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Astro Nerds is a free to read and download Astronomy magazine. With a guide to the night sky to articles from fellow amateur astronomers.
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EXTANT LIFE ON MARS?THE MARS SOCIETY
ICY SCIENCE PUBLICATION: WWW.ICYSCIENCE.COM: WINTER 2013/14
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ASTRO NERDS JUNE 20146. Mars Beautifual
and Majectic
13. Making Amateur
Astronomy Accessible
20. Look UP In Wonder
26. #ONESKY4 0 . K I D S CORNER-Fuzzballs48. Astro Camp
» p.6
» p.13 » p.20
» p.48
Welcome to the new Astro Nerds mini e-magazine.
Each month there will be a guide to the night sky.
WE WILL LOOK AT EVENTS FROM THE PEOPLEWHO GO TO THEM
AND MUCH MORE........
ENJOY......
CONTENTS ASTO NERDS
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EDITOR:David Bood
Front Cover:Malcolm ParkTwitter: @Starfest2014
Articles:Henna KhanJ L KennedyRalph WilkinsNicole WillettJoolz Wright
Observing GuideJohn Harper FRAS
Contact:E: [email protected]: @DavesAstronomyW: www.icyscience.com
By Andy Black (Scarborough)
Welcome to the new Astro Nerds mini e-magazine form Icy Science. Each month we will bring you a guide to the night sky. There will be articles and images from people around the world.
And best of all it is FREE................
ENJOY..........EDITOR DAVE BOOD
JUNE 2014 ASTRO NERDS
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Mars, Beautiful and Majesticby Nicole Willettwww.marssociety.orgTwitter: @TheMarsSociety
There is a glowing red beacon in the sky, guiding us, no, calling
us to her. Mars, beautiful and majestic Mars…..she lures us in.
For those of us who are more Martian than Earthling, we under-
stand. Mars has been the focus of myths and stories for mil-
lennia. From Edgar Rice Burroughs’, A Princess of Mars, to H.G.
Wells’ War of the Worlds, Mars has been the setting for many
science fiction adventures as well. However, at The Mars Society,
our aim is geared toward science fact. Mars is a beautiful desert
landscape with rolling hills and plains. The Red Planet is also
home to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons
and an enormous 3,000 mile long canyon system named Valles
Marineris. One could easily imagine looking out over the rocky
landscape at the coral sky as the two moons, Phobos and Deimos,
quickly cross the celestial sphere. As the sun sets, the tempera-
ture plummets, dust devils traverse the landscape, and the sky
turns from a pale coral color to light blue.
The thought of one day standing on Mars and looking out
at the astonishing landscape, may be beyond the imag-
ination of some, but not to the members of The Mars
Society and all other people with a deep interest in the
exploration and human settlement of Mars. Our goal is
to reach out, educate the public, raise awareness, and
send humans to Mars. One way we accomplish this is by
hosting a convention once a year. This year’s 17th annual
convention (http://www.marssociety.org/a/marssociety.
org/www/conventions/2014 )will be held near Johnson
Space Center in Houston, TX. The convention will host
many scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs. The con-
vention will be held at the South Shore Harbour Resort in
League City, TX (near Houston). Previous years highlights
have included speeches by SpaceX founder Elon Musk
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MSL Curiosity program leader Adam Steltzner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y3VK9dF5eo ), Mars
Exploration Rover Principal Investigator Steve Sqyures (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKbr9CEjI6c ),
and many more.
If you have ever heard the saying, “It takes a village….,” well we at The Mars Society are utilizing that concept to
send humans to Mars. As an entirely volunteer organization, we have accomplished many great things since our
inception in 1998. Examples of our current projects are the following: The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)
(http://mdrs.marssociety.org/ ).
This station houses volunteer crews of six Marsonauts, who live and do research as if they were on the
surface of Mars. An upcoming and unprecedented mission, called the Mars Arctic 365 (http://ma365.mars-
society.org/ ), will be a one-year Mars surface simulation expedition in the Canadian High Arctic. We also
dare college students to participate in the University Rover Challenge (URC) (http://urc.marssociety.org/ )
where they build robotic rovers and compete until a winner is crowned. In step with the URC we also sponsor the Youth
Rover Challenge (YRC) (http://youthrover.com/ ) where middle and high school students compete in a rover design
challenge as well, utilizing Lego Mindstorm software. We have also launched an Education Task force (http://educa-
tion.marssociety.org/ ), to reach out to educators, students, and the general public to help expand their knowledge
IMAGE: MRDS
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of Mars, astronomy, space news, and space exploration.
