Nope, the neighbours have not fixed their fences.
I've been doing the Open University 'Planetary Science and Search for Life' course, and my exam results came in today, a pass !
Along with the Astronomy course I did last year this now means I've got the OU's Certificate in Astronomy and Planetary Science which is recognised by the RAS.
I think a nice little celebration is in order.
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Where shall I start?
Went to the Kielder star party and it rained, then rained some more, then finished off with more rain!
Oh, it was cloudy as well, the locals said it was too warm for the time of year which caused a lot of low lying cloud. We actually got a window in the clouds for about half an hour on the saturday night/sunday morning, this was my sons first view of the milky way and was described as 'awsome', I had to agree. You could see the cloud rolling in again so the scope stayed under wraps and I got down to some binocular viewing. Then it started raining again at about 2 a.m., it was still raining hard at 10 a.m. when we woke up.
Got home and promptly handed in my notice and changed jobs, so have been really busy getting settled in my new surroundings to worry about observing. Just as I felt ready to get back into the swing of things, the wind came!
I live on the top of a hill, which is great for observing, but not good when its windy, and the howling gales only stopped about 2 days ago. The upshot of the gales was that two of my neighbours high fences that protected me from their security/conservatory lights have blown down. Now my nice secluded semi-dark sky patio looks more like a floodlit football ground, oh joy!
So it looks like I'm going to have to change my observing habits and limit myself to bright objects when observing from home. I've had a look at the AAVSO website and I think I might start doing some serious work on a few of the brighter variables.
Think thats enough bad news for now.
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Accompanied with nearly a full moon of course!
Managed to get a couple of hours observing in to start the season, would have done longer but had to take the lad to football training, plus needed to be up early for work the following day.
Constellations:
Perseus
Andromeda
Cygnus
Cassiopeia
Lyra
Objects:
Vega
Alberio
M31
M39
M45
M52
M57
NGC 869 & 884 (Perseus double cluster)
Tried for the Veil and North American nebulas, but light pollution and being 3 days short of a full moon prevented this, will give them another go at the Kielder Forest Star Party.
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