Flamsteed Astronomy Society

I was up in the Simien Mountains at about 3-4.5 Km altitude for 5 nights. Incredibly clear skies  with no light pollution whatsoever. I could see Comet Machholz immediately with the naked eye roughly between Aldebaran (the red giant star which is the eye of the bull in Taurus) and the Pleiades (or Seven Sisters as we call it in South Africa), and with binoculars could clearly pick out the 2 tails, one longer than the other. Motion was visible each successive night.

The Andromeda galaxy was also clearly visible with direct vision, and I did see a couple of meteors too with one bright exploding fireball, which left quite an impressive glowing gas trail behind it which faded in seconds. The milky way was also very bright and starlight actually provided enough illumination to find one's way by, some thing I haven't seen before except in Namibia.

It was well below freezing and a bit tired so I didn't stay out for long on these nights, but I think the sight which struck me the most was the Zodiacal Light - a somewhat tapered column of milky white light which extended up into the sky originating where the sun set. This is scattered light caused by the dust left over from the solar system formation and it really gives one a sense of the layout of the solar system as it lies along the solar system plane. Being very high up in the mountains, one can also see the shadow of the earth opposite sunrise falling across the atmosphere and the sky is very blue.

Another interesting thing I can think of was when I got our guide to have a look at the moon during the day through my binoculars. He exclaimed rather loudly in Amharic that it was round - making a fist to demonstrate this to everyone! I'm afraid my attempts to find out what his previous lunar theories were failed, as my Amharic is nonexistent...

Ah well. Anyway I recommend Ethiopia as a place to visit, so if anyone wants information, I can help.

 

Best regards,

Nick Witte-Vermeulen

From Nick Vermeulen in Ethiopia

January 2005