Asteroids - Vesta

The Asteroid 4 Vesta imaged from our Backyard on 20-01-2017 using my Canon 600D DSLR and EOS 18-55mm lens at f=45, all mounted on a Star Adventurer. 11x2min lights, 5x darks and 10 flats stacked using DeepskyStacker software.

My first attempt at imaging an asteroid on the 20th January 2017 using my Canon 600D DSLR with EOS 18-55mm lens at f=45mm and ISO800 -  all mounted on a Star Adventurer. The Asteroid Vesta on the border between Cancer and Gemini. Image created from a stack of 11x 2min lights in DeepSkyStacker.

Jim T on SGL used his imaging rig to image Vesta and kindly confirmed that the speck of light on my widefield image was probably Vesta.

Finally, I checked that I had identified the asteroid correctly by imaging the same area of sky on the 24th Jan  and determined that the small dot had moved against the fixed backdrop of stars. I put together a GIF using the image from the 20th and 24th.

All round quite pleased with this first for me.

The small dim blue dot, lower left on the above images, is 4 Vesta moving between its locations on the 20th and 24th Jan. The asteroid is moving diagonally upwards from Cancer towards Gemini.

4 Vesta Image taken by the Dawn Spacecraft -  Credit: By NASA / JPL / MPS / DLR / IDA / Björn Jónsson - https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2013/20130819_vesta_rgb_20110724_0835.png, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49833767

Vesta, minor-planet designation 4 Vesta, is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of 525 kilometres (326 mi)^,  It was discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on 29 March 1807 and is named after Vesta, the virgin goddess of home and hearth from Roman mythology.
Vesta is the second-most-massive and second-largest body in the asteroid belt after the dwarf planet Ceres, and it contributes an estimated 9% of the mass of the asteroid belt.  It is slightly larger than Pallas, though significantly more massive. Vesta is the last remaining rocky protoplanet (with a differentiated interior) of the kind that formed the terrestrial planets. Numerous fragments of Vesta were ejected by collisions one and two billion years ago that left two enormous craters occupying much of Vesta's southern hemisphere. Debris from these events has fallen to Earth as howardite–eucrite–diogenite (HED) meteorites, which have been a rich source of information about Vesta.

Vesta is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth. Its maximum distance from the Sun is slightly greater than the minimum distance of Ceres from the Sun, though its orbit lies entirely within that of Ceres.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around Vesta on 16 July 2011 for a one-year exploration and left orbit on 5 September 2012^] en route to its final destination, Ceres. Researchers continue to examine data collected by Dawn for additional insights into the formation and history of Vesta^{. 
Credit: Wikipedia}

Some meteorites found on earth have been attributed as originating from the asteroid 4 Vesta. I have considered buying a very small piece of such exotic meteorites as small samples are surprisingly inexpensive,

Credit: University of Tennessee

 

The Eye of the Bull

Two open starclusters: to the centre left- The Hyades and to the top right - The Pleiades. Taken from our Backyard on the 20th January 2017 with my Canon 600D DSLR with EOS 18-55mm lens at f=45mm. on a Star Adventurer mount.

The large orange star is Aldebran - Alpha Tauri which is sitting amongst but infront of the Hyades as it is much closer to our Solar System than the stars that make up the Hyades Cluster.

I always think this part of the winter night sky is particularly beautiful especially when viewed with the naked eye.  If its clear tonight and you live in a light pollution free part of the Northern Hemisphere why dont you go outside and see if you can find these beautiful stars. Its free!

