Milky Way

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment

In the Scottish Highlands we’re blessed with many dark locations from which to view the Milky Way, the band of diffuse light revealing our place within a giant spiral galaxy.

Even if you live in a busy city like Inverness, a short drive is all that’s needed to escape to relatively dark skies. Regrettably, in many parts of the UK and central Europe this important connection with our home galaxy has been rubbed out due to light pollution.

Looking up at the Milky Way lets us connect with something vast and far bigger than ourselves – an important check on our own sense of self importance.

More needs to be done to curtail unnecessary outdoor lighting and to educate people on the basics of dark sky preservation.  Retaining access to our night skies needn’t be an economically crippling ideal.  There are simple practical steps people can take that make dramatic differences.  Please see this excellent guide on the International Dark Sky Association website for tips on how you can help.

I’ve made a short video celebrating our views of the Milky Way and how overwhelmed our position is amidst an estimated two trillion other galaxies in the observable universe.

Merkinch Astronomy Outreach – Beginners Guide to Observing

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment
50032030_2235072910062982_812443491249422336_o

Gazing Moonward from the grounds of the Sea Cadets Hall, Inverness

We had a very successful Merkinch astronomy evening last Thursday, the second I’ve hosted from our new base at the Sea Cadets Hall on Kessock Road.  All available tickets were allocated in advance and we had a healthy gathering of over 50 people in the end, along with some of the sea cadets.  Caroline had also secured a large consignment of 8×40 binoculars for this and future events, which we put to good use later in the evening.

I kicked proceedings off with a projector based talk on buying a first telescope, offering some recommendations for good beginner scopes that won’t break the bank.  Afterwards, we headed out into the carpark beside the hall for some projections of the Moon.  Despite high cirrus clouds the Moon was still very clear and we had workable views via video telescope, allowing us to discuss the infinitely enthralling topic of lunar geology.

A few stars popped out later on but not enough to warrant a walk over to the nature reserve – which was the original plan if skies were clearer.

The next event takes place on February 28th when I’ll discuss deep sky observing – including star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and supernova remnants – how to observe them and some of the incredible astrophysics behind them.  Links to this event here.

ISS Returns

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment

The International Space Station returns to Scotland’s skies on January 25th.  I’ve put together a short informative video on the station linked below.  Please also find the first few flyby times.  I’ll be posting live prompts on my Highland Astronomy FB page when I can.

List of the first few bright ISS passes:

  • Friday 25th Jan at 19.07pm
  • Saturday 26th Jan 18.19pm
  • Sunday 27th Jan 19.00pm
  • Monday 28th Jan 18.09pm

 

 

Total Lunar Eclipse 21st January 2019

/ Stephen Mackintosh / 1 Comment

Look out for a spectacular total lunar eclipse next Monday 21st January, when the full Moon will turn blood red in the sky.  I’ve put together a video guide below with details of the timings for the full event at northern GMT latitudes.

You’ll have to get up early in the morning on the 21st to witness totality, with the best observing times spanning 4.42am – 5.45am.  Set your alarms!

The last total lunar eclipse was only 5 months ago, when I photographed the red Moon briefly emerging from clouds.

Big thanks to Kay Nakayama of Chillscape Art & Music for the accompanying music.

Star Stories with Dark Sky Man

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment

Despite cloudy skies up at Abriachan Forest we had a fantastic evening of astronomy and storytelling on Saturday 12th January with special guest Steve Owens, aka Dark Sky Man.

Steve is the author of the popular Stargazing for Dummies book. He was presented with the Federation of Astronomical Societies 2010 award for Outstanding Achievement in Astronomy, and the Campaign for Dark Skies 2010 award for Efforts in Dark Sky Preservation.

Due to the weather the evening was split into two streams – an indoor talk on dark skies with Steve, and storytelling with Clelland in the forest.  Since I was off the hook I managed to capture some film and compiled a short vide of the evening below.

Orion The Hunter

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment

With the mighty Orion holding court over our southern skies at the moment I thought I’d put together a short video tour of the main sights within the constellation, one of the oldest catalogued outside those of the ancient celestial pathway (or Zodiac).

This was also an opportunity to collaborate with some purveyors of quality ambient music.  For this video I’d like to thank artist Mlt and Nick Miamis and the team at Cosmicleaf Records for their fantastic music.

In future videos I plan to collaborate with some more artists, starting with tracks donated by Japan’s Kay Nakayama and Robert Hundt of Glitchy Tonic Records in Berlin.

Clear skies.

Merkinch Urban Astronomy Initiative

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment
Simon Garrod

A view of Orion from the Merkinch Nature Reserve at a previous event.  Credit Simon Garrod

I’m delighted to be continuing the urban astronomy initiative with the Merkinch Nature Reserve this year, in partnership with project manager Caroline Snow.

Going forward we now have a base of operations to host our astronomy gatherings, after a successful trial last year at the Inverness Sea Cadet hall on Kessock Road.  The venue allows us to host indoor talks and activities and is only a ten minute walk from the nature reserve itself, giving us the option to stargaze during open skies.

The first event planned for 2019 is an Introduction to Observing and Moon Night, where I’ll present a beginners guide to astronomy – what to consider buying to get started and what to potentially avoid.  We’ll take a break from proceedings to observe the gibbous Moon and stars if conditions are clear.  All booking enquiries should be directed to Caroline, who’s email is in the event link above.

We have plans to roll out further events as part of a larger 2019 programme.  Stay tuned here or on the Merkinch Facebook site for details as they develop.