If you are interested in a presentation by a member of
the Education Task Force ([email protected]) or a
member of the Speakers Bureau, please contact us (info@
marssociety.org ). To learn more about The Mars Society
or for volunteer opportunities, please visit our main page
(http://www.marssociety.org/ ) or contact us (info@mars-
society.org ) for more information.
The character of the human race will be measured
by whether or not we have taken responsibility for our
own future. We must build our character by responding
to what is happening around us. What is happening is;
we are outgrowing the Earth. It takes a worldwide com-
munity of “Martians” to collaborate and reach the goal
set forth by Dr. Robert Zubrin in the late 1990’s. The goal
is to send humans to Mars. We wish to accomplish this
by pooling our resources as a worldwide community.
On April 17, 2014, NASA announced that the
Kepler Space Telescope (KST) has discovered the first
Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of its parent
star. Although this planet is 500 light years away, it only
begs the question, “When will we find an Earth-sized exo-
planet within reach of a generation of explorers?” The
answer is most likely within the next decade. The KST
has confirmed 966 extrasolar planets with another 3,845
planetary candidates. With these discoveries it is more important than ever
to explore and settle Mars. Some may say Mars is a frozen wasteland with
robots slowly churning through a dusty and rocky landscape. However,
we like to think of Mars as the new frontier of raw desert. She is waiting,
wonting, patiently orbiting her parent star while we decide when to step
foot on her precious soil. The time is now.
Top Image: Mars Sunset- NASA
Middle: Mars Landscape- NASA JPL
Below: Youth Rover
Bottom Right: URC2
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Making Amateur Astronomy Accessible
The skies in London are awful. Probably worse than awful.
New York City and Las Vegas are the only places I’ve seen that stand any
chance of taking London’s crown of being the most light polluted city in
the world and less suited to astronomy.
Except astronomy is available and available to enjoy for anyone, wherever
they live or work.
I hope this article inspires you to ignore the web-chatter and magazine arti-
cles that will tell you that you need to seek out light pollution-free skies,
far from free roaming photons of artificial light that will wreak havoc with
your ability to pick out faint galaxies, if you’re to enjoy real amateur astron-
omy. Firstly there is no such thing as real amateur astronomy; but there
are pedants who think that you have to do things the way they learned,
and want to keep it that way. Let me dispel a few myths. Recite after me:
goto is good, star hopping is optional.
Secondly, amateur astronomy is a very wide spectrum from the naked
eye International Space Station watchers at one end, to radio astronomy
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instrument builders at the other – with binoculared star hoppers, meteor watchers, sketchers and solar
observers in the middle. Each pursuit along this spectrum will have its purists and each will have its relaxed
enjoyer of the activity. This isn’t professional astronomy. There isn’t a right or wrong; just the way that eeks
the most enjoyment out for your own personal experience.
So when I joined the committee of the newly formed Baker Street Irregular Astronomers in the summer
of 2010, I had no qualms about running an astronomical society situated under the light polluted dome of
London - nor in August, when many astronomical societies make a sensible choice to take a summer break,
awaiting darker skies in autumn and winter.
Founder member, Simon Bennett of London’s astronomy showroom The Widescreen Centre, made the
crucial contribution (besides starting the group) of bringing telescopes to Regent’s Park – a venue made
possible by the other founding member, Royal Parks policeman, Carl Drake. A small range of telescopes
means that people don’t spend too much time waiting for a view and they can also compare telescope
types if they’re wishing to invest in one.
But perhaps the most valuable lesson I could offer is to make it accessible. I don’t just mean physically
accessible to get to, but welcoming, an event that people won’t feel too intimidated to try out if they
haven’t done so already.
The Baker Street Irregulars grew from 20 people in 2010 to one and a half thousand ‘members’ in 2014,
with the US Astronomy magazine editor, David Eicher, UK Astronomy Now editor, Steve Young and Tele
Vue Optics owners, David & Sandy Nagler, among our guests at our free monthly events. We don’t do
formal talks, have schedules or entrance times (not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that)
but we have a turn up when you want and leave when you’ve had enough attitude that we feel com-
fortable with, and we regularly team up with our friends from the British Astronomical Association to
give away telescopes in raffles.
