Category Archives: Articles

The all-Aluminium pier for the Paramount and mini-WASP array

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Greg Parker

I have just brought the massive all-Aluminium mini-WASP pier in from the shed.  I will set it up in the upstairs study with the Paramount on top to give a dry run for the computer and all the electronics.  The … Continue reading →

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First video diary entry for the new mini-WASP imaging array

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Greg Parker

Thought I would begin a video diary on the mini-WASP array project at this time even before the hole has been dug in the ground for the obligatory concrete block.  As we are all aware – any new observatory project … Continue reading →

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Prototype 18 ultra-bright white-light LED array for photographic applications

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Greg Parker

This image shows a prototype illumination rig I have just built using 18 ultra-bright white-light LEDs and powered by a computer PSU.  The idea is to create a compact, high-power, flicker-free light source for photographic applications.  This prototype array (I … Continue reading →

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Black border around screen/monitor

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Greg Parker

Now here’s a really annoying one you may have been putting up with for quite some time with no apparent solution. As you know on my super-duper-computer system I run 3 screens (one via an adapter which seems to create … Continue reading →

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Whisky tasting at Farthings 17th September 2010

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Greg Parker

Sir Patrick had a Whisky tasting event he hosted at Farthings on 17th September 2010 and we were educated in all things distilled by Dr. Andrew M. Forrester who is the Balvenie Ambassador U.K.  Some rather fine Whiskies were sampled … Continue reading →

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Perseid hunting tonight!

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Greg Parker

After a completely overcast day the cloud began to break up around 5:00 p.m. and now (9:00 p.m.) it looks like we might actually have a reasonably clear night.  Whooppeeeeeeeeee – I’m off over the forest with the AstroTrac Canon … Continue reading →

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Why the cloud at night?

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Greg Parker

Why is there so much cloud at night recently when it’s been relatively clear through most of the day?  Well I have the AstroTrac ready and set up with the new Canon 5D MkII and the Canon 15mm fish-eye lens … Continue reading →

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The unreasonable effectiveness of Mathematics

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Greg Parker

I am just starting to read Cliff Pickover’s “The Loom of God” and it jogged my rapidly fading memory of my Professorial Inaugural lecture.  Below I reproduce the last few minutes of the 2005 Inaugural lecture I presented at the … Continue reading →

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Life, the Universe, and the EPR “Paradox”

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Greg Parker

Einstein was pretty unhappy with the way Quantum Mechanics was developing – which was a bit odd seeing as he came up with the concept of the photon and an explanation of the photoelectric effect – but I digress. In trying … Continue reading →

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An interstellar alien beacon?

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Greg Parker

The photo below is an animation of two images of open cluster NGC7789 (in the constellation Cassiopeia), taken around 18 months apart, from the New Forest Observatory, Hampshire, U.K. The star sitting just below the open cluster has changed in magnitude during … Continue reading →

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