managed to track down the exact loaction of the comet. By jove I have it on the image! <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/04/01/4176.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/04/01/s_4176.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='219' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />The comet is near the triangle of stars towards the bottom left of the image. Near the top center of the image, directly up from the comet is the Andromeda Galaxy. <br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-60950903268969404132013-02-15T07:49:00.001+00:002013-02-15T07:49:57.505+00:00A close shave! Asteroid near miss tonight.<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Asteroid set for record near-miss <a href='http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21442863'>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21442863</a></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-92106434836583657412013-01-01T11:53:00.004+00:002013-01-01T11:53:38.780+00:00Stargazing Live 2013Happy New Year!<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8" target="_blank">Stargazing Live </a>is upon once again and its bigger than ever. <br />
Events are taking place all over the country. Check the BBC website to find out what events are happening in your local area.<br />
I am a member of Loughton Astronomical Society and they will be holding events to coincide with the screening of the Stargazing Live third series. Check out our <a href="http://www.las-astro.org.uk/bbc_prog_2013.php" target="_blank">web pages</a> for event details over the coming weeks.<br />
Thanks<u><br /></u><br />
MartinMartinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-83674809398078072252012-12-09T16:01:00.000+00:002012-12-09T16:01:53.703+00:00RIP Patrick Moore!<h3>
A personal account of a great personal astronomer.</h3>
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It is very sad news to hear the passing of Sir Patrick Moore, one of the most popular UK astronomers of the past sixty years. <br />
He inspired a generation to pursue astronomy as a hooby. So many people I have spoken to over the years have said that they never would have taken up the hobby seriously or even professionally if it wasn't for Patrick, either through his popular TV prgogramme "The Sky at Night" or the myriad of book he has written. <br />
If it wasn't for Springer's Practical Astronomy series endorsed by Patrick, I would have never have had my book published. In fact, I have been told that my book is in his library along with others that are part of the astronomy series. Truly inspiring!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patrick with my book 25th September 2009. Herstmonceux. </td></tr>
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So what is wrong with the picture above? Nothing, except it is the only book in my personal book collection that has not been 'signed' by Patrick. Every time I saw him (at least once a year at an astronomy convention), Patrick would sign or stamp his name in one of his books. It will be sad to not see him sign his latest book 'The Cosmic Tourist' along with co-author Chris Lintott and Brian May. <br />
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I even visited Patrick's house once back in 1985 when I was on vacation in Selsey. I was taken round his telescopes in his garden by a dear friend of his, Reg Spry. Patrick wasn't actually in at the time but he said that if I was ever down in Selsey to let him know, such was the approachable and friendly nature of the man. <br />
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It was a true honor to have known Patrick Moore. He will be greatly missed.<br />
MartinMartinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-91109182970166908652012-10-27T23:45:00.000+01:002012-10-27T23:45:23.079+01:00Equinox SkyCamp 2012September heralds the onset of Autumn, longer nights and of course the equinox skycamp up in Kelling Heath, Norfolk. The main weekend dates this year were Friday 14th to Monday 17th.<br />
This year it was just myself, leaving the family back at home. Of course my 'other family' (telescope, tent and equipment) all came with!<br />
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<b>A New Tent</b><br />
This year I decided on investing a better tent to store my equipment and have somewhere to sit down at the laptop. The past few utility tents simply broke when I tried to put them up. What I wanted was something that I could put up in minutes but was robust enough to last many years.<br />
Visiting a local camping equipment outlet, I managed to find the perfect solution, the insta-tourer4. More squat than a utility tent, but easy to set up in minutes. Trying it out in the garden, it certainly was easier to set up and take down, perfect for skycamp.<br />
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<b>Equipment</b><br />
Just like the past few years I set up the wifi system. The wifi network consists of a Belkin USB network hub connected to a Dlink wifi router, hence almost any USB device attached to the Belkin box can be controlled wirelessly. <br />
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Both the Autostar (via a Serial to USB adaptor) and the motor focuser (via a shoestring astronomy USB adaptor) were controlled wirelessly from my laptop.<br />
This year I just took the six inch LXD55 AR6 refractor as I was only staying for two nights. I also brought along a new two inch eyepiece - a Vixen lanthanum 42mm which I purchased earlier this year at Astrofest.<br />
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<b>New Camera </b><br />
Earlier this year I upgraded my digital camera. I purchased a Panasonic Gf3 Micro 4/3 camera with two lenses. Now, the great thing about this camera is that it has interchangeable lenses. This means that with the right adaptors you can hook it up to a telescope, as well as attach other non-Panasonic lenses. So rather than purchase specialised Panasonic-only adaptors, I simply got a 4/3 micro to Olympus OM adaptor (purchased from a company called GRB Griturn). This meant that all my Olympus lenses and telescope adaptors were resurrected and could be used again.<br />
