Star gazing

I think you'll like Stellarium better than the World Wide Scope, Paul

 

Well, I've gone all through the Laptop [W8] system, Martin, checking "permissions", image information, etc and found nothing. In the Image taking software it takes images in pure RAW and I save it in 16bit colour TIFF it will also keep the RAW data but it's not making any more copies than asked. I'm beginning to think that the problem lies somewhere in the W8 OS itself when, on the night, the first problem happened with the connection from the Laptop to the Camera. I uninstalled the software completely and reinstalled it at least twice but still getting the same problem of being presented with the last image I took even after taking another image.
So, not liking W8 anyway, and, in a moment of impulse, I've ordered a new Laptop with W10 which should cure the problem when I download the software again No one else using the software has raised the subject of the same problem so it's looks like some coding has corrupted in the Laptop........I'll let you know if it has solved the immediate problem...or not

 

The new Laptop arrived the following day and I downloaded everything I needed onto it without any problems including the image control software. But the new main colour camera for the scope has a different focal length that my previous one and it's been frustrating trying out different extensions to get the correct focal length to get really sharp focusing. I've found, tonight, after lots of trial and error, swapping around with different extensions, finding and losing Stars to focus on, that I needed around 3 times the focal length of the last camera. I think I might need just a extra 2 to 10 mm more to get the exact sharp image when focusing but I had to stop because the clouds moved in from the West and it started to rain. But at least I know now I'm getting close!!

 

Hi Scrungee, yes, that will be the one. I have mine set that when opening up it shows the Skies to the South as that is where my best views are in the Observatory. Of course, with Stellarium you can change the direction in 360 degrees so I use it from East to West as my House blocks the view from the North.
I've never seen what Stellarium looks like on a phone but I think I would prefer the bigger view you get with a Laptop or a Desktop. A lot of Star Gazers use Stellarium globally, and it has so many things that it can do, including controlling a computerised telescope via Wi-Fi or hand control, so it's a great app and even better..........it's free

 

Yep, it's a great app, Scrungee. When I want to refer to it in the dark, in the Observatory, I switch over to Night Mode which gives you a red screen which doesn't spoil your night vision.

 

James Webb Space Telescope Launch Delayed til 2019
By: Monica Young | September 29, 2017
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) promises revolution for astronomy. Its 18-segment, 6.5-meter mirror and infrared instruments will see the very first stars and galaxies forming in the universe, watch starbirth in nearby stellar nurseries, peer at exoplanet atmospheres, and directly image exoplanets themselves. The sensitive and sharp-eyed instruments will discern unprecedented detail in just about every aspect of astronomy.

Yet the JWST has had a troubled history. The now $8.8 billion scope was first proposed as a $1.6 billion mission to launch in 2011. Multiple delays and cost overruns prevented that from happening, and Congress threatened to cancel the program altogether, despite the funding already invested.

So in 2011, the year the telescope ought to have launched, NASA officials basically promised Congress that they would stick to a new $8.8 billion budget that would carry it would through commissioning. The launch date, officials said at the time, would be October 2018.

For years, development stuck to schedule and the telescope looked to be on track for its 2018 launch. But on Friday, September 29th, NASA announced in a press release delays in instrument integration would set back the launch date by several months, rescheduling the launch from French Guiana to sometime between March and June 2019.

“The Congressional cap is on the development (through commissioning) cost of Webb and not the launch date,” says program director of JWST Eric Smith (NASA). “No new funding for Webb will be required even with the launch date change.”

“Assuming the remaining integration and test steps proceed as planned for Webb, and no long launch delays are encountered in French Guiana,” she adds, :”the Webb Program has sufficient funds to stay within its planned budget.”

The delay is due to delays in integration of various spacecraft elements, says Thomas Zurbuchen (NASA), associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “The change in launch timing is not indicative of hardware or technical performance concerns.”

The telescope and science instruments are currently undergoing cryovacuum testing to mimic conditions they’ll see in space, orbiting the Sun with Earth but 1.5 million kilometers away, at the L2 Lagrangian point. So far the tests have gone as planned and the instruments are performing as required, Smith says.

The five-layered sunshield, which will protect the infrared detectors from sunlight, was fully integrated onto the telescope in August. The tennis court-sized sheets cool the spacecraft by 300°C across the 4.8-meter spacecraft body. And once the telescope is launched to its orbit — well away from any hope of repair — those sunshields will have to unfold perfectly for the telescope to work as designed.

The size and sheer complexity of the spacecraft, sunshield and all, are the drive behind the extensive testing that’s being done — better a functional telescope that’s six months late (well, six months and several years) than one that’s on time and doesn’t work!

So, what's next? First, engineers will test the spacecraft and sunshield, including deployment testing, as well as vibration and acoustics tests (which ensure the spacecraft and sunshield will survive launch intact). The final step, Smith says, is to integrate the telescope itself with the spacecraft. "After that integration, final testing of the fully assembled observatory will occur."

 

Total cloud cover here in West Cheshire, Martin, that has been the situation for the last week or two.

October 21, 2017 Orionids

November 4-5, 2017 South Taurids

November 11-12, 2017 North Taurids

November 17 or 18, 2017 Leonids

December 13-14, 2017 Geminids

 

• So, when do we get to go back to Saturn?

John Wenz | Published: Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The Saturn system has captured our imaginations as Cassini explored its mysteries. Now, Cassini is over... when are we going back?
bark on Flickr
Cassini’s mission is over and gone for good. But we’re not done with Saturn yet — it just may be a while before we go back.

By the end of the year, NASA will decide on a new New Frontiers-class mission. This medium-cost mission class is responsible for the Juno, New Horizons, and OSIRIS-REx probes, and has a handful of finalists selected for a mid-2020s launch. Among proposals for a Moon mission, a Venus lander, and a comet sample return are five Saturnian missions.

The first one is a plunge directly into Saturn, studying the interior of the planet’s cloud layers as it moves down. Cassini performed a sort of initial reconnaissance into Saturn’s atmosphere, but broke apart quickly. The Saturn Probe Interior and Atmosphere Explorer would last longer — about an hour and a half.

Then there are two competing proposals to explore Enceladus. One involves sending an orbiter through the plumes of Enceladus several times with enough instruments to detect organic chemicals and possibly life. The other proposal, Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability, has been kept under a tight lid.

Finally, there are two Titan proposals. One is an orbiter, looking for the best places to find life on Titan in greater detail than before, while the other would place an actual drone into Titan’s atmosphere to explore the smoggy world.



Both Titan and Enceladus, visible alongside Saturn's rings in this Cassini image, are tantalizing targets for future space missions.
NASA/JPL/SSI/J. Major
NASA also has a class of missions called Discovery Class that are lower cost. The last round of proposals involved a joint mission to Enceladus and Titan, as well as two Enceladus explorers. NASA and ESA also worked together on a proposal called TSSMthat may yet see the light of day, and a Titan boat is always just over the horizon.

Finally, NASA has a close-to-science-fiction class of studies called NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts. These are all technological demonstrations for missions 30 to 40 years down the line, but indicate in general where NASA’s head is, cosmos-wise. Here are a few recent relevant proposals, which include submarines, hot air balloons, and a wheel-less rover that stumbles around like a tumbleweed:

Icy-moon Cryovolcano Explorer (ICE)

Titan Submarine: Exploring the Kraken Mare

Titan Aerial Daughtercraft

Passive Radio Ice Depth Experiment (PRIDE)

Super Ball Bot

With any luck, we will be back at Saturn in the 2030s. There are just a few hurdles to overcome in the meantime. The system is calling us; will we answer?