Category Archives: Articles

Registar says 68,200

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Greg Parker

A number of people have asked me how many stars appear in the Cocoon nebula 3-frame mosaic.  I use a program called Registar to link separate frames together so I can see how they all fit – and Registar will … Continue reading →

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Starmus memories II

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Greg Parker

As it continues to pour with rain here in the New Forest – thoughts go back to the hot, dry days at the Starmus Festival in Tenerife June this year 🙂

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Mini-WASP “First Light” party at the New Forest Observatory 21/08/2011

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Greg Parker

Here are a few pictures from the day – I still can’t believe how lucky we were with the weather.  Had a few drops of rain first thing in the morning just to put the scarers on us – then … Continue reading →

Posted in mini-WASP Array, People and Places | 2 Comments

Starmus memories

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Greg Parker

As summer definitely starts retreating and autumn approaches a bit too rapidly – thoughts go back to a warmer time at the Starmus Festival on Tenerife – June 2011.  This is the sumptuous Abama Hotel where most of the Festival … Continue reading →

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NGC6883 and NGC6871 open clusters in Cygnus

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Greg Parker

This pair of open clusters has a Milky Way backdrop and they are surrounded by faint emission nebulosity.  They can be found in the constellation Cygnus lying just underneath the Crescent nebula region.  Image taken 19th August 2009 using the … Continue reading →

Posted in CCD Images, Deep Space Objects, Hyperstar and SXVF-M25C | Leave a comment

A galaxy group in Bootes

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Greg Parker

I have no idea why I took this image of a galaxy group in Bootes on January 29th 2011.  I also have no record of it in the logbook.  I ran an astrometry check on it to find where it … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Space Objects, Sky 90 and SXVF-M25C | Leave a comment

Patrick Moore party 5th February 2011

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Greg Parker

A very lively party at Sir Patrick’s last night, all the usual suspects present.  This was a double celebration of the 700th Sky at Night, and Sir Patrick’s birthday (which was the day before).  Sir Patrick had supposedly invited 70 … Continue reading →

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Things are not always as they seem.

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Greg Parker

For some reason an incident that happened when I was 19 years old entered my mind twice today (early signs maybe?).  Perhaps this account will be of some use to somebody out there, you never know,  it might even save … Continue reading →

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A video clip of the Paramount ME in action.

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Greg Parker

I connected up the Paramount ME to its 48V power supply which in turn goes to a 1000W uninterruptible power supply (UPS) in my attempt to protect the delicate Paramount motor boards and electronics from anything nasty coming down the … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles, Equipment, mini-WASP Array, Projects | 2 Comments

Now the Paramount is in the study as well as the pier.

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Greg Parker

The Paramount has now been brought up to my study and is sutting on the Aluminium pier ready to be fired up.  Must admit I hadn’t planned for my study to be taken over with Astronomy equipment – but needs … Continue reading →

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