Pic Du Midi Observatory in France

Pic du Midi was one of the major observatories I never visited when I worked at the Royal Greenwich Observatory so I was interested to find myself quite close to it during a recent visit to Lourdes. It is situated in the Haut Pyrenees region in south-west France, not far from the Spanish border. Unfortunately I was on a tight schedule so didn't visit the observatory but will certainly go back. The scenery is spectacular and cheap Ryanair flights to Pau Pyrenees Airport from Stansted are very convenient. Pau airport has five hire-car companies so there should be no problem with hiring a car.

Access to the site is via a cable-car that appears to offer an exciting ride and stunning views. Details are available at http://www.picdumidi.com/ Click on the small union flag in the top right corner to get an english version. If you do make a visit before I do please let me know what you think.

Dave Garnett provided this helpful feedback by email:

"FYI visited Pic Du Midi a few years back - it is truly spectacular on a nice clear day. The cable car is sensitive to wind, so check it is running before you set off on a long drive. In the worst case they keep spare food on top in case the weather closes in.

Oh, and you can walk up a track to the top ..."

Telescopes of the Future

Lee has been working hard on a new talk which he gave for the first time this week at Leeds Astronomy Society. By all accounts it was very well received on the night and we received this comment the next day: "A most excellent presentation by Lee last night, very informative, and excellently illustrated." If you would like Lee to give his talk to your society please give him a call. I guarantee that you will be amazed at the scale of some of the technology that is being planned and implemented.

Beginners' Course on Astronomy

We are giving two half-day astronomy courses aimed at beginners on Saturday 21st June 2008. The morning is devoted to the practical aspects of observing for yourself while the afternoon is a tour of the universe and covers the things you can see in the night sky.

You can attend just the morning or afternoon session, or both if you wish. The course is given by Lee and has proved very popular in the past. We offer a discount on the day for purchases in the showroom for course members so why not use this as an opportunity to boost your knowledge with a good introductory guide.

Full details are here on our web site. If you want to give the course as a gift we can supply a gift voucher.

Caring for our Feathered Friends

The newspapers have devoted quite a bit of space to advice on feeding birds this week so I thought I would remind you of the food and feeders we supply. Quality of food is as important as quantity so we spent some time choosing our supplier carefully. The result is that you can be confident that all our products meet the birds' needs and offer good value.

It is ironic that modern efficient harvesters leave little spillage for the birds so we have to put out food specifically for them. However, it does mean we can enjoy the birds at close quarters and it is a very cheap form of entertainment, especially if you have a good pair of binoculars.

Our feeder seed, high-energy low-mess seed and nyjer seed are especially popular and there is a wide range of suitable feeders to complement them which you can find here on our web site .

Bats in the Belfrey

I noticed quite a lot of bat droppings in our local church on Wednesday which reminded me that bats are particularly active at present and it's a good time to use a bat detector to identify them and work out what they are doing.

For most people the Batbox IIID is probably the best choice but I've noticed increased sales of the Batbox Duet which has two different ways of rendering the bats' sonar signals audible to us. In addition to the method used by the Batbox IIID it also uses frequency division which renders the whole of the bats' frequency range audible at once. This reduces the chance of missing an unusual passing bat and makes the signals easier to interpret.

You can find details of the detectors, together with bat books, CDs and boxes here on our web site.

Worldwide Telescope

Back in February I told newsletter readers about Microsoft's plans to release their Worldwide Telescope software. Well, they've just released it this week and you can try it for yourself by visiting http://worldwidetelescope.org/

The software can be downloaded for free and if the claims made by Microsoft are well-founded then it looks to be a very important tool for learning and teaching. Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and many other professional sources it offers an unprecedented way to expore our universe at different wavelengths.

Try it for yourself and let me know what you think of it. But don't forget that there is nothing to compare with being outdoors, well-wrapped up on a clear night and enjoying the sky with your own eyes.

Observation Binoculars

Some of the Bresser binoculars developed originally for hunters to use in dull conditions are especially suitable for astronomy. They are available as 8x56 and 9x63 to give 7mm exit pupils for easy use and bright images. We've put them together with Philips' new book, Stargazing with Binoculars to provide two packages under a hundred pounds that are ideal for getting started in astronomy. Click here to find them.

Looking South at 10 pm from Cambridge, UK (Friday 16th May 2008)

The (almost) full moon is just to the left of our meridian so limits our view to relatively bright objects. But while it is there you can use it to identify Spica in the constellation of Virgo. Spica is the bright star about four degrees from the moon. We usually find it by following the arc of the Plough's handle to Arcturus then on to Spica. Using the moon will work for tonight but 'Arc to Arcturus then on to Spica' always works so long as these stars are above the horizon.

Virgo is an important constellation because it contains the Virgo Cluster, an area rich in galaxies, many of which are within the range of amateur telescopes. Any good atlas or planetarium program will show a target list for you to try, but you will need to wait until the moon is out of the way and the sky is clear and dark.

Over the last few weeks our meridian has been tracking along Hydra and it is now approaching the end of its tail. Low on the horizon it is a challenge to find the stars that make up the tail but again, a good atlas or planetarium program will help.

Above Hydra and just to the right of our meridian lies Corvus, the Crow, which was sent by Apollo to report on a lady called Coronis who had caught his eye. Apparently, Corvus' report wasn't very complimentary but he was rewarded with a place in the sky. Four stars with magnitudes between 2.5 and 3 make up the prominent part of this small constellation and stand out because they are in an otherwise barren part of the sky.

Above Virgo we find Coma Berenices on our meridian. Despite being attached to the legend of Berenice's Hair which she sacrificed to Venus following the safe return of her husband Ptolemy Euergetes, it isn't an ancient constellation but was added by Tycho Brahe around 1590. Berenice's Star Cluster is just on the right of the meridian while on the left and just slightly lower is M64, otherwise known as the Blackeye Galaxy.

Above Coma Berenices and about halfway to the handle of the Plough which is almost directly overhead, we find Canes Venatici, the two hunting dogs supposedly being held by Bootes the herdsman. Originally called Asterion and Chara, the name of Asterion was changed to Cor Caroli by Edmund Halley in honour of King Charles I of England.

Canes Venatici is home to a fine globular cluster, M3, which you should look for in binoculars. It is also home to several galaxies in the Messier list, the most famous of which is M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Incidentally, the Whirlpool Star Party is to be held from 26th to 28th September 2008 at Birr in Ireland, close to the location of Lord Rosse's Leviathon with which he sketched the Whirlpool Galaxy and showed its spiral nature for the first time.

The Whirlpool Star Party is a very friendly affair and I recommend it to anyone who wants to combine a weekend at an excellent astronomy event with the opportunity to visit the Birr Castle Demesne and the restored Rosse 72-inch Telescope. Details can be found on the Shannonside Astronomy web site.

And finally...

ESA's Venus Express spacecraft is busily analysing the venusian atmosphere for evidence of active volcanoes while in the opposite direction NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is approaching the red planet to look for signs of life. Phoenix is scheduled to touch down on May 25th when it will slow from 13,000 mph to 5 mph in just seven minutes. The lander weighs almost 1,000 lbs so there's a lot of energy to be expended in the martian atmosphere.

Mars is about 170 million miles away and is still easily visible in the west in the late evening. When you look at it try to imagine just how difficult it is to get a spacecraft safely onto its surface. Even after all the planning, cost and effort the whole mission could be destroyed if Phoenix hits a large rock on landing.

Clear Skies and Best Wishes

Neil

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