SPRING 2018

WELCOME TO ASTROCAMP

Thank you for booking and welcome to the Spring AstroCamp 2018! We’ve resisted the temptation to grow to accommodate more bookings and have stayed at the familiar AstroCamp campsite in Cwmdu, which means we remain small, friendly and continue to be perhaps the most exclusive starparty around!

AstroCamp has become widely regarded as the friendliest and most helpful party there is. So, if you’re feeling sociable, come and set up around 'The Common', near the reception and the AstroCamp HQ tent. If you’re new to astronomy or don’t have your own telescope and want to look through a range of scopes and ask questions, The Common is the place to come!

Our gatherings are always friendly so, if this is your first starparty, you can be guaranteed to leave with far more friends than you could imagine and an informed passion for the wonders of the night sky. So don’t be nervous about coming on your own – we’ll make you feel welcome as our newest member of the AstroCamp family!

Of course, those that want to find a dark and quiet corner for some observing or imaging in blissful seclusion have everything they want in this weather protected valley under some of the darkest skies in the United Kingdom, here in the Brecon Beacons International Dark Sky Reserve. In 2017 we even obtained a specific directive from the Welsh Cabinet Secretary to turn off the local village’s street lights during AstroCamp events, making Cwmdu truly Wales’ Astronomical Village.

In this pack, you find a guide to the scheduled events and talks that will be taking place this AstroCamp. All talks, & events are included in your admission, so please feel free to come along to any or all that you’d like.

We've also listed our favourite objects this time of year, as a starter for planning your observations or getting started in imaging over the weekend. All the observation times are listed in UK local time.

Apart from the Astronomers in the Pub event on Sunday afternoon, all workshops will begin from the AstroCamp HQ tent on 'The Common'.

The Sunday afternoon talks & quizzes will be held at the Cwmdu Village Hall (our pop-up pub, The Spiral Arms, so that we can carry on the tradition of Astronomers in the Pub now that we’ve actually outgrown the village pub). This is easy to find and a short walk from the campsite: from the Farmer’s Arms pub, continue north on the A479 and turn left after 140m. All events are free, there are prizes worth many more times the cost of AstroCamp admission and we even have our own locally brewed AstroCamp Ale for the real ale drinkers. HOW TO GET TO ASTROCAMP

By Train: The nearest train station to Cwmdu is Abergavenny. Bus services run weekly to Cwmdu so booking a taxi from the train station is recommended. Taxis cost around £25 each way, but most operators seem to be happy to negotiate a fixed price if you guarantee that you will use them for the return journey.

There are often people looking to taxi-share on our Facebook page so you might want to check that out too,

By Car: Cwmdu Caravan & Camp site is located four miles north of Crickhowell just off the A479 Turn right at the Farmers Arms public house in the small village of Cwmdu and follow the signs for 300m.

PLEASE NOTE: While SATNAV may bring you successfully to the area it may NOT deliver you to the campsite. Please follow the "camping" road signs from the Farmers Arms public house for the final 300m to the campsite.

Campsite Address: Cwmdu Campsite, Cwmdu, Crickhowell, Powys, NP8 1RU CAMPSITE LAYOUT

Please pitch in your allocated area according to the map below. Please only park your car by your tent if it fits well within the dimensions of your chosen pitch (5x5m small, 8x8m large). Otherwise please park your car in the empty bottom field after unpacking and pitching up. Your neighbour will thank you for it!

ASTROCAMP EVENT SCHEDULE

Saturday 14th

En-route to Cwmdu, listen to the Awesome Astronomy special podcast extra just for AstroCampers! Just look for ‘Awesome Astronomy’ on iTunes or go to awesomeastronomy.com/getpodcast 13:00 ...... Arrive at campsite, pitch up & set up 15:00 ...... Meet & Greet. Come to the gazebo on The Common to meet new friends, share stories & a drink or two 16:00 ...... John’s collimation tutorial. Make sure the mirrors in your scope are in tip-top alignment before the come out 21:00 ...... Paul’s starhopping & navigating tutorial on The Common. Learn how to find your way around the sky and pick out a few treats in the cosmos.

