Firdays Observing Session!

The sky cleared up well from here on friday night . I got one hours comet hunting done with the 16" then Conor and i did a meteor watch from 21.00 - 05.00LT where we logged 60 meteors...most of which where Taurids and a few sporadics and Leonids. On two occasions we seen a burst of three Taurids in quick session as well as a few bright members of the stream through light clouds though we seen no fireballs (maybe tommorow). The Gegenschein was visible in the east beside Mars which itself sported a lovely faint 5* high pillar (my first Mars pillar). This meteor watch was tough at times due to the very cold damp air but we perserved and had a good time. We even had a radio out with us lol!

Conor took many images of the sky in search of meteors however broken clouds often reaked havoc with the exposures. Clouds + drizzle ended the session before dawn. It was a great nights observing!!! We where observing for more than 9 hours without a break.

When i went in i spent 2 hours searching for comets on the SOHO LASCO images. I noticed a beautiful known comet with stubby tail on the C2 images and found a new suspect on the C3 images. I decided id better get some sleep at 07.00. What a great way to spend a friday night!

Clear skies all

I'll bet you boys are still trying to warm up
It's getting rough at this time of year, but I admire your persistance, especially when you don't have work the next day!
I love those long sessions, but the weather is going to be crap again this week

Keith..

aw dont talk Keith its bloody freezing!! :lol:
Aw well its not so bad when your watching metoers and moving also the hot cuppa in the flask goes to about 3am

A bar of chocolate at 4am goes a long way too!!!!!

Keith..