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Earlier this year (see post) I used the GF3 to take shots of Venus, Jupiter and Moon conjunction. The camera has a full manual mode but unfortunately no B (Bulb) setting so the maximum exposure length of time it can be set to is only one minute. However, this should still be long enough to capture various deep sky objects with a view to stacking multiple shots together in order to bring out more detail.<br />
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<b>Friday</b><br />
Despite the windy conditions when I arrived at Kelling in the mid-afternoon, the tent was set up in just a few minutes with nothing broken this time! The rest of the equipment was setup and I was ready for hopefully two nights of observing.<br />
It wasn't until after 10pm when the skies eventually cleared and the scope setup procedure completed ready for a night's viewing. After spending a few hours observing I decided to try out imaging with the camera.<br />
Armed with an accurately polar aligned telescope, remote control via a laptop, a planetarium program and the new camera, I set out to capture various celestial objects.<br />
To start off with I took a few shots piggyback on the telescope. Just one minute later I saw the results... the Milky Way captured on the screen. That's is what so great with digital cameras nowadays, you don't have to wait until you get the results back from a photo shop days later!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KhhjHoCiT3Uj9L_1FkXT6XwU7W7-H_l5k0MyFvuBq_fw4l6ksIbGGbakuiC38VlNatPMnrLvf0WCU4XjgRokbPMekDEFvrrGUwOuEX_V9e9YvDGQSCC_X5wfmMDak_nK4AXxj3tY/s1600/Andromeda-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KhhjHoCiT3Uj9L_1FkXT6XwU7W7-H_l5k0MyFvuBq_fw4l6ksIbGGbakuiC38VlNatPMnrLvf0WCU4XjgRokbPMekDEFvrrGUwOuEX_V9e9YvDGQSCC_X5wfmMDak_nK4AXxj3tY/s400/Andromeda-1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KhhjHoCiT3Uj9L_1FkXT6XwU7W7-H_l5k0MyFvuBq_fw4l6ksIbGGbakuiC38VlNatPMnrLvf0WCU4XjgRokbPMekDEFvrrGUwOuEX_V9e9YvDGQSCC_X5wfmMDak_nK4AXxj3tY/s1600/Andromeda-1.JPG" target="_blank">M31 and Cassiopeia Area</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgkgV_f4z5QyxkyVu8ei7Mz1n5yodZ_B-rmy6f4rcuceUR_f7RD5WzGieLTAC2iD5X5W_Wu4HvIkXw_FIgYnWzifWRNZ5CxYMi7Bqu0y4JSNvPYhYkA7FldQeXMO1nqFba4hg9JUV/s1600/Perseus-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgkgV_f4z5QyxkyVu8ei7Mz1n5yodZ_B-rmy6f4rcuceUR_f7RD5WzGieLTAC2iD5X5W_Wu4HvIkXw_FIgYnWzifWRNZ5CxYMi7Bqu0y4JSNvPYhYkA7FldQeXMO1nqFba4hg9JUV/s640/Perseus-1.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perseus Area</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsbslzhQTUzCQurymN5ZN4Dya9wu8jj9-HGXEUhDVvxk0CiYjZDHhzEzByrb2Rvcu5Wwrr3ekXCeuwCsQTlrmSdwNIh5yAz7VvVsd88ZuItnBhjpYdF6mzfFusdbuF7vBJ6Z_qC0bN/s1600/Cygnus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsbslzhQTUzCQurymN5ZN4Dya9wu8jj9-HGXEUhDVvxk0CiYjZDHhzEzByrb2Rvcu5Wwrr3ekXCeuwCsQTlrmSdwNIh5yAz7VvVsd88ZuItnBhjpYdF6mzfFusdbuF7vBJ6Z_qC0bN/s640/Cygnus.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cygnus Area</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCzBXdqtSnrZ-6tVLG5v7LouZ6p5SpHgX21R0SavcDFRiCsR5yAg6nHWe4RdoJRAi2hZb_Zx9cEOsuNsiRycNMq4xv5ToIDBoRuWiAVP3iZQxGtdgu4h8iaL7Fyui1IMIVi7l1ZFm/s1600/Jupiter-Hyades-web.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCzBXdqtSnrZ-6tVLG5v7LouZ6p5SpHgX21R0SavcDFRiCsR5yAg6nHWe4RdoJRAi2hZb_Zx9cEOsuNsiRycNMq4xv5ToIDBoRuWiAVP3iZQxGtdgu4h8iaL7Fyui1IMIVi7l1ZFm/s400/Jupiter-Hyades-web.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jupiter and Hyades - Taurus</td></tr>
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I then turned to prime focus imaging. First I found a bright star Aldebaran, then using a handy 'live view' utility on the camera, I focussed on the star using the motorised focus handset, an essential piece of equipment for anyone attempting to take images of the night sky.<br />
To start off with I thought I would try a bright star cluster. The Pleiades were rising in the East so I pointed the telescope towards it, aligned the stars up in the camera viewfinder and fired off a one minute shot. I currently do not possess a remote camera controller, so to reduce camera shake I set the self-timer facility to two seconds. This was sufficiently long enough for the telescope to stop vibrating before the image was taken.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6PUkRj9NTKM3OceVublzfwsO7S3ADmG7ZchBn5GpWEYlL2stw0wVGeag9VigyLOCqIIEZArjZawLYrwXynckjVP8lYtpf9OKV6Sx1feaRuccCPkM11XUcqAcfrMoUwj-p2desfxj/s1600/m45_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6PUkRj9NTKM3OceVublzfwsO7S3ADmG7ZchBn5GpWEYlL2stw0wVGeag9VigyLOCqIIEZArjZawLYrwXynckjVP8lYtpf9OKV6Sx1feaRuccCPkM11XUcqAcfrMoUwj-p2desfxj/s400/m45_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pleiades M45</td></tr>
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<b>Saturday</b> <br />
The main event day is usually an eventful day, trade stands in the yellow field and talks going on throughout the afternoon. In the early evening the prize raffle took place, which is always popular amongst attendees of the camp.<br />
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It looked like the skies were going to be clear from early evening, so after an hour or so resting in the lodge, it was time to go out to the field.<br />
From the previous night's successful camera setup, I was ready to take on the deep sky objects. I proceeded to image a number of deep sky objects. Some of these objects did not show up very well on the camera view
screen so I could not see if they were in camera field of view. The
technique I adopted was to take a one minute test shot and see if the
object was captured in the camera's field of view. If the object was not
central then I would guess which direction I needed to move the scope
via the Autostar handset then take another shot until I was satisfied
with the result. I would then proceed to take about five one minute