Sunday 15th 10:00 ...... Solar SUN-day - solar observing in white light and hydrogen alpha on The Common The Sunday afternoon talks and quizzes are held at our pop-up pub ‘The Spiral Arms’ at Cwmdu Village Hall. All talks and quizzes are included in your admission price. 14:00 ...... The Spiral Arms Astronomy Quiz - where the big prizes are! 15:30………… Talk by Amber Hornsby – ‘Detecting the invisible universe.’ Amber Hornsby is a postgraduate researcher at Cardiff University, developing detectors to observe the oldest light in the universe - the Cosmic Microwave Background. 16:30 ...... Champions of the Universe Quiz (the difficult quiz in which you’re playing for beer!)

Monday 16th 14:00 ...... Monday afternoon social on The Common. Bring food, drinks, chairs, tables (guitars & mandolins?) if you have them, for this popular AstroCamp social gathering.

Tuesday 17th

12:00 ...... Leave campsite and book for 8-11th September AstroCamp

The Common (in the middle of the campsite) is the area we’ve created for socialising and observing together. There’s always lots gathered here to share eyepiece views and learn new astronomy tricks from others.

Join us in the AstroCamp family at The Common! RALPH'S DSO IMAGING TARGETS FOR BEGINNERS

My picks are all visible in a 4” (100mm) scope and can be imaged in 1 minute exposures with a tracking mount. With a good polar alignment, you may be able to take 3 minute exposures or longer. But look at them carefully and if the stars look like they’re smearing, discard them and take slightly shorter exposures or refine your polar alignment.

Of course, a dedicated tracking set up will allow you to take longer exposures and obtain better quality images but all of my deep sky picks in this guide will easily show up in shorter exposures if you’re trying out imaging night sky objects for the 1st time or are wanting to see just how far you can push your camera exposures.

M65, M66 & NGC3628 - THE LEO TRIPLET

This is a unique treat for amateur observers, giving us, as the name suggests, 3 in the same eyepiece view. The Triplet is at its most advantageous position just before 11pm but will be enjoyable all night.

All three galaxies are spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way, and each presents a different orientation: M66 isn’t quite ‘face on’ but shows us more of its spiral arms than the others, while NGC 3628 is perfectly ‘edge on’ showing a thick dust seam running through the centre under higher magnification.

To locate these three galaxies, draw a line between the brightest star in Leo, Regulus in the lower chest of the lion, to Bright Denebola in the lion’s tail. About two thirds the way along that line sits the Leo Triplet. Start with a low power eyepiece to locate them and increase the magnification to frame them all perfectly.

To get any level of detail from these distant objects will require exposures of 5 or 10 minutes and, as always, the more the merrier. But if you don’t have a guidescope, you can take shorter exposures of a couple of minutes (or as long as you can take before the stars appear smudged) and stack them together in the free Deep Sky Stacker software.

M51 - THE WHIRLPOOL

Nice and high as soon as it’s dark, the whirlpool is a unique target for amateur astronomers as it gives us views of a devouring a gravitationally bound smaller galaxy.

Follow a line from the Mizar to Alkaid, the end star in the handle of the Plough (Ursa Major). M 51 is half that distance again from Alkaid.

A one minute DSLR exposure will show the two galactic cores, while increasing the exposure times will reveal ever more detail.

Visually, anyone with a 4 inch or larger telescope should be able to spot its characteristic details. Anyone with a 12-inch telescope may be able to find the companion M51b just behind the main disk, where streams of dust and stars are pouring towards the whirlpool.

M13 - THE GREAT GLOBULAR CLUSTER IN HERCULES

Getting higher in the sky as the night goes on, and therefore better to observe or image, M13 is still high enough in the sky to observe as soon as it’s dark. To find it, look two thirds the way along a line imagined between the stars zeta and eta Herculis in the keystone shaped asterism in Hercules.

