How two moons caused confusion at Saturn in 1966

 On December 18^th 1966 a moon now called Epimetheus was discovered orbiting Saturn by the American astronomer Richard Walker. A few days earlier on December 15^th the French astronomer Audouin Dollfus observed a moon which he proposed to be called Janus. At the time it was believed there was just one moon being discovered and the discovery was credited to Walker.

However, 12 years later in 1978 it was realised that there were two objects here Janus and Epimetheus. Final confirmation came in 1980 when Voyager 1 flew past Saturn.

The Astronomy show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. 

I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

 The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

 

 

 

The Glen Miller mystery 80 years on

 If you think of great band music in the 1930s and 1940s you will probably think of Glen Miller with hits like Moonlight Serenade, Chattanooga Choo Choo and In the Mood.

This is the 80^th anniversary of his disappearance.

It is strange that someone so well-known at the time and so well remembered has a large mystery attached to his last journey.

It was very cloudy, there was heavy rain, and it was foggy, Glen Miller is reputed to have said we will never get off the ground today. His manager Don Haynes said the fog and rain could be cut with a knife. Most airports across Britain were shut that day the 15^th December 1944, however a single engine Noorduyn Norseman takes off and disappears into the clouds. The plane and Glen Miller the great band leader is never seen again.

The Norseman plane was a Canadian designed aircraft and entered service in 1936. They would be used by the Canadian Air Force and United States Army Air Force.

As he was the greatest music star of his day the conspiracy theories quickly started. Even now 80 years on we don’t know why he took off on that day or what happened.

One idea was that he was shot down captured and tortured by the Nazis, another that he was shot down by friendly fire or even that his plane was hit by a jettisoned bomb. A fleet of 139 Lancaster bombers was returning from an aborted mission due to the weather and were dropping their bombs into the English Channel. Could one of these had struck his plane? We don’t know.

The pilot maybe not that experienced, didn’t have the confidence to say that it was too dangerous to fly that day. The mystery will probably never be solved or will it?

Maybe someday in the future we might learn the true story of the last flight of the great band leader Glen Miller. 

                                                       www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk 

Wold Cottage Meteorite 1795

This is the oldest known British meteorite in ‘captivity’  in a museum. It would prompt the first full scale investigation into meteorites.

The meteorite fell at around 3.00 o’clock on December 13th 1795 in a field near the Wold Cottage in the East Riding of Yorkshire on land which was owned by Major Edward Topham.  The fall was observed by several people and landed a few yards from ploughman John Shipley.

A sound like gunfire was heard by people who thought that French warships were bombarding Bridlington. Britain was at war with France at the time. People described seeing a dark object passing through the air.

The meteorite weighed about 56pounds (25kg) and made a hole 19 inches deep passing through 12 inches of topsoil and 7 inches of chalk. The meteorite is a L6 chondrite the second, most common type of meteorite. It is what astronomers call a stone meteorite although about 25% of the meteorite will still be made of iron.

Topham erected a plinth in 1799 to mark the site of the meteorite fall, he didn’t keep the meteorite. In 1804 he sold it to James Sowerby for 10 guineas or £10.50 in today’s money. That £10.50 today is worth around £1,300. In 1837 Sowerby sold the meteorite to the British Museum for £250. A substantial amount in its day which would be worth £31,300.

The plinth says On this spot December 13th 1795 fell from the atmosphere and extraordinary stone. In breadth 28 inches, In length 30 inches which weighed 56 pounds.

This column in memory of it was erected by Edward Topham 1799

Only 20.6 of the 25 kg made it to the British Museum to be part of their collection. The remainder is believed to have been broken off and given away prior to acquisition.

 

                                                   www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

Nova Hercules 1934

 A few years before All Creatures Great and Small Was set the vets travelling across the moors of Yorkshire might have seen a new bright star or nova appear in the sky.

Nova 1934 discovered by English amateur JPM Prentice on December 13th, 1934, at mag 3.0 and reached its peak brightness on December 22nd, 1934, at mag 1.5.  This would have made it brighter than he north star or the stars that make up the group of stars known as the Plough. It remained visible to the naked eye for several months. The nova was around 1,600 light years away. 