shots before moving on to the next object. The images have been processed. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>NGC 887 - Perseus Double Cluster</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSyXp_eCPu9iK9mzaasNaE46iOkdBwp_Mf2H8sQ1h83LcVrUSVOl1kHPu6Xwhpvw7H_rWu8rwfjYNUnh2ZWhUWU8GOkAxl5JqX4ocA7oRudkaV-iN6LGdqR7lHMby9R-EzjHKm37w/s1600/M27_5-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSyXp_eCPu9iK9mzaasNaE46iOkdBwp_Mf2H8sQ1h83LcVrUSVOl1kHPu6Xwhpvw7H_rWu8rwfjYNUnh2ZWhUWU8GOkAxl5JqX4ocA7oRudkaV-iN6LGdqR7lHMby9R-EzjHKm37w/s400/M27_5-web.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<b>M27 - Dumbbell Nebula - Vulpecular</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0aDiNSTC54QLLI_SnBLtE1zLAcctRcwlFpxCWBhKO5wbMyrOT7j0L3A8RaVW4MvaOt6wzYZ9KwJagmvv6ObQczwcjnBPsUhfJbtiSnoWAuhOjfO5ffpvuI43U5axMzchCie3lMKT/s1600/veil_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0aDiNSTC54QLLI_SnBLtE1zLAcctRcwlFpxCWBhKO5wbMyrOT7j0L3A8RaVW4MvaOt6wzYZ9KwJagmvv6ObQczwcjnBPsUhfJbtiSnoWAuhOjfO5ffpvuI43U5axMzchCie3lMKT/s400/veil_web.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eastern Veil (NGC!!!!) - Cygnus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPqcHf_CG_fOFdFGGyzuyFcwtlblq6x3ykPiQbIMa9n7iEuGdHuISjPifCA5tnqf2C9528UmBnYCzovVn6O7tM3DdKPOAMKFAlkgZiThRYJCWPE0tR-QNNmucjyz59IbvZFEcdcNn/s1600/m31_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPqcHf_CG_fOFdFGGyzuyFcwtlblq6x3ykPiQbIMa9n7iEuGdHuISjPifCA5tnqf2C9528UmBnYCzovVn6O7tM3DdKPOAMKFAlkgZiThRYJCWPE0tR-QNNmucjyz59IbvZFEcdcNn/s400/m31_web.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M31 - Andromeda Galaxy - Andromeda</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUNoyNf8leW8T0ktusLl2inpbm3hIZLh-9EBQMmNv_TWhaq8GR5-R-G2pIKXMJZVsma5YRx7MnSrUL9XuerqA8MMm590UoaX6rOf1u-3IMdVkmlX-25gh8wF9ve9uzf8VWX2_zdFw/s1600/M1_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUNoyNf8leW8T0ktusLl2inpbm3hIZLh-9EBQMmNv_TWhaq8GR5-R-G2pIKXMJZVsma5YRx7MnSrUL9XuerqA8MMm590UoaX6rOf1u-3IMdVkmlX-25gh8wF9ve9uzf8VWX2_zdFw/s400/M1_web.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M1 - Crab Nebula - Taurus</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-HmBk15373xYBuC1PRHh5s-ok2cvlcTFPHPMyRfIOi0Tfnp-R6XSc7uGxtbwS035SuLz_bnz0X0PQQy5tDDF5OlgrP7D-9lVMYxQwouA4PVaEF78oPQMrugk19gjk_O1uDOIhAMl/s1600/m42_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-HmBk15373xYBuC1PRHh5s-ok2cvlcTFPHPMyRfIOi0Tfnp-R6XSc7uGxtbwS035SuLz_bnz0X0PQQy5tDDF5OlgrP7D-9lVMYxQwouA4PVaEF78oPQMrugk19gjk_O1uDOIhAMl/s400/m42_web.jpg" width="391" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M42 - Orion Nebula - Orion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
Jupiter was rising ever-higher in the East so I decided to try out my set up on the planet instead of using my ToUcam. <br />
At just prime focus (f8) Jupiter's disc was tiny, so I attempted to pump up the power. Unfortunately what was missing from my equipment itinerary was a high power barlow like a 4x powermate. So with my current equipment, I attached a two inch 2x two inch Barlow, another 1.5x one and a quarter inch Barlow, plus the prime focus adaptor and the camera adaptor. Amazingly I had enough length to rack the focuser back in order to get the planet in focus. Given the number of attachments and the length of the rack, the camera was almost a whole 12 inches back from the end of the telescope. Luckily the balance of the scope wasn't too much affected and Jupiter still tracked nicely in the camera's field of view.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9g2I5Q3yjLtGaEFw_VQQLnAFS45i9PAmyttL5-PDBWLKhWA6PRb0kpWZZafO6mWFfXX3_M1GvHf5a4QWlxmc9GvnLUThEj2JvWv5Lyoe_sdxMBdGogyGwyGaLpwF3fdH_twYn9WC/s1600/0003_2.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9g2I5Q3yjLtGaEFw_VQQLnAFS45i9PAmyttL5-PDBWLKhWA6PRb0kpWZZafO6mWFfXX3_M1GvHf5a4QWlxmc9GvnLUThEj2JvWv5Lyoe_sdxMBdGogyGwyGaLpwF3fdH_twYn9WC/s400/0003_2.tif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jupiter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the rising of Orion looming through the trees I took a few shots of M42 and a couple of piggyback shots. It was time to call it a night.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZN6j0dBJnWAIHML_IEIc3HkBhMk_RPGI1yiftxWGLJj6DvMWBrWSoq1VfNq8MerrXZXYDApjYg-kQsB9f23_1NLxBRMfYzpEMTJxW2ZKvuhJUeh1mN59f5FQBOpX7bi2agGxvlYXW/s1600/Orion_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZN6j0dBJnWAIHML_IEIc3HkBhMk_RPGI1yiftxWGLJj6DvMWBrWSoq1VfNq8MerrXZXYDApjYg-kQsB9f23_1NLxBRMfYzpEMTJxW2ZKvuhJUeh1mN59f5FQBOpX7bi2agGxvlYXW/s640/Orion_1.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On the whole it was a very successful and fulfilling two nights of Astronomy and was looking forward to start processing my images over the next few months.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Sunday</b><br />
It was time for the long journey home, but not before in the afternoon strolling down to a local cafe for lunch with friends and rambling to nearby Weyborne beach.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoT3uzHa0TPAaVvwtPxrOmltIrhvlek2cdBo9yAqQfU8WhaACXlFDLdSGRkMFJxKdvyzJgLMjMmxbM9dTMeBcg3-ZUGPI6IVRfYSoyXE0iTUCwUWgTgRKKVX1d6FkEA-CpFjrVgxAS/s1600/weyborne.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoT3uzHa0TPAaVvwtPxrOmltIrhvlek2cdBo9yAqQfU8WhaACXlFDLdSGRkMFJxKdvyzJgLMjMmxbM9dTMeBcg3-ZUGPI6IVRfYSoyXE0iTUCwUWgTgRKKVX1d6FkEA-CpFjrVgxAS/s400/weyborne.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
To summarise it was a great skycamp, probably one sof the most successful for many years in terms of organising (well done Loughton AS) ... oh and of course the clear nights!Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-12826957407573227822012-10-07T15:49:00.001+01:002012-10-07T15:49:37.374+01:00Sunday Sundog<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Took this on a lazy Sunday afternoon.<br/>
<a href='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NUPSUE_DmaM/UHGWfnO1zBI/AAAAAAAAATQ/jwBDZWb9wcA/s2560/1349621383386.jpeg' onblur='try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}'><img border='0' src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NUPSUE_DmaM/UHGWfnO1zBI/AAAAAAAAATQ/jwBDZWb9wcA/s288/1349621383386.jpeg' style='display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 173px;'/></a></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-7619573164560262922012-08-26T15:56:00.001+01:002012-08-27T14:33:31.531+01:00Neil Armstrong - Final Frontier Man!It is with great sadness to hear about Neil Armstrong, who passed away aged 82 on Saturday 25th August 2012. Armstrong touched places where no human had ever touched. He and his colleague Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin were the first to walk on another world, a quarter of a million miles away.<br />
<br />
