Re: Night Sky : Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:09 am  

William Eve wrote:

That's no excuse for him turning into an extreme right-wing, xenophobic, racist, sexist and bigoted dinosaur.

Who probably shared similar views to most of our grandparents or great-grandparents.

A completely different era, cultural norms a world away from today, and actually a very fooking good excuse for his extreme feelings. Odd you don't think your fiancée being killed in a violent act of war is worthy of a major emotional response.

I'm sure deep down he knew his views were extreme but you know what, he probably couldn't forgive, and only a fool wouldn't understand that.

Re: Night Sky : Mon Dec 10, 2012 7:41 am  

William Eve wrote:

That's no excuse for him turning into an extreme right-wing, xenophobic, racist, sexist and bigoted dinosaur.

Being not into the 'night sky' I used to reach for the tv zapper rapido on the the odd ocassion he appeared on my tv screen.
I could have made a pretty good assumption at some of the adjectives you've used in describing him.
I'd have used batshit, he appeared an old-school eccentric.

Re: Night Sky : Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:33 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

He didn't trust the French and Germans, that would sum up a large number of his generation then.

The French are out for the French (which I admire), so I reckon there will be lot who don't trust them.

Re: Night Sky : Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:05 am  

Cronus wrote:

Who probably shared similar views to most of our grandparents or great-grandparents.

A completely different era, cultural norms a world away from today, and actually a very fooking good excuse for his extreme feelings. Odd you don't think your fiancée being killed in a violent act of war is worthy of a major emotional response.

I'm sure deep down he knew his views were extreme but you know what, he probably couldn't forgive, and only a fool wouldn't understand that.

My Father fought in WW2 in the desert, in Burma then was called up for Korea. I always found it odd that he didn't seem to express hatred for his then "enemy" (at least not to me). However, he did dislike his American allies.The only aspects of war he ever discussed were either novelty, such as frying an egg on a tank hull, or "accidentally" driving his bren gen carrier through the officers mess tent!

Anyhoo, was walking sections of Hadrians wall this weekend around "Twice Brewed". I was amazed at the view of the night sky and could see the Milky Way and star clusters that I can't see at home. Jupiter was the brightest thing in the sky. There wasn't much light pollution locally although Newcastle was an orange glow beyond the horizon.

Re: Night Sky : Wed Dec 12, 2012 11:49 am  

Dreamer wrote:

...
Anyhoo, was walking sections of Hadrians wall this weekend around "Twice Brewed". I was amazed at the view of the night sky and could see the Milky Way and star clusters that I can't see at home. Jupiter was the brightest thing in the sky. There wasn't much light pollution locally although Newcastle was an orange glow beyond the horizon.

That would be the place to be tomorrow night for the meteors, then! It's a shame that the vast majority of people in English cities will never get to see the Milky Way in their lifetime. Unless things get so bad that we start getting power cuts. Once of the amazing things the last time we had power cuts was seeing the night sky in all its glory over Bradford, surreal.

Re: Night Sky : Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:31 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

That would be the place to be tomorrow night for the meteors, then! It's a shame that the vast majority of people in English cities will never get to see the Milky Way in their lifetime. Unless things get so bad that we start getting power cuts. Once of the amazing things the last time we had power cuts was seeing the night sky in all its glory over Bradford, surreal.

I would imagine it would be a good place - we got a very clear view of a meteor in the 10mins before the lure of real ale had it's wicked way

Re: Night Sky : Wed Dec 12, 2012 3:04 pm  

Dreamer wrote:

My Father fought in WW2 in the desert, in Burma then was called up for Korea. I always found it odd that he didn't seem to express hatred for his then "enemy" (at least not to me). However, he did dislike his American allies.The only aspects of war he ever discussed were either novelty, such as frying an egg on a tank hull, or "accidentally" driving his bren gen carrier through the officers mess tent!

It depends on personal experience. Survivors of the Japanese camps tended to harbour a hatred of their captors till they day they died. Many ordinary soldiers, even combat troops who saw action, had no hatred of the enemy but fought for their 'mates'. Others, on the other hand, had personal reason to harbour an anger and hatred of the enemy - and the loss of a loved one would probably be as good a reason as any,

Anyhoo, was walking sections of Hadrians wall this weekend around "Twice Brewed". I was amazed at the view of the night sky and could see the Milky Way and star clusters that I can't see at home. Jupiter was the brightest thing in the sky. There wasn't much light pollution locally although Newcastle was an orange glow beyond the horizon.

I've been stargazing in the Lake District, at the top of Mount Teide on Tenerife, out in the Sinai desert - but the best place by a mile was out on a bog-standard sunset cruise off the coast of South Turkey. We did the usual beach bbq, etc and at about 10.30 they switched all the boat lights off as we cruised back to harbour - simply stunning, the Milky Way was an enormous crystal clear mass of light (and black) streaking across the sky. Could see shooting stars and satellites moving in orbit. Gutted when they switched the lights back on an hour later.

Re: Night Sky : Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:16 pm  

http://www.jessops.com/directory/catalo ... ssops_8_37 Some good deals here, Anyone got any of these ?. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20709852

http://www.jessops.com/directory/catalo ... ssops_8_37 Some good deals here, Anyone got any of these ?. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20709852

Re: Night Sky : Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:36 pm  

B0NES wrote:

http://www.jessops.com/directory/catalogue.ashx/categoriesLT;jessops_8/categoriesLT;jessops_8_37
Some good deals here, Anyone got any of these ?.

No and I wouldn't. I'd repeat my earlier advice that anyone interested in a first scope would be best off attending the next meet of their local astronomical society. Anyway IMHO a good-sized pair of binoculars of modest magnification, and something steady to rest them on, is a far better first observing tool than a small cheap scope. Most beginners would rapidly lose heart and interest trying to see or find anything much bar the moon, and put the scope in the loft.

But all you need tonight is your eyes, a sunlounger and plenty of warm layers. And you don't need cloud cover!

Re: Night Sky : Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:39 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

No and I wouldn't. I'd repeat my earlier advice that anyone interested in a first scope would be best off attending the next meet of their local astronomical society. Anyway IMHO a good-sized pair of binoculars of modest magnification, and something steady to rest them on, is a far better first observing tool than a small cheap scope. Most beginners would rapidly lose heart and interest trying to see or find anything much bar the moon, and put the scope in the loft.

But all you need tonight is your eyes, a sunlounger and plenty of warm layers. And you don't need cloud cover!

I'm leaning more towards a decent pair binoculars to start off with .