Club Articles
Cornish Astronomer Secures The Prime Meridian of The World for
Britain In 1884
An article on by Brian Sheen
A hundred and twenty years ago a triumphant John Couch Adams returned
to Britain after difficult month in America. It had been clear for some
while that the worlds shipping was in difficulty as the charts in use were
based on a variety of Prime Meridians. The Americans called a Conference
in Washington to resolve the situation. Britain's principal delegate was
Couch Adams as Director of the Cambridge Observatory........More
The Transits of Venus
A talk given to club members by Brian Sheen.
The principal characteristic of the solar system is that it is
co-planar, all the planets and the Sun lie within a few degrees of one
another. This means that the Inferior planets, Mercury and Venus can pass
across the face of the Sun this phenomena is known as a transit. Mercury
transited in May 2003. Venus has not crossed the Sun since 1882, and will
not do so again until 2012. The intervals between transits are
successively 8, 121.5, 8, 105.5, 8, 121.5 et seq. As can be seen they
occur in pairs and these pairs alternate between June and December events.
The study of transits has covered nearly 400 years and during this time a
number of very significant changes have taken place......More
The (Slow) Road to Astro-Photography by CCD
Successful photography of celestial objects, especially the dim ones
such as nebulae and galaxies, requires that you have a telescope/mount
system which can accurately track these objects. The reason for this, is
these faint objects require long exposure and it is an unfortunate fact of
life that the sky will not stay still for us......More
Mars Past, Present & Future.
The word Planet comes from the Greek meaning "Wandering
Star". Of all the planets in the sky Mars is the one to which this
term applies the most. Because it has such a strange motion it has been
studied for thousands of years, although until the arrival of the
telescope with little effect. At its best only Venus can be brighter, as a
red object Mars stands alone, the Romans naming it after the god of war,
the rate at which it travels east, it brightness variations even at
opposition attracted much attention from the astronomers of old......More
Just a Minute- What's all this about Time?
As
astronomers we get involved in three basic types of time. These are......More
Light Pollution in Cornwall
There are several areas of light pollution that could be
investigated but my main objective will be to discover if and how much the
night sky around the St Austell area has been affected by street and
industry lighting. I have
chosen the night sky because as an amateur astronomer the subject is close
to heart and the thought of losing the stars to light pollution would be
unacceptable. St Austell is
set in a rural area, which should mean there are areas where the stars are
visible and where the sight in more populated areas are not.
My biggest concern is with the increasing population and the
building of estates, the areas where observing is possible will become
less available as time goes on......More
Telescope Buyers Guide
Amateur Astronomy is one of the most fascinating
hobbies in the world, but to get really into it, you probably will want to
get a telescope. But to read the adverts in the magazines, you've got one
very confusing choice out there. As well as the type of scope be it a
Reflector, Refractor or a Catadioptic - don't worry at this point, we'll
explain the differences later- there are many different sizes and even
some which we wouldn't even poke a stick at. Finally there's the decision
as to how much to spend. This article has been compiled by the
membership's own experiences. They all had to buy that 'first telescope',
and hopefully, you can benefit from their hindsight. We'll help answer
many of the questions you may have about purchasing a telescope as well as
clearing up some of the mysteries about astronomical telescopes in
general.....More.
Global Warming- The State of Play
That there have been changes in the world's climate within living
memory is indisputable. It is just the weight placed by the various
authorities on the different elements that cause these changes that is
questioned by some......More
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