People make a society and its people also define its character. A friendly and relaxed atmosphere will
attract friendly and relaxed people and help dispel the perceived myth of the socially inept, middle-aged
white guy, ‘amateur astronomer’. This is an exciting hobby (or career, if you’re lucky) where you get to
watch galaxies merging, the sun erupting and stars exploding a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
Whether you’re taking your scope to a town square to give passers by a view of the moon or starting
up an astronomical society in a local park, creating a friendly and welcoming atmosphere will reap so
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many rewards in terms of how successful your gatherings are and in the type of feedback you’ll get back
(and you want that too – that’s your reward for the hard work you put in). If people think they need to have
their own scope to attend or have to have a good working knowledge of stellar evolution, they won’t come
and they’ll really be missing out.
Encouraging and accessible are the watchwords. Brian Cox is more popular than Saul Perlmutter. Perlmutter
discovered dark energy, that makes up 68% of the universe and you may not have heard of him. Brian Cox
isn’t an astronomer by trade but you will all have heard of him and his great work to get the public inter-
ested in astronomy.
It’s accessibility that led me to create
the Awesome Astronomy podcast to
explore new ways to bring the uni-
verse to wider audiences in a friendly
and engaging manner. At least I hope
it does! It also inspired me to start
the AstroCamp stargazing weekend
in the International Dark Sky Reserve
of the Welsh Brecon Beacons in 2012
to encourage learners and abso-
lute beginners to feel comfortable in
coming to an astronomy event for the
first time, or possibly alone. In the case of the AstroCamp, it then becomes the friendliness of the attend-
ees that sustains its fun and welcoming atmosphere.
And, whether it’s an event under pristine dark skies or passing city folk under soupy urban skies, a first view
of the rings of Saturn or a peer into a large lunar crater will give them that same visceral reaction – that
‘wow!’ – that may be so long ago now that you’ve forgotten how awesome it felt for you.
With my Awesome Astronomy and AstroCamp partners, Paul Hill, Damien Phillips and John Wildridge, we’ve
now begun taking scopes to busy thoroughfares in London as pop-up astronomy events. We show people
walking by their first ever views of bright objects – like the moon or the cloud belts and moons of Jupiter.
The moon and planets look just as good in city skies as they do in darker or clearer skies and astronomy truly
is the gateway drug to science. We must have hooked hundreds, if not thousands, of people on astronomy
IMAGE: ALEX SPEED
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What I’m trying to show is that the vast array of amateur astronomy targets and methods means that there really is
no such thing as real amateur astronomy, but there is enjoyable amateur astronomy. And that attracts more interest
from other people eager to promote the hobby, whether it be Sir Patrick Moore making a beeline to Regent’s Park to
film a rare episode of The Sky at Night with him on location in March 2011 (so keen was he to promote city amateur
astronomy) or the regular returns of the Sky at Night teams to our AstroCamp in Wales to show the sociable side of
astronomy in 2012, 2013 and now 2014.
It just takes a bit of passion, a bit of effort and a desire to show people the sky.
WORDS RALPH WILKINS
TWITTER @BakerStAstro
http://www.bakerstreetastro.org.uk/
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LOOK UP IN WONDER :A GUIDE TO THE NIGHT SKY -JUNE 2014
As the month proceeds, the Sun climbs through the stars of Taurus until around 19h on the 21st, when it crosses
the border into Gemini, the solstice having occurred on the June 21st at 10h51, eight hours earlier. The earth-
sun distance is 152, 028,935 km. The solstice marks the astronomical start of summer in the northern hemisphere,
and the beginning of winter in the southern. Thus takes place the longest day and shortest night for us here in the
UK, and thereafter night length increases once again. The season of summer lasts 93.65 days. In the northern UK,
there is no true night, and at astronomical midnight, the sky is not black but a beautiful velvet deep blue, merging
to turquoise on the northern horizon. Don’t forget to look out for noctilucent clouds in the hour before and after
midnight as they catch the light of the sun, which is not very far below the northern horizon at this time of year.
The MoonMoon is at apogee (furthest from the earth) on June 3rd at 04h, and again on the 30th at 19h11. Perigee
(nearest to the earth) is on the 15th, at 03h35.
