Faulkes Telescope 7s2 (30th June 2010)

A lovely clear sky for class 7s2 to do their viewing.

It was an amazing experience for the students who took turns to control the telescope by first entering the RA and Dec (Right Ascension and Declination...the astral equivalent to longitude and latitude).
Once the telescope had shown the area of sky to be imaged, it was time to push the 'move telescope' button. It amazed the class to see the telescope moving even though it was dark. A smaller infrared telescope detects the heat the Faulkes Telescope has absorbed (takes in) in the daytime and emits (sends out) for some time after the sun goes down.

Not only did we have a clear sky, but the sky objects the students chose to image were fairly close together, and we managed to take pictures of five different objects...all very beautiful!


An open cluster Sky Object Name: m25
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Jun 30, 2010 11:34:25 UTC
RA: 18h31'36"
DEC: -19°15'00"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 10 secs.
Instrument: EM01


Triffid Nebula Sky Object Name: m20
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Jun 30, 2010 11:39:58 UTC
RA: 18h02'20"
DEC: -23°03'10"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 30 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Eagle Nebula Sky Object Name: m16
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Jun 30, 2010 11:45:20 UTC
RA: 18h18'52"
DEC: -13°49'42"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 30 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Ring Nebula Sky Object Name: m57
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Jun 30, 2010 11:49:59 UTC
RA: 18h53'36"
DEC: 33°01'40"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 3 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Dumbell Nebula Sky Object Name: m27
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Jun 30, 2010 11:57:49 UTC
RA: 19h59'36"
DEC: 22°43'00"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 30 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Once we lost control of the telescope again, it was the students' chance to ask questions. We covered areas such as

• The size of our sun compared to other suns, how stars form and that our sun is a star;
• Black holes - how they are made, whether they have been seen, where everything that's sucked into them goes (and whether or not anyone has ever fallen into one!)
• The difference between Supernovas and Hypernovas (a matter of size...)

and many more fascinating questions.

Faulkes at Heathfield Community College

Mr Pert visited Heathfield Community College to demonstrate the Faulkes Telescope to a group of students preparing for their AS year. The sky was clear and they obtained four successful (and very lovely) images:

A globula clusterSky Object Name: m15
When taken: Jun 14, 2010 13:55:54 UTC
RA: 21h29'58"
DEC: 12°10'00"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 6 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Dumbell Nebula
Sky Object Name: M27
When taken: Jun 14, 2010 13:50:46 UTC
RA: 19h59'36"
DEC: 22°43'01"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 60 secs.
Instrument: EM01



Ring NebulaSky Object Name: M57
When taken: Jun 14, 2010 13:43:30 UTC
RA: 18h53'36"
DEC: 33°01'40"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 10 secs.
Instrument: EM01



Eagle Nebula

Sky Object Name: M16
When taken: Jun 14, 2010 13:38:15 UTC
RA: 18h18'52"
DEC: -13°49'42"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 70 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Maynard's Green Primary School

Sky Object Name: M8
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: May 13, 2010 13:58:28 UTC
RA: 18h03'41"
DEC: -24°22'49"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 40 secs.
Instrument: EM01

The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, and as NGC 6523) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region.

The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1747 and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. A fragile star cluster appears superimposed on it.

Sky Object Name: ngc 6530
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: May 13, 2010 13:52:03 UTC
RA: 18h04'48"
DEC: -24°20'00"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 40 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Discovered by Hodierna before 1654.

NGC 6530 is an extremely young open cluster which was formed from the material of the Lagoon Nebula M8, and it is situated well within this diffuse nebula.

As the light of its member stars show little reddening by interstellar matter, this cluster is probably situated just in front of the Lagoon Nebula. Its brightest star is a 6.9 mag hot O5 star, and Eichler gives its age as 2 million years.

Sky Object Name: triffid Nebula
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: May 13, 2010 13:45:46 UTC
RA: 18h02'42"
DEC: -22°58'19"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 60 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Sky Object Name: Eagle Nebula
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: May 13, 2010 13:37:52 UTC
RA: 18h18'52"
DEC: -13°49'00"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 60 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Four Nebulae taken by GCSE Astronomy class

Four very beautiful nebulae taken by Uplands GCSE Astronomy students:

Sky Object Name: Trifid
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Apr 20, 2010 14:58:27 UTC
RA: 18h02'20"
DEC: -23°03'10"
Filter: H-alpha
Exposure time: 100 secs.
Instrument: EM01

The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. Its name means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula (the lower, red portion), a reflection nebula (the upper, blue portion) and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' within the emission nebula that cause the trifid appearance; these are also designated Barnard 85). Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and colorful object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.

Sky Object Name: Trifid
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Apr 20, 2010 14:54:41 UTC
RA: 18h02'20"
DEC: -23°03'10"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 50 secs.
Instrument: EM01

Sky Object Name: Eagle
Taken By: Uplands Community College
When taken: Apr 20, 2010 14:47:31 UTC
RA: 18h18'52"
DEC: -13°49'42"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 50 secs.
Instrument: EM01

The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46. Its name derives from its shape which is resemblant of an eagle. It is the subject of a famous photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope, which shows pillars of star-forming gas and dust within the nebula.

Sky Object Name: Dumbbell
When taken: Apr 20, 2010 14:40:17 UTC
RA: 19h59'40"
DEC: 22°43'01"
Filter: RGB
Exposure time: 90 secs.
Instrument: EM01

The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 27, M 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula (PN) in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1,360 light years.