0:00:34 > 0:00:38Hello! And welcome to the Brecon Beacons and our weekend star party.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42While we're here, we're going to try to answer some of the many questions
0:00:44 > 0:00:47with all the fun of the star camp,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53But first, the October Sky Notes
0:00:55 > 0:01:00with the constellation of Cassiopeia.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10such as NGC 457, the Owl Cluster.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16and you will see two owl eyes
0:01:16 > 0:01:23such as M103 and M52, are here, too.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26M52 contains about 100 stars
0:01:26 > 0:01:29over 5,000 light years away.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Brilliant Jupiter is now visible
0:01:36 > 0:01:43nestled amongst the stars of Gemini.
0:01:47 > 0:02:25each cast their shadows on the
0:02:25 > 0:02:28extend the line from Regulus
0:02:28 > 0:02:31for the same distance again
0:02:31 > 0:02:36the icy depths of the solar system,
0:02:46 > 0:02:51To find the objects for this month, go to our website for all the charts.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59brings us to the Brecon Beacons
0:02:59 > 0:03:04of dark skies and some light relief.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07to this same star party with my dad,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I've brought the whole family!
0:03:09 > 0:03:13This is Clara's first star party.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17an impressive variety of equipment,
0:03:26 > 0:03:27"Do not put your eye up..."
0:03:27 > 0:03:31'Chris North's brought his trusty
0:03:31 > 0:03:34So, there's the, uh... Got it.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37I'll grab the tripod and the mount,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and that's most of everything
0:03:41 > 0:03:43more substantial to assemble.'
0:03:53 > 0:03:55'It's not a normal Sky At Night
0:03:55 > 0:03:58It's looking rather good, though, isn't it, Camp Sky At Night?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01It's fairly substantial. Yeah.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Where's the tea-making facilities? That's what I want to know.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09'but meanwhile, while the campsite gets ready for the long night ahead,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Since we launched our Space Surgery
0:04:15 > 0:04:18we've been overwhelmed by the number
0:04:18 > 0:04:21and about a third of them have been
0:04:24 > 0:04:26is from Wayne in Portsmouth,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29who says, "I live in a city with lots of light pollution,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31"so is there anything at all
0:04:33 > 0:04:35there's loads of stuff you can see,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37even in very light-polluted skies.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43and the moon stands out pretty well.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47all the stars, star clusters,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52You get problems when you start to look at diffuse objects,
0:04:52 > 0:04:59like galaxies and nebulosity,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04who says, "What type of telescope should I buy to begin with,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06"and what do I need to know
0:05:06 > 0:05:12And he adds, "I've got plenty of opportunity to look at the sky,
0:05:39 > 0:05:44you can just press a few buttons
0:05:44 > 0:05:51That's true, but that also suits
0:05:51 > 0:05:54the go-to solution can be a godsend.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56I think this might be the most
0:05:56 > 0:05:59It's from Paul Phillips in London,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03who wants to know... "I'm just
0:06:06 > 0:06:08"weather and clear-sky predictions?"
0:06:10 > 0:06:13always standing there, saying,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16and be clear for 47 minutes."
0:06:16 > 0:06:20You can't predict the future that accurately. The further
0:06:24 > 0:06:29If you are going 48 hours or less,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31you can have a good general idea.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34to go onto some of the online sites,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37for example, the BBC Weather site,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and I'll look at that and try and work out if there's going to be
0:06:45 > 0:06:47a gap which should be predicted for when I want to observe.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I'll try and find an infrared
0:06:52 > 0:06:56The Met Office do an infrared
0:06:56 > 0:06:59and then you just look at the gaps and if they're coming over your way,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01that's when you go out and set up.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03we'll put this to the test -
0:07:12 > 0:07:16'The sun is out, the astronomers
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Quite often. Well, if there's a clear sky, it's out there.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Yeah, Brilliant! Very much so.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31I live up in Kendal, so we're
0:07:34 > 0:07:37rather than in town, where I live.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43'with observatories in space,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55This was the view of the sun that got me into solar physics
0:08:03 > 0:08:05that will slowly work its way across,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07and you'll see a nice big streak
0:08:07 > 0:08:09Yeah, so you see the prominences
0:08:09 > 0:08:15If you come back up tomorrow,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21That is a spectacular view.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30or project the sun's image.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36'on how to make a solar filter and observe the sun safely.'
