Prof. Tom Hartquist is an astro-physics specialist from the University of Leeds and will be visiting us on Monday 13th May 2013 to give a talk on Stars and Planetary Formation.

Tom Hartquist studied at Harvard where he later worked as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1980 he was awarded a Royal Society Jaffe Donation Fellowship to conduct research in University College London. Subsequently, he became a senior scientist in a Max Planck Institute, part of what is generally considered the leading European scientific establishment outside the UK. His first work in astrophysics was in cosmology, but he became more fascinated in problems concerning how molecules regulate stellar birth and stellar death and how magnetic fields affect the dynamics of astrophysical sources. He has worked on the acceleration of cosmic rays and how they contribute to the support of plasma high above the disk of the Galaxy, atmospheric physics, lightning in the protoSolar nebula, starburst galaxies and many other topics. He has edited and authored several highly regarded books for Cambridge and Oxford University Presses.

Here are some web pointers to wet your appetite;

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBiU-mMfxzU - A YouTube preview of Prof. Hartquist
• http://www.ast.leeds.ac.uk/staff/hartquist.html - University webpage with links to his publications
• http://www.ast.leeds.ac.uk/research/starplanetform.html - Leeds University page on Star and Planetary Formation
• http://www.nrao.edu/index.php/learnsciencestarandplanetformation - Article from the NRAO on Star and Planet Formation

Hope to see many of you there.

Don't forget it is a combined bat watch / sky watch tomorrow night in Pearson Park. The bat watch is first and then hopefully after watching these extraordinary flying mammals the scopes will be set up and the sky will be clear to do a bit of planet & star spotting.

Obviously the sky watching bit is when it gets dark. Normally the astronomers pitch is towards the Pearson Park Hotel but you should easily be able to spot the scopes.

If you are going why not post a follow up.

The equipment below is offered for sale by Justin Owen and Jon Purdy. Please contact Jon Purdy jon.purdy.1@gmail.com if you are interested. He is based in Garton on the Wolds.

Paul.

"...Below is the ebay description but please get back if you want more pictures or to visit to look at the gear. The big ticket item is obviously the Meade scope.   There’s quite a lot of other equipment that will be thrown in. As a guide we were asking £4000 or near offer on ebay for everything, we probably would have accepted £3300, but we’re happy to split.

Jon

Observatory with Meade12 “ GPS and 5” Antares refractor.

For Sale a complete observatory and all Equipment. Would be good for a club, school or astronomical society looking for a starter set up.

Includes:

Observatory with very good dome, 8ft diameter, fiberglass coated, running on roller bearings.

Price includes all the observatory but dismantling the lower section may be a problem, you’re welcome to take what you want but may be best to build another bottom.

There is some dirt on the dome in the photo but this will easy pressure wash off - you could easily put another layer of jell coat on it if you want a different colour.

Meade 12”LX200 GPS, with auto-focuser

Tube in excellent condition the fork mount shows the signs of being in an cold observatory for a few years, and we had to drill the face plate of to change the batteries last year.

Currently on a pillar but includes the tripod

Antares 5”semi APO (127mm f 1200mm f/9.4

            Check this web site for a good review.

            http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1321

Various Good Quality 1 1/4 “ eyepieces in excellent condition.

Large 2”Meade series 5000 super wide angle lens.

Collection of other equipment.

We can remove the dome with a forklift if required."

Images taken on 02/04/13. The comet was not visible to the naked eye, but shows clearly on the photos taken from my back bedroom despite the light pollution. For observers, if you can see M31 from your location, then you will be able to see the comet - the images show that at the moment they have similar brightness.

Paul.

Definitely below zero - I was there with Allan and couldn't feel my fingers after 10 minutes.
Canon EOS550D ISO 3200, 8 x 8 secs. Canon 90-300 zoom, 90mm at f/4.5.

Freezing cold at Kiplingcoats. 18x10secs stack using Canon 1000D.
It looks great through binoculars.

Allan

Imaged from Whin Lane (near High Hunsley). Not as good as I was expecting - too much light pollution from Market Weighton. The comet was just visible to the naked eye, appearing a fraction brighter than M31 and discernable as a small fuzzy patch of brightness. I didn't have binos with me, but I think the comet would have stood out clearly in them. Best time? about 1 hour after sunset. The comet is very easy to find, being close to M31 at the moment. There is a time-lapse video at http://www.broughastronomy.co.uk/apps/videos/videos/show/17793663-comet-c-2011-panstarrs - it's low quality, but you can just pick out the comet after about 45 secs.

Paul

At last a picture of Saturn. This is my fouth attempt. Previously the seeing was very bad. However it was a little better this morning. Hopefully once Saturn gets into the evening sky we might get a night of steady seeing.

Details: 8" SCT. Imaging Source fast frame rate camera. 1/19 sec. Luminence from a stack of 816 frames from 7200. Processed in Registax 5&6 and Corel Paintshop Pro x2

Regards
Arthur

Good picture Paul. Your sky looks a lot cleaner than what I was looking at, but the comet itself is identical to what I saw in my bins.

Same as you Arthur, spotted low in the wesi. I couldn't see it with the naked eye, but captured it on a photograph...neede a lot of streching to bring it out. I'm more than a bit annoyed with myself for not driving out to somewhere with a better view of the horizon. I lost it in the trees not long after the image was taken.