Sunday, 28 January 2018

No Moon At All


Despite there being no Moon, the Sun had
almost caught up with me in this shot from
early on Thursday morning
  This selection of constellations were captured over a couple of days during the past week.  The first set from the evening of Monday 22nd January, and the second from the pre-dawn of Thursday 25th.
  As I mentioned in the last post, these were taken with the support of my (free!) tripod, so any blurry, shaky stars are their own fault, not mine!
  I also endeavoured to have some order in which I took the pictures to make it easier to remember which area of the sky I'd already photographed, and to work out which constellations were where when it came to labelling the damn things once I'd got home.  Starting with Camera pointing North East (ish) at the horizon, I turned sunwise (even though the sun was not present) through the compass points taking photos every so often until I was back at the starting point.  Then I pointed Camera up from the horizon by 60° and did the same thing, finally ending with one or two shots pointing directly upwards.
  Here are the results - And remember to click to embigulate:


19:00-19:20 Monday, 22nd January

This photo (and the next one) have been cut off at the bottom rather than the top, as lower halves were mostly black sea and ground - I didn't angle Camera up high enough.
I do especially like this one, though, because the head of Hydra is poking up from the sea just like a real sea monster.

I labelled the somewhat insignificant 40 Eridani as this is the home system of Star Trek's Vulcans.


That is the Moon, not a street light.

The large glow to the West is from Cromer (the small point of light may be from the pier)





Atik (in Perseus) is the official star name for Omicron Persei (the eight planet of which is ruled by Lrrr - thanks for pointing that out Eros!)
And Keid (in Eridanus) is the official name of 40 Eridani A
(the star around which Vulcan orbits)



I think that was a jet flying through Lynx and Auriga?
 
::

06:20-06:40 Thursday, 25th January

  Even though I was up and out nearly two hours before sunrise, the glow from the approaching sun was enough to make itself known on these 30 second exposure photos.

Uh, oh.  Here comes the Sun!

I spent an age looking at this photo trying to ascertain what the constellations were.
I was completely thrown by Mars and Jupiter, initially thinking they were stars
(also, prior to this, I've done almost all my stargazing in the evening, so these stars and constellations were unknown to me).


Another jet/satellite/UFO flying through Auriga and Perseus.


Everything revolves around Polaris, the North Star.


At 06:39, only the brightest stars can be seen as dawn begins to loom from below the horizon.

::

  Despite the Moon making herself known in some of the 22nd January photos, the post title "No Moon At All" comes from Mary Osborne's song of the same name, brought to my attention by our very own Mago.

  And for my next trick, I intend to redesign the constellations as hardly any of them look like what they're supposed to be!


16 comments:

  1. Those are all stunning photos. Alas when the time is right, the only thing I can locate in the sky is the big and little dipper and Cassiopeia. As I said I did pay attention in school as we had a planetarium. I also remember the claw in the dark.

    That last photo is stunning But if it's a full moon you want I can show you a beauty.

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    1. I'm sure you can. Maddie, but it would only eclipse these stars beauty!

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    2. P.S. While retrieving Hound's first comment from Blogger's spam folder, I noticed that one of yours had been consigned there, too. I didn't publish it as it's pretty much the same as this one, but I'm terribly sorry Blogger seems to have taken a dislike to it.

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  2. Thank you for sharing these astonishing star fotos! I've always been fascinated by the Dragon Draco circling the north pole, and amazed that Hydra takes hours and hours just to rise up and display its entirety. But without a doubt, my fave northern constellation is Cygnus, the winter swan! And you've captured it brilliantly, pointing at the red spot which I suspect is a Cyclon.

    My fave Cygnus myth is the one where Cygnus is turned into a celestial swan for his loyalty and love for his best friend, Phaethon, the mortal son of the Sun God Helios, who scorched the earth and left desserts and tundras and burned the Milky Way into the skies.

    Cygnus remind me of the famous Southern Cross, which I caught a glimpse of predawn on a vacation in Hawaii. It was a magnificent sight! And it blows my mind that it used to be visible to the ancient Greeks, that it was a part of Centaurus constellation, before the movement of the Earth's axis carried it southward, disappearing from the northern skies about 1500 years ago!

    Thanks for sharing these. They are awesome! I love the electric blue dawn skies you captured before the sunrise. What a spectacular and splendiferous sight!


    P.S. I love that you pointed out the wind farms and boat. That is some mighty camera you've got!

    Also, I was thinking it could be satellites or meteors you've captured streaking across the skies. But UFOs they are for sure! Perhaps Vulcans passing by to see if we've become a warp capable species yet...

    Seeing Omicron Persei again makes me crave Poppers! Button mushrooms seasoned, breaded, and deep fried, served with your choice of sauce. No baby Omicronians, as we do not a war with their massive species!

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    Replies
    1. Cygnus is one of my favourites, too - but mainly because of my fascination with swans. It's also the constellation that I am looking forward to 'redesigning' the most. There are so many unused stars in the Cygnus constellation (although, I've only seen a few different takes on it), that I'm sure a more life-like swan can be brought forth than the stick-figure swan we have now.
      Oh, and thanks for sharing the Cygnus myth - I hadn't heard it before, and think it's very fitting.

      I did see some meteors while I was out there, but they flash across the sky too quickly to be caught by Camera. There were plenty of jets, a few satellites, a possible comet (I'll find the photo of it), but, as you say, I don't know for sure so they were definitely UFOs! Except for the Vulcan lander T'Plana'Hath which I saw as it attempted to hide behind the Moon!

      Ug. I can't abide mushrooms, so I'll have the real deal and risk war with Lrrr and the Omicronian fleet!

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  3. What is all this? Are you plotting a course on the mycelial network?!

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    Replies
    1. Well, I thought I'd try it out. Can't let Stamets have all the fun! Besides, I might find my own Hugh Culber in there...?

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  4. And the longest day is on 21st June, isn't it???
    :-)
    Sx

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    Replies
    1. I believe it is. But I certainly won't be doing any stargazing then, as I'd have to get up incredibly early, or stay up well past my bedtime to ensure the pesky sun doesn't ruin everything!

      Or have you been so bored by all this stargazing that it feels like the longest day now?

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  5. Yes very impressive indeed. No wonder I've been feeling odd if we were in a dark moon.
    Of course what we miss in the city is that we can't see the words on the sky saying what things are!

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    1. Ha! I expect the light pollution also masks the constellation demarcation lines, the airlock through which all the rockets and Space Shuttles fly through that ensures Earth keeps it's atmosphere rather than being sucked into space, and that mess of duct tape that's holding the enormous crack in the dome together after Apollo IX crashed into it?

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    2. Lol yes. I heard the space shuttle thing zips up.

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  6. Replies
    1. Oh, no! Hang on, I'll delve into the spam and have a look - let me put my wetsuit on first...

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