The Hyades also known as Melotte 25 or Collinder 50) is the nearest open cluster to the Solar System and one of the best-studied star clusters. The Hipparcos satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, and infrared color–magnitude diagram fitting have been used to establish a distance of ~153 light years (47 parsecs) to the cluster center. The distances established by these three independent methods agree, thereby making the Hyades an important rung on the cosmic distance ladder. The cluster consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds of stars sharing the same age, place of origin, chemical content, and motion through space. From the perspective of observers on Earth, the Hyades Cluster appears in the constellation Taurus, where its brightest stars form a "V" shape along with the still brighter red giant Aldebaran. However, Aldebaran is unrelated to the Hyades, as it is located much closer to Earth (hence its apparent brightness) and merely happens to lie along the same line of sight.
The five brightest member stars of the Hyades have all evolved away from the Main Sequence and now lie at the bottom of the giant branch  Four of these stars, with Bayer designations Gamma, Delta 1, Epsilon, and Theta Tauri, form an asterism that is traditionally identified as the head of Taurus the Bull. The other is Zeta 1 Tauri, which lies 2° further south. Epsilon Tauri, known as Ain (the "Bull's Eye"), has a gas giant exoplanet candidate, the first planet to be found in any open cluster.
The age of the Hyades is estimated to be about 625 million years. The cluster core, where stars are most densely packed, has a radius of 2.7 parsecs (corresponding to a diameter of 17.6 light years), and the cluster's tidal radius is 10 parsecs (corresponding to a diameter of 65 light years).  However, about one-third of confirmed member stars have been observed well outside this boundary, in the cluster's extended halo; these stars are probably in the process of escaping from its gravitational influence.
Credit: Wikipedia

In astronomy, the Pleiades  or Seven Sisters (Messier 45 or M45), is an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky.
The cluster is dominated by hot blue and extremely luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Dust that forms a faint reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars was thought at first to be left over from the formation of the cluster (hence the alternative name Maia Nebula after the star Maia), but is now known to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium, through which the stars are currently passing. Computer simulations have shown that the Pleiades was probably formed from a compact configuration that resembled the Orion Nebula.  Astronomers estimate that the cluster will survive for about another 250 million years, after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood^{.
Credit: Wikipedia}


There has been some argument as to the distance of the Pleiades from our Solar System but most recent research would imply a distance of  136.2 parsecs or 444 light years.

Christmas is not over until the last Cheese Football sings!

The Last Cheese Football of Christmas 2016

Sadly, today was the day on which I consumed the last Cheese Football from 2016 washed down with a pint of Hobgoblin beer.  I will now remain gastronomically devasted until Christmas 2017 when the 'Football' will mysteriously reappear in our shops. Unless of course this is another thing BREXIT f**ks up.

The Unicorn and the Hunter

The winter constellations Monoceros the Unicorn and Orion the Hunter

I used my Canon 600D DSLR mounted on my Star Adventurer to take this widefield image of the constellations Monoceros and Orion. The image is made up from 11x2minute light exposures at ISO800, 5x 2minute dark frames and 10 flat frames. The images were stacked using the freeware DeepSky Stacker.

I really enjoy winter nights when Orion strides over our southern horizon. Monoceros is a much fainter constellation but hey, everyone loves a unicorn!

The bright reddish star in Orion is the red super giant Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse, also designated Alpha Orionis (α Orionis, abbreviated Alpha Ori, α Ori), is the ninth-brightest star in the night sky and second-brightest in the constellation of Orion. Distinctly reddish, it is a semiregular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between 0.0 and 1.3, the widest range of any first-magnitude star. Betelgeuse is one of three stars that make up the Winter Triangle asterism.  It would be the brightest star in the night sky if the human eye could view all wavelengths of radiation.

The star is classified as a red supergiant of spectral type M1-2 and is one of the largest and most luminous stars visible to the naked eye. If Betelgeuse were at the center of the Solar System, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, wholly engulfing the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Calculations of its mass range from slightly under ten to a little over twenty times that of the Sun. It is calculated to be 640 light-years away, yielding an absolute magnitude of about −6. Less than 10 million years old, Betelgeuse has evolved rapidly because of its high mass. Having been ejected from its birthplace in the Orion OB1 Association—which includes the stars in Orion's Belt—this crimson runaway has been observed moving through the interstellar medium at a supersonic speed of 30 km/s, creating a bow shock over 4 light-years wide. Currently in a late stage of stellar evolution, the supergiant is expected to explode as a supernova within the next million years.
Credit Wikipedia

Now you see it - Now you dont!

