Flamsteed Astronomy Society

Observing report — Romney, February 17, 2008

by Roger Geeson

DOWN ON THE MARSHES – SOMETHING STIRRED!

Well, there was a next time and I was lucky enough to be given another look!

On Sunday February 17, the Gods got their act in sync with our programme and clear blue skies all day merged into an equally clear evening sky.

Martin said GO and we went, David Waugh, Sue Yates, Darren Baskill and I, arriving between 8.00 and 8.30 at Romney.

The Gods still had one sizeable spanner to chuck into our carefully planned works however, for a brilliant waxing gibbous Moon lit up the landscape like a sports stadium, dimming the sky and totally defeating any attempts to latch on to ‘Faint Fuzzies’ as Martin describes the galaxies and nebulae that we had so enjoyed on the previous visit. In addition to which, the ‘Milky Way’ had switched off totally. At least with the lunar illumination, reckoned by those who know to be about 1 Lux, the ‘elf ‘n’ safety’ prologue was largely unnecessary as the path, wooden rails and stay wires were clearly visible and Jane’s precious daffodil shoots shone quite provocatively in the moonlight, seemingly daring us to be careless enough to trample on them!

Despite the spoiling effect of the Moon in respect of deep space objects, we were quick to remember that we had been denied the chance to study it before due to its low elevation and so took full advantage of its dominating position this time around.

Picture: Dave Waugh

There were some fascinating and relatively unusual elongated craters and deformations almost directly behind the terminator which were thus thrown into stark relief by the deep shadows cast by the Sun. Similarly, on the far horizon, the extreme height of some of the topographical features was clearly shown in sharp silhouette.

After we had all sated ourselves upon aspects of the Moon which we had not seen before and been expertly guided by our host through numerous principal craters by name and had their identifying features carefully explained, Martin keyed in some more co-ordinates and the awesome Meade whirred and muttered and homed in on Saturn with deadly accuracy. As previously, we were treated to a magnificent image of Saturn with her ring system and satellite moons regimentally aligned to the left of the planet. There was Titan, way out to the far left, circumscribing the orbits of Dionne, Tethys and Rhea as one moved in towards the planet. Yet again, I had to admit to being unable to discern the Cassini division in the rings but I was more than happy with what detail I could observe and, hopefully, with practice I will improve.

Later, Martin redirected the mighty Meade to Mars where, to my delight, I was able (just) to make out the polar caps as a faint brightening of the rim. This was more than I had been able to see before and so there may be some hope for me yet.

Although it was not, surprisingly, as really bitterly a cold night as had been expected, some soup at half-time and Jane’s hot teas and coffees maintained us marginally above freezing point and reasonably comfortable although I think we were all far too busy and certainly too captivated by what we were privileged to see to worry too much about the cold. However, by the time we bade farewell to Jane and Martin at about 10.15, my feet were undeniably calling for a good defrosting from the Skoda’s excellent heating system (surely some mistake here — Ed).

It was another interesting and enlightening evening, in good company, and we were so lucky to catch conditions as favourable as they were. Not content with the evening show, Martin was up at the crack of dawn to catch on camera, and mail to me, a beautiful shot of Jupiter rising and set against a fantastic deep rose red backdrop. This red sky may well have worried a few Romney shepherds but it did not in fact hold true to tradition and spoil the rest of the day. One really cannot rely on anything these days!

Thanks J & M for another superb evenings viewing, we’re all indebted to you.     

Roger