CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

The night sky...

(13 posts)
  • Started 13 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from maninaskirt

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  1. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Have to admit that my interest in the night sky was sparked by that recent show with Dara O'BigHeid and Prof Cox (just wish they could have done without the Woss).

    Initially got some quite nice constellation pics

    Orion

    The Plough (coming out of my neighbour's chimney...)

    Then got a telescope again (my one as a kid fell (or was it pushed?) off a bookcase - though I never saw much cos it was dead dead cheap and I was looking through the window of my bedroom.

    Started trying out the camera mount on the moon

    Then last night thought I'd try it on some less obvious targets...

    The International Space Station

    (this is passing over most nights at the moment - 19.28 tonight, from the west to the east, basically looks like a moving star)

    Saturn

    Arcturus (brightest star in the northern hemisphere apparently)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. steveo
    Member

    Theyre pretty cool, I did an astronomy course as a little un and we were taken up to the big telescope up blackford, very good fun for a 10 year old. I've fancied a proper telescope for years but I couldn't see any thing from my back garden. How well would one hold up to being on the back if a bike.....

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. cb
    Member

    Nice pics

    And of course Google Sky Map on Android is the bee's knees.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. Kirst
    Member

    Is Arcturus where the Arcturan mega-donkeys come from?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. wee folding bike
    Member

    Some free software:

    http://www.stellarium.org/

    Remember to set you Earthly location.

    http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

    Set you home location anywhere you want, even a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. Its_Me_Knees
    Member

    Oh for pity's sake. There's me just getting nicely embroiled in my latest obsession (cycling) and you lot come along and re-ignite an old one! Damn your superb images of celestial bodies, Anth At Work! Curse your free software, Wee Folding Bike...!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    How on earth did you manage to get a photo of the ISS? It's a fairly fast moving object.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. SRD
    Moderator

    isn't the annoying brian cox due back on our screens sometime soon? (sans the others, or at least the adverts are free of them) can only hope he handles a script better than he did live tv.........

    Posted 13 years ago #

  9. amir
    Member

    Wonderful pics Ant.

    Anyone see the northern lights?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  10. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Some free software...

    I used to use Astrodata for the Mac, "...designed to clutter the screen with information necessary for the novice or serious amateur astronomer." It had a massive database of Messier objects, stars down to magnitude 8, and did all the phases and transitions of moons and planets and Saturn's rings and so on. Strangely enough, the database completely missed out any references to small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  11. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Anyone see the northern lights?

    No, yet another example of south-side forum bias!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  12. wee folding bike
    Member

    SUNDAY, 23:25 on BBC One (except Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales)
    700 Not Out
    Patrick Moore celebrates the 700th episode with Brian Cox, Jon Culshaw and Martin Rees.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk7h

    I'm guessing it's just on in England but we get it sometime. I usually pick it up on iPlayer. Doesn't say if Brian May will be on it.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  13. maninaskirt
    Member

    Just checked on the BBC site - we will get the programme. It is on just half an hour later at 23.55, same night.

    Here are the next sightings of the ISS over Edinburgh.

    SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
    DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

    ISS Wed Mar 02/06:46 PM 3 34 22 above SW 15 above ESE
    ISS Wed Mar 02/08:21 PM < 1 17 15 above WSW 17above SW
    ISS Thu Mar 03/07:12 PM 3 29 20 above SW 19 above SE
    ISS Fri Mar 04/07:38 PM 2 20 15 above WSW 17 above S
    ISS Sat Mar 05/06:29 PM 3 28 23 above SW 15 above SE
    ISS Sun Mar 06/06:55 PM 2 19 16 above SW 16 above S

    Posted 13 years ago #

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