First Quarter takes place on the 5th at 20h39, on the Leo/Sextans border.
Full Moon is at 04h12 on the 13th, in the constellation of Ophiuchus, and is the second lowest Full Moon
of this year.
Last Quarter Moon is on the 19th at 18h39 near the circlet in western Pisces.
June twilight of evening around 21h, when its altitude is 8° above the NW horizon, between 300° and 310° in azimuth.
(Azimuth is a coordinate system marking the position on the horizon where an object might be seen, measured from
North 0°, through East, 45°, South 180°, West 270°, and back to North)
Throughout June, Venus rises between one and two hours before the sun, and may be seen low in the eastern sky as
morning twilight increases at around 03h. On the morning of the 24th, shortly after 02h you will see the thin waning
crescent moon and Venus, rising together; the two are 5° apart, the moon lying to the right of the bright ‘Morning
Star’. At this time the pair lie beneath the Pleiades, that beautiful open cluster of stars, commonly known as the ‘Seven
Sisters’ in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. You can use the moon later on, after the sun rises, to see Venus in full
New Moon occurs on the 27th, at 08h09, when the moon lies on the Orion/ Gemini border, and 5° south of
the sun.
The PlanetsMercury continues its favourable apparition in the evening sky during the first week of June, after which it is
lost rapidly in the sun’s encroaching light. Indeed, the elusive little planet reaches inferior conjunction and lies
between the sun and us during the late evening of the 19th. Use binoculars to look for Mercury in the strong
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daylight. Simply find the moon and then look towards where Venus was, and you will see as the textbooks state, that Venus is visble in a blue sky, if you know where
to look! As the short night begins to fall at 22h on the 7th, Mars and the gibbous waxing moon are in conjunction 25° in altitude in the SW sky. At this time Mars
will be seen just less than 3° above the moon. During June Mars is visible from sunset until 02h in the morning when it sets. However by the end of the month,
the planet is setting a few minutes before astronomical midnight. (01h BST). Mars is now fading as earth leaves it behind, and appears to move slowly eastwards
through midsummer in Virgo as it approaches the constellation’s brightest star Spica for the second time this year. On the last day of the month, Spica is some 5°
to the left of the brighter planet Mars, which by the month’s end, the latter’s magnitude is slightly less than Arcturus, (alpha Boötis), which lies 30° above the pair
Jupiter continues to be visible in the evening sky, although the days of the evening apparition of this giant planet are numbered. Conjunction with the sun takes
place next month. Look for the planet in the NW sky at around 21h. Jupiter is moving slowly eastwards in Gemini and by the end of the month is in line with the
constellation’s two chief stars Castor and Pollux, which seem to point towards Jupiter in the evening twilight.
Saturn continues to dominate Libra, the zodiacal constellation in which it lies, and may be seen crossing the meridian in the south shortly after sunset at an alti-
tude of some 20° in that direction. If you look another 20° to its lower left, you may see the giant red star Antares twinkling low in the SE, in the neighbouring
constellation of Scorpius, the same angular distance to the right of Saturn is Spica, and a further 10° on in the same direction is Mars.
(20° in the sky is a little over the distance of a span with the hand held out at arm’s length.)
Just after sunset on the 10th, the gibbous waxing moon is close to Saturn, the angular distance being some 2° at that time, with Saturn above the moon in the sky.
Both Uranus in Pisces, and Neptune in Aquarius are difficult to observe because of twilight this month, and also because there are no bright stars in their vicini-
ties to help you locate these remote worlds.
During this month the International Space Station is passing through a period of full illumination. This offers multiple opportunities for viewing the ISS for observ-
ers in the UK. Constellations visible in the south around midnight, mid-month, are as follows: Ophiuchus, Serpens Cauda, Hercules, and the head of Draco the
dragon, which is near the zenith.
All times are GMT 1° is one finger width at arm’s length.
WORDS: JOHN HARPER (FRAS) FOUNDER SCARBOROUGH & RYDALE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
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A couple and their 10 year old son
stopped by and had a look at Mars.
The little guy was blown away by
Mars; he could see the top part
was “covered with snow” – Russell
Bateman, Nova Scotia.
