Archive for the ‘Astronomy’ Category
Comet Lulin
March 2nd, 2009 | 
Author: Last night the clouds broke, it’s not quite a miracle but near enough 
Sadly even though the clouds had virtually gone the wind was still there (it’s one of the downsides of living on a hillside being exposed to the winds a bit more), so with the wind there was little point digging out the ’scope I did however manage to get a look at Comet Lulin through binoculars.
Okay, binoculars don’t give you the amazing clarity you see in the wonderful photographs that have been posted online for weeks, what they do give you is a connection with the comet that no photograph can convey. I did not spend long with comet Lulin, but it was an enjoyable viewing. The wind chill was quite bad, so after a quick scan over a few favourites I came inside to warm up with a nice coffee 
Soon we’ll have another good naked eye comet over Cumbria, my camera is already and waiting….
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Changing
The first new growth for 2009 is coming through, it’s a good time of year…
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Crappy Light Pollution :-(
It’s not often that I complain about stuff, well, there’s often not much point really Anyway, this evening Julie pointed out that the sky was pretty clear and may be worth a session with the camera.
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It’s too light for good photography!
I know, it’s not something you normally hear someone say holding a camera, however it’s how I felt this morning.
Blitherings
I enjoy astronomy, I enjoy the mind numbing facts and figures associated with astronomy; so why is it I can’t convert that enjoyment to my current course on astrophysics? You see, I’ve studied astronomy before, I’ve studied physics before, and the act of studying these subjects has exposed my to a large quantity of strange looking equations (especially the course on based on the physics of light with it’s page long equations). So why does astrophysics have equations that tip me over the edge into a blithering mess? Perhaps I’m not cut out for astrophysics and should stick to the practical side of astronomy and observational astronomy – this is not the answer though, I want to know why Plancks function is important to us, I want to understand the relevance of his equation along with the Boltzmann constant….. you get the idea.
So do I go back to the start, work from the basics until my skills with mind numbing equations make sense, or return to the telescope eyepiece and forget the fundamentals of astrophysics and get back to looking at pretty sights?