Today the nova is classified as DQ Hercules

A nova the word is Latin for new is a binary star system, there are two stars here. It was a term used in the Middle Ages when people thought it was a star being created. This is why they called it a nova.   The system is formed of a small white dwarf star and a much larger cooler star. The white dwarf star is formed of material that has been squashed together this material astronomers refer to as degenerate material, it is so heavy that a lump of white dwarf material the size of a snooker ball would weigh around 70 tons!!

Material from the large cooler star is pulled gravitationally toward the white dwarf star. It forms a disc of gas which then falls onto the surface of the white dwarf which the throws a shell of gas into space which we see and as a bright dot in the sky and we call this a nova.

 

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The one man football team

 It was grim day up north on December 12^th 1891. In a snowstorm at Turf Moor Stadium, Burnley are playing Blackburn Rovers in a first Division match. It says much about the Victorian period that the Match kicked off at all.

In the second half the weather conditions worsen, and players resolve weakens. The Blackburn Rovers players revolt, walking of the pitch and feeling numb it is too cold to play. Only the Rovers goalkeeper Herby Arthur remains.

The match descends into farce, to derisive cries from the crowd Arthur successfully appeals for offside when one Burnley player passes to another. What can the referee do? With no one to pass to , Arthur engages in a lengthy period of time wasting until the bemused referee is forced to abandon the game 30  minutes before time.

 Burnley win 3-0.

                                                    www.therambingastronomer.co.uk

The Before Full Yule Moon

 The full moon on December 15^th is known as the Before Yule Moon. The feast of Yule occurs on the night of December 21st which is the day of the year when the Sun is at its lowest in the sky and produces the shortest period of daylight of the year. This date can vary from year to year by a day or so. 

A long time ago people watched for the full moon in December; they then had from that date until the feast of Yule to chop down a log from the forest in readiness to burn it from the feast of Yule for twelve nights. Today of course the Yule log has turned from firewood into a cake!!

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Geminids Meteor Shower

 Get set for the Geminids meteor shower: a shooting star spectacular for the end of the year! Many people look out for the annual Perseid meteor shower, which occurs in August. It is, however, not the most spectacular meteor shower.  The Geminids hold that title, and they can be seen this month. The Geminids reach maximum on the night of December 14/15 when up to 120 meteors per hour might be seen. 

Meteors are connected with comets. As a comet, which is essentially a dirty snowball, travels around the Sun, it leaves a trail of dust behind it. If the Earth happens to pass through such a trail we see a meteor shower. The Earth passes through many such streams each year. Some of the meteor showers are spectacular; others less so, but they are all predictable. The Geminids are so called because the meteors all seem to come from the constellation of Gemini the Twins. They are special because they are associated not with a comet but with an asteroid, called Phaethon who was the son of Helios who used the solar chariot fir a day, lost control of it and almost set the earth on fire. 

The pieces of dust produced by asteroids are slightly larger than those produced by comets and because of this they travel through the Earth’s atmosphere more slowly, making them much brighter than the usual meteors. The Geminids travel at about twenty miles a second, while most other meteors travel at speeds closer to forty miles per second. The dust particles burn up due to friction in the Earth’s atmosphere. 

If there are no clouds we should be in for a spectacular event.  If you see a meteor or shooting star in the sky, remember to make a wish!

                                                    www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. 

I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

Lucky discovery of asteroid with Crossley reflector in 1899

 Asteroid 1899 FD was discovered by chance on December 6^th 1899 using the 36 inch Crossley telescope at Lick Observatory.

The region of Hind’s variable nebula or NGC 1555 was photographed on December 6^th, 1899, by James Keeler using the 36-inch Crossley reflector at Lick Observatory in America. The telescope was owned by Edward Crosley of Halifax in Yorkshire. Crossley owned the Crossley Carpet factory; he had donated the telescope to Lick.  The nebula is named after the British astronomer John Russell who first discovered it is a peculiar variable nebula; it is believed to be an area where stars are being created.

An exposure of 4 hours on the negative when it was examined the next morning found a very fine faint line. The position of the asteroid could not be determined accurately, another photograph was taken on December 9^th, 1899, it was then announced that asteroid 1899 FD had been discovered. The asteroid was very faint at magnitude 17.

 

Today the asteroid is known as 452 Hamiltonia.

                                                     www.theramblingastreonomer.co.uk

Mr Maw and his two Thomas Cooke telescopes

William Henry Maw (1836 – 1924) was born in Scarborough on December 6^th 1836, when he was growing up he was friends with the sons of Dr Harland, two who would become the founders of the Harland & Wolf ship builders. Both his parents died when he was in his teens, without influences and an advantage of a higher education he was still able to raise himself to become a leading authority in the fields of mechanics and engineering. 