On 9th May 2014, astronomers all around the world set up their
telescopes free of cost at various locations for anyone passing
by to take a look through them. Hundreds of people all around
the globe saw the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter for the first
time in awe and wonder.
Image Below: Credit: Scott Lewis (Space Fan News), USA
The event was organized as part of an International effort to remind people that in spite of the borders
and differences we have built between ourselves, we are still all connected by our One Sky. Click the
image below to play
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“Almost all of them had seen the planets FOR THE FIRST TIME!”
Credit: Syed Roshan, Pakistan
Knowledge Observatory; Credit: Andrew Davies, UK
It was a fun night with my neighbors and friends. We agreed we should repeat this again soon – Shirley Vuille, USA
Adorable children observing the Sun in Romania. Credit: Valentin Grigore
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Celebrations from Iraq. Credit: Hassan Sabbar
Celebrations in Japan. Credit: Takahiro Nakao
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Celebrations in Spain. Credit: ASTER-Agrupació Astronòmica de Barcelona
Celebrations in Malaysia. Credit: Amirul Hazim Kamarulzaman
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Celebrations in El Salvador. Credit: Ramon CentenoCredit: Michael Cook, Canada (BELOW)
Credit: Teale Britstra
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Credit: Muchammad Thoyib, Indonesia Credit: Siva Subramanyam
ARTICLE : Henna KhanTwitter: @henna_khan
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www.onlineastronomycourses.co.ukEmail [email protected]
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KIDS CORNER
FUZZBALLS & THE SQUEAKY SQUIRT by J L Kennedy
Twinkle, the youngest Fuzzball in the Space Base, was reading an email in the Control Room.
His mother, Priscilla, came in carrying a plate of his favourite cupcakes.
“I’ve just made these, Twinkle. Would you like one?”
“No thanks… I’m not hungry –“
“You’re always hungry, Twinkle! You haven’t caught Fuzzball Flu, have you?”
“I’m OK but Squeak has a problem,” replied Twinkle.
Squeak was the smallest robot on planet, Quadro.
“Poor Squeak, what’s wrong?” asked Priscilla.
“He’s lost his voice – that’s why we have to email each other. It’s Squeak’s birthday next week – he just wants his
voice back – no other presents.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine by then –“
“Don’t think so, Mum. Squeak hasn’t managed even a small squeak for
more than two weeks. Yesterday he was reprogrammed and rewired but
that failed.”
“Speak to Drew - he’s the best space engineer - he might be able to help.
I think Drew’s having a shower though now – he’s just finished work on
my Comet Rocket.”
Twinkle fled down the Fuzz Flume and found Drew in the Star Spa.
“Drew!” squealed Twinkle. “Can you make a robot talk? Squeak’s lost his
voice –“
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Twinkle felt so much better after telling Drew about Squeak’s problem, that he ate two cupcakes! His
mother says sharing problems always helps.
“Well,” said Drew. “Radio the Squirts now – ask them to bring Squeak here.”
Twinkle zoomed back to the Control Room.
“Space Base to Quadro. Twinkle calling.”
“Quadro to Space Base. Senior Squirt here. Go ahead, Twinkle.”
“Drew might be able to help Squeak – when can you come to the Space Base?”
“I’m afraid we have another problem. Our space ship won’t lift off – we have to wait a week for a new part.”
“But we must fix Squeak before his birthday. I’ll ask Drew if we can fly to you but we won’t have room for
all the tools and equipment…”
“OK, Twinkle.”
After lunch, Drew and Twinkle landed on Quadro in their Comet Rocket; the Squirts lined up to welcome
them.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” said the Senior Squirt. “We can manage without the space ship for a
week, but Squeak is desperate to get his voice back –”
“No problem – shall we get started?”
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“Don’t worry, Squeak,” said Drew, “I’m going
to switch you off then carefully dismantle
you. You won’t feel a thing.”
Squeaked nodded but he was trembling
nervously.
Twinkle passed a large screwdriver to Drew.
Minutes later Drew unscrewed Squeak’s
head and put it gently on the workbench.
Twinkle shone a torch inside Squeak’s head, and Drew
removed several small parts to examine.
“Nothing wrong here,” said Drew. “We’ll have to open up
his back panel. Pass me screwdriver ‘number seven’ please,
Twinkle.”
Drew worked in silence, testing every part.
