Neptun-Phi Aqr Planetary Conjunction September 5 ,2019

I find out about a planetary conjunction involving Neptun and the star Phi Aquarii from Steven Rigdon ,member of the ''60mmtelescopeclub'' yahoo group.
I checked imediately in the ''Celestial Calendar for September'' by Dave Mitsky.
And yes,the conjunction was predicted also there.

I made also the folowing three simulations in Stellarium for the nights of September 4 and 5 and 6.

Stellarium simulation for September 4  

Stellarium simulation for September 5  

Stellarium simulation for September 6 

My observations were made on September 4 and  5 ,using my home-made ''Ugly Duckling'' Dobsonian  of  125mm aperture @ F/6.9 using the magnification of 144x obtained with a Radian 6mm eyepiece.

''Ugly Duckling'' Dobsonian D=125mm F/6.9 with Beches mirror

On four of September I made a drawing while on fifth of September I took some pics using the aphocal method ,setting the Coolpix S3300 camera over the Seben 8-24mm zoom eyepiece.
The chosen focal length on the eyepiece was the lowest ,the 24mm.
Visualy ,on both ocasions,there were more stars visible in the same field with Neptun ,apart of  Phi Aqr.
The Coolpix was able to record only a 8,95 mv star aside Neptune and Phi Aqr.
Anyway,the image was very nice ,worth to remember !

This is the real thing,Neptun close to Phi Aqr ,recorded with my humble compact S3300 camera.

Neptun-Phi Cas Conjunction on September 5 ,2019

Neptun-Phi Cas Conjunction on September 5 ,2019,labeled

Now ,let be honest !
All the hassle to do this bit of AP is very anoying and boring for your truly !
To make me feel I didn't ruined an otherwise clear and good for observing night ,I had to take with the same gear pics of some of beloved double stars.
Here we go...

Albireo

Alpha Cas

Delta Lyr

Nu Dra

STT 329 ,close to Rho Her

Zeta Lyr

Apollo 11 - Aniversarea a 50 de ani

In aceasta saptamana se implinesc 50 de ani de la misiunea Apollo 11 care a reusit sa duca primii oameni pe un corp ceresc si anume pe Luna.

Lansarea misiunii a avut loc Miercuri 16 Iulie 1969 la ora 13:32 UTC adica ora 15:32 ora Bucurestiului.
Foarte multe eforturi tehnice ,inventii si inovatii au fost facute pentru a face posibila o asemenea misiune.

Dar forta bruta ,de neinlocuit , care a facut  posibila  aceasta  misiune a fost racheta Saturn V SA506.

Echipajul misiunii Apollo 11 ,de la stanga la dreapta : 

Neil A. Armstrong comandantul misiunii Apollo 11 

Michael Collins,pilotul Modulului de comanda 

Edwin E. ''Buzz'' Aldrin ,pilotul Modulului lunar.

Aici vedem decolarea  lui Apollo 11 ,la 16 Iulie 1969.

Fotografiile care urmeaza sunt donatie din 2016 a lui Mary si Dan Solomon.

Mai jos vedem o imagine din camera de transmisii pentru Apollo 11 a ''Centrului de control'' de la ''Manned Spacecraft Center'' din Houston ,Texas.

''Modulul de comanda si servicii '' al Apollo 11 fotografiat din ''Modulul lunar'' .

Echipa formata din Neil Armstrong si Buzz Aldrin a aselenizat Duminica 20 Iulie 1969 la  20h17min 40 sec UTC adica ora 22h17min 40 sec ,ora Bucurestiului.

A urmat cunoscutul ''pas'' al lui Neil Armstrong.

Sa vedem aici  alte cateva secvente din sejurul selenar al lui Apollo 11.

Urma lui Buzz Aldrin in regolitul selenar.

Fotografiile de la suprafata Lunii,parte a donatiei Mary si Dan Solomon , au fost realizate de catre Neil Armstrong.

Buzz Aldrin ,pe Luna alaturi de drapelul american.

Buzz Aldrin ,alaturi de modulul lunar.

Buzz Aldrin ,langa unul din picioarele Modulului lunar.

Buzz Aldrin ,cu componente ale primelor experimente Apollo.

Astronautii de pe Apollo 11 ,in barca de salvare ,dupa amerizarea de la intoarcerea pe Pamant.

Presedintele Richard M. Nixon urand bun venit astronautilor ,dupa amerizare si recuperare ,la bordul USS ''Hornet''.

La ora actuala ,un numar deloc neglijabil de persoane neaga cu incapatanare realitatea infaptuirii zborului spre Luna a lui Apollo 11 si aselenizarea lui Neil Armstrong si Buzz Aldrin.

