The Moon

A composite of three images of the Moon on the 28th May 2012 taken through my 127mm refractor.
The enhanced colour reflects the differences in mineral makeup of the Moon's crust 
(the colour information was added from an image taken some time ago using my ETX90 RA)

As the atmosphere was reasonably stable I decided to capture HD video clips at higher magnification using my Lumix compact camera fixed to my refracting telescope. The clips were then split, aligned and stacked using Registax 6 and the final images sharpened and enhanced using Photoshop.
The areas A and B were selected for enlargement as they were more or less on the terminator and showed interesting detail.

The darker area in the triangle formed by the Crater Archimedes and the mountains Hadly and Bradley exhibits a number of volcanic features including a 'Dome' Putredinis 4 which can be seen clearly in image A.

Image A with labels

Image A: Montes Appennius

u

This NASA image shows the Apollo12 Lunar module over the crater Ptolemaeus. The small crater below and to the left of the space-craft is the crater Ammonius and the larger crater to the right is Herschel.
On board the Lunar module piloted by Alan Bean was the Mission Commander James 'Pete' Conrad. The Lunar module landed in the Sea of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) on the 19th. of November 1969.
I was twenty years old when this mission was accomplished, the last person to walk on the Moon did so in 1972 when I was twenty three, I'm sixty three years old now and it begs the question as to whether I shall be alive to see the next man or the first woman to walk on the Moon!

Image B with labels

The crater Ptolemaeus is approximately 153km across and 2.4 km deep. Its floor has been flooded with a basaltic lava and a number of 'Ghost craters' (ie.craters that have been flooded with lava but still show an impression of their rims) can be seen in Image B.

Image B: Crater Ptolemaeus and associated craters

Image C: Colour saturated image highlighting the different mineral make up of the surface

Saturn the 'ringed planet'

Saturn as photographed from our garden in May 2012

Our wireless-router had to be replaced and as a consequence, we have had no Internet-Broadband connection for almost three weeks. The lovely Toot says that for several days after the router failed I displayed all the classic symptoms of Internet-Blog withdrawal! A tired listlessness, sweaty palms and a predilection for 'Bilge Talking.'  We are now back on line, so for those that care, I shall once again be posting a steady stream of information about the comings and goings in the Cabine.

In the last two weeks,we have had a few clear days and nights when I have been able to use my telescopes to sweep the 'Suffolk skies'. I have to say I was surprised at being able to capture the above view of Saturn using the HD movie setting on my Lumix compact camera. The technique applied involved attaching the camera to a telescope eyepiece using a bracket (afocal method) and focusing the image of Saturn on the LCD screen by adjustment of the focus knob on my 127mm refracting telescope. The size and intensity of the image was adjusted using the manual zoom on the camera.  I captured a two minute film clip which I converted from mov. to AVI format using the freeware RAD video BINK converter. The AVI clip was then split, aligned and stacked using the freeware Registax 6 and the resultant Tiff image was  finally sharpened and adjusted using Photoshop.

Saturn spinning silently in the velvet black of space

I have to say that I still get a buzz when I see Saturn through the eyepiece of my telescope. In my opinion it's a real show stopper!

The Transit of Venus

The Transit of Venus on June  8th. 2004 

In 2004, I took these two photographs of the transit of Venus using a one-shot compact digital camera attached to my old ETX 90RA telescope with a white light filter and a 12mm eyepiece (afocal method). It was a wonderful sunny day with just a little wispy high level cloud. The next transit will be visible from England as the sun rises on the morning of June 6th. 2012. Weather permitting, I hope to capture this event as there will not be further occurrences of this fascinating astronomical phenomenon until December 2117 and December 2125. Unless there is an unprecedented improvement in medical sciences, I'm unlikely to be in any fit state to photograph the next two transits.