This is the largest and most spectacular globular cluster for northern hemisphere observers. M13 is a gravitationally bound ball of more than a quarter of a million stars, 22 light years away in a halo around our galaxy. Don’t miss the chance to see M13 through one of the bigger scopes at camp to see why this wonder has become a firm AstroCamp favourite.

A one minute DSLR exposure from an alt/az or equatorial mount will show dozens of individual stars. If you have an equatorial mount, try taking longer exposures or stacking lots of 1 minute exposures in Deep Sky Stacker.

NGC 7000 THE

Another object best viewed later into the night, NGC7000 and it’s parent , Cygnus the Swan, get nice and high in the sky after midnight.

On particulalry good nights in this dark sky site, people have been able to tease out the North America Nebula – so called because of the nebula’s similar shape to the United States - with the naked eye. I have to say, this is the only place I’ve ever been able to do that, and as it covers an area roughly four times the size of the full moon, it can be quite a surpise when you see it!

NGC7000 is an emission nebula – a vast cloud of gas 100 light years wide being excited by the bright star Deneb and giving off light. Interstellar dust sitting between the nebula and us, blocking the light in places, gives us the shape we see.

To find the North America Nebula in a scope, find bright star Deneb in the head of the Swan and slew down toward the ground by about the width of three fingers held at arm’s length. Use a very low power eyepiece and small scope of binoculars as this is one of the largest deep sky objects and a UHC filter if you don’t yet see it.

While this is a diffuse and, therefore, quite dim object, a one minute DSLR exposure in that region should show some nebulosity and help you centre on what is so large an object that it will fill your camera sensor or eyepiece.

VEIL NEBULA

One for the early risers (or all-nighters!) is the . This faint supernova remnant is one of John’s all-time favourites at camp as the dark skies of Wales make it clearly stand out. Discovered by William Herschel in 1784, the Veil Nebula is approximately 1470 light years from Earth, about 6 times the diameter of the full moon and sits on the lower wing of Cygnus.

Given its large area it's split into 3 main visual components:

• The Western Veil (Caldwell 34) nicknamed the "Witches Broom" - NGC 6960 • The Eastern Veil (Caldwell 33) - NGC 6992 & NGC 6995 • Pickering's Triangle & NGC 6974 & NGC 6979 (the latter being fainter patches of nebulosity more suited to the astroimagers).

Anybody with a 4-inch reflector should be able to see this, but at 8 inches or larger you'll start to tease out the filaments. An Oiii filter would be an advantage.

PAUL'S VISUAL DSO HUNT

For this camp I am going to suggest a tour through what looks like the pretty unremarkable constellation of to show that it holds far more treasures to hunt down than just the familiar amateur target of the . For what this constellation lacks in readily identifiable shape and size, it more than makes up for in deep sky -targets – here we have eight galaxies – all in Canes Venatici- handily grouped into pairs for you to seek out during camp!

NGC 4618 & NGC 4625

This tour will take you to four places around Canes Venatici and in each you will find a group of galaxies. Our first stop is the easiest to locate, sitting halfway between M94 and Cor Carolis opposite number Chara or Beta venaticorum. If you move your scope halfway along this 3 degree long side of the triangle you should be able to locate our two targets just 8 arc minutes apart.

These two are fascinating galaxies as they are both listed as peculiar and are asymmetric spirals as each of them only has one spiral arm. There is debate about the reason for this, it is known that these galaxies have closely interacted in the past and are still gravitationally bound. These two are part of the Canes II group of galaxies which is dominated by our next target.

M106 & NGC 4217

This is a spiral galaxy between 22 and 25 million years from Earth and is the brightest member of the Canes II group. It is a Seyfert II galaxy with some unusual x-ray and and radio emissions and this thought to be due to material falling into a at its centre. It is located by drawing a line from the star Chara again but this time to the star Phad at the bottom of the bowl of the plough. As you move your scope on this line you should see just before half way to Phad the magnitude 9 galaxy. Next to it you should find the edge on spiral NGC4217 35 arc minutess away, one of 106s companions. This is magnitude 11.9 and a smaller target but should be easy to locate in a medium scope once you have M106.