His leisure time was however devoted to astronomy. In Kensington, London in 1887 he built an observatory for his 6 inch Cooke telescope which he used to study the Moon. Later from 1897 when he lived in Surrey he built an observatory for a larger 8 inch Cooke  telescope. This had originally been owned by the Rev R W Dawes and would later be located at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge and known as the Thorrowgood Telescope. 

W H Maw made extensive observations of double stars using both Cooke telescopes. In particular the double stars from the Struve catalogue. His observations were considered to be very accurate. Maw was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and one of the founders of the British Astronomical Society.  

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Exhibition of the Phonograph in York in 1878

At this time of year Christmas music is being played everywhere, but a long time ago before music was available online or on a CD there was the phonograph or record player as it would become known was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison. 

On the 17^th December 1878 the first phonograph to be seen in York was exhibited at the Kenrick Rooms, Spen Lane in York by Messrs T Cooke and Sons. Permission had been obtained by Cooke and Sons from the London Stereoscopic Company who had purchased the British patent from Mr Thomas Edison the inventor. 

The phonograph was explained by Mr Cox-Walker of Cooke and Sons. Briefly the phonograph consists of a brass cylinder, around which turns a spiral grove. The operator speaks into a mouthpiece upon a thin diaphragm, exactly like a telephone, to which a metal point is attached. The cylinder is covered with tin foil, and the point being in connection, and the handle turned while the operator is speaking, the point runs in the groove and makes several indentations in the tin foil corresponding to the vibrations of the diaphragm caused by the voice. On turning the reverse way the sounds are reproduced, the indentations in the tin foil, acting upon the metal point, causing the diaphragm to vibrate and communicate its motion to the air. 

The singing is very distinct, but the reproduced words of a speaker are somewhat thick, though the result is marvellous in the extreme. Two instruments were exhibited, one working by clock work and the other by hand. By the former the tone is reproduced more correctly, owing to the greater regularity in the turning of the instrument.   

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

Moon slides past Saturn

 Following the close approach of the Moon to Venus a couple of days ago, the Moon is passing another of the naked eye planets. This time the quarter moon will be close to the plants Saturn on December 7^th and 8^th.Saturn will appear as a yellow looking star in the south western sky.

                                                    www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Yorkshire telescope discovers moon of Jupiter from America in 1904

 On December 3^rd, 1904, C D Perrine at the Lick Observatory in America using the Crossley 36-inch telescope discovered the 6^th moon of Jupiter which today is called Himalia. The name Himalia is named after the nymph Himalia who had three sons by Zeus. The name wasn’t given to the moon until 1975.

It is the largest of the small irregular moons of Jupiter having a diameter of about 90 miles (140km).

The Crossley telescope was purchased by Edward Crossley of Halifax in West Yorkshire in the early 1880s. Crossey owned the Crossley carpet mill the largest in the world in the md 19^th century. He was a keen astronomer but most of his time was allocated to running his company. Although the telescope performed poorly in Halifax due to the sky conditions being so poor caused by all the factory pollution in the sky. Crossley gifted the telescope to the Lick observatory in the mid-1890s.  It performed brilliantly in the clear California weather

At least 8 comets and 3 moons of Jupiter plus numerous asteroids were discovered by astronomers at Lick using the 36-inch Crossley telescope.

The telescope was used for research work until around 2010 was always known as the Crossley telescope.  You could say that a little bit of Yorkshire astronomical history achieved fantastic discoveries in America.

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. 

I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

Venus dances with the Moon

On December 5^th and 6^th assuming it is nice and clear you will be able to see the planet Venus which will appear as a very bright white dot low in the sky in the west just after sunset with a crescent moon above it. Venus is sometimes called the ‘Evening Star’

Venus can be seen even closer to the Moon on the 4^th but it will be lower down and there will be less of the crescent of the Moon to be seen.

                                                   www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cat's Eye in the road Cat's Eye in space

 So, the story goes on December 3^rd, 1933, a cold and foggy night, Percy Shaw a blacksmith in Halifax West Yorkshire is driving home. This is before streetlights and road markings were introduced.

