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From Our Gardens 2025

Mark Tooze

master brummie
New thread about things you can see from your garden but are not actually in your garden!

Interesting article on the BBC website yesterday about rare alignment of planets visible (weather permitting) over the next few days:-

So last night I went to try and replicate the pictures from Sutton Coldfield using a fisheye lens:-
On this one you can see Mars (10 o'clock), Jupiter (centre) and Venus (on the edge at 4 o'clock) - Saturn and Mercury had already vanished by the time cloud had cleared - you can also see the constellations of Orion and the Pleiades:-
1740558092853.png

A close up of Mars, Jupiter and the Pleidaes:-
1740558234244.png

And 2 wider angle shots including the constellation of Orion:-
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1740558707702.png
 
New thread about things you can see from your garden but are not actually in your garden!

Interesting article on the BBC website yesterday about rare alignment of planets visible (weather permitting) over the next few days:-

So last night I went to try and replicate the pictures from Sutton Coldfield using a fisheye lens:-
On this one you can see Mars (10 o'clock), Jupiter (centre) and Venus (on the edge at 4 o'clock) - Saturn and Mercury had already vanished by the time cloud had cleared - you can also see the constellations of Orion and the Pleiades:-
View attachment 199550

A close up of Mars, Jupiter and the Pleidaes:-
View attachment 199551

And 2 wider angle shots including the constellation of Orion:-
View attachment 199552
View attachment 199554
Fantastic
 
Slightly better view last night -Mercury was just about visible but too dim in the twilight to photograph - but we can see Mars / Jupiter / Venus in a line from top left to bottom right, with Orion in the picture as well:-
1740869283225.png

And now for the out-take - £$%^&* aeroplane got in the shot:-
1740869033906.png
 
Had a visitor this morning. He (yes, he showed us as he jumped off the cill) has seen the constant bird traffic and wanted a piece of the action. Unfazed by me being up against the window. I was close enough to shake his paw. Bird regulars were a bit annoyed having to wait in the bush.

IMG_0331.jpeg
Thats going to be an uptick in the seed bill.

Andrew.
 
Hi Pedrocut - not at all! I've reviewed the photos I took the other night and found a better one - here is Wrottesley Crater in close up:-
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It is actually easier to see this in the twilight - once it was dark a couple of hours later it does not stand out as well:-
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And move on 4-5 days and you loose the contrast on the craters edge:-
1741160778389.png

But - you can see it well again a day or two after full moon:-
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And here it is when it is right on the terminator:-
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Got some photos from Sutton Coldfield of the eclipse today - these were direct shots taken with a heavily stopped down and red filtered telephoto lens:-
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And these were taken by projecting an image from a large telescope onto a white wardrobe door (all high tech....):-
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Note the sunspot on the right had edge of the sun, and if you look at the edge of the moon you can just see some of the mountains:-
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Once again I was disrupted by an aircraft - it flew straight across the sun and I was fractionally late pushing the shutter - so all I got was the con trails - ggggrrrrrr........
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