NGC 5005 (C29) & NGC 5033

Next, we move to probably the most challenging of the galaxies to locate but worth the hunt, NGC 5005 was listed by Patrick Moore in his famous Caldwell Catalogue, and he knew a thing or two about DSOs worth the hunt. To find them start at and then look for star Rho Boo in Bootes, this is the mag 3 star above Arcturus to the right of Izar. that is the direction you are heading but not that far, in fact just three degrees, but the patch of sky is quite empty and it is easy to get lost.

If you move three degrees from Cor Caroli in the right direction you will find NGC 5005 a spiral galaxy with a magnitude of 10.6. It has a high surface brightness which allows the arms and the dust lanes to be picked up in moderate sized scopes. Paired with it and just 30 arc minutes away is NGC 5033. These two are gravitationally interacting and both contain active nuclei though in NGC 5033s case this is not located in the physical centre of the galaxy which hints at a recent merger with another galaxy.

NGC 4631 THE WHALE GALAXY & NGC 4656 THE CROWBAR/HOCKEYSTICK GALAXY

The best is of course left to last, but also a challenge with location. This pair are just over 6 degrees from Cor Caroli in the direction of Coma Berenices. If you draw a line to Gamma Comae Berenices from Cor Caroli, this is just under 12 degrees away. Just over 6 degrees from Cor Caroli and below the line you are following will be this pairing. The Whale galaxy is an edge on spiral that contains a starburst region and looks like a whale in images and large scopes, you may pick up NGC 4627 a small irregular companion to 4631, magnitude 13 and a difficult spot. 32 arc minutes away is galaxy NGC4656 of the Crowbar or Hockey Stick galaxy. Larger scopes will reveal why, but at magnitude 11 even moderate scopes should locate it.

DAMIEN'S SOLAR SYSTEM ROUND UP (ALL TIMES IN BST)

VENUS DIAMETER: 10" MAGNITUDE: -3.9

As the Sunsets just after 8 the first of our solar system highlights will be readily apparent in the western sky in the shape of Venus, 91.8% illuminated and blazing away at -3.93 magnitude in the constellation Aries. The Goddess of love will be around for the first couple of hours of the evening, though of course will set earlier than 22.15 because of the hilly horizon of Cwmdu. While you await astronomical twilight take in the hellish twin of Earth and if you have coloured filters see if you can tease out some of the cloud detail, yellow, green and blue filters are a great place to start.

JUPITER DIAMETER: 43” MAGNITUDE: -2.4

As Venus sets astronomical twilight begins so it may be time to start your deep sky observations, but if you are still looking for more planetary views then the King rises in the east at the same time. It will take a while to crest the high eastern horizon of Cwmdu but after 2300 you should start to see the -2.44 magnitude gas giant that is well placed this camp, opposition is just three weeks after camp. Take in the four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Calisto with Io providing most of the entertainment this camp, on the morning of the 15th (the first night of camp) Io will transit the face of Jupiter, beginning with a shadow transit at 03.46, followed by the moon itself at 04.20. the shadow transit ends at 05.55 and Io itself ends its transit at 06.28, after the Sun has risen. The whole event is repeated on Monday evening beginning as Jupiter rises. The shadow begins transiting from 22.14. Io itself starts to transit at 22.46. The shadow transit this time ends at 00.24 and Io ends its transit at 00.54. Europa is also eclipsed on the evening of the 15th, vanishing behind Jupiter at 00.34 and reappearing at 03.34. The Great Red Spot will be visible each night, on the 14th it will appear between 22.30 and 03.30, on the 15th it will be visible as Jupiter rises and until 23.00 and on the last night of camp it will appear between 00.10 and 05.00 on Tuesday morning.

