Family Rockets Christmas 2004

Before we left for Cayman in 2005 it had become almost a family annual event to launch some Estel rockets on Dartmoor over the Christmas period. The rockets would of course be blown away in the wind on the moors and a huge hunt then ensued on where the casing had gone, assuming the parachute still remained attached of course.

Sundial Miami Childrens Museum

Really nice example of a sundial where the gnomen is vertical. Miami is around 25 degrees Latitude N. Aug 2007

Wells Cathedrial Astronomical Clock

I love this clock with its jousting Knights- I beleive its the second oldest mechanical clock in Europe/World but its highly contested!

Ive made many many trips back to it over the years, from "detours" on caving weekends to the Mendips in my student days to meeting my second wife for the first time ( if you get what I mean)

Mars December 2007

Well its taken me a long time to get this, Mars is quite an elusive object for "modest" sized scopes so even with the ETX 90 it was hard work. More so when I realised the GOTO mounting needed some surgery as the body rocked back and forth on the tripod!- all with a barlow and the TouUcam it took the best part of an evening to get this, but success!! Taken 22nd Decemeber in the glare of the Christmas Lights..."

Pleiades Cluster

Taken with Canon Powershot and Scopetronix Adapter- December 2007

Thanks to Vista, a much better photo got corrupted when it was "copied" from the Chip

NASA Kennedy Space Centre and Cape Canaveral Dec 2006

I visited in early December 2006, missing the Shuttle Launch by a few days. I took the two "extra tours"- The Then and Now tour is recommended . This picture is of the remains of the Apollo 1 Launch Pad . A very thought provoking place

Lunar Eclipse Jan 21st 2001

My first star party with mulled wine. Photo taken in the back garden and with 35 mm film and ETX

Hale Bopp

taken on film and using a tripod . Then simply scanned in! Church is St Annes, Bewdley

Transit Of Mercury May 7 2003

V1 and V2 Rockets

Taken at RAF Cosford in 2005, this shows a German V1 Rocket used in the 2nd World War, one like this nearly killed my Mother













Another photo from the hanger , an unknown object in the middle but a huge V2 Rocket in the background!

Photos Of the Moon - general

Full Moon Feb 11th 2006 , digital camaers through eyepiece. I have done better

Sunspots Nov 2003

Camera held over eyepiece- 40mm in ETX

Sunset in Cayman

Sunsets are never boring in Cayman just how many you can stare at without going blind Ive no idea.
Ive discovered the best sunsets have cloud, it doesnt have to be perfect skies to see the elusive green flash either. The trick is tog et the flash on film!
I guess this is one of the photos I took in April 2005 on our first vist to the Island that pursuaded me to stay a little longer!

A little on Me

Ive been interested in Astronomy off and on since I was 12 . More than 30 + years later Im still dabbling away on and off , weather, family and TV permitting.

I moved to the Cayman Islands in July 2005 and am a member of the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society. See the Webpages here.........http://caymanastronomy.blogspot.com/

Solar Eclipse Cornwall 1999

taken from a back garden near Helston in Cornwall . Cloudy but a small hole moved across and we were lucky... My first Solar Eclipse and sold for life..

Solar Eclipse 2002 South Africa

December 2002 Kruger Park at around 10:00AM. Pretty Cloudy and what a long drive in convoy through the park starting in the very early hours. I was extraordinary lucky to get this photo. OM1 and telephoto lens. This was coming out of the eclipse...

Telescope and Cameras

Nothing too grand here.

In 1988 I purchased an 8inch Newtonian from Orion Optics (UK) based in Crewe. In 2000 I had the mirror resilvered and in 2004 resurrected the 'scope with a Meade Equatorial Mount and a Magellan GOTO all in a Childs Play House! I completed the project just in time to move from Worcstershire UK to the Cayman Islands, ( Jan 2005) so then had to take the whole thing apart.....

Buying the scope in 1988 was a pretty basic setup- no tube cap was included, but aging. Computer buffs might recognise the substitute... a magnetic tape case. As for the observatories location I was stuck I had to put the whole thing near a large hedge to avoid lights.

In 1999 I bought a Meade ETX 90 RA Model.. only recently upgraded to the GOTO version in 2006. This scope has been very successfull and has travelled with me extensively. No damage apart from the tripod which always travelled in aircraft holds, the scope is always hand luggage!

Heres a picture of the ETX in action for the Transit Of Venus in 2004. Aslo seen in the background is the "observatory". The background shows the River Severn Valley just North Of Bewdley, Worcestershire

In 2005 due to the move Overseas from eBay I bought a small refractor- short focus but very reasonable it included an EQ1 equatorial mount and RA drive too!

Cameras : An old Olympus OM-1 which worked really well with the ETX RA, less so with the newer model ( better in Polar Mount settings)

A small digital camera Olympus Camedia bought in December 2002 and has produced some good photos using eyepiece projection even though its resolution is only 2 M pixels
For the telescope itself I have also used

Electronic Eyepiece : The "cheap" Meade Monochromatic one.

Webcam Tu U Cam Pro

Solar Eclipse 2001 Zambia

These photos were taken outside Lusaka Zambia in June 2001 in a Farmers Field.

This shows the Moon AFTER Totality, the filter is back on....

This shows the ETX and site , remember we are now South of the Equator...














to the extreme right are the rest rooms

Transit Of Venus June 2004

A wonderful morning starting early in the day and finishing around lunchtime. Clear skies all the way except just at the end. This photo taken near the end of the transit

this shows point of third contact (taken with the Meade Electronic eye peice)

Here my eldest son as a teenager revising for his exams finally rises from his bed to view Venus using eyepiece projection, on my 2 year old's telescope bought on EBay!!



you can just about see venus....

Venus Crescent Dec 2005

This photo was taken in December 2005 showing Venus at sunset. ETX90 with Webcam