When the two astronuats landed on the surface of the Moon, July 20th 1969, someone had to be first and Neil Armstrong was chosen. It could have easily been Aldrin, but the decision went to Armstrong. That single choice instantly propelled him into the history books, forever linked with that one single event in human history. A moment in time that defined the ultimate reason for sending humans to the Moon, our Solar System and beyond.<br />
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Humans may not be going back to the Moon for another decade or two, but in 1969 the world held its breath and amazed at the achievement that was happening in front of its eyes. The Moon landings might have been a ploy to win the space race during the height of the cold war but it was an achievement that showed the best in human nature.<br />
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It is such that I dedicate this post to Neil Armstrong, first man on the Moon and every astronaut that ventured into the great black beyond our fragile Earth.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright NASA (C)</td></tr>
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Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-72442054351762983482012-06-03T00:38:00.001+01:002012-06-03T00:38:16.155+01:00Venus Transit 6th June 2012Everything you need to know about the forthcoming transit of Venus.<br />http://www.space.com/15978-venus-transit-faq.html<br /><br />Unfortunately, from London UK only the third and fourth contacts can be seen, which will occur not long after sunrise.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-48991223455693783652012-05-05T12:45:00.000+01:002012-05-05T12:45:49.495+01:00Supershow of the Supermoon - Saturday 5th May 2012Tonight's full Moon is special. It coincides with the closest approach of our nearest celestial neighbour. The combination of the Moon's closeness (called Perigee) and it being at full illumination means that its brightness is increased by 30% and its apparent size in the sky will increase by around 14%. <br />
Supermoons dont often happen, the last one being in March 2011 last year. There were no increase in earthquake or tectonic activity as predicted by some who suggested that Supermoons cause such events.<br />
Lets hope its clear to witness this special event.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-65693587165446998432012-04-08T14:31:00.000+01:002012-04-08T14:31:08.174+01:00Publish Phuturespace blog posts to Facebook and TwitterI have just set up a link between my website blog with Facebook and Twitter.<br />
Hopefully every post will be published on my wall.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-38638892137452723542012-03-27T00:02:00.000+01:002012-03-27T00:02:34.238+01:00Close Encounter of the Moon with Venus<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uSeOcp7Bx19AEbsL66aUasir7dI1AAIUt1aMW-LGvGWbGRhI7X1lgnv-yUvrTMVvQ8Vy7wt4bSsUzn2wXzCg_RI3466SlkKr85OgbVL5wDFszJihkBE4OxA0Oz2EIYv_1yOq8bxX/s1600/moon-jupiter-venus26-03-12-1855.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uSeOcp7Bx19AEbsL66aUasir7dI1AAIUt1aMW-LGvGWbGRhI7X1lgnv-yUvrTMVvQ8Vy7wt4bSsUzn2wXzCg_RI3466SlkKr85OgbVL5wDFszJihkBE4OxA0Oz2EIYv_1yOq8bxX/s400/moon-jupiter-venus26-03-12-1855.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">26-03-12-18:55BST</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwMmeF29VxlgD9jD19mLMSULNvj1czyNOyAkQe-98cwIrrf58ak1-3Se3AndVpMBl7xLVfSRQ1a6-d_XgtwOeZ1HxcyKvKY-E_yHMrxSfrWNxZhFb1Gexe0UZZNi6jjPf1j4oGcMc/s1600/moon-venus26-03-12-1856.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwMmeF29VxlgD9jD19mLMSULNvj1czyNOyAkQe-98cwIrrf58ak1-3Se3AndVpMBl7xLVfSRQ1a6-d_XgtwOeZ1HxcyKvKY-E_yHMrxSfrWNxZhFb1Gexe0UZZNi6jjPf1j4oGcMc/s400/moon-venus26-03-12-1856.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">26-03-12-18:56BST</td></tr>
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<br />Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-857541117455304982012-03-26T00:17:00.003+01:002012-03-27T00:03:23.538+01:00Crescent Moon - Jupiter and VenusAmazing how quickly the planets have swapped around in just two weeks. Now its the Moon's turn to be near Jupiter first before heading up towards Venus.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlghzWKmhazDr4vMKIpy6t4CRDCnoO1yKw19NNPTuZmplufEr7h79_wkKcvN_VW38wD3zRnnDxx4ON9TeFihzVG8DpTMEVjrDsLglgtddcUsmcYJDsXi3j-SVuykioLoscikyEjT3L/s1600/moon-jupiter-venus24-03-12-1850.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlghzWKmhazDr4vMKIpy6t4CRDCnoO1yKw19NNPTuZmplufEr7h79_wkKcvN_VW38wD3zRnnDxx4ON9TeFihzVG8DpTMEVjrDsLglgtddcUsmcYJDsXi3j-SVuykioLoscikyEjT3L/s400/moon-jupiter-venus24-03-12-1850.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24-03-12 18:50BST</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgRckKL29ppTK8fYZg7DNlo89GKd5WdU9-sUzRPu8Si09Pe5fn8g9t87LC-ewK7kCreGXdFzC4mE145Ns6rVdC88QOFGj9rUKjuZCotQ-3iGy9qB70S78X_cvudIZIAbnLXPq96k-/s1600/moon24-03-12-185.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgRckKL29ppTK8fYZg7DNlo89GKd5WdU9-sUzRPu8Si09Pe5fn8g9t87LC-ewK7kCreGXdFzC4mE145Ns6rVdC88QOFGj9rUKjuZCotQ-3iGy9qB70S78X_cvudIZIAbnLXPq96k-/s400/moon24-03-12-185.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24-03-12 18:51BST</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpP_phv4g1MMS-nZJIld9YhWlrvM4tZ80Vqat3NW3m9Cm3qPgTkdbTTcUFfA9FshrB20qwO-KpshiPACLg1tMrc3ze8Ip71PrLSpSTBwLiM0suo4O7lZfS3kYBSdGi2oURT-1Oa3e/s1600/moon-jupiter-venus25-03-12-2015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpP_phv4g1MMS-nZJIld9YhWlrvM4tZ80Vqat3NW3m9Cm3qPgTkdbTTcUFfA9FshrB20qwO-KpshiPACLg1tMrc3ze8Ip71PrLSpSTBwLiM0suo4O7lZfS3kYBSdGi2oURT-1Oa3e/s400/moon-jupiter-venus25-03-12-2015.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">25-03-12 20:15BST</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfbVqRel3OJwUvxfHF-ffZF-Oz0_j45SK9cwXax1X065oJxdvRRQQKY81cZXk68smfefp7n0RZUiR6lGcsgS6KDGNgRpTmJxaIKlI6EM0fEYmKHzFEZwLX3FPhsMWOD8e4nTRxdVo/s1600/moon-jupiter-venus25-03-12-2016.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfbVqRel3OJwUvxfHF-ffZF-Oz0_j45SK9cwXax1X065oJxdvRRQQKY81cZXk68smfefp7n0RZUiR6lGcsgS6KDGNgRpTmJxaIKlI6EM0fEYmKHzFEZwLX3FPhsMWOD8e4nTRxdVo/s400/moon-jupiter-venus25-03-12-2016.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">25-03-12 20:16BST</td></tr>