SATURN DIAMETER: 17” MAGNITUDE: 0.4 MARS DIAMETER: 9” MAGNITUDE: 0

For the night owls there’s Saturn and Mars. Both in Sagittarius, they make an appearance after 2am which, with the delayed rising time over the hills in Cwmdu will be more like 3am. Saturn's rings are still well presented, seek out the Cassini division (the gap between the main rings) if you can and look out for the brighter of the moons such as Enceladus and Titan. Half a dozen are typically visible in a 8-10” scope and larger apertures should see up to 9.

Mars is approaching a favourable opposition at the end of July so we are still some way off the best views but, even now, the views before sunrise will be better than the views you have had over the last couple of years. Look out for the polar caps and the surface detail such as the famous dark triangle of Syrtis Major. Like Venus, see if you can enhance your view of these regions with coloured filters such as blue or yellow. THE VIRGINID METEOR SHOWERS

Meteor action is usually the preserve of the September Camp but there is a major shower on this camp in the shape of the North and South Gamma-Virginids and the Alpha, Mu and theta-virginids. This is part of a complex series of related showers known as the Virginids complex which lasts from January into May, these 5 showers each have a Zenithal Hourly Rate (the amount you can expect to see under ideal conditions) of around 3. The Alpha and Gamma- Virginids actually peak over the camp, so keep an eye out for meteors radiating from the area around Virgo throughout the the nights of camp.

If this camp is like any of the others, you’ll not suffer from lack of meteors despite the low ZHR of the peaking showers because the super dark skies in Cwmdu show the many incidental meteors (ones that aren’t associated with a meteor shower) and fireballs that can be seen many times each hour. STAR CAMP ETIQUETTE

LIGHTS

Please only use red light torches at night. If you use a laptop, please cover the screen with a sheet of red acetate. Toilet block lights will be switched off or covered in red acetate during the dark hours. We discourage the use of laser pointers as they'll interfere with astroimaging and can be dangerous. Also, cigarette lighters produce light as well as heat. Please screen your lighter flame from astronomers. Please be aware that lights inside tents and caravans are also visible to people outside of them - red lights or no lights please.

This is the one piece of etiquette that will make offenders very unpopular - dark adaption takes up to half an hour to achieve but only a second of normal light will take you back to square one.

EQUIPMENT

People will be happy to let you look through the eyepiece at their scopes but please do ask the owner before taking a look. Be aware that telescopes are carefully aligned and assembled and as little contact to see through them is best.

Be mindful of astroimagers. Astrophotography requires very steady and unobscured exposures, so please don't touch or walk in front of a scope being used for imaging. We will try and set aside an area for astroimagers for this very purpose. I'm told they're still a very friendly bunch despite their obsession with long exposures!

CARS

No car movements are permitted after dark, so please arrange to arrive before this time. Remember that opening car doors or the boot always turns an interior light on so disable them if you can, or remove the fuse before sunset. Alternatively, cover them with opaque tape, including those in the boot. If a bright light is unavoidable call out: “LIGHTS IN 3 SECONDS” to give everyone time to turn the other way.

The best advice here is to remove everything you'll need from cars before nightfall and don't return to them.

CHILDREN

Children are welcome to the event, but please remember the field is dark, there are lots of very valuable bits of equipment and many people will have carefully aligned their telescopes. Also, tired astronomers are often glad of a lay in the following morning. Please keep your children and their volume under control.

NOISE

We want this to be an astronomy party, but please be considerate of others and refrain from any raucous behaviour or loud talking. Some people will want to catch up on some sleep for a few hours during the night and others will be sleeping during the day. Please be considerate of others trying to sleep when it is cloudy by not playing music late at night.

RUBBISH

The site is rich in wildlife and a very pleasant place to stay. We would like to keep it that way. Please keep your rubbish in a suitable container and dispose of it in the bins provided. Dark sites and loose trash do not mix well.

DOGS

Well behaved dogs are welcome to the event, but please remember the field is dark, there are lots of very valuable bits of equipment and many people will have carefully aligned their telescopes. Also, tired astronomers are often glad of a lay in the following morning. Please keep your dogs on a lead if they are anywhere near other people’s equipment and their volume under control.

Please also be mindful of others who might have a fear of dogs.