Welcome to the Club Noticeboard!

As the club is newly formed we would like to take this opportunity of welcoming new club members and to say that it is hoped that this area will be an opportunity for members to use freely. It can be used to:

- Exchange information about what's happening in astronomy in and around Swindon
- Be able to offer for sale second-hand products that they no longer use
- Perhaps to exchange books or magazines that they have finished with
- Offer tips and advice on star-gazing and viewing sites around Swindon
- Seek solutions from other members on problems to do with astronomy
- Advice sought on setting up and caliberating or collimating telescopes
- Seek advice on astro-photography from more experienced members

Using this notice board is easy, all you have to do is contact the website administrator on the email link below and send your information within the email. The website administrator will then decide on the best way to display or sell your item, but if you have any special instructions as well, please include them in your email. Photographs and illustrations can also be included, preferably around 100k in size.

Email the administrator: Robin Wilkey

BBC Campaign - Stargazing Live!

Dark Sky Lacock A Stargazing Live! 2012 Wednesday 18th January

STARGAZING LIVE 2012!

This year's Stargazing live programme took part in the early afternoon with Solar viewing and planned stargazing in the evening, on Wednesday 18th January 2012. As back up and learning activities the Dark Sky Wales group arrived with a planetarium dome in the Tythe Barn, rocket launching in the field and the BBC arranged talks in the meeting rooms in the village.

Disappointing weatherwise, this was the only night of the three in the BBC's Stargazing LIVE! evenings that suffered cloudy skies.

However, all was not lost as interesting talks had been organised and members of Swindon Stargazers were in attendance in the evening to give demonstrations of telescopes and their equipment in the Village Hall in the evening.

Lacock village was filled with people, official figures about 2500, I am told, so it was a good night for the public and there was lots of interest in what was going on. Certainly around the telescopes there was a lot of genuine interest.

NOTES ON LAST YEAR'S SUCCESSFUL EVENT

Saturday 8th January 2011 proved to be a great day at Lacock, with over 800 people attending. A number of events were organised by the STFC and were supported by the Wiltshire Astronomical Society and ourselves, Swindon Stargazers. It is probable that the high turn out from the public may have been in part due to the recent BBC programmes 'Stargazing Live'. It was quite a cold day, however there were queues at most telescopes, some a dozen deep or more. Solar scopes were set up in the field behind the Red Lion pub in the afternoon and ordinary telescopes in the evening for Lunar and planetary viewing. Most of the comments from members of the public were things like 'Wow' when they looked through the telescopes, so this was very encouraging. It is not until you attend an event like this that you realise the amazing interest out there in the subject of astronomy.

A scale model of the Solar System was set up in the field behind the Red Lion.

There were a number of new faces from the Swindon area and a number of club enquiries, so we may see a few new faces at our club meetings. The exhibits by the STFC were amazing, and these were held in the Tithe Barn. There were also lectures throughout the afternoon in the Manger Barn and planetarium shows in the evening, so there was something for everyone. Cafe Scientifique - The George Inn. Cafe Scientifique was a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone could come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology.

In all, this was a great day out!

From Dawn Wilson:

Dear Swindon Stargazers,

I thought I would just write a thank you to you guys at Wiltshire Astronomical Society (including SPOG, MAD and Swindon Stargazers). I am new to stargazing having decided to take it up more as a hobby instead of a passing interest last September. The experience of the Live Event at Lacock on January 8th summed up the incredibly friendly welcome I have experienced with all the Wiltshire groups.

The day started for me grey and miserable, so it was with some reservation that I set out for Lacock. Just as I was driving in the Sun came out and the sky cleared and I parked the car feeling much more optimistic. I was not disappointed. I got the usual cheery welcome as I wandered over to look through the solar scopes for the first time and what an amazing sight. There was the Sun in all its yellow/orange glory with a prominence visible at 1 o'clock and a couple of small sunspots. Visitors to the event were already gathering to look and asking questions which the more knowledgeable members were happy to answer. A little later Pete, who was manning his solar scope, left to go to one of the lectures and I was fortunate to be left in charge. With a little help I mastered the art of tracking the Sun and kept watch while a steady flow of people came up to look at the Sun. I knew a little about it as I had started a course in Astronomy in November. It was a lovely afternoon if a little chilly, which was well spent talking to people and sharing an interest.

