Perseid Meteor Watch At The Tin Hut

As I mentioned before ... Facebook - which I initially hated then learned to use to my advantage - has taken over from my blogging. I said I'd copy from there and paste here ... oh, my word, the things you've missed about my grumpy old man, I really must bring you up to date. Anyway here's a few snippets straight from Facebook of my nights spent freezing my bits off on a sunlounger watching for the Perseid meteor shower.

badgers from earlier this year ... well you can only look at so many photos of whitish spots ;)

Gone midnight 7th August - Stargazing ... practising for meteor watch. All that's flashed past so far are satellites and loads of bats.
1.04 - Got an owl here now and my camera is busy!!
9.02 - It looks like my photography skills need addressing ... I suppose I can be forgiven as it's the first time I've dared go out in the night since last year after all the oddities I or my camera witnessed.

#meteorwatch was a disaster, not one single photo, yet I know there should have been four (saw five). Saw Eight satellites and all I can find in the photos is an aeroplane and a strange flash but there were so many bats that they must have got in every photo :/

All I got of the owl is his eyes and he posed for at least two minutes.

My swearing was kept to a minimum when I was struggling with the sunlounger, tripod and camera, then realised I'd taken my glasses off, so had to use the light from my phone to go back and find where they'd dropped.
Things weren't helped by me trying to stuff things (phone, batteries) into my dressing gown pockets, only to find they were so far around my back I couldn't reach ... new smaller dressing gown required for #stargazing (already got new fleecy pj's for the job).
If it's clear tonight I'll do it again :)

Star trails from 6th/7th August ... with one aeroplane passing through (dots) just below the pole star and a tidgy widgy flash of meteorite level with the same star and to the right of it. Must try harder. And I will try to make sure that my camera lens doesn't get fogged up this time. 40 photos and 30 mins of my life wasted freezing my bits off taking photos of condensation

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8th August 0.19 - In stargazing position and a badger is here already munching on left over quiche. Noisily barging other side of fence now. My pussycat is keeping me company tonight.

0.40 - And I've got three badgers and one pussy cat for company - nice
1.44 - Given in I'm freeeeeeeezing ... Ar*e! What should have been one perfect photo, turned out to be FOG! For the last 20 mins my camera lens was in it's own damp little cloud. No wonder I was cold :'(
8.24 - Yawn, these stargazing nights are ok but methinks I need a nap during the day. Gone 2.30 before I got to sleep last night with my confused cat thinking I was going out again, bless her :/

10th August 0.16 - On #Meteorwatch again, Chuffin cold. Had to cover Miss Tia Pussykins up with my dressing gown cos she's shivering.

So far, one rabbit, one badger, several satellites and two meteorites. Many, many bats and flying so low they're practically parting my hair!

I can hear another badger other side of the fence. May give in soon and go in, I'm perished, even with a cat sat on me:/


Last night's star trails with one meteor. I admit it's been enhanced slightly but it is actually there. I've also learnt to tweak the contrast of the first pic before stacking to get the bright start to the trail ... I will no doubt do much more tweaking:)

Oh yeah, and the pale blurry bits are clouds, they turned up about 20 mins before I went in but I couldn't move without disturbing a badger, so I carried on pressing the camera buttons - as you do. I'll do the photo stacking again later without the cloudy pics but now I really, REALLY must do some work:)

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11th August 2.45 - Hmmm, the amount of things that keep flashing past - aeroplanes and satellites, also moths, bats, pigeon feathers?!? (reflected from lights) ... and the occasional meteor :/

2.43 - and warmest #Meteorwatch night so far, unless I'm just hardening up. I have to keep sticking my hands under my pits though, and they're not too happy about it, brrrrrrrrrr.

4.22 -  Grumpy woke up and came out an hour ago (3.30) to see if I'd fallen asleep, yeah right. Clouds have arrived and all that can be seen is Jupiter...
Aaaahh, a lovely cuppa and now I'm warming my hands on himself :P

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later the same day, 16.48 - I've just been sent to my bedroom for a nap or I can't go out to play tonight (just because I didn't come in until gone 4.30am).

Have mobile phone - will play - ner ner ner ner ner ;)

12th August - Sigh, last night's #Meteorwatch didn't happen for me ... and it was nearly the night I'd been waiting for.

I stayed up until after midnight but we had far too much cloud (could only see one star at a time) and it showed no signs of clearing.

Never mind, I counted 25 meteors the night before and managed to get a decent photo of one - as well as two aeroplanes and a bat pirouetting above me.

There was much muttering done - and a lot of naughty words used in my notes on the android - as very few were directly overhead.

Fingers crossed for tonight's show xx

 

Two babies from when they first started to visit

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Later the same day at 23.42 - One is in one's #Meteorwatch position. Am frozzed! my GOM - the lightweight - went in after seeing only 5 meteors. I'm made of tougher ... or dafter stuff.

Ooooh, pretty, another one:)

And now a bit later 13th August, 0.05 -  Just given my armpits the cold hand treatment. They were unimpressed. Don't know where I'm going to stick my cold feet.
Oh dear, the badgers were just arriving and a dog has frightened them off (gardens other side of the dyke). Daft mutt is barking with a squeaky toy in his mouth. They'll be back later I suspect.

0.08 - Miss Tia Pussykins has arrived now, wonder if I can get her to sit on my feet?? Uho, hands cold again, sorry armpits ... aaagggghhh!

1.40 -  Badgers are back, pussy gone to investigate. Owl been sat on next door's aerial, did I get a photo? Nope, just its eyes :/
1.50 - Going in when badgers gone, am so cold now. Can hear owl and geese. Pigeon feathers keep floating past ... again.

