Summer Break

I'm sorry there has been a longer gap than usual since the last newsletter but I have been away for most of August. The first half was spent at the Arizona Sky Village where I took my elder daughter Katie for her first visit. Besides seeing the local area by car, plane, ultralight, motorbike, horse and foot she also enjoyed some astronomy with me.

August is the Summer monsoon season in Arizona so I was interested to see how this would affect the Sky Village. We experienced some torrential rain and dramatic lightning displays but still had plenty of clear skies and warm Sun. Cave Creek was running continuously and the desert was greener than I've ever seen it.

One of the highlights was the Perseids Meteor Shower which we watched in shirt sleeves on Ray and Dori Brooks' deck while enjoying a few drinks with friends. In a three hour period we counted over 170 shooting stars. On another night we spent some time at Rick Beno's observatory where he was taking images of the Lagoon and Triffid Nebulae. Outside on his observation deck I was amazed at how easy it was to see the Lagoon Nebula with the naked eye. Andromeda was also very obvious with no need to use averted vision.

The second half of August was spent in Spain where the skies were very dark but nowhere near as transparent as in Arizona. However, it was good to watch the Moon develop each night until we were able to barbeque and swim by the light of the full Moon. There is more than one way to enjoy the night sky.

Astronomy for Absolute Beginners

If you would like a one-day introduction to astronomy we still have places available on our next course on Saturday 15th September 2007. If you know someone else who might be interested then please let them know about it. Details can be found by following this link . It is given by Dr Jeffrey Barham whose courses are always well received and you are guaranteed an informative and entertaining day.

New Member of Staff

We welcome Ralph Bell to the team as our latest member of staff. Ralph has been a customer and supporter for many years and you may have seen him at Astroblast explaining how to take images of planets and the Moon. He is a keen astronomer with a wealth of knowledge which he's happy to share with you. Ralph usually works Monday, Friday and Saturday so please call in to meet him if you can.

Celestron NexStar 6 SE

I've mentioned the NexStar 6 SE more than once as we regard it as one of the best buys available at present. I'm pleased to see that it has now been reviewed by Ade Ashford in September's Astronomy Now who gives it a 'well-deserved thumbs up'.

Mars Rovers

While we were experiencing Summer storms in Arizona the two Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were weathering seasonal dust storms which usually follow Mars' closest approach to the Sun. It still amazes me that such a tenuous atmosphere can whip up and sustain such powerful dust storms.

At the time of writing it appears that the atmosphere is beginning to clear and the two Rovers' solar panels are beginning to generate more electricity, although not so much as they were doing a couple of months ago.

Binoculars

Whilst I've been away we've seen a steady growth in binocular sales, especially of some of the higher specification models in the Opticron range. We don't yet advertise in the birding magazines so assume that word is getting around that we stock a wide range and offer expert advice and the opportunity to try before buying. If you haven't tried a modern pair of binoculars you will be surprised by the quality and value they offer.

They make excellent presents and can last a lifetime if properly cared for. We recommend trying binoculars before buying but sometimes this isn't possible if they are meant to be a surprise. We will exchange any binoculars we supply as presents if they turn out to be unsuitable.

Updates to the Arizona Sky Village web site

Before my last visit I managed to update the image galleries which you may care to take a look at. I''ve also written some more visit reports but these aren't yet posted on the site. Hopefully they will be soon.

New Eyepiece from TeleVue

Al Nagler set a new standard in eyepieces when he introduced the 13mm Nagler back in 1981. It looks as though TeleVue have done it again with their 13mm Ethos which has an apparent field of 100 degrees (yes, one hundred degrees). Al has been trialing it at various star parties since April and it seems to be a real winner. It has also been reviewed with a 5-star rating in Sky and Telescope .

Al gives some more background on the TeleVue web site with some interesting comments on why you get such an amazing experience combining high magnification and a wide field of view. If you're thinking about splashing out on one really exquisite eyepiece then this is the one to consider.

Evening Classes on Astronomy

Most of these start in the next couple of weeks so now is the time to enroll if you are interested. For the Cambridge area try searching these two web sites:

http://www.camlearn.net/home.php

http://www.cont-ed.cam.ac.uk/

Looking South at 10 pm

Now that night is falling earlier I'll revert to describing what to look for due South at 10 pm (BST) rather than 11 as I was doing in the Summer. High in the sky and straddling the southern meridian are the three bright stars that make up the Summer Triangle. The top-left star (almost overhead) is Deneb in the tail of Cygnus the Swan. Top-right is Vega in Lyra the Harp and at the bottom is Altair in Aquila the Eagle. In the UK these stars stand out and should be easy to identify. In Arizona I found it harder to spot them with so many other stars visible.

Alongside Deneb is the beautiful North America Nebula which should be easy to see in binoculars if the sky is clear. It covers an area almost two degrees square (the Sun and Moon are about half a degree in diameter for comparison). Compare what you see with a photograph and see if the shape is as distinct as you expect. There's a good one taken by Jack Newton in the Astronomy Gallery on our ASV web site.

Whilst you have your binoculars out, look for Brocchi's Cluster, also known as the Coathanger. It is on the line joining Altair to Vega, about one third of the way from Altair. It is another distinct shape and you should recognise it as soon as you see it.

Just to the left of Altair and slightly higher is the small constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin. Four stars make up a diamond-shaped head with a fifth marking the end of its tail. It looks more like a tadpole to me but is another shape that is easy to recognise. By the way, Philips have announced a new book called Stargazing with Binoculars by Robin Scagell and David Frydman. It's due out any time now and costs £7.99.

Within the Summer Triangle you can find one of the prettiest double stars called Albireo. It marks the head of Cygnus the Swan (or the foot of the cross if you prefer to think of Cygnus as a large cross). I find a small telescope shows off the contrast in colour between the two stars well. One star is blue and the other yellow gold.

Running down our southern view at a slight angle from top-left to bottom-right is the Milky Way. Depending on the quality of your sky this may be obvious or difficult to see. Take some time to browse along it using your binoculars. If you find something that catches your eye, try to identify it using a star chart or planetarium program. Or if you're lucky enough to own a Celestron Sky Scout you can use that.

We usually recommend beginners to use a book like Turn Left at Orion to choose an object then go out with their telescope with the aim of finding it. You can take this approach with binoculars but it's also fun just to browse, especially along the Milky Way.

And finally...

Did you know that Cambridge University holds public lectures from time to time that are open to anyone. The Life Cycle of Galaxies is on 15th October from 17:30 to 18:30 at the Department of Chemistry in Lensfield Road. Further details can be found at http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/7733 If you don't live in the Cambridge area why not try searching your local university's web site for public lectures?

Best wishes and Clear Skies

Neil