"Storm at Minsmere with or without us" oils on board + mixed media - George Roberts 1990-2017

I painted this quite big 'oil' of Minsmere back in the nineteen nineties. Although my wife liked it I never did, so it has languished for many a year in our loft. We brought it down a couple of years ago to cover damaged plaster on a wall in our guest bedroom. We are currently decorating our own bedroom so have decamped to the guest bedroom for the duration of the works. Whilst in bed I was looking at the painting and decided that the painting might be improved by the addition of Toot and I strolling down life's path. I decided to try out this hypothesis through the wonders of digital technology. The above image is the result - so what do you think?

Nicolaus Fratercula

Nicolaus Fratercula legendary avian astronomer and inventor of the choc-ice on a stick at the eyepiece of his Maksutov Telescope through which he discovered that Great Britain was not at the centre of the Universe.

Venus in the Afternoon

Venus as photographed from our Backyard this afternoon at about 2.30pm using a photo-tripod mounted 90mm. Meade Mak Spotting Scope and a QHY5-11 planetary video camera

Venus is showing about 45% illumination and is waning ie. becoming an ever thinner crescent as its position relative to the sun, which is illuminating the planet and the earth the planet we are viewing it from, changes due to the relative motion of the two planets around the sun.

This afternoon was the first time I've managed to locate, see and film Venus in broad daylight. I spotted it first through my 11x80 mm binoculars but once I knew where to look I could just detect it with the naked eye.

For more information on the planetary orbit of Venus see
https://in-the-sky.org/solarsystem.php?obj=P2

Venus shining brightly over a frozen Oulton Broad - Photographer Anita Roberts I-Phone

When its Quorn its Quorn

Quorn Sausage Casserole with a secret ingredient?

Shallow fry some onions, mushrooms and garlic with a pinch of sugar and black pepper in olive oil. When the onions are soft and the mushrooms are cooked add the secret ingredient to the frying pan and heat until the mixture bubbles.  When the mixture bubbles remove from the heat and empty the contents of the frying pan into the slow cooker pot.  Shallow fry six Quorn sausages in olive oil,  When the sausages have been browned add them to the mixture in the slow cooker pot. Slow cook for at least an hour.

And the secret ingredient is...................................................................Sharwoods Real Oyster Sauce.

You will probably need to add some water. I usually wash out the Oyster Sauce bottle with water and use this to increase the amount of sauce albeit diluted.

DO NOT USE OTHER BRANDS OF OYSTER SAUCE THEY DO NOT WORK WITH THIS RECIPE. INFACT I GUARANTEE IT WILL TASTE MINGING!!

You can also add some precooked vegetables to the slow cooker - in the above image I added sweet potato cubes, new potato halves and chunks of carrot.

I served the above casserole with fresh bread rolls, salty butter and green brocolli spears. 

This is a meaty flavoured casserole, ideal on a cold winter's night, for folks that do not like to eat real meat but are willing to consume marine bivalve products, faux meat for faux vegetarians!

It is very tasty and one of my winter treats.

A robust red wine works well with this meal.

T Rex

T Rex Manchester University Union 1969  and T Rex in Berlin Museum fur Naturkunde 2016

In my one short life time I got to see them both and 'Rode a White Swan' in crushed velvet loon pants! Much to be said for cherishing life but not for taking it too seriously.

This week Toot and I watched Alan Bennett's ' Lady in a Van' and William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.  Both about living a good life as best you can and sometimes in difficult circumstances.  Lucky us that our lives have been so full, happy and generally fortuitous.

"It's one of my life's regrets never to have kept a donkey"  Alan Bennett.

The Terminator

Taken from our Backyard with A QHY5LII planetary camera fixed to a 66mm. Altair Starwave ED Doublet Refractor all mounted on on a Star Adventurer Mount.