Acest lucru este de inteles.

Majoritatea negantilor s-au nascut la decenii dupa infaptuirea programului de dimensiuni mitice Apollo.Formati in mod gresit in cultura de clic-satisfactie actuala , negantii de fapt afirma cu voce tare propriul sentiment de neputinta al  scarpinatorilor de ecrane de telefon si de ''cititori'' de poze care stiu ,si simt cu toata fiinta lor ,ca nu sunt capabili sa reediteze asemenea fapte de consecventa ,daruire ,jertfa si de eroism.

Cinste si vesnica pomenire tuturor eroilor stiuti si nestiuti care au contribuit la infaptuirea misiunii Apollo 11 ,prima expeditie pe un corp ceresc !

O vina are si NASA in toata aceasta poveste prin modul neglijent ,uneori de-a dreptul diletant, in care a gestionat tezaurul de informatii al misiunilor Apollo ,prin secretomanie in privinta unor lucruri si la momente nepotrivite si prin lacomia manifestata prin restrictii gen ''copy right'' si ''classified''.

Programul Apollo a fost fara indoiala finantat de catre guvernul SUA si ,in ultima instanta,de contribuabilul american.

Dar tinta expeditiilor Apollo  a fost Luna ,un corp ceresc , un dar de la Dumnezeu si deci un bun al tuturor  iar realizarile obtinute sunt semnificative pentru intreg neamul omenesc.

Asadar , cu exceptia datelor personale si a celor care tin de siguranta ,toate celelalte date si informatii ar fi trebuit transferate in domeniul public si facute bun al intregii omeniri!

Romanii ca natiune au fost mereu departe de scena unor asemenea faptuiri gigante.

Dar intotdeauna au stiut sa faca haz de necaz.

Sper ca autorul graficii de mai jos sa nu se supere ca o atasez drept cea mai buna incheiere si ca apropo la contestarea aselenizarii lui Apollo 11 .

Vedem aici crucea din '' Cimitirul vesel '' de la Sapanta a lui Neil Armstrong .

Noa , asa-i ca nici n-ati stiut !? Mai pe ascuns , Neil a fost de fapt roman ... Nila a lui Bratvanjos !?

This is the reposting of  messages from ''60mmtelescopeclub'' Yahoo group regarding  a 60x500mm refractor built around a Swift 818 lens :

June 1 , 2019 

A while back Carol was so kind and donated to me a Swift 818 objective with an aperture of 60mm and 500mm focal length.

First I got a Celestron focuser for it ,it is plastic but don't wobble much.

The weak part is not the rack and pinion but the bushing where one insert the eyepiece.

I will change that one with a metal bushing because it could be unscrewed.

Next I got from a friend a very fine aluminium tube which was part of an English  spotting scope.

A  machinist made two adapters ,one for the threaded cell and the other for the focuser.

The outside diameter of the tube is 67mm.

Using two ''C'' shims or segments cut from plastic 3''  drain pipes is allowing to use my home-made clamshell for refractors with  3'' tubes.

I arrived to this stage last year but while checking on the sky I found myself with an issue.

The ergonomy of the telescope was not good because a finder was missing.

Balancing reasons are requesting the tube to be pushed upside so the focuser is next to clamshell ,no place for a finder.

One solution could be to put a finder close to the objective.

A simulation showed this well not work well.

I bought a bracket for an RDF but this cannot be monunted on a tube of such small diameter.

I found myself stuck.

One morning ,this week ,I waked up with a solution in my mind.

All I had to do was a wooden adapter between the tube and the bracket of the RDF.

Thursday I made the bracket.

I'm not very happy with it ,it is a bit slant but it allow the RDF to be colimated paralel with the telescope using the image of a distant chimney.

Today,with help from my Guardian Angel , I was allowed to see Arcturus through the clouds.

I pointed the telescope using the RDF and Arcturus was shining at 20x ,a bright,gold pin point amidst thick clouds.

Even more , looking around the sky, I noticed two stars somewhere close to Zenith.

In a hurry ,I pointed the telescope to one of those stars , of course using again the RDF.

Plain luck : there it was Alcor and Mizar , split in a brighter and a smaller companion.

Finally the telescope is working,as soon as weather will allow I will paint the new telescope.

I uploaded two pics of the Swift 818 Frankenscope.

However ,it is clear for me , I cannot  come close to the beautiful telescopes made by Carol.

But it will see a lot of starlight.

Thank you Carol !

June 3,2019 

Last night,Sunday June 2'nd ,I had the real first light with the Swift 818 lens.

