Astronomy Log

Bought AE Pro Pier

Posted on: April 27, 2009 /

Categories: General

Last week I bidded on an Astro Engineering Pro Pier on eBay, luckily at the last minute I won the auction. I do find that these kinds of pier don’t appear that regularly on the 2nd hand market, as most people are using them, so I’m glad I got it. The only problem was that

Microsoft World Wide Telescope Talk

Posted on: April 25, 2009 /

Categories: Astronomy Software

Last night I attended a talk at the Institute of Astronomy by a Microsoft employee named Jonathan Fay about the World Wide Telescope program. It was great talk, and good to see a live demo on a piece of software from Microsoft which is free to download and use on Mac/PC and soon Linux or

SSPL Astronomy Prints

Posted on: April 22, 2009 /

Categories: Astronomy Gifts

The official print sales website of the Science Museum, National Railway Museum and National Media Museum is now online, and it incorporates the Royal Photographic Society Collection. Currently there are 40,000 images to choose from in a range of sizes and finishes. Categories include Astronomy, Natural History, Vintage Posters, Rail Transport, Road Transport, Water Transport,

Hot Results on Cool Galaxies by Robert Kennicutt

Posted on: April 18, 2009 /

Categories: Cambridge Astronomy Association

Last night was the 50th anniversary meeting of the CAA in Cambridge and as well as the Mayor of Cambridge attending we also had Professor Robert Kennicutt as our guest speaker. His talk was entitled “Hot Results on Cool Galaxies: The Hidden Universe Revealed.” Robert Kennicutt is the Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy

Turn Left at Orion Book Review

Posted on: March 20, 2009 /

Categories: Astronomy Books

Turn Left at Orion has become a very famous book, one which has had lots of positive reviews on book sites such as Amazon and other astronomy web sites, so it was good to get hold of a copy to see what this book is all about. Turn Left at Orion is really about how

Comet Lulin 2009 Images

Posted on: March 2, 2009 /

Categories: Comets

Around 9.30pm last night it actually cleared, so I headed outside after a cup of tea. Looking for the Comet using binoculars with Stellarium the previous night helped greatly, as I now knew the vicinity of Comet Lulin. Comet Lulin was already in the Autostar Handset database, and I had made sure that I update the

SPA Convention 2009 Lecture Tickets

Posted on: February 27, 2009 /

Categories: Astronomy News

I received my ticket to the Sir Patrick Moore lecture at the 2009 SPA Convention today. Sir Patrick Moore is not the one speaking but Dr Katie Joy is. The talk is entitled “The Past, Present and Future of Lunar Exploration”, a talk I am looking forward to. I just really wanted to thank the

Satellites Collide over Siberia

Posted on: February 12, 2009 /

Categories: Astronomy News

Just to put everyone in the picture, 2 satellites have collided 500 miles up over Siberia. The collision involved an Iridium US commercial satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 which was believed to be nonfunctioning and out of control. The Iridium craft weighed 1,235 pounds, and the Russian craft

Want to Buy an SPC900 Webcam. But Where?

Posted on: February 12, 2009 /

Categories: General

Exactly. It seems to me that Philips have stopped producing our beloved SPC900 Webcams. Amazon, Play and Pixmania used to stock them online, but no longer do. So what now? I suppose you could always look on eBay. Does this mean that the price of second hand SPC900 Webcams will increase as they become harder

Find Comet Lulin in Stellarium

Posted on: February 10, 2009 /

Categories: How To

I am starting to get quite excited about having Comet Lulin to image, so if your like me and want to know how to plan your observing or astrophotography then you’ll need to know how to find Comet Lullin in the sky. I began using an old version of Starry Night Pro, but that would