 As he drives slowly along the road he is startled when the headlights of his car are brilliantly reflected by the eyes of a cat sitting beside the road. Peercy Shaw then has a flash of inspiration and possibly one of the greatest contributions to road safety in the 20^th century.

That at least is the romantic version of the invention of the Cat’s Eye. But Shaw is smart enough not to allow the cold truth to de mist a good story.  He patents the Cat’s eye reflecting road stud in 1934 and develops over the next few years. Nothing much happens until World War 2 when the black out makes driving even more dangerous.

The in 1947 a junior transport minister, Jim Callaghan introduces the cat’s eye nationwide. Percy Shaw’s company Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd manufactures and exports a million cat’s eyes a year at its peak.

Percy Shaw will become one of Britain’s most eccentric millionaires, he wasn’t interested in luxuries except 2 Rolls Royce cars and a cellar of Worthington’s India Pale Ale.

The cat’s eye still is regarded as one of the greatest ever British designs.

Is there an astronomical connection, of course there is, because there is the Cat's Eye nebula in space. It is in  the constellation of Draco the Dragon at around 3,000 light years from the Earth. It is to faint to be seen with the naked eye, you would need a telescope to find it.

IT was discovered by William Herschel in February 1786, earlier in 1781 he had discovered the planet we now call Uranus. He described the nebula looking planet like, and the term a planetary nebula was born .Planetary nebula have nothing whatsoever to do with planets. Planetary nebula are stars approaching the ends of their lives, they are puffing away what remains of their gases into space. This is what makes them look planet like in appearance. Our Sun will go through this stage of its evolution in around 3.5 billion years time. 

If you go on line and search for the Cat's Eye nebula you will see pictures that show it does look like  the eye of a cat.

William Herschel did not name the Cat’s Eye nebula this was done after pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed tis true nature.

                                             www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

An eclipse of the Sun and then Anarchy

Sometimes storms and bad weather can have a profound effect on history, such an event happened on December 2^nd, 1120.

On that during a very powerful storm the ship named The White Ship crashes into rocks in the English Channel and sinks with all hands-on board. Among those on board is Prince William Adelin, the only legitimate son and heir of King Henry I This will lead to a succession crisis and civil war in England.

The Norman Saxon nobility owns land in both France and England and sailings between the two countries is very routine although this sailing was late in the year, with the increased risk of bad weather. The ship because it was being used for royal service was well fitted out. This did not save it from disaster.

Henry I failed to produce another male heir and was forced to pass the succession to his daughter Matilda. With all the confusion caused when Henry died his nephew Stephen of Blois claimed the English throne in 1135.  By one of those strange strokes of fate Stephen should have been on the White Ship but he was poorly and did not sail.

In medieval times eclipses of the Sun were seen as omens of bad fortune, the eclipse of August 2nd, 1133, was such an eclipse, as it was believed to have foretold the death of King Henry I of England in 1135 and all the chaos that would follow.

England would be plunged into 19 years of civil war. This period in English history is known as ‘The Anarchy’. This was the backdrop to the TV series of Cadfael which was aired in the 1990s.

                                                    www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

The breakup of a comet and meteor storms in 1872 and 1885.

The Andromedids meteor shower is known for the meteor storm displays on November 27^th, 1872, and 1885. Ther relate to the breakup of comet Beila. Today only a few Andromedids can be seen each year.

A comet is a dirty snowball traveling around the Sun, it leaves a trail of dust behind it. When the Earth passes through such a dust trail, we see lots of meteors or shooting stars as some people call them.  This is a meteor shower. When we see 1,000s of meteors it becomes a meteor storm.

A meteor shower is named after the constellation in the sky from where all the meteors appear to radiate from.

The term shooting star is misleading because they have nothing whatsoever to do with stars, they are simply grains of dust burning up as the enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

Comet Biela had bee seen as far back as 1772, but it was only in 1826 that the astronomer Wilhelm von Biela realised that the comet returned to our part of the solar system every 6.5 years. Due to this observation the comet was named after him.

The comet was seen in 1832 but was missed due to a series of events in 1839. When it next returned in 1846 it was seen to have split into two pieces. This was totally unexpected, and it took astronomers totally by surprise.

Comet Biela was next seen in 1852 in two parts only further apart than in 1846. This was the last time that comet Belia was seen. When it should have returned in 1859 and 1865 nothing could be seen. It had just disappeared.

