September 2024
Dark skies on holiday, with NO telescope! 29th September - Lumpy at the bottom clouds. Here's an example of the kind of thing that prevented me from attempting an image of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the pre-dawn skies of Derbyshire and Lancashire on 27th, 28th and 29th September. This is in the late afternoon sky on the 29th, rather a nice cloud type I thought. 12th September - In the South Downs National Park. There were some staggeringly clear nights while we were holidaying in the South Downs. The National Parks has rules regarding light pollution which bear dividends to a) someone interested in seeing the night sky and b) most wildlife. And to the detriment of no-one. I hadn't taken a telescope, but there was no suitable flat area with sky views in the place we were staying, so I wasn't overly disappointed. Particularly after seeing the results of short exposures on a fixed tripod, with an 85mm focal l...