2.22 - Owl came again and sat on another aerial. Was I ready this time? You bet I was. Did I get it? Did I ar*e? I got the fire assembly point instead mutter, mutter.

Badgers went as soon as I shifted so I'm sat in front of the fire now thawing out. Will look at pics now, had a quick look outside, the 1.20 photo looks to have 2 meteors in it. I didn't see anything then. Bet I was rabbiting on Facebook and just pressed the buttons and hoped for the best.

2.44 - Just checked. That's exactly what I was doing - rabbiting on Facebook.
Got several aeroplanes, one possible Iridium flare and a few meteors, all in the company of Tia, two badgers, one or two owls and umpteen bats - not forgetting the pigeon feathers ... and a brief but exciting (ok NOISY) 15 minutes early on before my grumpy went to bed.

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13th August 1.20 photo - Definite meteor on the left but it looks like the other one is an Iridium flare (brighter in the middle where it's flared by reflecting sunlight). If I'd been looking, I'd have known. But then again, if the app I PAID for was working properly I'd have been reminded five minutes before the event. Same with the ISS, we saw that when we went out but my phone didn't mention it ... chuffin update, was fine the day before :/

17th August 0.07 - I say, these badgers don't worry about little me at all. One of the babies has just walked right past me - in my stargazing/meteorwatch position - to get to the nuts:)

0.29 -  Another badger on it's way past me, so close I could stroke it if I wasn't so attached to my fingers.

0.31 - Think there's too much blackberry undergrowth other side of fence so they're coming this side plus there's always a dog barks at them on the dyke side. They can tip toe past without disturbing it on our side.

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That's it, I've not been out at night since - other than taking moon and badger photos ...

  

Can You Tell Me What It Isn't?

Or ... Please tell me that's not a UFO over Langley Mill

Now, I know this is a bit off my normal every day whinging subjects but I've been a bit spooked by what I saw - or actually didn't see - on Wednesday night.

The fuzzy light to the right of Venus and the Pleiades

I was out in my usual position on the back yard with my super-whizzo-zoomy camera and tripod, plus my brilliantly-gadgety-app-laden-android-jobby, taking photos of anything that didn't appear to move, and even more photos of things that were meant to be passing over, i.e. Iridium's and other satellites (got an app for that).

Ahem, as I'm still learning and don't believe in reading instructions until I'm desperate - yes, I am a woman, honest - I keep making minor adjustments on the camera and taking photos of the same bit of sky - in this case the moon, Venus and the Pleiades - in the hope that I'll get a brilliant photo. Meanwhile I'm looking at the android phone to see what's due over next and scanning the sky for low aeroplanes as they make interesting subjects too.

Eventually my grumpy old man popped out to see if I was ready for a cuppa and I went onto the front to take a last disastrous photo of Sirius (too much lighting), before going in.

The moon is the bright light (obviously)

I was somewhat excited because I knew I'd got a decent photo of an Iridium flare. I looked at them all on the camera and came to the three I'd taken together and I was perplexed as to what was there.

I went out again armed with my equipment to see if I could recreate what was on the photos, impossible though as we'd moved relative to the stars, and the moon and Venus had moved relative to us.

Anyway what I want or NEED is as many debunkers as possible to tell me what caused these 'light anomalies' on my camera. Maybe it was the moon reflected, an airship over Langley Mill or a moth going past extremely slowly - two 13 second and one 15 second exposures - I can honestly say I saw nothing so I won't be arguing with anyone about 'what I saw'.

I know it's the darkest photo but also clearest of 'it' when tweaked

I went out again last night but I didn't enjoy myself at all, it was possibly too cloudy, I was staring too hard, and then I got the horrible feeling I was being watched - I do have a lively imagination. Eventually I grabbed the tripod by the middle swizzly bit (to straighten it out in one deft move) and ran in.

The photos are exactly as I took them, no tweaking, cropping, anything. Obviously I have done so with my copies, including superimposing them over each other, lightening, sharpening, softening, de-colouring, etc. etc. But I'm still no wiser. So download them (left click on photo to the next page, right click 'save image as' - bigger than just right click), play with them, tell me they're reflections, specks of dust, a four spotted double crested three winged Weeble Turd Muncher walking across the lens, whatever. Just don't tell me it's actually what it looks like to me.

Not a suspected UFO (I hope), this was me trying to recreate the metallic, knobbly blob. The photo number (15) is a coincidence, there are 30 more between 14 and 15, they're from different days and folders.

Oh nooooooo, I've just looked at last nights photos - it's definitely the moon reflected on the cloud ... yeah :)

Update 1st April: (yes I am aware of the date)
I bravely went out again last night (earlier though, so not all that brave) and took many photos of the moon to recreate the first three photos (28th). I nearly did it - OK, I didn't even get very close - but we'll definitely discount the last one (29th) as 'moon reflection' shall we?

However I spent a lot of hours yesterday going through all my hundreds of 'sky at night' photos. I saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in any Skegness photos where the moon, Jupiter and the International Space Station feature quite a lot.

Close up of The Pleiades, Venus and the 'thing' (photo 14)

And then I got to the at home photos ... oh dear. Nothing at all odd in any direction except directly over the Nottingham to Sheffield railway lines - all recent (seven) photos - with and without the moon in situ.

So, ahem, are there UFOs zipping from Nottingham to Sheffield over the railway tracks - the occupants having a pause and a jiggle over Langley Mill, to laugh at that daft woman - wearing pyjamas - on her back yard taking really bad photographs?

One photo was taken immediately before this and two after in exactly same position, without the 'shooting star'.

 Hmm, I don't know what to believe, but if there are UFOs passing over, can you stop pratting about and give us a lift to skeggy ...