Damian O'Hara - Swindon Stargazers Star Party
27-29 September2024

We began arriving at Rouselands Farm Campsite, Brinkworth from 2pm on Friday and tents began appearing from then on. In total, seven people camped and we had 5 visitors which included Hilary and Robin in the Shepherd’s Hut. By Friday evening the wind had dropped off and by 6pm the cloud was reducing. Lots of telescopes appeared and people began moving between them in curious conversation. A heavy dew caused eyepieces and red dot finders to mist up fairly quickly which required the use of some way to combat it. Numerous targets were visible through the various telescopes and Saturn and Jupiter were particularly impressive through Peter’s and Rob’s equipment

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There were several telescopes available for people to use, including club scopes and members own equipment, ranging from cameras and automated telescopes (3x Seestar) through manual and go to telescopes to the heavy duty imaging equipment. There were also several successes, where members were having problems, and after brainstorming with club members, these issues were overcome, and members were able to use their kit much more effectively.

The evening continued until midnight when increasing cloud and decreasing temperature called an end to activities. 

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A rather cold night followed with frost on all tents by 5 am on Saturday morning. The sunrise was impressive for those who managed to struggle out of their warm bags to see it. Most people rose at 8 am and the air quickly warmed as the Sun rose higher in the sky, although enthusiasts like Hilary were out at 03:45 and observed and recorded many objects. During Saturday the Sun became so strong that most people opted for hats for protection and spent a very pleasant day in the meadow, discussing astronomy and all kinds of other things until darkness approached.

At teatime on Saturday, Rob and Mike kindly volunteered to do a Fish and Chip run in Malmesbury. The resulting meal with really welcome and thanks very much to both for providing. Saturday evening was marked by high cirrus clouds which discouraged some astrophotography (though not all!) but visual astronomy continued without problems. The atmosphere was quite stable and viewing Saturn in particular gave a very rewarding display. Most members finished observing by 10pm due to lack of sleep the previous night. Saturday night was significantly warmer which was welcomed by all. 

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Sunday activities began a little later due to people getting a better nights sleep. Although most rose around 7 am but if around earlier would've seen a spectacular sunrise. After further conversations around equipment and the results of the weekend, we all began to pack away equipment and strike camp to return home. The overriding sentiment was that we very much need to do this again next year.

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A fly-past for the star party, captured  by Rob Slack!

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The lovely double star Alberio in Cygnus

Observing Report by Hilary Wilkey: 27-28 September

1. Albireo a double star in Cygnus

2. Starhopped from the Square of Pegasus tofind the Andromeda Galaxy M31

3. Saturn - also viewed through Rob Slack's 'scope first

4. M13 - viewed through Pete Chappell's 'scope

Saturday 28 September 0345 - 0445 approx Through my telescope I observed:

5. Pleiades M45,

6. Hyades and Aldebaran in Taurus, Crab Nebula M1,

7. Orion Nebula M42, M43 and NGC 1981 containing double star Struve 750

8. Orionid meteor (shooting star) - quite small

9. Praesepe 'The Beehive Cluster' or 'The Manger' with 2 donkeys M45 between Gemini and Leo

10. M41 below Sirius 'Little Beehive Cluster' - an open cluster of about 80 stars. This was the 1st time I had found it by starhopping myself after guidance from Rob (my husband) and Pete Chappell.

11. Lepus The Hare constellation 

Robin and I stayed in the shepherd's hut, and very comfortable it was too! 

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Hilary and the shepherd's hut

Report by Peter Chappell

Swindon Stargazers annual star party, viewing log

Damian, the club chairman had arranged for the star party to be held on one of two weekends in September, the first got clouded out but the second arranged for the weekend of the 27th to 29th turned out to be okay with the weather and clouds!