Venus transiting the face of the Sun
(ie. you can see the silhouette of the planet Venus which
appears black against the bright surface of the Sun)
with an Image of Earth added to provide scale

Evidence of light being diffracted by the Venusian atmosphere

WARNING: Under no circumstances should anyone use binoculars or a telescope or a camera view finder to look at the sun as this will result in severe damage to the eyes and probable blindness. Just staring at the sun with or without sunglasses can cause damage to your eyes. If you wish to observe this event contact your local amateur astronomy group or club who will be more than happy to advise on how to do this safely.

More details can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus,_2012

Huff and Puff

'The Three Pigs' by Pixie Boon aged 5 years

I was much impressed by my grand-daughter's re-interpretation of the children's story the 'The Three Little Pigs'. Clearly Mr Wolf has discovered an alternative and more unusual method for "blowing their house down". Pixie pointed out to her mother that "the gas is going up the pig's noses". That should do it then!

Nice to see that a love of art and a bizarre sense of humour are shared with my grand-children. Its all in the genes Mr. Dawkins!

Southwold Estuary

I found this old water-colour sketch in the Cabine today. I had quite forgotten painting it. It did however, remind me that I hadn't been for lunch at the Harbour Inn for some time and that I should really redress this situation. The Harbour Inn is the little red-roofed building before and to the right of the house with three chimney-stacks shown on the horizon. If you are in Southwold I can highly recommend visiting the Harbour Inn and ordering the "potted shrimps" from their starter menu. Absolutely delicious!

George Swinbourne at the Rochester Casino

George Swinbourne professional boxer (1907-1993)

George Swinbourne, my grand-dad, and his three brothers, Alec (aka-Alan), Fred and Charlie, were professional boxers who fought in Great Britain in the 1920s and 1930s. I have been told that on one occasion all four brothers fought on the same bill at the Rochester Casino. (The one and only time four brothers have been known to have appeared on the same professional bill in the UK).

Alec Swinbourne from Maidstone boxed between 1924 and 1933 100 professional contests 
Charlie Swinbourne from Maidstone boxed between 1929 and 1933 8 professional contests 
Fred Swinbourne from Maidstone boxed between 1925 and 1935 47 professional contests 
George Swinbourne from Maidstone boxed between 1924 and 1932 121 professional contests

George and Alec were the best of the Swinbourne boxers and fought all over the country at many venues including: The Ring - Blackfriars, York Hall, and the National Sporting Club (originally in Covent Garden). My grand-dad liked fighting at the National Sporting Club because if he put on a good show, the crowd of "Toffs" watching would often throw in more money, 'nobbins', than he otherwise received from his share of the purse. Fred was never as focused in the ring as George or Alan. My grand-dad said that Fred used to 'clown' for the crowd and that albeit popular, it often resulted in beatings that were detrimental to Fred's health. 

The Ring Blackfriars London at the time my Grandfather appeared there.

Rochester Casino was the 'Swinbourne Boys' local venue. Maidstone and the Medway Towns represented home and where they had a strong local following. Before one of my grand-dad's bigger fights, Maidstone buses carried posters "George Swinbourne Maidstone' s Own Son". He was very proud to represent his town and win the South Eastern Championship at his weight.

As well as the professional fights, George made many appearances on boxing booths which were very popular at fairs in England between the wars.  He also sparred and fought exhibition bouts with a number of famous boxers, including a young and heavier Len Harvey. 

Bombardier Billy Wells (the second of the well-oiled strong-man seen to strike the gong at the start of Arthur J Rank Films) was the referee for one of my grand-dad's fights. He never forgave Mr Wells for stopping the fight, apparently in his opinion neither fighter was trying hard enough!

George appeared and trained in London at a Gym in Bethnal Green and I remember him telling me that after 'hard fights' he would use the Turkish baths there to help recover. Fights of 10 and fifteen rounds were common and on at least one occasion, when a boxer didn't turn up, George fought two opponents on one night - thus guaranteeing two purses.