This is the list of objects :

Algieba/Gamma Leonis -resolved 

54 Leo -resolved 

Regulus (distant but dim companion next to a very bright primary ) -resolved

Porrima-resolved 

Izar -resolved 

Rho Her -resolved 

Nu Dra -resolved 

Mu Dra -resolved 

16-17 Dra -resolved as a triple star

Epsilon Lyrae- wider pair fully resolved ,tight pair with touching Airy discs

Struve 2470-Struve 2474 : ''the other double-double star in Lyra '' resolved at 20x

Albireo -beautiful color contrast

All stars above were resolved with beautiful ,round Airy discs and thin ,bright diffraction rings.

The powers used were 20x/Plossl 25mm , 56x/Plossl Revelation 9mm and 100x /CircleV 5mm Ortho.

Two failures :Alkalurops/Mu Boo and OSigma 525 resolved only as double stars not triple stars.

DSO objects :

Mel 111-open cluster, did not fit completely in the 2.6 degrees at 20x ,but most of it + double star 17 Com

Steph -1 -open cluster , I counted 12 or 13 stars

M13 - globular cluster,bright , at 125x /Kasai 4mm ortho,I noticed a couple of stars resolved across the cluster but only with averted vision

M92 - globular cluster , small but well visible

M57 - planetary , already visble at 20x, at 100x seen as an oval fuzzy objects,central adrkening not noticed

M29 - open cluster , at 20x it have definitely a hazy aspect ,carefull inspection show some dim stars

M4 - globular cluster ,it was a round hazy patch ,feeble central condensation,visible at 20x but difficult ,no additional details at 100x

M5 - globular cluster ,well visible as a round bright object

M3 - as above , this two objects look very similar in this instrument

M51 - galaxy ,very faint but extended object ,not accepted higher power than 56x

M94 -galaxy , small,oval dim and hazy,slight central condensation

M60 -galaxy ,it was small and very faint

Other objects :

La Superba /YCVn -carbon star ,color index 3 , beautiful

Antares - I watched for a while the scintillation.I learned from ''Astronomie Populaire'' of Flammarion not all stars twinkle the same ,it depend on the spectral types.Something worth closer study.

ISS - at 20x I saw an oblong central body with two wings or extensions on the sides oposite to the direction of movement.

On Jupiter I saw only two belts ,all Galilean satellites were to the West , three forming a pretty triangle asterism very  close to the planet.

No other conclusion than I can't wait for another night with clear sky.

I spent about four hours under the stars of which three hours I was observing through the Swift 818 Frankenscope.

I can tell you ,this is a dangerous instrument because the user tend to develop a sort of addiction.

In the last hour I made observations with the 200mm F/6.16 Dobsonian.

I enjoyed a beautiful view of M13 resolved in many,many stars and I saw galaxy NGC 6207 located very close to the globular cluster.

TRIPLETUM URSAE MAJORIS

Miercuri 27 Februarie 2019, observatii cu Toleascop 200mm F/6.16 :

-Am inceput in Ursa Mare de la Merak/Beta UMa ,revazand nebuloasa planetara M97 care s-a vazut foarte slab chiar si fara filtru.
Am inteles ca ,in trecut , am trecut peste aceasta nebuloasa planetara fara sa o remarc din cauza luminozitatii prea  mici a acesteia pe cerul de oras.
Reformulez : de fapt ''din cauza luminozitatii exacerbate a cerului de oras''...
Probabil ca asa patesc multi alti amatori care cauta acest obiect.
Acum reusesc sa o vad deoarece ,dupa numeroase observatii,stiu cu mare precizie locul unde trebuie sa o gasesc in raport cu stelele.
Sfatul meu pentru cei care nu au vazut inca acest obiect este sa nu o caute prin scanare ci sa identifice stelele cu ajutorul carora ajungem la planetara.
Eu asa procedez la fiecare obiect dificil , slab luminos.
Cu filtrul Moon&Skyglow s-a vazut mai bine M97 ,nu am folosit filtrul UHC.

-Inca de la prima trecere pe ''cararea stelara'' catre M97 , am zarit galaxia ''Surfboard''  M108 /NGC 3556.
Am revenit la ea , am incercat grosismente mai mari cu ocularul Seben zoom , cu si fara filtrul Skyglow dar fara a obtine rezultate mai bune.M108 s-a vazut numai cu privire periferica dar ,cel putin cu aceasta , ''se vedea'' binisor.

-Am mutat apoi teatrul de operatiuni langa Phad /Gamma UMa unde am cautat multa vreme - chiar prea multa vreme - galaxia M109 fara a o vedea , asa ca intr-un tarziu mi-am amintit de stravechea comanda din Fortran : ''abandon du travail '' !