0:08:43 > 0:08:48There's sort of two smaller bits and then a much longer bit up on
0:09:12 > 0:09:15We've just spotted a sun halo,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19which is a beautiful, faint but quite clear rainbow around the sun,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and it's formed by ice particles
0:09:25 > 0:09:28I think it's a really good sign
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Time to put the solar telescopes away and get ready for the evening.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Nick's telescope is a pretty big
0:09:37 > 0:09:40which will capture lots of light -
0:09:43 > 0:09:48Andrew's telescope is a compound with both mirrors and lenses.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51but it carries a big punch -
0:09:58 > 0:10:01and Chris is taking a keen interest.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Did you make this yourself?
0:10:07 > 0:10:11and the main mirror is underneath
0:10:17 > 0:10:22So, it does actually pack flat and the, em...the poles collapse.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29There seem to be a lot of toilet
0:10:29 > 0:10:32but they are actually being used
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Handy if it starts to rain!
0:10:48 > 0:10:51This is the second year the Baker Street Irregular Astronomers
0:10:51 > 0:10:53have organised a star camp at Cwmdu
0:10:53 > 0:10:56to escape the bright lights
0:10:56 > 0:11:00of the Astro Camp. Astro Camp again.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08hopefully we're going to get
0:11:14 > 0:11:22What are we going to be seeing
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Epsilon Lyrae, and trying to split
0:11:25 > 0:11:36I'm going for a bit of a double
0:11:36 > 0:11:51as we're going to see them.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55the best place in the south of the country that we can get to.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00The Pole Star has come out,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03so astronomers can polar-align
0:12:03 > 0:12:15and keep track of the stars
0:12:15 > 0:12:17You're crouching down there
0:12:17 > 0:12:21We are currently in the Keystone of Hercules looking at M13.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Do you mind if I have a quick crouch down and have a look as well?
0:12:25 > 0:12:28That is absolutely stunning.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34You really can. It sort of runs
0:12:34 > 0:12:37You can really see it. So what are we using to get an image of that?
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Yeah, it's my new toy, a seven inch
0:12:45 > 0:12:48It's big. Yes! Bigger than I thought
0:12:48 > 0:12:51What else are you going to try
0:12:51 > 0:12:56I am pretty intrigued actually for the Pleiades when they do show up.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Right at the end of the night. Yeah!
0:13:00 > 0:13:03The night sky is looking fabulous,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10catches the sunlight on its antenna.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19We were tracking her earlier,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22but we had a little break to watch one of the iridium flares come over.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25That was fabulous. Did you see that?
0:13:25 > 0:13:28They're just pretty awesome,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34an eight inch Celestron. It's quite short, but it would be like
0:13:37 > 0:13:39It's a telescope that uses folded
0:13:39 > 0:13:43it'd be a lot longer... Yes.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45It's compact to make it easy
0:13:45 > 0:13:50You've got what looks like a pretty
0:13:53 > 0:13:55so it doesn't fog up tonight.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59A dew shield wrapped around the end
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Sometimes a small heater can also help stop things fogging up.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Carl is using his big Dobsonian
0:14:17 > 0:14:20it will collide with our own galaxy.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24So, for now, let's enjoy it
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Chris, the clouds have rolled in,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31and we've even had a bit of rain
0:14:31 > 0:14:38so a good time to come back to some more of our Space Surgery questions.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45because there's so many stars
0:14:45 > 0:14:53The first question comes from Jane Cross, who lives in the Midlands,
0:14:53 > 0:14:59"and doesn't know the first thing about the geography of the skies,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05The first thing is get hold of a decent beginners' book to observing
0:15:05 > 0:15:15or a set of night-sky charts
0:15:15 > 0:15:17onto what you see in the night sky,
0:15:17 > 0:15:35to going from page to the sky.