“Yes!” he shouted finally. “Look at this green sensor, Twinkle.
It’s overheated. Squeak probably squeaked too loudly for
too long!”
“Can you fix it?”
“No, I can’t … but I can replace it.”
Drew took another small sensor out of his tool box. “Squeak
should be talking again in minutes…”
And Drew was right!
“Yippee!” called Squeak in his usual squeaky voice.
“Can’t thank you both enough,” said the Senior Squirt.
“We’ve got a spare sensor in case Squeak needs it,” said Twinkle.
“Might be useful,” replied the Senior Squirt. “Squeak will be making a lot of noise at his party! You will both be
coming, won’t you?”
“Definitely!” said Twinkle.
“And I could help you fix your space ship if the new part has arrived,” added Drew.
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“What’s the problem?”
“It won’t lift off… just makes a little squeaking noise that we can’t stop –”
Twinkle giggled. “You had a robot called Squeak who couldn’t squeak, and a space ship that shouldn’t squeak but won’t stop squeaking!” Everyone was laughing, but Squeak was laughing the loudest. “Having my voice back is
the best-ever early birthday present!”
More stories on our website www.fuzzballs.co.uk
Follow us on FacebookCopyright © 2014 J L Kennedy. All rights reserved.
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Astrocamp Spring 2014
I would never have thought that Astrocamp would become part of my
regular yearly trips list….but here we were with four events under our
belts! This was the first time I arrived a couple of days early, as the
Astrocamp dates actually fell on the weekend preceded by the school
holidays. So my son and I decided to extend our camp by a couple of
days and so glad we did...for many reasons! Suffice to say we were
not alone and were greeted by old friends that we had made at pre-
vious camps.
We arrived to glorious sunshine and clear skies in the hope that they
would continue into the night. We were not disappointed and the
minute Jupiter appeared dazzling in the dusk…the scopes were already
out and poised ready! The weather forecast leading up to the weekend
had been a little bleak and social media frenzy had led to much specu-
lation as to how much we would be able to observe over the weekend
so we were grateful when the following evening meant we had views
of the stars and planets yet again. Just in case, we set up a gazebo
nearby and used it for shelter and social retreat and as more early
arrivals appeared it was beginning to feel more like Astrocamp was
really approaching!
“Mars with my DSLR, 127 Mak
and 2x Barlow through a gap in the
cloud!”
I was really happy to be able to get a great capture of
Mars with my DSLR, 127 Mak and 2x Barlow through
a gap in the cloud!
The next morning saw the arrival of the organisers
and Astrocamp was officially underway!
Unfortunately many arrivals on the Saturday were
greeted by rain and howling gales and that soon
meant that any hopes of clear skies were being
drowned out…literally. Many astrocampers were
out helping new arrivals pitch tents in dreadful con-
ditions but the camaraderie kept spirits high and
the anticipation of a great weekend, despite the
weather, was evident in the excited buzz around
the camp.
The social events were soon underway with a full
itinerary of fabulous activities…kicking off with a
DSLR Astrophotography and wide field imaging
demonstration from Pat ( @physicist13 ) huddled
under the gazebo during intermittent rain!
An unfortunate turn in the weather meant that
as the wind got stronger and the rain heavier…
any hopes of setting up the marquees on the
common (the central hub of the camp) were
dashed. Many campers retreated to the local pub,
whilst others sheltered in their tents or gazebos.
A few made the most of the gazebo placed from
the night before in a temporary position next
to our pitch. This meant that the curry we had
planned between a few of us from the previous
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Autumn Astrocamp (knowing the pub is always busy on the first night!) soon expanded and grew. Many arrived
to huddle from the wind and rain bringing anything from snacks, to drinks, their own tea to share…and of course
fantastic company… I think around thirty managed to huddle underneath two gazebos strapped together …
having to occasionally grab the corners to stop it from taking off!
Image Paul Hill
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A wonderful surprise was also a fantastic Astrocamp Cake which
was greeted by gasps and ahs by everyone! The creator, Helen
Knight, was very keen to have it cut as soon as possible due to
the adverse weather and lack of somewhere to keep it so it
only made it to the planned High Tea event on the Monday in
slices! But it was certainly the star attraction both visually and
gastronomically! As darkness fell the cloud remained persis-
tent so it was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends
and make new ones over a glass of wine or two! Amazingly at
around 9.30 the rain stopped and the clouds managed to part
revealing the most glorious sky! It was one of the most magical
moments as it was totally unexpected and the excitement was
treasure to behold! As no one was set up observing or imaging
it was great fun watching lasers pointing out various celestial
delights…and I took the opportunity to take some fun wide field
shots to capture the moment!