Then on November 27^th, 1872, there was a tremendous meteor storm with around 400 meteors per minute or 24,000 meteors per hour. Today a spectacular meteor shower such as the Perseid or Geminid might produce between 80-100 meteors per hour.  This might give an indication of how impressive the meteor storm must have seemed. I am sure that many people would have been worried and scared by what they saw.

The there was nothing for the next few years, however on November 27^th, 1885, another storm occurred with around 100 meteors per minute or 6,000 per hour being seen. Since then, virtually no Andromedids have been seen.

The conclusion that was reached by astronomers was that comet Biela had simply just broke up and as the Earth passed through the stream of dust that was all that was left of the comet people were treated to a wonderful cosmic display of streak of light in the sky.

                                                  www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

Will Hay, Nova Puppis 1942 and a Cooke telescope

 Will Hay, Nova Puppis 1942 plus a Cooke

 

Will Hay is best remembered as a comedian of the stage and in films in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a very competent astronomer who discovered a white spot on Saturn in 1933 using a 6 inch Cooke telescope. He also observed Nova Puppis 1942 with a Cooke this time a 3.5 inch telescope. 

Observing from London early in the morning of November 24^th 1942 and using his 3.5 inch Cooke he saw the nova. He had seen it a few days earlier on November 14^th as a naked eye object of around magnitude 3.5. By November 24^th it had faded and a telescope was needed to see it. 

It was very close to the horizon and he estimated the brightness of the nova as between magnitude 4 and 5 but as he commented being so close to the horizon it is difficult to estimate the brightness of a star so low in the sky due to the amount of atmosphere the light has to pass through. 

Will Hay was also struck by the red colour of the nova. He checked other stars nearby of about the same brightness and they appeared to be their normal colours suggesting that the redness was in the nova itself. 

Nova Puppis was discovered by Bernhard Dawson at the La Plata Observatory in Argentina on November 8^th 1942. It reached a maximum magnitude of 0.3 on November 10^th 1942.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. 

I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

The plane of Saturn’s rings seen with a Cooke telscope

Mr R Congrieve-Pridgeon using the 6 inch Cooke refractor at the Hampstead Observatory got observations on February 22^nd 1937 one or two days after the passage of Saturn’s rings had passed through the plane.  

Mr Congrieve-Pridgeon glimpsed it as a fine silver line shortly after sunset and at 18h and 5 min made the note ‘Ring E and W seemed certain; very fine golden line.

                                                   www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Isaac Roberts and his Cooke telescope

 In Monthly Notices, LXIII, 1, Dr Isaac Roberts contributes a most valuable and startling paper on the subject of 52 regions observed as nebulous by Sir William Herschel. These regions were photographed using both the 20 inch reflector and 5 inch Cooke & Sons refractor. The surprising result is that in only 4 out of the 52 regions is any nebulosity found.

                                                       www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Wolf Hall and the Little Ice Age

If you have been watching the BBC TV programme Wolf Hall telling the story of Henry VIII and his chief minster Thomas Cromwell c1485-1540. Cromwell would become one of the most important people in ensuring that the English Reformation happened when the church broke from Rome.

But I want to talk about something else that was happening at the same time. I am talking about the weather. It was very cold.

The clothes that were worn by the rich people were very warm they were expensive, as they were entirely handmade and made from natural fibres, they would also take a long time to make. and as there were no cameras in those days, we must rely on paintings that were produced at that time. Poor people wore simple clothes made from woollen cloth.

Another reason that rich people are seen wearing these warm clothes is that there was no central heating in the buildings at this time and if you moved away from the fire which was the source of heat in a house it became very cold.

Why were the buildings so cold, they were big had high ceilings and insulation would not have been up to modern day standards. In addition the this the fact that the weather was simply very cold, I know that today we often talk about climate change and global warming. In the past there have been cool periods.

From around the year 1300 until around 1750 the Earth experienced what scientist call a ‘Little Ice Age’ It was much colder then than it is today. Temperatures did fluctuate a bit but it was either colder than today or much colder than today. Rivers in Europe regularly froze over. Everyone likes going to a fair, but during this little ice age it was so cold that the rivers froze. The ice on the rivers were so thick that ice fairs could be held  on rivers. We would be talking about ice many feet thick.

I don’t think we will see this in Wolf Hall but in 1536 King Henry VIII travelled from central London to Greenwich by Sleigh. A little later in 1564 Queen Elizabeth I took part in archery while standing on the river Thames.

