New Comet – C2004/Q2 Machholz Date: Jan 2005 Description We continue to observe the comet on very clear night. It is passing from Perseus to Cassiopeia. It has faded down to about mag +6. The comet maintains its fuzzy ball appearance though much smaller. The long faint tail seems to be no longer visible. Using the 16 " telescope the comet is still a fine sight appearing as an oval shape with bright nucleus the overall magnitude is about +6.5. Look out for further updates. Click on picture for larger image. Aurora #1 Date: 21/22 Jan 2005 Time: 19.00 UT Description On 20 Jan 2005 as it nearer the limb of the Sun sunspot 720 erupted with a class X7 flare at 07.00. With a typical delay of 36 to 40 hours between eruption and interaction with the magnetosphere we were ready and waiting on the night of 22 Jan for any signs of auroral activity. Despite a gibbous Moon, with the arrival of darkness by 19.00pm a broad glowing pale green band was visible which intensified and rose higher in the sky forming an arch 140 deg long. For the next hour there was a great deal of activity with rapid changes in brightness and shape. The only red beams observed were at the extreme west and east ends of arch. When this activity died down all that remained as a narrow arch stretching across the northern sky. Stars such a Vega were seen easily under the arch. Over the next two hours the arch slowly curved higher reaching a maximum altitude of 50 deg. Faint beams then reached downwards growing longer and brighter. More beams formed under the arch and stretched upwards through the arch. The brightest one to form nearly reaching the zenith and had intense red edges. Zig-zags of aurora formed under the arch and filled in the dark area. Again, all the changes took place rapidly until the curve of the arch was disrupted into irregular almost cloud like shapes then the brightness of the aurora faded to almost nothing by 23.00pm. Out of the chaos of the shapes a very faint arch reformed once more. By 01.00 the narrow arch had broadened and a gap appeared with short beams either side. The gap expanded and the beams extended higher so that the arch was completely dispersed in 15 minutes. This last bit of activity was difficult of observe, but would have seemed very bright in the absence of the Moon. After this no further auroral activity was observed. A sunspot this large is likely to survive its journey round the farside of the Sun. If it does then more aurora are likely in 14 days time. An additional bonus while observing the aurora was a very bright meteor at 20.30 which lasted 1.5 seconds as it streaked to the west of Vega heading northerly 330 deg. Its colour was green and the magnitude estimated at –4 which is very bright considering the very low altitude and presence of the aurora on sky brightness. The rotation of the Sun is slowly carrying the sunspot and a new large sunspot round the farside. CMEs have been seen coming from the Sun so the spots are still very active. On reappearing the sunspots were seen to be much smaller and fading. No further auroras occurred. Rosetta Spacecraft Date: 4^th/5^th March 2005 Time: 21.42 UT Description ESA's comet lander mission Rosetta made a flyby of Earth on 4 March 2005. At its closest the spacecraft was within 1900 km when over Mexico in daylight. Europe being in darkness was favourably placed, however, the spacecraft was about 10,000 km away and mag +9. Using the charts on the ESA website – the easiest place to pickup the spacecraft was as it passed gamma Geminorum. Using the Mintron Astrovideo camera at maximum sensitivity we picked up the probe right on time at 21.42 as it passed through the field of view. The speed was much higher than normal for satellites. This is the first of three Earth flybys that Rosetta will carry out to reach Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. Aurora #2 and #3 Date: 5^th/6^th March 2005 Time: 22.30 UT Description The activity first appeared at about 22.30 as just a narrow bright band 100 deg wide along the northern horizon and only a few degrees thick. The band slowly widened to 10deg and faded. It remained that way until 00.50 when vertical beams appeared all along the band reaching up to 30deg. Some slight red colour on the edges of the beams was visible. The activity was in short intense burst of about a minute with several minutes of minimal activity, After 25 minutes only one faint beam remained which too faded until only the band was visible and this shrank in size then expanded and faded to nothing by 01.40. There are no large sunspots visible – this aurora appears to be the result of a large swing to negative of the interplanetary magnetic field. Another very minor aurora occurred on 8^th/9^th March appearing as a large glowing hemisphere of