I decided I would not camp for the weekend as I had plans for Saturday and would be working on the Sunday. After leaving the Sally Pussey’s, I took my wife home and went off to the camp site. I arrived at the Rouselands farm camp site at 19:35 there were several tents and a couple of caravans set up already. I had my Meade LX90 with a Pentax XW 14 mm eye piece set up and ready to start viewing by 20:05, the temperature was 9 °C with little wind and some cloud around. The guide stars were Vega and Arcturus.
For tonight, I decided to use ‘Tonight’s best’ from the hand controller and let the computer decide what I would view. First object was Saturn low down in the eastern sky, the rings are starting to get close to edge on and I could make out the moon Titan (second largest in the solar system) to the right of the planet. Next object was Caldwell 14, better known as the Double Cluster, these find open clusters (OC) were better viewed with the finderscope as the main scope goes right thru them (too narrow field of view for them).

Off to the bright star Vega (in Lyra), this blue/white ‘A’ class star has a magnitude (Mag) of 0.0 (the lower the Mag, the brighter the star). Next was another star and slightly brighter at Mag -0.1 was Arcturus (in Bootes), this orange coloured ‘K’ class star is the brightest in the northern hemisphere and fourth overall. Across to Albireo in Cygnus (the head of the Swan) and probably the best double star in the whole sky? The main star is a ‘K’ class star (Mag 3.0) and the secondary is a blue one.

Finally in to the Messier (M) objects and M 13 in Hercules, the best globular cluster (GC) in the northern sky. This object was brilliant to look at and I could make a few stars out around the edge of this fine object. Off to the head of Pegasus and the star Enif, this ’K’ class has a Mag of 2.3, while viewing Enif I noticed dew on the eye piece, so I decided to change to the 20 mm eye piece and put the 14 into my pocket to warm up a bit. On to Altair, part of the summer triangle with Vega and Deneb, this blue/white ‘A’ class star shins at mag 0.7. Going back to some Messier objects now, starting with M 34, a fine OC in Perseus, this OC is sparse and loose to look at. Next was M 15, another fine GC in Pegasus (near Enif) which is not far behind M 13 to look at?

On to M27, the first planetary nebula (PN) to be discovered by Charles Messier, this object was good to look at. Back to another GC and M 2 in Aquarius, this was very similar to M 13 and 15 to look at. Off to the final star in the triangle and Deneb in Cygnus, this blue/white star shins at Mag 1.2 and is the tail of the Swan. Back into Hercules and often overlooked because of M 13 nearby is M 92, another fine GC to view, smaller than 13. Off to Ursa Major and M 82, the cigar galaxy, this irregular galaxy is one of the better galaxies on Messier’s list to look at. Back around to the other side of the sky and M 11, the Wild Duck cluster, this OC was dim and compact to look at. M 57 is another good PN to look at, this object is in Lyra. That was the end of the ‘Tonight’s best’ suggestions, by now Jupiter had finally cleared the hedge I was parked close too. I could make out the two main weather belts plus only three of the four main moons. Io was to the west of Jupiter with Ganymede and Calisto to the east. Later on checking my Jupiter 2 programme on my computer I noticed Europa was eclipsed by the giant planet and would come out from the planets shadow for another hour?

At 23:45, I decided to call it an evening and was packed up and ready to go by 00:10, by now the temperature had dropped to 3°C, with no wind there was a heavy dew around. All of my equipment used that night would need to be dried off over night before storing in their boxes. While I was at the camp I counted 11 club members, most of them would be staying for one or two nights,

Clear skies.

Peter Chappell

Below: Pictures captured by Peter using a ZWO SeeStar S50 APO Telescope

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Messier 13 or M13 (also designated NGC 6205) and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

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Messier 2 or M2 (also designated NGC 7089) is a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius

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Image Description

The Double Cluster in Perseus

The Double Cluster (also known as Caldwell 14) consists of the open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884 (often designated h Persei and χ (chi) Persei, respectively), which are close together in the constellation Perseus. Both visible with the naked eye, NGC 869 and NGC 884 lie at a distance of about 7,500 light years in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

NGC 869 has a mass of 4,700 solar masses and NGC 884 weighs in at 3,700 solar masses; both clusters are surrounded with a very extensive halo of stars, with a total mass for the complex of at least 20,000 solar masses.[1] They form the core of the Perseus OB1 association of young hot stars.[2]

Based on their individual stars, the clusters are relatively young, both 14 million years old. In comparison, the Pleiades have an estimated age ranging from 75 million years to 150 million years.


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