There were many ideas put forward by people at the time, one idea was that it was all caused by witches. Today we can suggest other reasons. The Sun was a major contributing factor. We know that when there are very few sunspots to be seen on the Sun for a period of time then the temperature on the earth appears to drop. The surface of the Sun is about 5,800 degrees while the sunspots are cooler at around 4,500 degrees. As they are cooler, they appear darker. They are also areas of intense magnetic activity. There appeared to be fewer sunspots during the so-called little ice age.

Today we know that the Sun has a sunspot cycle which lasts 11 years. In other words, every 11 years we see lots of sunspots then the number falls away until the next cycle peaks. The sunspots can produce flares which fly into space and as they magnetically charged and crash into the earth’s magnetic field one by product, they produce are the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. We have seen a lot recently as the Sun is approaching sunspot maximum activity.

 It is not just visual observations of the sunspots that scientists observe, but also, they can study ice cores which can show how active or not the Sun at a particular point in time, which is why astronomers and scientists believe we experienced the little ice age. 

So, when you next watch Wolf Hall you can admire all the splendid clothes that people would have worn, but also remember, it was not just for prestige, but also to keep the cold out.  This was because of the period of time they were living in which today we know as the little ice age.

 

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The Frost Moon was spot on this year

The Full Moon in November is the Frost Moon and it has lived up to its name this year.

The names I use when I describe the full moons during a year are the ones that were given by the monks in monasteries over 1200 years ago. These names had to reflect the natural or religious cycle of events. November was the month when people would expect to see the first frosts of the year.

Today for reasons that I don’t quite understand we are using the much newer American names for the full moons, hence in the press the November full moon is called the Beaver Moon.

I think the old English names are the ones that I will keep using.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The Astronomy Show wins award

 I am very proud to say that The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio has won the Bronze Award in the specialist content category at the 2024 annual Community Radio Awards.

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. 

I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

The first comet discovered in Yorkshire

 Edward Pigott 1753-1825 together with John Goodricke 1764-1786 were who I called the Fathers of Variable Star Astronomy when I was Curator of Astronomy at the Yorkshire Museum in York. They worked together between 1781-1786. Pigott would also make another major contribution to astronomy. He was the first person to have discovered a comet from Yorkshire.

It was on the night of November 19^th, 1783, that he observed what looked like a fuzzy patch in the constellation of Cetus the Whale. He discovered it through a telescope as it was too faint to be seen with the naked eye.

A comet is basically a dirty snowball travelling around the Sun. When it gets closer to the Sun it heats up and we are able to see a spectacular tail on the comet. At least we can with bright comets, most like comet Piggot are very faint.

Most of the important astronomers of the day confirmed the discovery. These included William Herschel who had discovered the planet Uranus in 1781, together with the important French comet hunters Charles Messier and Pierre Mechain.

During the rest of November and into December as the comet moved away from the Earth it got fainter, the last time it could be seen was December 21^st, 1783.

Comets travel around the Sun in what astronomers call elliptical or egg-shaped orbits. Orbits. With this comet only having been observed for a short time astronomers could not work out when it would return to our part of the solar system again. The comet just disappeared.

One suggestion put forward sometime later in 1860 was that the comet might have a period of around 5.89 years when it can next be seen in the sky. Although many searches were undertaken nothing was seen of comet Piggot until January 5^th, 2003, when it was seen on a photograph taken at the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research LINEAR project. This is a project run between the United States Air Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory. It was very faint and at first it was believed to be an asteroid. However, the photograph showed the object was fuzzy in nature meaning it was a comet. It was also thought to be in the right place where comet Piggot would be expected to be. The it was lost again.

 It was next seen on September 10th, 2009, by Richard Kowalski at the Cataline Sky Survey which is based close to the Steward Observatory Catalina Station near Tucson Arizona. It was around the same brightness as seen in 2003, still very faint. This comet has the distinction of being discovered then re discovered and the re re discovered. Astronomers now know that the comet returns to the sky and can be seen every 7.3 years. 

It was determined that this was comet Piggot but because it had been seen on three different occasions its name was to changed from comet Piggot to comet Piggot- Linear - Kowalski.

 It is also believed that the reason it was discovered by Piggot in 1783 was because the comet suffered sort of outburst and it brightened enormously, although brighter than it would normally be it still needed a telescope to see it.