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<br />Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-58142195758311245592012-03-21T23:27:00.001+00:002012-03-21T23:45:24.134+00:00More Venus Jupiter Conjunction Images<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ll-9OEcKhppdetMtLsOx9yxIt5KGKxj3JrV2xoaOh35li6V_81a_l5VMCtafgB-MYhHO9DgXzmRUYkKcMvGbV27mYEHug9PFWDDeOWnzWsfbCHOF-D16s7XS08AQ4Ggno_GZtzAO/s1600/venus-jupiter-11-03-12-1843.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ll-9OEcKhppdetMtLsOx9yxIt5KGKxj3JrV2xoaOh35li6V_81a_l5VMCtafgB-MYhHO9DgXzmRUYkKcMvGbV27mYEHug9PFWDDeOWnzWsfbCHOF-D16s7XS08AQ4Ggno_GZtzAO/s400/venus-jupiter-11-03-12-1843.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">venus-jupiter-11-03-12-18:43UT</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1JK9S63ZOyokwyn4pTV3splWkt827WOEfF6ahtEJ2awZPAl99oZMSyxei-B2MDUnbVZerHkDlTTBI-BzytJvlDirZLCcge3rNZkDACWFu4NNyJRyuCdNY6eR3QRoppT4-xaedg-2/s1600/venus-jupiter-closeup-11-03-12-1845.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1JK9S63ZOyokwyn4pTV3splWkt827WOEfF6ahtEJ2awZPAl99oZMSyxei-B2MDUnbVZerHkDlTTBI-BzytJvlDirZLCcge3rNZkDACWFu4NNyJRyuCdNY6eR3QRoppT4-xaedg-2/s400/venus-jupiter-closeup-11-03-12-1845.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">venus-jupiter-closeup-11-03-12-18:45UT</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGGbhKDJ7cALAJ0_yaLzWlmkR1mjSKDDJDeMSEMnl6nQk4PIuBc5VgiLKu-FI0Go4MimFX5y9SFjl-Ns_6e_TmST14ilvlalaMxE-3iAYeP25ouW91lk7VT4L1MDZVhA4-cX_Zzc0/s1600/venus-jupiter11-03-12-1914.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGGbhKDJ7cALAJ0_yaLzWlmkR1mjSKDDJDeMSEMnl6nQk4PIuBc5VgiLKu-FI0Go4MimFX5y9SFjl-Ns_6e_TmST14ilvlalaMxE-3iAYeP25ouW91lk7VT4L1MDZVhA4-cX_Zzc0/s400/venus-jupiter11-03-12-1914.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">venus-jupiter-11-03-12-19:14UT</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AF6pfNe-IRb_sIncwZ0VEddIDRc_2N0tn_xp3gMEz60J25VWaBVxaTzcuN-2GpbMgILhiqGSDGQZvifCOKVc5-BPuMrRag455SVStKmpSCroYABRBfBI93J1Ug9Kiw7QNJ0yYx0c/s1600/venus-jupiter18-03-12-2002.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AF6pfNe-IRb_sIncwZ0VEddIDRc_2N0tn_xp3gMEz60J25VWaBVxaTzcuN-2GpbMgILhiqGSDGQZvifCOKVc5-BPuMrRag455SVStKmpSCroYABRBfBI93J1Ug9Kiw7QNJ0yYx0c/s400/venus-jupiter18-03-12-2002.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">venus-jupiter-18-03-12-20:02UT</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<br />Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-80068782754698676062012-03-10T12:17:00.000+00:002012-03-10T12:31:01.554+00:00Venus Jupiter Conjunction - Dance of the Planets in 2012Over the next few weeks there is going to be some spectacular naked eye events in the western sky. Venus and Jupiter will make close approach on or around 12-13th March and by the end of the month the Moon and the Pleiades will be in the same area as the two planets. Follow the two planets diagonally downwards towards the horizon and you can see Mercury. Times are for 19:00 (UT). Location is from London, UK. <br />
On the other side of the sky rising in the East is Mars. On the 4th April the Moon will be passing by the Red palnet.<br />
Check out the skymaps of these events below. Screenshots courtesy of Carte du Ciel software.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9krujv2Yaf34QkWV5UfEVTPrkrqRWZri5e19ssUkPvh0LSRsLo4wiPHLMa_jG65SC8GbQa9IcKWWwsKBNTS25K3vJ7UA6L37GqILzjxOXlFKV1WXgLCnQ5nFdqG3wBRd9q88ygN6V/s1600/venus-jupiter-mar10-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9krujv2Yaf34QkWV5UfEVTPrkrqRWZri5e19ssUkPvh0LSRsLo4wiPHLMa_jG65SC8GbQa9IcKWWwsKBNTS25K3vJ7UA6L37GqILzjxOXlFKV1WXgLCnQ5nFdqG3wBRd9q88ygN6V/s400/venus-jupiter-mar10-12.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sky Tonight March 10th- See if you can spot Mercury low in the west after sunset</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoKsooLOCIi293-8ZWceVFRrD6lk8pW81HQqkooQBMxIKZ5EnfWKpL5tl539Ecoar2rcPQq5gzxUxwrvL-uq5F6SueiD-ocSRmILx0QFP5OO-TTDIvTaQtM4yUC8Y7zRJYQaPEYZ5/s1600/venus-jupiter-mar12-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoKsooLOCIi293-8ZWceVFRrD6lk8pW81HQqkooQBMxIKZ5EnfWKpL5tl539Ecoar2rcPQq5gzxUxwrvL-uq5F6SueiD-ocSRmILx0QFP5OO-TTDIvTaQtM4yUC8Y7zRJYQaPEYZ5/s400/venus-jupiter-mar12-12.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Venus-Jupiter Closest conjunction March 12th</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZHCmI4gAO5kcvNGqNKFY_MdrVWj8ybOvq9vSuwK69MFTvQhPjXjJjhk6GieI0_2nYZsSfJmz9BD-J7_E85tJ7E7aoSCrslztSrJ3zqbat273Fs40qCQf-v3mzMeiBJfh7cEbZocj/s1600/venus-jupiter-mar14-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZHCmI4gAO5kcvNGqNKFY_MdrVWj8ybOvq9vSuwK69MFTvQhPjXjJjhk6GieI0_2nYZsSfJmz9BD-J7_E85tJ7E7aoSCrslztSrJ3zqbat273Fs40qCQf-v3mzMeiBJfh7cEbZocj/s400/venus-jupiter-mar14-12.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">March 14th - after closest conjunction</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_6r7P79tua1XDTDUtJTPA3R-UQc7oHS9HOIEStW0zDce_O7iQpONmfN8H9Gl3MlpkYtWXBBFh1upDcyjys33rG_hhTT9eIR-GCPVLXIx9tyxDzOrHw_agvFegbWKUSbpD-pO7-Ybq/s1600/venus-jupiter-moon-mar24-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_6r7P79tua1XDTDUtJTPA3R-UQc7oHS9HOIEStW0zDce_O7iQpONmfN8H9Gl3MlpkYtWXBBFh1upDcyjys33rG_hhTT9eIR-GCPVLXIx9tyxDzOrHw_agvFegbWKUSbpD-pO7-Ybq/s400/venus-jupiter-moon-mar24-12.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter March 24th</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZF6KNy5H35iMLBfhRMVSSnc5wWWdJ04gpp3ESMmFcjbkbkKnF42lGpCnyFVEqkVWy3h82usvKwv5JRYkDefgXr2CjB3m21SfHEEIdAZfF7VGK1PkRYRBWTbBJ8jHuze4zFOKp2rc/s1600/venus-jupiter-moon-mar26-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZF6KNy5H35iMLBfhRMVSSnc5wWWdJ04gpp3ESMmFcjbkbkKnF42lGpCnyFVEqkVWy3h82usvKwv5JRYkDefgXr2CjB3m21SfHEEIdAZfF7VGK1PkRYRBWTbBJ8jHuze4zFOKp2rc/s400/venus-jupiter-moon-mar26-12.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pleiades (M45) Moon, Venus and Jupiter March 26th</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBMorOhc0DEvyNO3NeQHP8VYU0BI-90u5geAqnd4x80q0gMn6AQiiXiK4Md1CdTKonGI3fGsg5I8fVp2iQCRIAVRWYWA-IGaL1KiTledOU9ztei7ymL9jiDI1I8AfaxdG0SL1_gh8/s1600/venus-jupiter-moon-mar27-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBMorOhc0DEvyNO3NeQHP8VYU0BI-90u5geAqnd4x80q0gMn6AQiiXiK4Md1CdTKonGI3fGsg5I8fVp2iQCRIAVRWYWA-IGaL1KiTledOU9ztei7ymL9jiDI1I8AfaxdG0SL1_gh8/s400/venus-jupiter-moon-mar27-12.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moon and Pleiades March 27th</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv14hARhanKsqb1ikS3hR8kg22JPzKD85jOs2uo-olVUC7LBe8CpDoECfSMdXJm6ITX7MHBSPErux8t5SSnxkfUnF2dybPmC4WDARFKuQ-xI7kMJZfafe-MeQzgBBR68Hi7faU3ysE/s1600/mars-moon-apr4-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv14hARhanKsqb1ikS3hR8kg22JPzKD85jOs2uo-olVUC7LBe8CpDoECfSMdXJm6ITX7MHBSPErux8t5SSnxkfUnF2dybPmC4WDARFKuQ-xI7kMJZfafe-MeQzgBBR68Hi7faU3ysE/s400/mars-moon-apr4-12.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moon Mars April 4th</td></tr>
