Another Gravitational Wave detection
Another gravitational wave detection by LIGO has been announced! See https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20160615 The June 15 announcement page points out that while the signal was weaker than the...
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300 variable star observations
I recently passed 300 variable star observations, having started in 2010. That’s a tiny number compared with prolific Australian visual observers like Rod Stubbings or those doing CCD photometry (e.g....
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ASASSN-16ma update
As mentioned in yesterday’s updated post (with finder chart), conditions last night were less than ideal, but when the clouds cleared enough, I estimated the nova’s magnitude at 6.1.
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Roy & I
Roy Austen (1953-2017), a former colleague, died a few days ago on March 5. A friend recently told me that Roy had been diagnosed with cancer in January, although he had actually been unwell for months...
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ACE, optimisation and an old friend
In late November I received an email from an old friend: Sean Miller. Sean was a member of the wonderful community that built up around ACE BASIC, a compiler for the Amiga I developed as a labour of...
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Nova near Southern Cross
Rob Kaufman in Victoria discovered a possible nova (PNV J11261220-6531086) near the Southern Cross (Crux) in the constellation of Musca on January 14 2018. All novae start out having the designation...
View ArticleCult of Stupidity: Naming Names
Grant Foster, as always, using clear, simple statistical arguments to show why those who say the data doesn’t support the warming trend are mistaken.
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Nova Ret 2020 Update
The sky was largely cloudy at 5:45 this morning but a short-lived clear patch permitted a quick observation. The nova’s magnitude was between the 4.6 and 5.0 comparison stars in Reticulum (X25537DR...
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RS Ophiuchi talk for The Astronomical Society of South Australia
A few days ago, on September 1 2021, I gave a short talk (15 minutes) to the Astronomical Society of South Australia about RS Ophiuchi and the 10 known recurrent novae more generally. The talk starts...
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Comet 2001/A1 Leonard
Dec 26, Canon 1100D, 100mm lens, piggybacked on Meade LX-90, ISO 200, f4, 90 secs Comet Leonard has been putting on a show for us in the southern hemisphere since mid to late December 2021 and I’ve...
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