My prolonged period of absence, from this blog, is probably due to my insane workload (and lack of interesting things to say). As I tend to avoid
doing work at the weekend, I can't really complain about my lack of free time
in the week. However, I think I have a good enough excuse for not completing
any homework the other weekend (which was several months ago...) - PSP2012!
That's right folks, after spending the majority of the last star party - without sensation in my toes - I decided to go back for more. I think it was one
of my better choices, as I have had the best weekend.
After two lectures and an exercise class, I was most certainly ready for
a fun-filled weekend. Before this could occur, I had to somehow travel to
Chelmorton in about six hours – which was almost impossible on public transport, but I managed it
in less than seven.
Upon arrival, I was finally reunited with the lovely Angela. She then
proceeded to give me a hard hat, for protection after last year’s unfortunate occurrence
(see my previous blog post). Missing the welcome talks was unfortunate, but it
was already rather dark (and cloudy) by 20:00; so putting up my tiny two man
tent had to be prioritised.
Eventually I was greeted by the welcoming sight of sta...more clouds. It was a tad frustrating, as I had travelled for hours. Luckily enough, everyone was in a fantastic mood, so several hours of socialising commenced, which was then followed by a relatively (midnight) early night.
At about 1am, one of my fellow campers started trying to wake me up, as the stars were coming out. That was it; I threw on around 8 layers, in the space of 3 minutes, and left my tent. The sight that I was greeted by was immense. Orion, Jupiter and Taurus were the only visible areas, but I was not disappointed. I have never seen the belts of Jupiter so clearly through my own telescope before, and it was simply wonderful. Once I had woken up several neighbouring tents, and my database of about 10 easy-to-find objects was exhausted, I started doing my usual thing. For those of you who haven't witnessed my behaviour at a star party, I tend to just find the nearest gathering of people, and ask what they're looking at. This often leads to me being shown brilliant objects, and this year was no exception.
One of my observing highlights, of that night, was probably M81 & M82. If you're rubbish with Messier catalogue numbers, like myself, then a more familiar name would be Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy (I think). It was astounding to see such beautiful galaxies in the same field of view. Either those, or the Owl Cluster - which definitely looks more like E.T than an owl. I really can't decide, as I really did see a lot that night, including: the triplet in Auriga, the Crab Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, Caroline's Rose, the Double Cluster and so many more! I really am grateful for being shown such wonderful objects.
Staying up until 4:20am was probably a bad idea, but it was difficult to drag myself away from the night sky.
Apparently this is as far as I got with my blog post - which is embarrassing as Peak Star Party 2013 has already passed, and I am now looking forward to PSP14.
Eventually I was greeted by the welcoming sight of sta...more clouds. It was a tad frustrating, as I had travelled for hours. Luckily enough, everyone was in a fantastic mood, so several hours of socialising commenced, which was then followed by a relatively (midnight) early night.
At about 1am, one of my fellow campers started trying to wake me up, as the stars were coming out. That was it; I threw on around 8 layers, in the space of 3 minutes, and left my tent. The sight that I was greeted by was immense. Orion, Jupiter and Taurus were the only visible areas, but I was not disappointed. I have never seen the belts of Jupiter so clearly through my own telescope before, and it was simply wonderful. Once I had woken up several neighbouring tents, and my database of about 10 easy-to-find objects was exhausted, I started doing my usual thing. For those of you who haven't witnessed my behaviour at a star party, I tend to just find the nearest gathering of people, and ask what they're looking at. This often leads to me being shown brilliant objects, and this year was no exception.
One of my observing highlights, of that night, was probably M81 & M82. If you're rubbish with Messier catalogue numbers, like myself, then a more familiar name would be Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy (I think). It was astounding to see such beautiful galaxies in the same field of view. Either those, or the Owl Cluster - which definitely looks more like E.T than an owl. I really can't decide, as I really did see a lot that night, including: the triplet in Auriga, the Crab Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, Caroline's Rose, the Double Cluster and so many more! I really am grateful for being shown such wonderful objects.
Staying up until 4:20am was probably a bad idea, but it was difficult to drag myself away from the night sky.
Apparently this is as far as I got with my blog post - which is embarrassing as Peak Star Party 2013 has already passed, and I am now looking forward to PSP14.