-Am avut mai mult noroc cu galaxia M101 care ,desi slab, s-a vazut cu privire directa ,nu ca M108.
Din nou , am gasit M101 mergand din stea in stea pana la locatia cunoscuta unde ,dupa cateva minute petrecute stand cu ochiul la ocular fara intreruperi ,a inceput sa se vada galaxia cautata.
Repet ce am spus mai sus,la cautarea obiectelor slab luminoase nu functioneaza cautarea prin scanare adica ''metoda lui Kampe Akolo'' ! La acestea functioneaza doar procedura detaliata  ''a lui La Fix''.

-Am indreptat apoi telescopul spre steaua 24 UMa cu intentia de a cotrobai prin zona nebuloasei lui Bode.
Sa consideram M81 drept varful unui triunghi isoscel cu M82 in nordic.
Varful sudic va aparea format de o pereche de stele,orientate cu HD 86677 spre Est  si cu HD 86458 spre Vest.
Langa steluta estica insa , chiar si la 41x /ocular LV 30mm , se zareste un obiect nebulos considerabil mai mic decat M81 sau M82, acest obiect fiind galaxia NGC 3077.
Azi am vazut  ca NGC 3077 are o stralucire de suprafata mai mare decat M81 sau M81 ,ceea ce explica de ce ,daca vezi una dintre aceste galaxii ,vei putea sa le vezi pe toate trei.

NGC 3077 a suportat bine marirea de 154x , vazabdu-se mai bine decat la maririle mici.
La acest grosisment insa m-a surprins un mic dar placut bonus: HD 86677 ,steaua cea mai apropiata de NGC 3077, s-a dovedit a fi o stea dubla stransa.
Azi am aflat ca este vorba despre steaua dubla STF 1400 , descoperita in 1832 de catre Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve al carui portret il vedem in atasamente.

In desenul alaturat , userul ''asteroid7'' de pe Cloudy Nights a realizat un frumos desen al stelei duble STF 1400.

(Daca as fi fost mai atent ,as fi observat ca si steaua HD 86458 este o stea dubla , are indicativul STF 1938 ,fiind si ea descoperita in 1832 de acelasi harnic Struve.
STF 1938 are parametrii 8.1mv/ 11.4mv/ 3.1'' cu PA = 103 grade ,deci aproape la Est.
Aceasta stea inca nu am observat-o ...dar am de gand).

Iata o minunata tripleta de galaxii pe care o botez acum drept  ''Tripletum Ursae Majoris''    ,oferind frumosul bonus a doua stele duble stranse si care ne asteapta cu un spectacol vizual deosebit !

- Steaua dubla 78 UMa si-a pastrat mai departe secretele.
Am rezolvat insa fara probleme steaua dubla STF 1695 la Sud de Alioth/ Epsilon UMa ,descoperita de F.G.W. Struve in 1823 si avand o separatie de 3.9''.
De la steaua Alkaid spre Mizar se desfasoara un lant de trei stele duble.
Prima dinspre Alkaid este steaua dubla HJ 2676 de 7.8mv/10.2 mv / 27'' iar urmatoarea este STF 1774 de 6.3mv/ 10.5 mv /18''.Ambele sunt cuprinse si rezolvate de ocularul LV 30mm la 41x.
A treia stea dubla este mai dificila ,fiind vorba despre STF 1770 cu parametrii 6.9mv/ 8.2 mv / 1.8'' dar a fost frumos rezolvata daca am reglat ocularul zoom la focala de 8mm pentru un grosisment de 154x.

Eminescu

Azi ma bucur si ma  simt ''asezat deosebit intru nadejde'' la sarbatorirea nasterii  lui Mihai Eminescu la 15 Ianuarie 1850.
In ciuda adolescentei mele petrecute prin cenacluri , dascalit cu blandete de Corneliu Bala si uimit apoi de imprevizibilul Darie Magheru , simt ca amutesc atunci cand vine vorba despre Mihai Eminescu.

Voi repeta  cu intentie votiva aceste cateva cuvinte atat de cuprinzatoare pe care le-a spus despre sine geniul nostru , cuvinte  reamintite de ''Trinitas TV'' la fiecare emisiune a lui Alex Stefanescu :

''Dumnezeul geniului m-a sorbit din popor 

cum Soarele soarbe un nour de aur 

din marea de amar''.

                                                                             

De ce oare amuteste gura si ingheata pixelul  cand vine vorba despre Mihai Eminescu ?

Pentru ca atunci cand citim poezia lui Eminescu , intram in biserica sufletului romanesc.