If you wanted to find comet Piggot today you can find it in the constellation of Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs) a small constellation just below the handle of the famous group of stars known as the Plough. You would need a very big telescope to see it though. 

 

Quite a story for a comet that was discovered in Yorkshire

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The 25 inch Cooke telescope at Cambridge

On January 24^th and February 4^th 1893 Mr Newall using the 25 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope at the new observatory at Cambridge observed the 5thsatellite of Jupiter.

(I assume by the 5thsatellite he means Amalthea which was discovered by Barnard in 1892) 

Mr Newall remarked that it has been most justly described as a very difficult object to see.

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The 25 inch Newall telescope moves to Cambridge

 By November 1891 the 25 inch Newall Telescope and dome are all but completely mounted at their new site at Cambridge. Mr H F Newall son of Mr R Newall who purchased the 25 inch telescope from Thomas Cooke & Sons has built himself a house close by, whence he has been superintending the project.

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Jupiter seen from Liverpool in 1867 with no moons visible.

On August 22^nd 1867,John Joynson (1820-1895) at Waterloo near Liverpool observed Jupiter with no satellites visible. This was done using a 6-inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope. 

The 6-inch Cooke telescope was brought in 1863, in 1930 after Joynson’s death the 6 in Cooke was given to the University of London Mill Hill Observatory which had been opened in 1929. The Joynson telescope was used extensively particularly between 1982 and 1997 when their 8-inch Cooke was being restored. The Joynson telescope is now in store.

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Nova Hercules 1934 and a Thomas Cooke telescope

 Dr Steavenson using the 6 inch Cooke refractor of the Observatory of the Hampstead Scientific Society showed a light curve of Nova Hercules, and during March 1935 there was a steady fall to a minimum mag of 5.0 on March 21^st There then was a marked recovery to mag 3.9 by March 25^th.

This nova was catalogued as DQ Hercules and was discovered by JPM Prentice on the 13th December 1934 reaching maximum brightness of mag 1.5 on  December 22nd 1934.

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The Super Frost Moon

 The full moon on the 15th will be the last of the supermoons of the year. When it rises, because it is slightly closer to us than normal, it will appear larger. 

The full moon in November is known as the Frost Moon. November is the month when traditionally the first very cold nights of the year occur and frosts will be seen, heralding the winter months.

And guess what, it is going to be frosty this week and possibly next week as well, so these old 1,000 year old names for the moons might be right after all.

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The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. 

I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

Comet of 1882 seen from Fleetwood with a Cooke telescope

 Preston Chronicle Saturday 20^th May 1882 

 The Comet -We learn that a distinct and brilliant view of the latest addition to the solar system the new  comet, bas been obtained by the Rev. .James Pearson, M.A,  vicar of Fleetwood, by the aid of his four-inch equatorial  (Cooke), from positions given in the Dunecht Ephemeris for May 10th. The tail was sufficiently long to traverse the field of the instrument, but it is still only visible in a  telescope like that named. 

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Problems with the French DIAMANT space launcher programme.

 On November 8^th 1964 according to unofficial press reports the French satellite launcher programme is running into trouble and the first satellite launching may be delayed until 1966.

Original plans called for the first orbital DIAMANT launching to be made in 1965. According to Le Monde the liquid propellant first stage is giving trouble and a switch may be made to the solid propellent rocket motor.

DIAMANT was first successfully launched on November 26^th 1965.

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British Interplanetary Society report in 1964

 On November 7th 1964 the British Interplanetary Society (BIS)  issues a statement urging the British government to take into account, in any review it makes of the nation's aerospace industry, the growing importance of space research. Space experimentation is not to be considered solely as "prestige projects of fringe importance", the BIS stressed .   

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Venus seen through Mr Chatwood's Thomas Cooke telescope in Manchester in 1901.

 A drawing of Venus was made at the observatory of Mr Chatwood at Worsley, Manchester in 1901 using his 9.75 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope. This had originally been owned by Isaac Fletcher of Cumberland. 

The telescope would in 1902 be purchased by J T Ward for the newly formed Wanganui  Astronomical Society in New Zealand. 

The telescope is sometimes referred to as a 9.5 or 9.75 inch telescope and just to add extra  confusion when ordered it was supposed to be a 9 inch telescope.

