Category Archives: Astronomy

Human Colonies in Space…

I listened to two talks in September that blurred together and definitely inspired me to think more about human colonisation of space, and in particular whether space stations or the surface of planets/moons would be better locations. Colonisation is an old science fiction theme, almost to the point of having become hackneyed without careful thoughtContinue reading “Human Colonies in Space…”

An interesting cluster of sunspots on 8/10/26…

These images show an interesting cluster of sunspots that were visible in white light on 8th October: One of my friends asked, “What does that mean though?” That’s a fair question… and sometimes I forget that people don’t generally know these kinds of things! Here’s my answer to that excellent question: “The Sun is aContinue reading “An interesting cluster of sunspots on 8/10/26…”

Sunspots images with the Acuter Solarus 80 ‘scope…

Having made a first pass of my partial solar eclipse images from 12/8/26, I thought I’d take a look at how much detail in the visible sunspots had been captured using the Acuter Solarus 80 ‘scope and a digital phone camera – and I was impressed! I’ve desaturated the colour, slightly boosted the contrast andContinue reading “Sunspots images with the Acuter Solarus 80 ‘scope…”

Partial Solar Eclipse – 12/8/26…

The UK enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on 12/8/26. About 92% of the Sun was covered by the Moon, and it seemed liked 92% of all people had gone out to see it! I chose to view the eclipse from the cliff tops at Minnis Bay, on the Isle of Thanet. This location has anContinue reading “Partial Solar Eclipse – 12/8/26…”

Astronomy: Python script to convert coordinates between epochs…

I like using “Burnham’s Celestial Handbook”, but the 1950s epoch coordinates quickly get frustrating, as we’re mostly using J2000 now. To speed up my workflow, I created this Python script to quickly convert from 1950s to J2000 coordinates. You’re welcome to pick it up (see disclaimer directly below) from my area on ‘Pcloud’ (Europe’s secure &Continue reading “Astronomy: Python script to convert coordinates between epochs…”

Partial solar eclipse – 29/3/25…

Building on the technique I developed last summer for observing the Sun (see “Sept ’24 – Solar Observations from Summer ’24…” from 25/9/24 on my blog), I was well-placed to observe today’s partial solar eclipse. Here is an image I took, showing both the Moon passing between Earth and the Sun, and a few sunspots:Continue reading “Partial solar eclipse – 29/3/25…”

Astronomers Thrill at Giant Comet Flying into Our Solar System – Scientific American

The internet is bubbling with news stories about comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein). Current size estimates are that the comet is about 100-370 km across – much bigger than the previous size winner, Hale-Bopp in 1997 at 60km. There are big uncertainties at the moment, with C/2014 UN271 some 20 AU away. Those uncertainties will narrow,Continue reading “Astronomers Thrill at Giant Comet Flying into Our Solar System – Scientific American”

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Seeks to Grab a Piece of Asteroid Bennu – Scientific American

NASA is hopefully going to grab up to 2kg of rick samples from asteroid Bennu and give us a fantastic insight into early planetesimal formation in the solar system… The spacecraft’s first attempt to gather material from the space rock’s surface could become the largest nonlunar sample return in history Source: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Seeks toContinue reading “NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Seeks to Grab a Piece of Asteroid Bennu – Scientific American”

I recently visited the Royal Observatory at Greenwich…

from my original blog on 1/9/19: I last came here over 20 years ago and enjoyed a night-time tour with the opportunity to look through the great 28″ refractor. Even today, this telescope it still one of the largest refractors in the world. However, its location near London makes for rather poor seeing through light-pollutedContinue reading “I recently visited the Royal Observatory at Greenwich…”