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<br />Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-1348403172281273532012-03-02T07:48:00.001+00:002012-03-02T07:48:40.177+00:00Aurora from Iceland<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Checkout these great images of the northern lights taken from Iceland by Ken Harrison of Loughton Astronomical Society. <br/>
<a href='https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-TkU8eibwOkg/T1B7SY12gCI/AAAAAAAAAP0/pffJPHn42pQ/1330674502112.jpeg' onblur='try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}'><img border='0' src='https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-TkU8eibwOkg/T1B7SY12gCI/AAAAAAAAAP0/pffJPHn42pQ/s288/1330674502112.jpeg' style='display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 216px;'/></a><br/>
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<a href='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_afq8MGcMiE/T1B7TgEXhnI/AAAAAAAAAP4/aNosoplb78I/1330674508947.jpeg' onblur='try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}'><img border='0' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_afq8MGcMiE/T1B7TgEXhnI/AAAAAAAAAP4/aNosoplb78I/s288/1330674508947.jpeg' style='display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 216px;'/></a><br/>
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<a href='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-drbWvDtu4G4/T1B7Un0s-5I/AAAAAAAAAQA/i0s-RI46298/1330674511912.jpeg' onblur='try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}'><img border='0' src='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-drbWvDtu4G4/T1B7Un0s-5I/AAAAAAAAAQA/i0s-RI46298/s288/1330674511912.jpeg' style='display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 216px;'/></a><br/>
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<a href='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WHt6-2sY7Io/T1B7VcRxeEI/AAAAAAAAAQI/-ucqYHNeG7E/1330674515781.jpeg' onblur='try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}'><img border='0' src='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WHt6-2sY7Io/T1B7VcRxeEI/AAAAAAAAAQI/-ucqYHNeG7E/s288/1330674515781.jpeg' style='display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 216px;'/></a></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-76925146587399599242012-03-01T15:43:00.001+00:002012-03-01T15:52:20.170+00:00Raspberry PI - why I want one!<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
The huge hype of the latest tech gadget - the Raspberry PI hit the market today. Running on linux this little beasty aims to be used by schools and pc enthusiasts alike.<br />
The little computer could be adapted to enhance telescope control, perhaps even a CCD camera. In any case its worth getting hold of one to try it out....assuming stocks are replenished sometime soon.<br />
Available from <a href="http://www.rs-components.com/" target="_blank">RE Electronics</a> and <a href="http://www.designspark.com/" target="_blank">Designspark</a>. </div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-43383116637213817852012-02-25T23:25:00.004+00:002012-02-25T23:25:53.282+00:00Venus Moon ConjunctionGot a great image of the crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter(top left).<br />
This was taken with a Panasonic Lumix GF3 Compact System Camera @ 42mm, F6.3 Exposure 6secs at 800ISO.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8O4YGVL4r6LMFk1IK7fcVYekldhRWnKKxQXTqtODBvUJu4yGOaX7-G_kENoLpVGVLxGxNw5SU8VCRaNG2QEknOoRDzwJulP5d4Kuusv21xfl-DOMz61uBsJkjXg_sA8ei7GItgd5R/s1600/venus-moon-jupiter+Feb2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8O4YGVL4r6LMFk1IK7fcVYekldhRWnKKxQXTqtODBvUJu4yGOaX7-G_kENoLpVGVLxGxNw5SU8VCRaNG2QEknOoRDzwJulP5d4Kuusv21xfl-DOMz61uBsJkjXg_sA8ei7GItgd5R/s400/venus-moon-jupiter+Feb2012.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-27097872684827145882012-02-25T11:33:00.004+00:002012-02-25T12:01:15.430+00:00New Meade Telescope Series LX80 and LX800Meade have produced a new series of telescopes LX80 and LX800. First impressions of the LX800 at Astrofest this year, it looks as though Meade went back to the drawing board and had a complete rethink in what a telescope mount should look like.<br />
The LX800 is a heavy duty mount that does not come cheap, it is almost $6000 (£6000). It comes with a built-in CCD camera which assists with the aligning and high precision tracking called StarLock(TM).<br />
For more details see the Meade website. <a href="http://www.meade.com/lx800">http://www.meade.com/lx800</a>.<br />
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The LXD80 on the other hand is designed for the intermediate astronomer. Prices start from $799 (£799). The design is based upon what I can only describe as a 'square block'. The iOptron is similar in design.<br />
The mount can be elevated at an angle to turn it from an altaz mount to an equatorial. The Meade AudioStar(TM) is included.<br />
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These telescopes are certainly a far cry from the LXD series which have been going for ten years. It will be interesting to see how many telescope owners will swap their old LXD/ETX models for this one. I am certainly considering getting the mount alone which is available. For more details see <a href="http://www.meade.com/lx80">http://www.meade.com/lx80</a><br />
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Check out a preview of the LX80 on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnX-e_PjJLw" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-12844546821550725212012-02-18T13:08:00.005+00:002012-02-18T23:01:05.625+00:00Astrofest 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGYvavQpZmFRJ3lMn4la5CSgNUc17szf1ZCb5Q0lICK-uptzYFLjgRiZD9zIr4xSHZoYw5N0EzKp9I_Yef1b5wLGHcF07Dnib9kj7M8MqW2kohJIwT8FflMlop5M3Bm2iIye7bmbq/s1600/P1000073+%281024x768%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGYvavQpZmFRJ3lMn4la5CSgNUc17szf1ZCb5Q0lICK-uptzYFLjgRiZD9zIr4xSHZoYw5N0EzKp9I_Yef1b5wLGHcF07Dnib9kj7M8MqW2kohJIwT8FflMlop5M3Bm2iIye7bmbq/s400/P1000073+%281024x768%29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Whenever the new year comes around I always look forward to it because I know that just one month later marks the two day European Astrofest in Kensington town hall. This year it fell on Friday 10th Feb. <br />
