Hi everyone ! I have created this new blog to share more easily my comments about the world of planetary astronomy. Even if I'm already an experienced observer, there are always things to learn and products or techniques to test and I hope to share this here. I will also post informations about the events I'm attending regularly and other stuff. Planetary astronomy today is becoming again a dynamical domain of observation so let's improve and share our passion !
During the 2012 and 2014 apparitions of mars, we talked a lot about a very curious detail imaged by several amateurs: an object projected beyond the terminator, that could only be at a very high altitude. Seven scientists and six amateurs co-sign this month a paper about it in the…
In my last article Jupiter under the jet-stream, what’s the result? I described the effect of one the worst meteorological conditions for the seeing. During my last observing night of January 17th, images were noticeably better (although still not really good…). It is possible to find explanations?
Last year I made a summary on the best conditions for a good seeing. Unfortunately there are as well other conditions that damage it. Here is a “good” example on Jupiter: the influence of the jet-stream.
Last week-end I gave a talk at the Rencontres du Ciel et de l’Espace (RCE) at Cité des sciences et de l’industrie in Paris, about Venus. The planet will be easily observable for northern amateurs in 2015, do not miss it!
The concept of color is often discussed among observers. The purpose of this article is not to debate about the concept of realism, but to describe and discuss the use of three ways to use color for planetary images : “true” colors, “false” colors, and colorized monochrome images…
Participating to scientific work when you’re an amateur observer, is that possible? Answer is yes! I have talked about it on several occasions on this blog, and here is a must-read on the topic if you’d like to get into that.
The most noticeable observation of Mars in the last 2012 season has been the imagery of what is generally interpretated as a cloud of very high altitude, because it was projecting well beyond the terminator into the night. Those phenomena look to happen regularly and many have been found on…
On March 8/9th, I had the honor and pleasure to participate to a planetary mission at the 1-meter telescope of the Pic du Midi (T1M) lead by Marc Delcroix, President of the SAF planetary observations commission. Here is a summary! The T1M of the Pic du Midi observatory is a…
After the article, “What can we see on Mars this year” let’s now review some technical advices.
Mars will be at opposition again on April 8th, 2014. Here are some phenomena you must look for!