Here’s a cunning plan for the up and coming General Election

Sorry – another non-astronomical post – if you don’t like seeing this stuff stop here.

But I have reached an age where I don’t have to suffer crap anymore because for the first time in my life I answer to no one – and let me tell you it’s like being reborn.  Retirement – bring it on!!

I have had to keep the vomit bowl within easy reach these past few days as the Conservative and Labour dements spout their crap, trying their hardest to keep a straight face and look as if they actually mean what they say.  I swear they amaze themselves at how they don’t break down in tears of laughter during one of their moronic diatribes.

And if I feel like that I KNOW that millions feel exactly the same way too.  So what can the “hard working British people” (give me strength) actually do to teach these morons a lesson they have never been dealt before?  Now on this one I do not agree with Russel Brand that not voting is a good idea.  That is a passive response to the insulting and provocative behaviour of our politicians.  No – what I would like everyone to do is vote for UKIP.  This has NOTHING to do with agreeing with UKIP’s policies (whatever they are) or philosophy (whatever that is) – but it has EVERYTHING to do with sending a message to Labour and Conservatives alike, in a language that even these morons can understand.  I have not mentioned the Liberal Democrats at all as they completely lost all credibility the moment they backed down on the Student Fees issue – shame on you, you lily-livered plebs!!

O.K. everybody – this is YOUR chance to show “those in charge” that you haven’t just got off the boat.  Are you going to just sit there and do nothing – or are you going to upset their whole year?

 

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Nibiru garbage

O.K. so there appears to be some more Idiocracy-based garbage that needs to be put to bed.

Killer planet Nibiru – it ain’t there people, sorry but your quick life cop-out isn’t just around the corner – not with non-existent Nibiru anyway.

However – if you are dead keen (pun intended) on killer scenarios, how about dealing with some straight facts rather than pure fiction.

Remember that massive Russian meteor/meteorite that came crashing in unannounced around a year or so ago?  That would have ruined your day if it had arrived more intact in your location. And around a year or so before that we got a near Earth asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool (to put it on scale that the Idiocracy can appreciate) that shot past us at a distance that put it inside the orbit of some Earth-orbiting satellites – so that was REALLY close – and I got a picture of that one too 🙂  And again if that had come down near you, you would have noticed it.

And do you have any idea why you are actually still here to read this stuff I’m writing, at all?  No of course you don’t.  You can actually thank a Russian submarine commander who disobeyed orders and didn’t set his nukes off as he suspected the order was a false alarm.  Thank you my man for engaging your brain and not ending our world in such a pointless fashion.

Then of course we have the possibility of a nearby (in galactic terms) Gamma Ray Burst that would instantaneously sterilise everything for cubic light years around – no life whatsoever remaining – except perhaps for the odd Deinococcus radiodurans or two.

So why get yourself all upset and agitated about the fictions of an over active imagination (nutter if you prefer)  – when there’s so much more really mundane stuff out there ready, willing and waiting to snuff you out, before you even saw it. And let’s go back to our Russian mate just for a moment and remember – it is pure good luck, and an unexpected act of bravery from a virtually unknown man – that you’re still around today.

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200mm NAN 30.12.2014

With a half Moon up and very poor seeing I grabbed 4 x 15-minute subs as a test-shot using the 200mm lens and a 52mm IDAS filter on the front.

Only a very quick process so I left in the ghost flares from Deneb for future reference.  Overall I am pleased at the lack of ghost flaring.

Now if I can get 8-hours on this, and the frame below, next summer – I might just end up with a decent image of this region.

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Canon 200mm lens images the Rose

6 x 20-minute subs on the Canon 200mm lens composited with some earlier Sky 90 data on the Rosette alone.

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Mini-WASP test shot on the Rosette nebula

After a long imaging session on IC410/IC405 I didn’t want to leave the clear skies unused, so I shot across to the Rosette nebula and took just 4 x 20-minute test subs.

Seeing the result I know what the next major mini-WASP project is going to be 🙂

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The mini-WASP array does the T Tauri region

Half a Moon up and very poor seeing means this one is a lot noisier than it should be.

24 x 20-minute subs on the mini-WASP array centred on the T Tauri region.

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The mini-WASP array does the California nebula

A few nights ago I put the 3 x Sky 90s back on the California nebula for a total of 21 x 20-minute subs.  I had already captured 33 x 20-minute subs, so I had a grand total of 18 effective hours on the nebula using 20-minute sub-exposures.  Shows the power of the array as this was only 6-hours total imaging time 🙂

And here is the result:

 

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The mini-WASP array does Aldebaran and the Hyades region

The 200mm lens was set to f#4.5 with a 72mm UV/IR cut filter on the front and let loose on the Hyades region.

Only 12 x 5-minute subs as a test, so very surprised to see all the dust in the image!!  The only bad flaring (as expected) was from Aldebaran, but I really don’t like the 8-pointed stars.

So – back on goes the 52mm IDAS filter with the lens set wide open so we don’t get any diffraction spikes.  What we do get however is bad flaring from bright stars and I will need to do another test run to see how bad the flaring is.  If I can live with it, i.e. process it out without too much pain – then this is the configuration I will stick with.  If the flaring is too bad, then I’m not sure what the next step will be.

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The mini-WASP array does the Northern Cone region

Tom How showed me a modified calibration routine to use with the M26C OSC CCD which I implemented on this image of the Northern region of the Cone nebula.  This is ONLY 8 x 20-minute subs, must go back to this and get more subs on both the north and the south regions around here.

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5 hours imaging with the mini-WASP array

On the night of 13/12/2014 – and it was Moonless too!  Being the array it meant I actually grabbed 15-hours worth of data!!  Two targets, the first was the California nebula where I managed to get 11 effective hours of 20-minute subs (I lost one effective hour, that is one sub, due to cloud).

Second target as it was still clear and Moonless was a pair of Carbon stars that fitted the field of view in Orion and Gemini – BL Orionis and CR Geminorum.

A very successful evening’s mini-WASPing 🙂

 

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