There will be a partial solar eclipse visible from Abergavenny on the 10th June 2021.  It will start at 10:04 am, the maximum is about an hour later at 11:09 am and it will finish at 12:20 pm.  The Sun will be be very high in the sky at over 53 degrees, let’s hope it will not be too cloudy!  Under no circumstances should you look at the Sun with your  unprotected eyes and specially not with any instruments that were not designed for the purpose, if you do it is very likely you will suffer irreparable damage to your eyesight.  You can purchase eclipse glasses for about £5 or project the Sun through a piece of card with a pinhole in it onto a second piece of card.  Of course you can also buy special telescopes and filters that allow you to observe the Sun in safety.  If in any doubt please contact a experienced member for advice (Observing@AbergavennyAS.org.uk).

For more details on timing please visit the website Timeanddate.com

There is some good advice on how to safely observer Sun at this link

Owing to some individuals that decided to log into the meeting on the 1st April and disrupt it we had to close the meeting.  It has been decided to re-run the meeting this coming Thursday 8th April at 7pm.  Bob Wright will present the second half of his talk on the Artemis project (this is the third time we have tried to do this presentation – so let us hope third time lucky!).

The link is in the email sent to you but this will not be available on this website – in order to try and deter the unwelcome visitors we had last week.  In addition, when you join the meeting there will be a “waiting room”and attendees will be admitted to the meeting at around 7pm so if you log on a bit early please be patient.  I will also keep an eye out for latecomers during the meeting.  If you want to join the meeting but do not have the link you can contact me at the following email address        Observing@AbergavennyAS.org.uk

 

A nova has flared up in Cassiopeia.  A nova is caused when a white dwarf in a binary pair has been drawing material from its companion star.  A point is reached where a thermonuclear reaction starts and the white dwarf flares up for a few weeks and is visible right across the galaxy.  It is not to be confused with a supernova which is an altogether less common and more violent affair.  This nova is shining at about magnitude 7.5, that means it is just too dim to see by eye but easily visible in binoculars.  It is also fairly easy to find and the link below gives some clear instructions on how to locate it.  Fortunately it is close to the open cluster Messier 50, and in binoculars it is just below and to the left and in the same field.  These are fairly rare events, astronomers estimate that there are around 50 in the Milky Way each year but only a small proportion are visible from Earth.  There may be some clear nights this week so get your binoculars and go nova hunting!

Bright Nova Erupts in Cassiopeia

 

18th February:  Nasa has managed to crane their rover and helicopter into the Jezero Crater on Mars.  It’s now about 2km from what is thought to be an ancient (that’s 4 billion years ago!) river delta that fed a huge lake.  Jezero is a small town in Bosnia with a population of 1100, Jezero means lake in a number of Slavic languages.  This crater was named in 2007 by the IAU as part of a project to name significant craters after small towns and villages in the world.
Now we await the testing of Perseverance and Ingenuity’s’ systems and for the science data to start to come back.

Mars2020 now joins the two other visitors to Mars this month:-
1)   On the 9^th February the successful mission by the UAE to put the Al Amal (Hope) Probe into orbit to study the Martian atmosphere amongst other objectives.  This makes the UAE the 5^th country to reach Mars and the second to enter orbit on it’s first try;  and
2)   Followed on the 10^th February by the successful insertion of Chinas’ first mission to Mars, Tianwen-1, into orbit.   It also carries a rover that is scheduled to land in May or June.  The Tianwen-1 rover includes a ground penetrating radar that can “see” up to 100m below the surface.

Emirates Mars Mission – LINK     :     Tianwen-1 – LINK     :     Mars2020 – LINK

There will be a virtual star party on the 1st March, hosted by Bwlch and Llangorse tourism and presented by Nick Busby.  It is suitable for all ages 10 years up and assumes no prior knowledge of the stars.

Additional note, I did this exercise for Abergavenny last week and although it was not the best of nights – it was a bit misty and very cold, I managed to count 14 stars in Orion from my back garden in Abergavenny.  The app then informed me that that was better than 77% of places in the UK so that can’t be bad. – Nick Busby

 

Not sure if it will be clear at all this week but if it is there is an activity going on that the Campaign for Rural England organises each year.  The idea is that you count all the stars you can see by eye in the constellation of Orion and send in the results.  This will allow any changes to light pollution in the UK to be mapped.  You can find full details and all support materials by clicking on the following link:

Star Count 2021: explore what we learned