0:15:35 > 0:15:42In the winter, a great constellation is Orion for similar reasons.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Phil Parry from North Wales asks,
0:15:48 > 0:15:53This is actually the subject of one of Pete's guides last month,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56so you can go on the website and find the gallery of images
0:16:01 > 0:16:03"There are 88 constellations -
0:16:03 > 0:16:07"how many of these can be seen from the UK?" which is a great question.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09There are 88 constellations
0:16:11 > 0:16:12and I've tried to count this,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and I reckon there's something like 50-55 you can see from the UK.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Now, that depends on your horizon.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21We've got hills here, which block out the stuff that's really low down,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23and you might have light pollution
0:16:23 > 0:16:25covering up a lot of the lower
0:16:27 > 0:16:30So get a list and start ticking
0:16:32 > 0:16:35'The clouds are staying put.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42'Pete has had to put a bin bag
0:16:42 > 0:16:44'Let's hope it doesn't rain.'
0:16:50 > 0:16:54It's day two of our star camp
0:16:54 > 0:16:57and Chris is having breakfast
0:16:59 > 0:17:02You stand there, sweetheart...
0:17:02 > 0:17:05am judging a cake competition.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11I might judge with my eyes,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13There's something inside which makes
0:17:13 > 0:17:18It sounds terrifying. Whose is this?
0:17:18 > 0:17:21MSL. MSL. It's looking downwards.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Yeah, it kind of got damaged
0:17:27 > 0:17:31We'll call it the Pete Lawrence telescope as he's having trouble,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36And we're going to call the spiral Chelsea buns. Are these yours?
0:17:36 > 0:17:39They are not Chelsea buns, they are Danish. Cinnamon and raisin Danish.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44I don't know whether we care
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Uranus is bigger than Neptune. Is this yours? Neptune was squashed.
0:17:47 > 0:17:54Neptune was squashed! Yes, you're right, something's happened here!
0:17:54 > 0:17:56It's quite amazing, how she did it.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02This has to go to the Space Shuttle
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Many of you have been sending in questions to our Space Surgery
0:18:20 > 0:18:22So I have some questions for you.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05"and I have had some good results
0:19:05 > 0:19:08"of the full moon, I only see part of the moon." Can you advise?
0:19:08 > 0:19:12That's because the focal length of the telescope he's using is too long
0:19:12 > 0:19:15to shorten the focal length
0:19:15 > 0:19:20of the telescope. You don't need to take a hacksaw to the tube.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24You can use a device called a focal reducer, which sits in front
0:19:24 > 0:19:27of the camera or between the camera and the main optics of the telescope,
0:19:27 > 0:19:31and that should allow you to see
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Whether you can get the whole moon in depends on your telescope.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Andrew Morrell from West Yorkshire,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40"I have a six-inch reflector,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44"with two axes of rotation.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49"I can track the stars more easily,"
0:19:49 > 0:19:51and he asks, "Can you demonstrate
0:19:54 > 0:19:56but you can trip up when you're
0:20:03 > 0:20:07they actually move in a way
0:20:07 > 0:20:10they head to the highest point
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and then set down in the west.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16So, you have to emulate that motion
0:20:16 > 0:20:19So, there's an easy way to do it.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25so it points at what's called
0:20:25 > 0:20:27basically pointing that more or less
0:20:29 > 0:20:31with the axis of the earth.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34..which is what causes the stars to do that arc across the sky.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36and if I now move this camera,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43and then you rotate it round like so,
0:20:47 > 0:20:52So, just that simple action of tilting the axis of rotation over
0:20:52 > 0:20:55at the north celestial pole
0:20:55 > 0:20:59as you pan it left and right,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05getting Polaris in the camera?
