Newcastle Observatory

The 2 day, 22 hr old Moon (about 12% illuminated) very low in the western sky last night. Taken with Takahashi 150B and Canon XSi. 1/60s @ ISO 400.

Here is a solitary or family activity you can enjoy right from your own backyard. Whether you have a telescope/binoculars or not. Learn about variable stars in the night sky. https://youtu.be/23nlX8aRRMY

Kinda late news but help yourself to the 2020 Moon Phase Calendar. It is available in several formats. Great to print out, or use as wallpaper for monitors and other devices. http://www.newcastleobservatory.ca/node/153

The 2019 Moon Phase Calendar is available for download in several formats. Great to print out, or use as wallpaper for monitors and other devices. http://www.newcastleobservatory.ca/node/153

Bitterly cold tonight, but bundle up and take in a few views of this eclipse. It should be spectacular! http://astronomy.com///News/2019/01/LunarEclipseTimes.jpg

The telescope is doing ~9 hrs CCD time-series on ASASSN-15po (see: http://goo.gl/Spf2LX). Data is for http://cbastro.org and the American Association of Variable Star Observers

The observatory is spending another night on ASASSN-15po. The exposures have been halved (to 60s) to obtain better time resolution on the dwarf nova, while maintaining acceptable SNR. Approximately 500 images will be obtained over 8.5 hours for photometric analysis. Comp and check stars are also indicated.

Tonight, the observatory is obtaining CCD time-series observations of ASASSN-15po, a WZ Sagittae type subclass of UGSU dwarf novae. Approximately 200 images will be obtained over a 7 hour period to determine minute fluctuations in the nova's flux, and provide follow-up observations. For more info, see: http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=8042