After he retired from the ring, he had a successful career as a fishmonger, greengrocer and property owner. He remained close to his brother Alan and half-sister Rose and Fred would occasionally appear for family visits.  

As a result of being blown up in WW2, uncle Fred's behaviour and demeanor could change suddenly and I suspect this is partly why he relocated from Kent to Camberwell where he had a shop and let rooms.  As a child I was fascinated by his ability to do magic tricks including: making coins disappear and reappear, manipulating playing-cards and 'eating' razor blades and light-bulbs. I am told that he had a 'beautiful athletic body' and at one time in his life he had been an artists model. Allegedly, he once sat for the painter Augustus John. Together with my grandfather, he made money for awhile as a 'card sharp' working the trains from London Euston to Manchester Piccadiliy.  I still know how to cheat at 'three-card brag', a trick I was taught as a child by my grand-dad George!

Sadly in his latter years, George's health deteriorated and he suffered dementia before his death. My grand-dad never regretted his life in the ring as being 'tough' defined him. He did have a more gentle side, he liked children and was a very kind grand-dad who never once raised his hand or voice to me.

I remember my grand-dad George , uncle Alan, uncle Fred and aunt Rose with lots of love and affection.

For more information on the Boxing at Bethnal Green go to 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Hall

For more information on the National Sporting Club go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Sporting_Club

For more information on boxing booths go to
http://www.londonexboxers.org.uk/archive_detail.php?upload_ID=254

For more information on Len Harvey go to  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Harvey

For more information on the Swinbourne brothers at Rochester Casino go to
http://www.boxinghistory.org.uk: Nights at Rochester Casino: By Bill Pullum This article is reproduced with the kind permission of Derek O’Dell, Editor and Producer of ‘The Southern Ex-Boxer’, in w...

For film clip of The Rank Gong-man see
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ccsg_general-film-distributors-ltd-1930_shortfilms?ralg=meta2-only#from=embed-playreloff-1

Suffolk Pink

The Pink Lighthouse

I have been having fun and experimenting again with digital painting in the Cabine.

Many vernacular buildings in Suffolk, particularly thatched cottages, are rendered and colour-washed. The locally preferred hue for colour-washing is pink and is therefore known as 'Suffolk Pink', My painting The Pink Lighthouse is a celebration of this local architectural style and the maritime history of the Heritage Coast.

I created The Pink Lighthouse using a combination of software packages and techniques. I hope the imagery, light, colours and textures in the painting reflect life in our Suffolk-coastal towns and villages.
This summer, why not visit Suffolk and the Heritage Coast?  There is much to do, great places to stay, excellent local food and you might get to see a lighthouse or two!

The following famous sailors 'Like' - The Pink Lighthouse

Hyannis, Cape Cod and Windsurfing in October

Wind and surf  "sunny-side up"

Some of the photographs taken on holiday last October in Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA.

The weather was extremely good for this time of the year, so we were able to walk miles around the coast, see the cranberry bogs and eat lots of delicious seafood.

Sunset over the water

Lunch at Spanky's Clam Shack Hyannis Harbour

Toot and I would highly recommend a seafood lunch at Spanky's Clam Shack. Great food at competitive prices. Excellent location next to the harbour quay and on a sunny day you can eat outside.  The 'steamers' dipped in melted butter, the deep fried oysters and scallops, and the lobster roll were our favourites and should not be missed on any visit to the harbour. The local red beer is also very good and worth sampling in the sunshine.

Harbour Lighthouse

The Kennedy Museum, Hyannis
(photo courtesy of Museum website)

Any visit to Hyannis would be incomplete without going to the John F Kennedy Museum in the High Street. It was particularly interesting as we were able to talk to one of the ladies who worked at the Museum and knew various members of the Kennedy Family. There were also references around the town to various American Celebrities:  Kenny Rogers, Tony Bennett, Frank Zapper and Jimi Hendrix, who presumably had property in or around Hyannis.

All in all, if the weather is good, a great place to visit!