sequestering carbon, several books at a time CXXXVIII

 The latest batch:

SeeStar, a very close one

Today was a beautifully sunny day, and we have a solar filter for our new telescope.  So we played with it again, after lunch

look at all those sunspots! no wonder there was a great aurora (even if we didn't see it)

zoom x2, and the spots' penumbrae are more visible

zoom x4, maximum zoom

The main problem with all this that the day was so sunny and bright, it was next to impossible to see the phone screen, so it was hard to set things up, or see the results.  But that's not an insurmountable issue: there are places in the shade.

So yes, we are very happy with our new toy!

SeeStar, or rather see moon and galaxies

Last night we finally had a night clear enough (although still somewhat hazy) to have a play with our latest telescope.

It's computer controlled, and calibrates its position automagically, presumably using GPS to get everything it needs.  It has a range of preprogrammed things to look at, and can autotrack (this is cheating, really, but great fun!).

First, of course, is to have a look at the crescent moon.  Everything is controlled through a phone app, including taking pictures of what it sees.  So here's a screenshot:

lovely craters along the terminator

We then moved on to looking at some galaxies.  M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, is always an interesting view.

When we first looked at the phone screen, there was very little to see.  But this image is after integrating the view for 5 minutes.  Nothing seen here was visible with the naked eye: the Plough could be seen through the faint haze, but not much more.  This is really impressive.  Also, there is a satellite track across the image, visible early on in the integration, but here integrated away by the time we took this one.

We're looking forward to a properly clear night, when we should get much better images.  And we'll need to get a tablet for better pictures, too!