Minutes 3rd June 2005
The 407th Meeting of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at
Timperley Village Club on Friday 3rd June 2005 at 8pm
Those present were:
Paul Clark Don Utton Tony Aremia
Stephen McHugh Mark Adamson Geoff Flood
Colin Eaves Peter Baugh Vincent Cordron
Chris Suddick Roger Livermore Geoffrey Walton
Debbie Wilson Nick Dixon Alicia Dixon
Kirsty Dixon David Dixon Phil Masding
Ged Birbeck Colin Henshaw (Total 20)
The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and announcing that
Phil Masding would be speaking tonight about the satellite tracking software that he and Mike Tyrell have been developing. Previously they had captured ISS images by manual tracking, this was difficult and rather fraught given the rapid motion of the satellite across the sky and the narrow field of view required to observe structural details. The new software automates much of the tracking which makes for more relaxed observing sessions. He showed images obtained on 8th May using the 10" Meade LX telescope. These were then compared with what they expected to observe using a Simulator program also written by themselves. Phil noted that the Envisat also has some structure but most satellites do not. However, there is considerable (perverse) interest in imaging spy satellites whose orbital parameters are not released by the authorities but are made available by amateur astronomers from their observations. Phil and Mike were congratulated on their impressive images and their sophisticated programming skills.
Following the break Paul Clark gave a sky diary. He pointed out that Jupiter's moons are frequently occulting and generating shadow transits so there is always something of interest to observe. He also pointed out that the planets Mercury and Venus have very close approach on 27th June with a separation of 8' at around 10pm. The Perseid meteor shower is due on 12th/13th August and can be impressive when the sky is clear. Colin Henshaw mentioned that gamma-Virginis is a binary which are coming to perihelion and so appear much closer together than usual. Colin also said that r- corona borealis is an interesting variable worth watching because its magnitude varies from the 14th to 6th magnitude.
There was a short business session in which members were urged to support our fund raising efforts at the Gatley Fair on 4th July. There being no further business, the Chairman thanked Phil Masding again for his talk, and everyone for coming, and then closed the meeting.
Chairman Secretary
Timperley Village Club on Friday 3rd June 2005 at 8pm
Those present were:
Paul Clark Don Utton Tony Aremia
Stephen McHugh Mark Adamson Geoff Flood
Colin Eaves Peter Baugh Vincent Cordron
Chris Suddick Roger Livermore Geoffrey Walton
Debbie Wilson Nick Dixon Alicia Dixon
Kirsty Dixon David Dixon Phil Masding
Ged Birbeck Colin Henshaw (Total 20)
The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and announcing that
Phil Masding would be speaking tonight about the satellite tracking software that he and Mike Tyrell have been developing. Previously they had captured ISS images by manual tracking, this was difficult and rather fraught given the rapid motion of the satellite across the sky and the narrow field of view required to observe structural details. The new software automates much of the tracking which makes for more relaxed observing sessions. He showed images obtained on 8th May using the 10" Meade LX telescope. These were then compared with what they expected to observe using a Simulator program also written by themselves. Phil noted that the Envisat also has some structure but most satellites do not. However, there is considerable (perverse) interest in imaging spy satellites whose orbital parameters are not released by the authorities but are made available by amateur astronomers from their observations. Phil and Mike were congratulated on their impressive images and their sophisticated programming skills.
Following the break Paul Clark gave a sky diary. He pointed out that Jupiter's moons are frequently occulting and generating shadow transits so there is always something of interest to observe. He also pointed out that the planets Mercury and Venus have very close approach on 27th June with a separation of 8' at around 10pm. The Perseid meteor shower is due on 12th/13th August and can be impressive when the sky is clear. Colin Henshaw mentioned that gamma-Virginis is a binary which are coming to perihelion and so appear much closer together than usual. Colin also said that r- corona borealis is an interesting variable worth watching because its magnitude varies from the 14th to 6th magnitude.
There was a short business session in which members were urged to support our fund raising efforts at the Gatley Fair on 4th July. There being no further business, the Chairman thanked Phil Masding again for his talk, and everyone for coming, and then closed the meeting.
Chairman Secretary
posted by Don Utton at 4:39 PM