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For images of the event click <a href="http://phuturespace.blogspot.com/p/astrofest-2012-picture-gallery.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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I attended both days with tickets for all four lecture sessions so I could cherry pick the lectures I really wanted to see. In the end I managed to see at least two lectures from each session, including the whole of the Saturday morning session.<br />
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Lectures spanned across both days were split into four sessions. Topics were varied and included Stars and the Sun, Climate Change, Cosmology, Lunar exploration, Extrasolar planets and even the discovery of an object named Hannys Voorwerp! However, I would have to say that Solar astronomy was the most prominent theme in this year's series of lectures.<br />
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Lecturers included Noah Pedro, Dr Lucie Green, Dr Stuart Clark, Carlos Frenk, Hanny van Arkel, Dr Allan Chapman and journalist and science popularist Simon Singh. Unfortunately former Member of Parliament Lembit Opik could not make it due to personal commitments.<br />
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The quality of talks this year were excellent. I especially liked Dr Stuart Clark's talk giving a historical account of the 'alleged' connection between Solar activity and the changes in Earth's climate. Hanny van Arkel's talk about her serendipitous discovery of a new object in the Universe was an inspiration for all those thinking of signing up to the social network website 'Zooniverse'.<br />
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It was the first time I have ever attended a talk by Simon Singh. It was about the Big Bang which by coincidence was the title of one of his books, that was published a little while ago. It was very good and informative...he even did a physics experiment on the stage where he 'electrocuted' a gherkin. His anecdotes were extremely funny especially about his encounter singer-songwriter Kate Meluah. At the end of the talk Simon Singh was signing his books. In fact the queue was so long he (actually I think it was Ian Ridpath) had to run to his car to get more of his books!<br />
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As usual early on the saturday afternoon there was a book signing frenzy which seems to nowadays become somewhat of an Astrofest tradition. This year it was the turn of John Mason, Patrick Moore and Brian May. Brian May has made a regular appearance every year since 2007. It took about an hour in the queue to get to the room where the three was signing their books. I got Brian to sign the latest Queen book which celebrate 40years of the band in the music industry.<br />
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The sky at night team were also there, Paul Abel, Peter Lawrence and celebrity impressionist extraordinaire John Culshaw who makes a regular appearance on the show as he has an interest in Astronomy. (off topic!) John Culshaw does a great impression of my cousin Robert Peston. So when I introduced myself to him he immediately launched into an impression of Robert! It was genuine pleasure to meet him.<br />
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This year I had a list of items I wanted to purchase, unfortunately I only ended up with one item which was a Vixen two inch 42mm Lanthanum wide-field eyepiece. However, I did end up purchasing several books and getting them signed by the authors Dr Stuart Clark, Simon Singh and Brian May.<br />
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Once again both days seem to fly by so quickly. On the whole it was a great Astrofest and am already looking forward to next year's event.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-56727173083980281332012-02-18T00:08:00.002+00:002012-02-18T00:08:26.537+00:00Stargazing Live 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://wwwimg.bbc.co.uk/programmes/i/512xn/252430e4b6dab77be36046dea62f1ebe12ae889b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://wwwimg.bbc.co.uk/programmes/i/512xn/252430e4b6dab77be36046dea62f1ebe12ae889b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Dara O Briain and Prof Brian Cox returned to our screens on BBC2 on 16th January for three nights. This time topics included, the Moon, Black Holes and even Aliens!<br />
Guests included a live interview with Lunar Astronaut Eugene Cernan, impressionist John Culshaw, comedian John Bishop, Dr Lucie Green and even Patrick Moore made an appearance, although his was pre-recorded. Reporters were Mark Thompson from Norwich Astronomicsl Society who was out and about in the UK and Liz Bonin who was at the South Africa Large Telescope (SALT). <br />
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After each of the episodes there was an additional episode which essentially was a cosy chat amongst the hosts with an audience from an astronomy society standing behind them. A similar format to Top Gear. In fact there were one or two people in the audience standing at the back that I recognise from Astronomy conventions.<br />
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Best moment was Brian Cox giving away the answers that Patrick was asking, I dont think he could help himself as comes across very passionate about the subject. I also was very impressed with John Bishop who actually asked pertinent questions which wasn't from of point of view of taking the mickey out of the subject. Astronomy is becoming cool after all! <br />
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Overall I found the format and topics better than last year. I also liked the extra episodes. It certainly generated at lot of interest from the public at my local astronomical society during open eveningsMartinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-8190640496091061962012-02-03T23:57:00.000+00:002012-02-03T23:57:59.983+00:00Equinox SkyCamp 2011Bit of a belated report...anyway...<br />
The equinox skycamp took place in the latter half of September 2011.
