Previous Club Meetings

🌑 Venus

29 November 2024
16:00-17:45

Shortly after sun goes down, we'll head to the park with the telescope to observe Venus in the deep-blue twilight sky. The planet is now at magnitude -4.0, and will be impossible to miss (weather permitting).

Image credit: Stellarium

Seeing Venus takes us one step closer to achieving our 2024 mission.

If we haven't frozen solid by half past five, we can see some satellites. A very faint Starlink satellite train (mag. 3.8) is due to pass overhead at 17:31. It's appearance will coincide with the ISS (mag. -2.6), which will also be visible at 17:31.

🛰 Satellite Spotting:
Starlink Train & ISS

25 November 2024
17:15-17:45

This evening we have the Starlink satellite train at 17:20 (mag. 2.0) and the ISS at 17:32 (mag. -3.4) coming over at a maximum altitude of 84 degrees.

The aim is to take a long-exposure photo of both these events.

Saturn-Titan Shadow Transit & Moon-Mars Conjunction

Wednesday, 20 November 2024
21:00 - 22:00

If the south-west sky is clear, we'll use the telescope to try to see the shadow of Titan on Saturn. Check the November action plan for more details.

Tonight, we will also witness a rare conjunction between the Moon and Mars. The 77%-illuminated Moon and Mars (mag. 0.2) will meet in the constellation Cancer.

Wrap up warm! It's going to be 0 °C and will feel like -3 °C!

Image credit: Stellarium

Image credit: Stellarium

🌕 Astrophotography: Full Moon

Friday, 15 November 2024
21:30 - 23:30

By 22:00, the Moon will be high and shining even brighter than usual. Our aim will be to take some photos using our phones (afocal photography) to see how much detail we're able to resolve. The conspicuous lunar crater, Tycho, will be our focus.

While out moongazing, we'll look east to see the planet Mars for the first time. It will almost certainly be possible for us to get a better view of Mars in December. Tonight, we'll observe Mars just out of curiosity.

Image credit: MK/JM (TRAC)

Tycho crater (bottom centre) at ~50x magnification. The ray system surrounding Tycho is visible, and the distinctive craters Copernicus and Kepler (top centre) can be seen.

Image credit: JM (TRAC)

A naked-eye view of Mars as it appeared from the street at 22:15. Mars (mag. -0.2) is the reddish orange dot directly above the streetlight.

🌕 Moonrise, Venus, and Starlink

Friday, 15 November 2024
16:00 - 17:30

This evening we can witness the moonrise at around 16:00. Then, if the sky is clear to the south-west, we'll be able to see Venus for the first time just above the rooftops.

At 17:19, another Starlink satellite train is due to pass overhead. This one is meant to be brighter (mag 2.0) than the previous two.

Image credit: MK (TRAC)

The full moon at perigee. It appeared fractionally larger than normal.

Image credit: MK (TRAC)

Venus (mag. -4.0) looked blazingly bright at twilight, even through the fast-moving clouds. We'll observe it through the telescope soon.