Kelling Heath hit by deluge

Sorry, I've been a bit slow in catching up with events. Sunday was another good day weatherwise and I managed to take the accompanying shot of the sun taken in the morning with a Nikon Cooolpix through my 70mm Solarscope. The trade stands were gone by Sunday, to the disappointment of a couple of visitors who had got the impression that they would be here for the entire weekend. But there was another full afternoon of talks in Kelling Heath's function room and the Society for Popular Astronomy's stand was again on display. As a keen supporter of the SPA, which is now Britain's biggest astronomical society, I was delighted to hear the comments of Martin Lewis, an active and experienced observer who gave a lecture on his own "trade secrets" at the camp. Martin, pictured, from St Albans has a very fine, home-built 20-inch reflector which he calls Fossil Light. He told me he was very pleased to be an SPA member, particularly because of the benefits of the society's discount scheme for members. He has saved £50 on just his latest purchases of two eyepieces - not bad when the SPA subscription is only £15 a year! Like Gain, Martin is interested in deep sky objects and spent his time here observing clusters of galaxies when sky conditions permitted. Sunday night was cloudy and it began to rain heavily, not stopping until more than 24 hours later! Parts of East Anglia suffered flooding and Kelling Heath got very wet. Today, Tuesday, the sun has broken through at last and it looks like being a pleasant day with, hopefully, some clear night skies to come. Sadly, most campers have now left and just a hard core will be left to enjoy them. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com

Public day follows a clear night

We opened our tents at Kelling Heath this morning to a very misty start, with the sun trying to break through the cloud. But it followed yet another great night for the skycamp, with the sky largely clear for most of the night. Observers were plagued with the dewing up of cameras and telescopes in the moisture-laden air. But the dark skies kept everyone busy finding new objects to observe. A team from the BBC's The Sky At Night TV programme were touring the field, with professional astronomer Lucie Green interviewing observers. Thankfully they were using a night-vision camera rather than the usual bright lights! One camper, observing supernova remnant the Veil Nebula in Cygnus with a giant instrument, used a laser pen to show them just where to find it in the sky. I had not seen one demonstrated before and it was most effective. Today was a fine one for the open day and one of the fields became a village of astronomy dealers with many of the well known UK names represented. Many campers came away with new telescopes or must-have accessories. They included Andy Wilson, pictured here, from Paddock Wood, who picked up a very nice Williams Optics refractor and Vixen mount that together make a very useful portable instrument. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com

Outlook brighter for tonight

An early evening shot of the sky to the west gives some hope that there will be some clear skies again tonight and we will be able to do some observing. Hopefully that will please deep sky expert observer Owen Brazell who is here and who told me I was being too negative this morning and would put people off coming! The attendance has swelled considerably today with many amateurs having to put up their tents in the rain. Trade stands have been busy setting up too ready for the open days this weekend. Another arrival was Ian Morison, from Jodrell Bank, who is also a visual observer and telescope expert. Despite not bringing the poles for his tent, Ian rather impressively managed to jury-rig his temporary home into a stable and habitable structure. The picture shows Ian working on the inner tent. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com

Rain arrives to spoil the party

As more and more skycampers arrive at Kelling Heath, Norfolk's weather is changing for the worse and it is currently raining. Here is a view this morning at around 10am of black clouds in the sky to the west. Last night started well, completely devoid of any cloud once again. But many observers complained that it was brighter and milkier than previous nights. Most still managed to get plenty of observing in before 3am when thin high cloud was obscuring much of the sky. Happy birthday to Howard Brown-Greaves who arrived last night and is celebrating his birthday here today. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com

The marvel that Messier missed

Last night was another fine one at Kelling Heath with clear skies from horizon to horizon. It was also a night when I made a great discovery, albeit a personal one rather than a contribution to astronomy such as a new comet. Visiting Gain once more, we ran through a few celestial favourites once again. Then he asked me to take a look at his favourite open cluster in the sky. Through his 18-inch Dobsonian telescope, it was a dazzling sight with the field packed with bright stars. As someone else here said, like looking down on the lights of a big city at night. I turned my own 10x50 binoculars on the area of sky, close to the well known W shape of Cassiopeia, and I was amazed to see it shining as a bright nebulous patch. What most surprised me was to learn that this object had no Messier number. Inconceivably, it seems to have been missed by the French cataloguer of fuzzy blurs that might be mistaken for comets. So it is known by its New General Catalog number, NGC 7789. I've attached a map here, a screen grab from the Starry Night program, to show NGC 7789's location. It is above the horizon throughout the night from the UK and high in the sky at midnight at this time of year. So do go out and have a look. It is well worth viewing. Despite the plethora of big telescopes here and the presence my own 8-inch Vixen Visac scope, I very much enjoyed just sitting back and scanning the sky for more fuzzy Messier objects. Challenged by members of the Society for Popular Astronomy's forum, I viewed my favourite galaxy, M33 in Triangulum, which can be a challenge in a telescope if skies are less than perfect. It was easily seen in my binoculars and I am also quite sure that I also able to spot it with the unaided eye. We looked through the 18-inch telescope too where it was possible to discern the galaxy's spiral structure, resembling a giant backward S. On a perfect night, M13 in Hercules and M81 and M82 in Ursa Major were other easy objects in the binoculars. And it was a delight to sweep up M35, a beautiful bright star cluster, shining low over the horizon in Gemini. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com