Iar in biserica nu se cade sa vorbesti ,acolo se rostesc rugaciuni si se inalta imnuri de slava.

Adevarul este ca nu ma pot abtine sa nu simt un val de mandrie  (ba chiar oleaca de trufie) cand ma gandesc la atatea alte popoare care au avut nevoie de secole,ba chiar de milenii , de nenumarati invatati ,scriitori,filozofi si cugetatori ca sa ajunga la zilele din urma.

Eu vad in Eminescu un semn al grijii proniatoare a lui Dumnezeu : iata , ni l-a trimis pe Eminescu cel daruit cu focul nepieritor al geniului si acesta ,intr-o viata foarte scurta , a ridicat acest popor de iobagi , smulgandu-l din evurile intunecate in care ratacea si l-a infipt direct in veacul XX.

Trebuie sa recunoastem, a fost o calatorie atat de vijelioasa incat nici acum , trecuti binisor de pragul mileniului III ,inca nu ne-am trezit de-a binelea.

Dar ne vom trezi si vom face toate lucrurile pentru care Domnul ne-a adus pana aici !

http://www.bibliotheca.ro/reviste/litere/nr_7_8_2013/litere160161.pdf

Astronomically speaking...

Happy New Year to all !

I had a very good start of the year ... astronomically speaking !

It was past 2:00 a.m. of the first morning of the first day of 2019 and I was preparing to go to bed when I noticed that ,in spite of  gloomy weather forecasts  , the sky was clear.

I was too tired  to take out a telescope so I grabbed my 7x50mm Fujinon Mariner binoculars and I spent about an hour under the stars.

I was impressed of how  well the Deep Sky Objects were visible through the binoculars.

Last year I learned that my Romanian peasant ancestors did saw Orion not as a constellation but as a conglomerate of more different star asterisms.

The three stars in the Belt of Orion they called ''The Three Kings'' or ''The Three Magi'' searching for the child Jesus Christ.

(Latter note : I'm sorry ,I see now this is confusing but I cannot modify the drawing ,please read the red line and the text '' String of Pearl'' on picture above just as an indication that the asterism is highlighted with red lines.)

The name of ''Three Kings'' seem to be widely used across Europe.

I found it used by professional French astronomer La Lande in his monumental book '' l'Astronomie '' published in 1764.

I enjoyed through binoculars a great view of ''The Kings'' inside which it was obvious an ''S'' shaped chain of stars between Mintaka and Alnilam.

I believe this is the ''String of Pearls'' asterism which made Arabian astronomers to call ''the middle king'' as ''string of pearls''.

Here we see the chart of the open cluster Collinder 70 as plotted by WEBDA.

I highlighted on the plot the stars Mintaka ,Alnilam and those of ''The String of Pearls''.

Interogating WEBDA we find the interesting result that the NELM of ancient astronomers blessed with clear sky was consistently around 7 mv.

The city astro-dweller of today I don't think it will see  ''The String of Pearls'' without binocular.

The star asterism  made of  ( 42-45 Ori +Theta +Iota/Hatysa +Thabit+e Ori ) was seen by my ancestors as a ''Sickle''.

Find out more about Romanian  traditional star lore here :

https://planetariubm.ro/constelatiiromanesti/

https://planetariubm.ro/anuar-cabm/

http://crt-ro.com/

After finishing this short trip into the memory lanes I get back to more usual business and had a very enjoyable tour of Deep Sky Objects.

I started at Mel 111 which , I don't know why , I was missing most ...

Further I saw M44 with many stars resolved but smaller than Mel 111 , next was M67.

I'm not sure what I have seen close to Puppis ,maybe it was M93.

M47 and even M46 ,higher up, where easy prey , like M41.

M35 in Gemini was not very bright  but large ,beautiful.

In Auriga I payed the protocolar visite to M37 ,M36 and M38.

As they were located during my observation ,one can see them in a nearly rectilinear horizontal  move in the sequence : M35-M37-M36-M38.

In Orion I saw of course the Theta 1-2 stars ,M42 and open cluster NGC 1981 where I counted seven stars.

Above Lambda Ori , the main star of the poor cluster Collinder 69 I saw the very large cluster  Collinder 65 with bordering  Ruby Star.

Now I was quite  tired but I better throw in the towel as amateur astronomer if I leave without having a look of eternal  beauty of Hyades and Pleiades.

Well , I would be very happy if , astronomically speaking , this year will go on like this for myself and for  my observing buddies !

Credits :

- pictures are screen prints from Stellarium ,modified with Paint

-detailed informations are from the site of WEBDA dedicated to open clusters :

’'This article has made use of the WEBDA database ,operated at the Departament of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics of the Masaryk University’’