With the weather forecast not looking too good I decided to spend most of the time observing rather than taking images like last year.
This year my family and I could only stay during main weekend rather than spend a whole ten days like last year.<br />
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Friday night was unfortunately not clear so I could not set up the telescope for polar alignment...having said that as a veteran of these skycamps I can set the mount up in the right direction with just a compass. In fact The mount wasn't far off Polaris when I started to observe on the Saturday evening when was clear enough to allow me to precisely align the mount.<br />
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Saturday during the day was sunny and bright. There were fewer trade stands in the yellow field than previous years. However, there were quite a few people in the fields privately selling their equipment, including what I think was an eight inch refractor! I would love to know if someone purchased it, how on earth they got that home. It looked more than three metres long!
Talks were going on during the day, including bob mizon ....
The prize raffle took place in the early evening. The raffle seems to be getting more popular than ever and the tickets were all sold out by the time the raffle took place. First prize this year was a Nagler kindly donated by David Nagler of TeleVue worth £400.<br />
Saturday late evening was a mixed bag of stars indispersed with patchy cloud. It apparently cleared in the early hours, but by then I was back in the lodge tucked up in bed!<br />
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Sunday was the traditional trip to Cromer. It was a sunny day and we did our usual walk by the beach. By the time it was getting dark it looked like it was clouding over again. However, I thought I would stay up a bit longer than the previous night and wait it out. By about 12:30-1am most people retired to their tents. However, in the south-east high in the sky I saw a small clear patch just where Jupiter was poking through. Over a period of an hour or so the clear patch grew until the whole sky was clear. I manage to satisfy my observing craving from the past few days and indulged myself with the delights of the Autumn sky.
By three am I decided to call it a night as I had a long drive back to London the next day.<br />
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Despite the skies not meeting up to expectations it was a relaxing and enjoyable skycamp. Can't wait for this year's skycamp where I will hope to be doing some imaging by trying out my new Panasonic GF3 compact system camera.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-21274247496336581052012-02-03T23:49:00.001+00:002012-02-03T23:49:33.258+00:00Life!Sometimes events in life takes over and things get left to one side for a while. I stopped posting until now.
I am hoping to keep this blog active along with the sister site the Build scout.
So enough of the cryptic stuff. Onwards and upwards!Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-51192033301152263982011-04-21T13:53:00.001+01:002011-04-21T13:53:54.112+01:00Milky Way MovieCheckout this amazing movie of the Milky Way taken on top of Spain's highest mountain El Teide. <br />
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<div><object width="576" height="324"><param name="movie" value="http://d.yimg.com/nl/vyc/site/player.swf?lang=en-GB"></param><param name="flashVars" value="vid=24968176&repeat=0&lang=en-GB&"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed width="576" height="324" allowFullScreen="true" src="http://d.yimg.com/nl/vyc/site/player.swf?lang=en-GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="vid=24968176&repeat=0&lang=en-GB&"></embed></object></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-669374901332415540.post-64748797579229320882011-04-05T23:18:00.006+01:002011-04-05T23:23:26.541+01:001971<span style="font-family: Arial;">Tomorrow will be my fortieth birthday (6th April). A lot of has happened in Astronomy and spaceflight over the past forty years, so on the eve of my birthday lets time travel back to the year 1971 and see what was going on in the world of spaceflight and astronomy...</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">General: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Stephen Hawking demonstrates mathematically that the Big Bang must have come from a single point and postulated the existence of mini black holes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It was the 400th anniversary of Johannes Kepler's<b> </b>death</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Notable Dates: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">January 31, 1971</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: Men were still flying to the Moon. Apollo 14 mission, with Alan Shepard Jr., Stuart A. Roosa, and Edgar D. Mitchell, was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">June 30, 1971</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: Tragedy! Three Russian cosmonauts Lieutenant-Colonel Georgi Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev were found dead in their Soyuz 11 space capsule after it made a perfect landing in Kazakhstan. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">April 19, 1971</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: The first ever space station of its kind Salyut 1 was launched by the USSR. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">July 26, 1971</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: Apollo 15 launched with David R Scott, Alfred M Worden and James B Irwin aboard. It was the first time the Lunar Rover was used. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">October 1971</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: Astrophysics - Joseph C. Hafele and Richard E. Keating took four atomic clocks aboard commercial airliners and flew twice around the world to test the theory of relativity.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">28 October 1971</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: The last of the british built Black Arrow rocket with the satellite Prospero on board was launched from Woomera, Australia.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">November 13, 1971</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, swinging into its planned trajectory around Mars. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Let's see what the next forty years has in store...</span>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08560266701582259182noreply@blogger.com0