Gain's scope draws a cluster

The camp is steadily filling up as more and more amateurs arrive for the star party. Contrary to expectations, last night was pretty clear throughout, with occasional high cloud drifting over, and many observers stayed up until dawn. One of those hardy individuals was Gain Lee from Huddersfield who has swopped the hi-tech scope he was using last year for an 18-inch Dobsonian which will allow him to indulge more in visual observing. He tells me he has a project going to observe and sketch galaxy clusters. He managed to observe 60 objects last night, despite being approached frequently by a cluster of campers wanting to see some of the more spectacular sights. I tagged along on one of these sessions, getting superb views of M13, the globular cluster in Hercules, M31 and its companion galaxies in Andromeda and the Ring Nebula looking quite brilliant in Lyra. Gain tells me the faintest galaxy he observed last night was NGC7326 which is catalogued at magnitude 16. One fine target that he was pleased to observe was Staphan's Quintet in Pegasus - a combination of four close interacting galaxies and a fifth unrelated a bit further away. The brightest two galaxies in the quintet were "easy", says Gain, shining at 12th and 13th magnitude. Gain's tent looks a bit like Nasa mission control with a computer and all sorts of other gadgets. He is clearly a well-organised observer. His other achievements during the night were a beautiful image of the crescent Moon, complete with earthshine, and lovely wide-angle view of Orion and its neighbours in the brightening dawn sky. The other photo is mine of Gain with his 18-inch Dobsonian telescope. Tonight is already clear and dark too so another good session seems to lie ahead. The wind has died down too after a very gusty day which had me worrying about the tent. I mean I always wanted to be out standing in my field but I'd prefer to have the tent stay up too . . . ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com

Mission control established at camp

Your reporter's coverage of events Kelling Heath did not get off to the most auspicious start when a delay in leaving London, combined with dreadful traffic through the east of the capital, led to his arrival at the campsite shortly after sunset yesterday. Despite my best efforts, it soon became clear that setting up an unfamiliar tent was not going to be successfully achieved in darkness. So after repairing just in time for a bar meal, I spent the night in the car(!), waking occasionally to follow the passage of the stars and rising of the crescent Moon. Daybreak saw the tent successfully erected (I hope) and the photo (which Blogger won't let me upload at the moment) shows that is was swiftly converted into an editorial office thanks to a camping table and my Mac Powerbook. There is wi-fi in the bar area (not free) which will be very useful. A few amateurs are already here and I got to meet one of the organisers, who was cycling around to check everything was OK. The site is set to fill up closer to the weekend. I am impressed by the luxury nature of camping these days. Some tents are equipped with computers, microwave ovens and all manner of other electrical gear. That helped me make a swift decision to abandon my little gas stove and call in at nearby Cromer for a microwave (£25) and a kettle and toaster for around £5 apiece. Observing conditions are not looking great for tonight after a windy day which was warm when the sun came out. There is also the threat of gales, apparently the remnants of a hurricane on the other side of the Atlantic. Must go and check those guy ropes! ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com

Comet set to Swan along

If you have ever wondered what it is like to discover a comet, now could be your chance. Amateur astronomers are busy watching out for one of these celestial wanderers to appear from out of the Sun's glare. Any day now, someone is expected to spot Comet Swan, or 2006 M4 (Swan) as it is properly known, as it moves into the pre-dawn sky. There are hopes that it will be a bright object in binoculars and may even sport a small tail. Of course, unlike real comet discoveries, astronomers already know that this comet is around and where it will appear in the sky. The comet was detected by two amateurs, Rob Matsoon and Michael Mattiazzo on pictures taken by an instrument called Swan on the Soho spacecraft which spends its entire time monitoring solar activity. Somewhat ironically, the satellite has become more famous among amateur astronomers for the comets it has spotted than the work on the sun. Indeed some amateurs have got caught up in the hunt for new comets in the Soho images and hundreds have been spotted in this way. It is a far cry from the traditional comet hunter braving freezing nights to sweep the sky with binoculars but a valid new route for astronomy in this modern, computer-enhanced age. What's more it is certainly a lot more comfortable. Comet Swan should be picked up while in the constellation of Leo as a 7th magnitude object. It will move into Ursa Major, far below the bowl of the Plough, according to the Society for Popular Astronomy but will brighten to around 6th magnitude by mid-October when it could even be visible with the unaided eye in exceptionally dark skies. From October 7-10, the comet will pass close to the star Alpha Canum Venaticorum, otherwise known as Cor Caroli. No doubt we shall return to Comet Swan following its recovery. The image above, by the way, is of a bright comet in a Soho satellite image. You can see its streak just to the left of the Sun which is masked by an occulting disk. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com