varying brightness from 23.00 to 2.00. Mercury Date: 4^th March 2005 onwards Time: 18.30 UT Description Mercury is well placed in the early evening sky and easily visible at –1 mag. A thin crescent Moon as only 4 deg south west on 11^th March 2005. Venus Date: 28^th April 2005 onwards Time: 2o.05 UT Description Venus makes a welcome return to the evening sky. Currently only 4 deg above the horizon it will in the evening sky throughout the summer. Aurora #4 Date: 7^th/8^th May 2005 Time: 00.05 UT Description This aurora occurred without the usual warning signs such as a CME or high solar wind. It first appeared as two vertical beams above a low band of cloud near the horizon, these faded to be replaced at intervals by other beams. Bursts of activity occurred every few minutes followed by 10-15 minute breaks. Activity appeared to stop at approx. 02.00, however, intense activity began again at approx 03.00 with a very bright band on the horizon and short broad beams coming from it. Continuing activity merged into the dawn light by 04.15. One unusual aspect was the purple colour, this is not an artefact as this colour has not occurred in previous auroras photographed. Two guests at the Centre also observed the event – Mr J. McVicar took the image on the right. Aurora #5 Date: 29^th/30^th May 2005 Time: 00.00 UT Description The initial effects of the aurora were not immediately apparent. The transparent band of twilight to the north became a very pale green and opaque during activity. At approx 02.30 a very bright pale green beam 25deg long with a pale red top appeared for a few seconds followed by two more then all activity stopped. Venus/ Mercury / Saturn Conjunction Date: 27 June 2005 Time: 22:40 UT Description The three planets were in close proximity, but differed greatly in brightness. Venus at -3.9 was the brightest, Mercury at –0.1 and Saturn faintest at 0.2 Noctilucent Cloud Date: 27 June 2005 Time: 23:26 UT Description Noctilucent clouds occur near the edge of space and glow eerily in the twilight dark. Their original is still a mystery. Further cloud was seen on the 28^th and 29^th June. Supernova SN 2005CS Date: 26/27 July 2005 Time: 01.30 UT Description On 28^th June 2005 a Type II supernova was discovered in the galaxy M15 (Whirlpool) some 30 million light years away. Though fading now at +14.5 magnitude it is a very faint object which can been seen with the Astrovideo camera. In the image the ring marks the location of the supernova. Mars Date: 26/27 July 2005 Time: 03.00 UT Description Using the 16" telescope Mars is already a respectable size meaning that the shrinking southern ice cap and dark marking are easily seen. As the distance between Mars and Earth reduces the apparent size of Mars will increase until the end of October. Update – 30^th October 2005 Mars has dominated the night sky for months reach closest approach on 30^th Oct with an apparent size of 20 arcseconds. Giving a great opportunity to see the planet in great detail. A dust storm has been observed, but it remains a localised event. Update – 24^th November 2005 Visible all night and seeming no smaller Mars is still a great sight with the dark features easily visible. Perseid Meteors Date: 11^th/12^th and 13^th/14^th August 2005 Description The Perseid shower was disappointing this year with only about 5-6 meteors per hour observed each night. Click on the image to see a video taken with our Mintron CCD Camera. Sunpillar Date: 13^th September 2005 Time: 19.35 (UT) Description A sunpillar was observed just after sunset. It is caused by ice crystals high in the atmosphere funnelling sunlight upwards. Taurid Meteors Date: 7^th November 2005 Time: 22.20 UT Description The Taurid shower is normally very weak. From early November fireballs were been reported almost every night from around the world. Regrettably, we did not see one at the Centre, but our guests did see a meteor of mag –2 with a long trail passing through Lynx and across the top of Ursa Major. Aurora #6 Date: 27^th/28^th December 2005 Time: 22.40 UT Description The aurora appeared as a very bright pale green arc stretching 100 deg along the northern horizon. After approx 10 mins the arc thickened upwards starting at the right hand end and slowly broadened along the whole length. As it did so the intensity faded and this brief auroral activity was over. Guests Mr & Mrs Walker were fortunate to witness the event. Asteroid - Vesta Date: 28^th/29^th December 2005 Time: 22040 UT Description Vesta (asteroid no.4) is moving through Gemini. Its path between Delta Gem and Epsilon Gem is through a region that has few stars so the asteroid at mag 6.5 (increasing to 6.2 on 6^th Jan 06) is a relatively easy target even in binoculars.

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