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Aldebaran occultation in 1867 seen from Liverpool with a Cooke telescope

 The occultation of Aldebaran in 1867 was observed by Mr Airy who remarked that the star did not come out bright instantaneously but was 38 seconds regaining its full light. 

Whereas Mr Joynson in Liverpool with his 3.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope described the star as sliding on the Moon’s disk at the immersion but re appearing instantaneously

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Will Hay, Nova Puppis 1942 plus a Cooke telescope

Will Hay is best remembered as a comedian of the stage and in films in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a very competent astronomer who discovered a white spot on Saturn in 1933 using a 6 inch Cooke telescope. He also observed Nova Puppis 1942 with a Cooke this time a 3.5 inch Cooke telescope. 

Observing from London early in the morning of November 24^th 1942 and using his 3.5 inch Cooke he saw the nova. He had seen it a few days earlier on November 14^th as a naked eye object of around magnitude 3.5. By November 24^th it had faded and a telescope was needed to see it. 

It was very close to the horizon and he estimated the brightness of the nova as between magnitude 4 and 5 but as he commented being so close to the horizon it is difficult to estimate the brightness of a star so low in the sky due to the amount of atmosphere the light has to pass through. 

Will Hay was also struck by the red colour of the nova. He checked other stars nearby of about the same brightness and they appeared to be their normal colours suggesting that the redness was in the nova itself. 

Nova Puppis was discovered by Bernhard Dawson at the La Plata Observatory in Argentina on November 8^th 1942. It reached a maximum magnitude of 0.3 on November 10^th 1942.

 

 

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The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.

 I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England .

 The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live on line at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

 

Transit of Mercury seen from Australia in 1940 with a Cooke telescope

On November 11^th 1940 a transit of Mercury was visible for Britain that same transit was also visible from Australia on November 12^th due to the different time zones. 

A transit of Mercury occurs when the planet passes if front of the Sun as seen from Earth. Mercury can then be seen as a dark spot slowly moving across the Sun. Although not as scientifically important as transits of Venus, transits of Mercury still attract a lot of attention. The most recent was in 2019 the next will be in 2032. 

The Transit of November 12^th 1940 was seen by Mark Howarth at the Grange Mount Observatory, Newcastle New South Wales, Australia. A Cooke 4.5 inch telescope was used with a solar diagonal of power x 80. Weather conditions were good, especially at times of the beginning and ending of the transit.   

A slight haze made it impossible to obtain satisfactory photographs. The temperature at the time of the transit was 92 degrees F. or if you prefer 33 degrees C. 

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Occultation of 73 Pisces in 1880 from India with a Cooke telescope

  The occultation of the star 73 Pisces by Jupiter was observed from Meean Meer, Lahore, India on December 23^rd 1880 by H Collett using a 4.5 inch Cooke telescope with a power of 96. 

At 01 hours, 52 minutes, 30seconds GMT  the star was hanging on the limb of the planet and by 01 hour and 54 minutes it had entirely disappeared. The phenomenon strongly resembled the occultation of a satellite except the disappearance was more rapid. The planet and star appeared to cohere for about 1.5 minutes. 

No micrometer was used. The GMT of reappearance was 02 hour, 44 minutes when the star was again observed to hang onto the planet’s limb. The planet was well placed for observation being near the zenith.

 Before and after the occultation Jupiter appeared as if with 5 moons, the star being almost indistinguishable from the satellites. 

As the occultation could not be observed in Europe these few notes may prove to be of some interest. 

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John Franklin Adams Charts produced with Thomas Cooke 10 inch and 6 inch cameras

John Franklin Adams photographed the entire night sky between 1904 and 1909 from Godalming in Surrey for the northern hemisphere and from South Africa for the Southern Hemisphere using a 10 inch Cooke camera and two 6 inch Cooke cameras. 

In 1913 the Royal Astronomical Society undertook to publish a small number of the Franklin Adams Charts. The 206 photographic plates covered the entire sky. Each plate covered an area 15 degrees by 15 degrees.  

The reproductions were on bromide paper 15 inches by 12 inches with the plate area being 11inches by 11 inches. The cost of each set will be 10 guineas in 2024 this would be over £1,400!! 

It is hoped that a sufficient number of subscribers will be enlisted to help to defray the cost of such an expensive undertaking. It is hoped that they will be ready in 1914. 

Today the Franklin Adams Charts are still use by astronomers due to their quality and their historical reference to the night sky over 100 years ago.

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