Moonset, 6th August 2024. #moon #moonset #NewZealand

@BobLefridge everyone needs a glowing hoop somewhere in their kitchen ;-)

After 4 weeks the bloody kitchen project is almost finished… #kitchen #NewZealand

Humblebrag. Tūhura Otago Museum is a finalist in the 2024 New Zealand Tourism Awards for our community engagement work. https://www.tia.org.nz/events/new-zealand-tourism-awards/2024-finalists/ #museums #NewZealand

Another image from tonight. Venus setting behind the hills which cuddle Otago's harbour. #Venus #astronomy #NewZealand

Just for fun (yes I am actually this dull!) I pointed my camera to the North to capture Vega, the 5th brightest star in the sky as it arced low over Port Chalmers tonight. #DunedinNZ #beauty

So stupidly I ordered a new sky box and have just lost the will to live making it work. Jesus technology and 2 factor authentication and making the internet work are such a pain in the arse. Old fashioned love to air TV was so much better

Another image of tonight's crescent moon and Venus conjunction this evening as they set behind the hills which embrace Otago harbour #astronomy #NewZealand

@BobLefridge Oh it's probably LED. The problem is its totally out of kilter with any other lights on the peninsula. It's like a runway. Visible from miles away. Bonkers.

Venus and the crescent moon formed a pretty pairing over Otago Harbour this evening. Shame about the obnoxious light grafitti from the stupid lighting scheme on the shared walkway though! One day lighting will be designed by people who care about the night!

Wow if it’s clear where you are go and look at Venus and the crescent moon! They are beautiful right now

Hilarious. My 30 year old daughter was shocked to discover yesterday that Eyore is male.... #shockandhorror

Hello my name is Ian, and I am somewhat obsessed by the way Earth rotates. I love star trails and sun trails....

Venus sets over Pudding Island. Beauty in extremis

Presently reading Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. Basically it’s the Martian reprised. Fun though

Absolutely crap refereeing in last nights Arsenal match. Very inconsistent. Bet the ref is a Man Citeh fan. #crapreferee

Also... Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. #fathersunion

Another late night. Arsenal winning 1-0. Someone asked me why I don't record the match... No way!

Sigh. Arteta buys another former Man City player and dumps Ramsdale. I’m predicting no asteroid named after him. #arsenal

Here’s my Otago Daily Times Skywatch column for this week https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/very-spotty-sun #astronomy

I have my eclipse glasses for next year’s partial solar eclipse here in NZ

New toy has arrived.

People who vape look ridiculous. Like little puffer trains surrounding themselves with noxious clouds of smoke.

@jovikowi It is both beautiful and full of cool jobs!

I've suddenly realised I've become political. Posts about Earl Grey Tea and George Bush on the same day. I expect to suffer a massive loss of followers as a result.

And should say kids have done ok. Doctor, teacher and lawyer. All in New Zealand. Thank god we left the US. Would have grown up in the era of Elon Musk.

Was reading my diary from 2004 today. About leaving my dream job (Space Telescope) because I wanted my kids to grow up and be educated in the relative sanity of UK away from George Bush's version of America. And what has America become since then?

It's performance review season. I have (checks notes) 14 direct reports. But on the upside we are reshaping the way museums are run. No more Senior management teams. It's fun to reinvent things!

@BobLefridge I just accidentally made a cup of Earl Grey with milk. Not sure if you have seen Ted Lasso, but my reaction was similar to his with sparkling water!

Grumble. Some "comedian" has mixed Earl Grey tea with the English breakfast teabags in the Museum staff room. In England that would be a sackable offence. Earl Grey has no place in the tea pantheon. It's truly horrible. #banearlgreytea

@heyrochelle lol I have legendarily bad taste

@heyrochelle TBH it is a "tiny" bit different to the 1970's era chandalier... oops!

@paw Yes.. I was pointing the camera downwards to try and get krill trails... it is a bit weird!

@KiwiskiNZ Louise will be super cool! She's a great speaker. Unfortunately I'm still in Portobello!

@borland nah we have just (August 6th) passed the cross quarter day which is the start of spring in my book! ;-)

@JustJimWillDo Yes that's the totally brilliant part about it. The spectrum is mine all mine. #strokeswhitecat

@JustJimWillDo other than it and radio as my camera doesn’t detect those wavelengths

@JustJimWillDo I can now literally take images of the sun at any wavelength that gets through the atmosphere.

@seawall @scattermutant nope. The supermarket doesn't have Music. Also (I should point out) I am personally partially deaf and have to wear a badge pointing it out because deafness is quite hard to understand for most people. Maybe I just want to hear sound while people with headphones want to cut it out!

@helgztech the supermarket I attend doesn't have music.

@christopherd Nice. Shame about the ridiculously showy tower. I prefer Dunedin's understated version...

@leighelse planet was Venus!

@Br3nda yup

@BobLefridge no it was in the tide zone close to the Portobello Jetty last night. Not the whole way around the shared pathway...

@Klaxun @szczys @gaurav The long white line at the bottom is the motion of the sun on the shortest day (solstice). I opened the shutter all day and you can see the suns motion. The middle line was created by opening the shutter half an hour after the usual exposure on the autumnal equinox. Hope this all makes sense!

@Gergovie @bayport so... i took a picture every sunny day at the same time which creates the figure of 8. It was a one minute exposure each day. . Then, on the winter solstice I opened the shutter all day which gives rise to the bottom long white line which is the suns motion over the course of a day. A similar thing happened on the autumn equinox (white line in the middle)

@coldclimate no my parents did. It was my finger ;-(

@stevenray @constantorbit I set the camera up and after loading the plate just opened and closed the shutter when it was sunny every day for a year. camera was outside so environment wasn’t kind to the plate!

@Br3nda i'm not sure that much. I know at 38k feet radiation is pretty intense!

@futuresprog I remember watching the Boston Red Sox and being astonished by my seat neighbour's ability to devour more than 5 hot dogs and drink what seemed like a gallon of beer during the game. I don't believe he actually watched the game.