Perseid Meteor Shower

Comet Swift-Tuttle leaves behind a trail of dust that the Earth passes through each year in August. This results in a shower of shooting stars as the dust particles burn up in the atmosphere. The peak is usually on the 12th August (this year it's in the afternoon) but the early hours of the morning are the best time for viewing. It is worth looking out for meteors a few days either side of the 12th but the night of the 11th/12th should produce the best views.

The number of meteors varies from year to year, so it is hard to predict how many you will see. Last year I watched it at the Arizona Sky Village where we sat in deck chairs with a cold beer and a truly dark sky. For advice on watching meteors please see the BAA website which also describes how to make and submit useful observations to the Meteor Section. Incidentally, they recommend not drinking alcohol. I guess this is because it does reduce the eye's ability to see faint objects.

The Perseid Meteor Shower marks the start of the new observing season for many astronomers so this would be a good opportunity to dig out some warm clothing and enjoy that magical feeling of being outside under the stars.

It's also a good time to dust off your telescope and get it ready for the new season. Newtonians and SCTs may need collimating so we're offering a collimation service with a slight difference. While carrying out the collimation we'll show you exactly what we're doing and will teach you how to do it for yourself. Not only will this save you money in the future, you will have the confidence to tweak the collimation yourself and maintain your optics in optimum condition. Please call us for details.

Cleaning your optics may also be necessary. If you're not sure how to clean your objective mirror or lens please call us for advice. For cleaning eyepieces and removing small marks from larger lenses and corrector plates we recommend the Celestron lens pen which we use ourselves. You can order it from our online catalogue .

Lunar Eclipse

There will be a partial eclipse of the Moon on Saturday 16th August. The eclipse will have started by the time the Moon rises in the UK but you should be able to watch it progress as the Moon gets higher in the sky. Mid eclipse is at 10:10 pm BST by which time the Moon will be about 20 degrees above the horizon.

Why not try a little photography and see if you can get a good sequence of shots of the eclipse as it develops. It will be interesting to see how the apparent colour of the Moon changes.

Do Telescopes Cause Earthquakes?

Having recently returned from Istanbul, the article on 'Observatories under attack' in August's Astronomy Now caught my eye. Apparently, one of the first attacks on the newly-invented telescope occurred at the Galata Tower in Istanbul in 1638. It was claimed that the telescopes were incurring God's wrath which resulted in a major earthquake. I know that telescopes attract clouds, but earthquakes...?

Globular Clusters in other Galaxies

Globular Clusters are dense packages of very old stars that occur above and below the plane of our galaxy. They can contain hundreds of thousands of stars and one of the most visible clusters in the northern hemisphere is M13 in Hercules. Many others can be observed by amateurs in Virgo.

Way beyond our reach, the Hubble Space Telescope has been looking for globular clusters around other galaxies, especially in the Virgo Cluster which is the nearest large cluster of galaxies to us. It contains around 2,000 galaxies and the HST has identified about 11,000 globular clusters among them.

Studying so many globular clusters will help to understand how they are formed and why they occur in different densities in different environments. I wonder if anyone in the Virgo Cluster is studying our globular clusters with their Space Telescope.

Field Scope Offer from Opticron

If you're considering treating yourself to a good quality field scope for bird watching or general leisure use then it's worth taking a look at the GS 665 ED from Opticron. We've just reduced the price of the body by 50 pounds and are offering a free Traveller Carbon Fibre tripod with it when purchased with an HDF or SDL zoom eyepiece. We recommend the new SDL eyepiece to match the quality of the GS 665 ED.

With the SDL zoom eyepiece the package costs 678.00 pounds including the free carbon fibre tripod worth 159 pounds. See it here on our web site .

Festival of Science, Liverpool 6-11 September 2008

The British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) is holding its annual science festival in Liverpool this year and it looks as though the programme will include a lot of astronomy as well as a wide range of topics from climate change to particle physics.

Liverpool is this years' 'Capital of Culture' so why not plan a visit there to take in the science festival and sample some of the other events on offer. You can dip into the programme so don't need to be there for the whole week. Liverpool has some remarkable buildings, galleries and exhibitions. If you've never been there it is well worth a visit.

Click here for details of the Festival of Science.

Happy Birthday NASA

The US Congress established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 29th 1958 so birthday wishes are a little belated. However, NASA didn't start operating for a couple of months so maybe they're early. Either way it is interesting to reflect that NASA is even younger than I am and to consider all the things it has achieved and the things we now take for granted.

Its predecessor was the the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) so the name change was probably welcome. Among NASA's many achievements is retaining the same name for 50 years. Contrast that with the many name changes leading up to the current Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in the same time, ie SRC to SERC to PPARC+CCLRC to STFC. Name changes are sometimes merely cosmetic but my personal view is that they reveal our politicians' irresistible urge to tinker and reorganise to create the illusion of progress.

Looking South at 11 pm from Cambridge, UK

Jupiter is almost due south but low in the sky. It is so bright that it is almost unmistakable. I say almost because we see lots of aircraft heading for Luton and Stansted airports. When they are heading towards us with landing lights on they can appear stationary and look like a star or planet for tens of seconds.

Although Jupiter is low in the sky we have enjoyed some good views of it with more detail than we expected when looking through so much atmosphere. It won't get any higher in the sky this year so take the opportunity to observe it now.

Jupiter is in Sagittarius with its distinctive teapot shape. Because it is so low in the sky it often goes unnoticed in the UK but it's worth looking for if you have a clear southern horizon.

Above Jupiter the sky is dominated by the Summer Triangle marked by the three bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair. Deneb and Vega are high overhead with Altair below. Almost on our meridian is the Coathanger, or Brocchi's Cluster which is a small asterism about half way between Vega and Altair. If you've never seen it try browsing for it with binoculars. You will certainly know when you've found it.

Above Brocchi's Cluster you can find the lovely binary star called Albireo. It marks the head of Cygnus the Swan and is best viewed in a small telescope which will show the colour contrast between the two stars.

The Summer Milky Way runs down our meridian, starting slightly to the left at the top and angling down to finish slightly to the right at the horizon. With a reasonably clear and dark sky you should be able to see it with the naked eye. I can usually see it from my house, despite nearby low-level street lights. If you can't see it, try browsing the area with binoculars; the number of stars will be much greater than if you look to the east or west.

And finally...

Bird Watchers will be converging on Rutland Water on the 15th, 16th and 17th August for the annual Bird Fair. It's well-worth a visit if you're at all interested in birds, however casual that interest might be. I plan to be there on the Sunday so might see you there. Click here for full details.

Clear Skies and Best Wishes

Neil

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