The Moon was waxing gibbous last night when I took this image with my small imaging rig. The 'terminator' is the line between light and dark on the surface of the Moon.  Put another way, on the waxing Moon the 'terminator' is the location of sunrise and on a waning Moon the location of sunset. The 'terminator' sweeps across the lunar surface at 9.6 mph (15.4 km/h). In the above image the 'terminator' runs from bottom left to top right.
The ejector ray systems associated with the craters Copernicus and Kepler are very easy to see and the wall of the crater Aristarchus shines bright under full illumination on the terminator.

The Best Fish Pie in the World

The World's finest Fish Pie

The World’s Finest and Best Fish Pie

To those in the know this fish pie is the one and only ‘Bumborough Pie’. 

Ingredients:

Filleted chunks of:

• ·         Cod 
• ·         Smoked Haddock
• ·         Salmon

A handful of shelled large prawns

A handful of shelled mussels

Stiff mashed potato allowed to go cold but not to dry out  – not pushed through a ricer or over creamed –  and enough to cover your pie with a layer 2 inches (50mm.) thick.

A small carton (250 mls) of double cream

150 grams of cheddar cheese (red gives best colour)

A handful of thawed frozen peas

A handful of cheese for the topping.
A teaspoon of English Mustard powder

Method:

·         Place the raw fish, thawed peas and cooked shellfish in a shallow ovenware dish and season with a little salt and white pepper.

·         Pour the cream into a small saucepan, add the mustard powder and stir in the 150 grams of cheddar.

·         Keep stirring the cream over a low heat and until all the cheese melts into the cream.

·         Pour the  hot cheesy cream over the raw fish mixture

·         Pile the mash on top of the fishy creamy cheesy mixture and flatten to the edges of the dish with a fork

·         Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top of the mash

·         Place the pie in a fan oven at 170C fan and cook for 40 minutes

·         Remove from oven, serve immediately and eat with carrots and green beans or a green salad.

·         A Sauvignon Blanc or Draught Guinness goes very well with this dish.

Enjoy this fish pie, it is as good as fish pie gets!

Credit: This recipe was created by Essex master chef - William 'Bimbar' Roberts

Sciurus vulgaris

Hidden in plain sight?

"I was hoping to take a photograph of a vole looking down its hole but instead snapped a red squirrel looking for its nuts. 

Wonderful camouflage, only noticed the little rodent when it moved, I would have otherwise walked by unaware of its presence. Nowadays, the red squirrel is extremely rare in England. This photograph was taken in Germany - 2016."

Steve Dongle from his latest book concerning environmentally responsible waste management - 'Do Bears shit in Woods?'

Archaeopteryx lithographica

The Berlin Archaeopteryx is on public display at the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin.

Whilst holidaying in Berlin we took time out from the 'Christmas Markets' to visit this fabulous museum.

The fossil was discovered between 1874 and 1876 near Eichstätt in Germany.

Archaeopteryx is seen as a link between dinosaurs and birds and exhibits features of both.

The long tail, clearly visible in my photograph, is a characteristic of dinosaurs, while the tail feathers are typical for birds.

Archaeopteryx unlike birds, but very like meat eating dinosaurs, had a mouth full of sharp pointed teeth.
You can just get a hint of the presence of teeth in the enlargement taken from my photograph.
 

 The long asymmetrical wingfeathers, the elongated arm and the collarbone show a clear similarity with modern birds but the three clawed fingers, visible in my other enlargement, are a trait of dinosaurs.

 Archaeopteryx lived in the Late Jurassic period around 150 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany during a time when Europe was an archipelago of islands in a shallow warm tropical sea, much closer to the equator than it is now. It was similar in size to a  magpie, with the largest individuals possibly attaining the size of a raven. Since its first discovery, its ability to fly over an above gliding has been the subject of much debate. No one is sure whether it was arboreal, living primarily in bushes and trees, or instead spent most of its day on the ground similar to a chicken. Did it learn to fly by swooping down or by flapping up? Your guess is as good as mine!

For more information:
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/IwJyj85ySOZ4JQ
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/SAIS0scq48ZZIA

Credits: Berlin Museum fur Naturkunde and Wikipedia.