The following day more brilliant events were kicked off with Eric’s
(@EmmsStarGaze) SUN-day solar observing on the common
with many astros with specialist scopes and modified observing
equipment…and yes, there was intermittent sunshine!
Never dull moments at Astrocamp -there were astro
imaging workshops from Damien (@Dephelis) ongoing
throughout the weekend and a comet making session
with Paul Hill (@SiriusAstro) using some easy accessi-
ble household items (including HP sauce!) and dry ice!
This was great fun as many got to handle the ‘comet’
using gloves, of course!
No one misses out at Astrocamp! (Image HowardCooper)
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There was also a chance to view the Cloud Chamber
which was painstakingly constructed by John (@north-
ern1979) and proved to be another star attraction at
Astrocamp! This again was a chance to watch some real
science in action – using alcohol and dry ice it was pos-
sible to follow the trails formed by cosmic rays passing
through the forming vapour inside the sealed tank. After
the excitement of the morning events most of the camp-
site then migrated to the local pub where the afternoon
events were to be held.
After a fabulous Sunday carvery the tables were cleared
and many were crammed into a room to hear a fabulous
talk by Chris Lintott (BBC Sky at Night). This was then fol-
lowed by the infamous Astrocamp Pub Quiz with some
amazing prizes! Everyone was given a chance to win as
random numbers were used as “winning score posi-
tions” so very good and not so good answers were all in
with a chance! During the weekend another great fun
activity was a Solar System themed Limerick competi-
tion ran by Jeni and John Millard and the results of these
were read out in the pub too! After retreating back to
the camp site, we eagerly set up ready for the evening
to arrive…hoping desperately for clear skies! Meanwhile
the BBC Sky at Night team was filming around the camp-
site and intermittent cloud and sunshine kept the solar
observers happy! When darkness fell there were some
Top: Comets!
Below: Viewing the Cloud Chamber (Image David Woodford)
opportunities for observing and imaging in between the cloud but an unexpected visit from the Sky at Night
team, interested in wide field imaging, resulted in three of us being whisked away into the bottom field to
film with Pete Lawrence to discuss our techniques! After an hour of watching various parts of the show in
action we were filmed from various angles and then released back to our camp, by which time the sky had
completely clouded over and it was well into the early hours of Monday!...but hey…we were TV stars!
The final full day of Astrocamp was ever so quick to arrive and the obligatory full English breakfast at the
local café was a great start to the day! Astro High tea in the afternoon, which was a last minute get together
last camp, was now on the event schedule! Lots of cakes, snacks, treats and beverages made an impres-
sive banquet for this social gathering! (Yes, the clouds meant there was lots of eating and drinking over the
weekend!)
Image P.55 Top: A very packed pub! (Image Lillian Kwok)
Image P.55 Bottom Left: Paul HIll
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The social aspect of Astrocamp is what makes it really special and the sharing of tips and just general astro
chit chat is always a great pleasure…and great moments when a camper brings out his guitar and sings in
front of newly made friends and then shares it around for others (who can!) to play a tune…are just fabu-
lous memories.
Monday evening was pretty much clouded over, with a great rainstorm thrown in for good measure and at
11pm I decided to call it a night. Around 1am I was woken by knocking on the caravan window with a friend
so excited that the clouds had dispersed leaving the best view yet of the sky of the whole weekend! After
togging up again, I went outside to be greeted by that glorious Cwmdu sky we have all grown to know and
love. The views of the Milky Way were breathtaking…both naked eye and on imaging!
What a finale!
After a good hour under a gorgeous clear sky I felt like it had all come to a fantastic end. I always enjoy
Astrocamp for many reasons…the location, the space, being able to just geek out with my scope and camera
24/7 with no other distractions, the company, the laughs…but it all really boils down to one thing. That sky…
and our passion for it that brings us all together twice a year…and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Home Sweet Cwmdu Home
Article: Joolz WrightTwitter: @farmerswifee
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ASTRO NERDS www.icyscience.com