0:21:05 > 0:21:12That is right. Different mounts have different ways of doing this.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16and having a quick look at the stars
0:21:17 > 0:21:19That is fantastic practical advice,
0:21:19 > 0:21:27so everyone get out and have a look at the constellations, track the
0:21:33 > 0:21:36of their Astronomy Photographer
0:21:36 > 0:21:39The overall winner was by Mark Gee
0:21:39 > 0:21:44and his image is of the Milky Way
0:21:46 > 0:22:07Here are some of the other winners.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26And what was your answer? 27.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Well, we saw the Ring Nebula
0:22:38 > 0:22:42A little bird told me you're very
0:22:44 > 0:22:48We've taken a picture of Saturn before and my dad said it was one of
0:22:48 > 0:22:50the best photos he's ever taken
0:22:55 > 0:22:59and if you go back 12 months, you can see that our Jupiter then
0:23:04 > 0:23:07The gas giants are always changing,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Hello, Mike. Hello. This looks like
0:23:36 > 0:23:39A lot of people might think that a bigger telescope is better and
0:23:39 > 0:23:43this has to be one of the smaller ones on site. Can you tell us
0:23:43 > 0:23:47why a small telescope can be good as well? I have got a larger scope
0:23:47 > 0:23:52but I particularly chose a small
0:23:55 > 0:23:58A lot of the nebula are huge objects
0:23:58 > 0:24:02field of view to get that in.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Tell us about the three cameras
0:24:04 > 0:24:10which I use for main imaging.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12That is attached to the telescope.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Attached to that is a smaller
0:24:18 > 0:24:23for my guide camera. It tracks the star and keeps everything
0:24:23 > 0:24:31perfectly aligned so you don't
0:24:31 > 0:24:37and this one has a 10.5 millimetre fish-eye lens. I will use that
0:24:37 > 0:24:42for taking very wide field shots of
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Just get some nice constellation
0:24:46 > 0:25:02The Milky Way from this dark site
0:25:02 > 0:25:05and it's here that new stars
0:25:11 > 0:25:29Hello there, Jeni. Hiya, all right?
0:25:29 > 0:25:36Oh, I must have about 30 on here.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40so just a bit of guesswork, really.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Well, judging by these images, that's pretty impressive guesswork.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Andromeda is a spiral galaxy
0:25:50 > 0:25:54as well as its companion galaxy
0:26:00 > 0:26:03but we've been doing some rather simpler observing using binoculars,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06It's been absolutely amazing.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08I've stepped away from the camera,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10just wandering around the sky,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15I don't think I've seen you
0:26:15 > 0:26:16instead of behind the camera.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19So, I mean, the first thing
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Oh, the Coathanger Cluster.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Yeah. And you can see that with
0:26:24 > 0:26:27about a third of the way up
0:26:27 > 0:26:31and there it is, a little hazy patch but if you look at it closely
0:26:31 > 0:26:35with your eyes, you can just make out that upside-down coat hanger.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Yeah, it's one of the few things
0:26:37 > 0:26:39that looks like it's supposed to.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41and then I went further down,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45behind those trees now. OK.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47But I saw the Lagoon Nebula.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55and you've got the steam coming out.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57That's right, and in the steam
0:26:57 > 0:27:01You just saw a couple of stars and then the faint gaseous structure.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03That's a great one to tick off here,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Do you reckon there's any other
0:27:13 > 0:27:16I have been able to see on the other
0:27:19 > 0:27:21if you come down from there,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24I can see that through binoculars.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28pleased about, I didn't realise you could do it, was with these
0:27:28 > 0:27:33binoculars I had a look at the region
0:27:33 > 0:27:35because I've never seen that
0:27:42 > 0:27:45You actually get to find your way
0:27:45 > 0:27:49and with a bit of luck, a bit of a clear sky and a bit of help,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51you can actually find an awful lot
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And don't forget, you only have
0:28:19 > 0:28:21in the Moore Moon Marathon,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27the results of the marathon
0:28:27 > 0:28:38an intriguing lunar eclipse.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd