Spending the weekend on lake Pokegama (Po- Keg-Ama, not Pokey-Gamma) in Grand Rapids gave a nice opportunity to get some really dark skies for astronomy and astrophotography. The first evening was overcast until well past my bed-time. The second evening was pretty special. Around 10pm, the milky way was glowing overhead, the constellations were hard …
Author Archives: David
Solar eclipse October 2014
An unexpected bonus of being in the US this October was the chance to see the partial solar eclipse. A simple setup with a nature spotting telescope let me grab this image. A large sunspot group is just visible vanishing behind both the moon and the silhouette of the house on the other side of …
Minnesota
I’m in Minnesota, Minneapolis to be precise for the next few weeks. It’s pretty with autumnal colours.
Science Showoff
A month or two back, looking to publiscise the work I do, I got talking to the university PR people. It was suggested I email Steve Cross at Science Showoff and do a 9 minute stand-up science/comedy set for them. I was skeptical to say the least; but noting ventured, nothing gained. I prepared a …
Mountain
A trip to the top of the UK. The view from Ben Nevis was largely obscured by cloud, but the trek was warm and easy. The pub at the end on the way down was a very welcome sight. 2h 45m to get up, and about as long on the downward return (it’s very hard …