Showing posts with label astronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label astronomy. Show all posts

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Seeing stars in Loch Tarbert, Jura


The midge attack was ferocious as we put the tents up on the shore of Loch Tarbert. Fortunately it was a clear night and the temperature plummeted, sending the little illegitimate insects back to the swamp from which they had come. We lit our fire on the beach but its little pool of light did not extend far into the darkness of the moonless night. The vault of the sky twinkled with so many stars that their number was completely beyond the comprehension of us city dwellers.

To the south, Altair twinkled brightly before being joined by the steady brightness of Jupiter as it rose above the dark shadow of the Paps of Jura. The Milky Way arched clear across the sky from the SW to the NE horizons. High above us, to the NE, the "W" of the constellation Cassiopeia shone brightly. I used one of the arms of the "W" to guide me to where the Andromeda galaxy lies. I am pretty sure I saw it, but my eyes are not as sharp as they used to be and I regretted not bringing binoculars. To the NW, Ursa Major (or the Plough) guided our eyes to the Pole Star, high in the northern sky.

Our necks were aching by the time we lowered our gaze to the horizon. But what was that bright light out in the darkness of the middle of the Loch?


We had almost expected it to be a UFO but there, all lit up like a Christmas tree, was the NLV Pole Star. She is one of the Northern Lighthouse Board's two ships for maintaining lighthouses and navigation buoys. We had seen her sister ship, the NLV Pharos off Ardnamurchan Point earlier this year.

The NLV Pole Star was launched in 2000 and is 51.52m long. She has a dynamic positioning system which means that she can hold an exact position, even in pretty testing conditions, by using a combination of GPS and thrusters. She has a shallower draught than her larger sister ship, so she can operate in more restricted waters.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Paddling with planets.


We launched from the shingle beach at Dunure just as a pink glow appeared behind the cold snowy ridges of Arran. Although the sun had set 15 minutes before, the summit ridge of Goatfell was still catching rays from below the horizon.


We set off for Maidens guided by light from Venus, Jupiter and Turnberry lighthouse. We were surrounded by six other lighthouses: Ailsa Craig, Sanda, Davaar Island, Pladda, Holy Island outer and Lady Isle but the first three were unseen as they were below the horizon like the now departing sun.


As the light faded the horizon darkened from deep orange to blood red.


An hour and fifteen minutes after sunset the horizon still betrayed the long gone sun. Flocks of sea birds swirled out of the darkness on their way out to sea but the slow shutter speed (1/6s) has all but failed to capture them. Ailsa Craig still dominated the land and sea but its bold outline was soon to merge with the darkness above. Far from land, the clear skies gave one of the best views of the Milky Way we have ever seen.


We landed at Maidens two hours after sunset. It was very dark and minus three degrees Celsius but what a fantastic time to be out paddling!

06/12/2008

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Eclipse of the Moon.


21:15 03/03/2007


22:32 03/03/2007


22:42 03/03/2007


23:20 03/03/2007


23:47 03/03/2007

N55 46.640 W4 20.894