Goodbye Bresser Messier 130N Telescope

Posted on: September 18, 2007 /
Categories: General

I have now upgraded from my first telescope my Bresser Messier 130N to an LX200 10″ GPS with UHTC. After starting my astronomy hobby four months ago with my first scope, it is now time to upgrade. I am glad that I purchased the 130N first, before spending a lot of money on a hobby

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Astronomy Hacks Book Review

Posted on: September 16, 2007 /
Categories: Astronomy Books

O’Reilly is not known for being specialists in publishing astronomy books, so it is nice to see an astronomy book from them. O’Reilly are already well known for their hacks series of books on a number of subjects and this book contains 65 astronomy hacks covering everything you need to know in order to make

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M45 Pleiades Star Cluster

Posted on: September 13, 2007 /
Categories: Star Clusters

So my first night out with my new Canon 75-300mm USM lens. The Pleiades seemed to be the best test for this new lens on my tripod. So here are some images: This first image was 5.6f, ISO800, 300mm focal length and a 2 second exposure. The second pleiades star trail image was 5.6f, ISO800,

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New Canon 75mm-300mm USM Lens

Posted on: September 12, 2007 /
Categories: General

Since purchasing my Canon 400D with its 18mm-55mm lens I have thoroughly enjoyed using it, especially for taking night shots of the sky using the bulb setting. But as the whole point of owning an SLR camera is to be able to change the lens, I thought it was about time to purchase a new

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My Astronomy Friends – Hedgehogs

Posted on: September 12, 2007 /
Categories: General

Every night when I am out in the garden, I hear rustling in the bushes of the hedgehogs doing the rounds looking for food. When I first heard the rustling in the dark I wondered what it was, but now I know when the hedgehogs are coming and going as they make a ‘scraping’ sound

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Delphinus, Equuleus and Sagitta Constellations

Posted on: September 11, 2007 /
Categories: Constellations

What a great night last night, a really clear night with the odd small cloud overhead. I decided to look for the Dumbbell Nebula M27 last night, and I had a rough idea where it was, but I managed to find it after about two minutes, sometimes the night sky seems very small, sometimes massive!

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Subscribed to Sky at Night Magazine

Posted on: September 10, 2007 /
Categories: The Sky at Night

I posted last week about how you could get a free Sir Patrick Moore autobiography with 6 months of Sky at Night Magazine (see the post here), well today I took the plunge myself and ordered the magazine. I went for the 6 month subscription for £18.95, on direct debit, but this does get me

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Perseus, Triangulum and Aries Asterisms

Posted on: September 8, 2007 /
Categories: Constellations

Following along from my mapping of all the asterisms in the sky by just using my Canon DLSR with an 18-55mm lens, I have now taken Perseus and learnt how the asterism is constructed via its stars, I also managed to just get Triangulum and Aries in the photo as well. Now the picutre below

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Pathways to Astronomy Book Review

Posted on: September 8, 2007 /
Categories: Astronomy Books

Pathways to Astronomy (ISBN 0072922087). The beginning of the book contains some really nice pages of various parts of the night sky constellations in full colour and what interesting sights to look out for in the sky, including M101, M81, M82, M31, M45, M57, M16 and a lot more. Pathways to Astronomy is split into

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BBC Sky at Night Repeated on BBC iPlayer

Posted on: September 4, 2007 /
Categories: The Sky at Night

After using the BBC iPlayer for about two weeks now, I am finding it pretty good. So far I have downloaded The Cosmos which I forgot to record as well as a BBC Drama. I managed to miss the first showing of The Sky at Night – Black Holes and Black Magic, now I know

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