There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one.
Caterpillar we spotted on a walk. Lynne.
This Ewe would come up for a “chat” every time I approached the pen. A real little sweetie! Julia.
A waterfall inside one of the domes at the Eden Project. Sue.
Emmi, getting near the time.
I thought that you may like to see Emmi a little before she is due to Foal. As I said in last night Diary she is very big. Over the past couple of days we have noticed the bulge moving to her rear. The other photograph is of Emmi’s udder, it has also in the past few days started to get larger. Both are signs that she is getting ready to have her Foal. On checking the dates the Foal is due on the 1st of March.
Tonight the Sky is the clearest that it has been for a very long while, so we are hoping to be able to show Saturn as we did last night on the webcams. Going by last night we should be able to see the Planet at about 8.30pm. Showing Saturn real-time live on the webcams, as we did last night was the first time that it has ever been done.
We have had to fit a different type of camera on to the Telescope to that what we would normally use. It brings it a lot closer. Focusing the Telescope took a long time. I must admit that I nearly didn’t bother showing it at all. Once it was focused on Saturn it was worth doing. It was a bit hazy last night, that caused the picture to seem to be going in and out of focus, and I also needed to adjust the the Telescope to keep Saturn in view. At about 11.30pm the sky clouded over and Saturn was lost for the night. I am hoping that there is a part that I will be able to get to help with the fine focusing that the Telescope needs.
At times the rings of Saturn seemed to be attached to the Planet, that is nothing to do with what we are doing, It is how it looks at this time of the year, although we did see little gaps from time to time when there was no haze obstructing the view, then I don’t think that we could have got a better image.
I don’t know what the weather forecast is, but when the sky is clear we will continue showing Saturn. When I fed the Badgers tonight I saw the first crescent of the New Moon. It is not visible for very long, and would have meant a lot of time setting the Telescope for the Moon, to then an hour later to set it back for Saturn. When the Moon is visable for longer I will show the Moon and Saturn on alternative days.