Having watched the Stargazing Live on the BBC myself I had brought along my 7 year old HP digital camera. When there was a lull I thought I'd try to take a picture of the Sun by just setting the thing to auto and holding the camera over the eyepiece, using the live view to centre the image. I think we were all amazed when it worked and it certainly encouraged those visitors with cameras to have a go themselves with some reasonable results.

Later that afternoon as the Sun set Jon, Owen and I took a break thinking we would have an hour or so before setting up for the evening session. The Moon had already risen and people were already looking at it as we left. On our return we were amazed to see a fair crowd of people already in the field behind the Red Lion. Jon and Owen set up their telescopes. Jon set up his trusty Dobsonian, I helped ( I hope) Owen set up the Obsession which is amazingly simple in design yet so effective, and Jon also had a small Vixen scope that had been loaned to him by Opticron for a trial, which he kindly let me watch over. We started looking at the Moon which was pretty glorious, the surface features appearing sharp and crisp. Again we had fun trying to take pictures of the Moon with some success. We then moved on to Jupiter with its 4 Galilean moons; Io, Europa, Gannymead and Callisto. Most visitors were impressed by how much they could see in even the smaller scopes. By this time I was getting to grips with the Vixen and I have to say what an excellent scope for a beginner. I was impressed by its lightness and ease of use not to mention the clarity of the images, but that may have been down to Jon's eyepiece. I am not sure which one he was using.

It was very dark by now and amazingly people were queuing up at every one of the telescopes to look through at different objects and compare what they had seen. It was nice to see a good mix of children and adults enjoying themselves. During the night the cloud obscured Jupiter, so we looked at the Pleiades, also known as The Seven Sisters or M45, an example of a young open cluster, I understand. The cloud later cleared and by then Orion had risen on our side of the field. I asked Jon to line the Vixen up on the Orion Nebula or M42 in Orion's Sword just below the distinct 3 star belt. I wasn't confident enough to find it myself. Owen was also pointing the 15" Obsession at that location. We had lots of people coming over to take a look at this stellar nursery which is about 1500 light years away. If anyone reading this wonders how far a light year is, why not look it up! The internet has lots of interesting facts about the universe. But trust me when I say it is a long long way.

By now people were beginning to drift away and very soon only the diehards were left. I realised I had not even looked through the 15" Obession telescope, which was one of the reasons I had gone to Lacock, it had been so busy with people enjoying an evening stargazing. These large aperture telescopes are very expensive and so when you have an opportunity to view through one it is a real treat. Being a pushy sort I bemoaned this fact to Owen who immediately asked," what would you like to see"? My reply was, "something obscure that I won't see with my 6" telescope". He came up trumps with the Eskimo Nebula or NGC 2392, another one on my list of seen objects. Pete then offered me a chance to photograph Jupiter, or try to, using his Go To telescope, not sure how that turned out as it was too dark to see. At this point things were getting decidedly frosty and it was time to pack up. So thank you guys for a very enjoyable day.

For those of you who may be thinking about stargazing but haven't plucked up the courage yet, there are, according to the BBC, lots of people interested in Astronomy. To those of you in our area of Wiltshire I can say there is no excuse for not getting out. I have been made welcome at all of the Ad Hoc stargazing meetings I have attended. Which is quite something when you consider I turned up with a white light torch and not much else the first time! White light is a no-no as it degrades your night vision. When you have just spent 30 minutes adjusting to the dark to see more, a white light is the last thing you need, red is best. Just cover the torch lens with red film that won't melt! Otherwise give a yell and someone with a red light will come to your rescue, because they are a friendly and helpful bunch of people. Most are happy for you to look through their telescopes so you do not need your own, although a pair of binoculars is useful if you have them. Introduce yourself and say you are a first timer and wait until someone offers you a viewing, most will. Just don't expect full colour wonders as seen in the magazines! They will also answer questions or direct you to someone who will. Stargazing is much better shared with others so go on give it a try, but dress warm it does get very cold, I promise you if the clouds stay away it is worth it. Check out the websites to find out when and where!

Dawn Wilson
A very new member.

26 November 2011 by Robin Wilkey

Ad-hoc viewing sessions at East Kennett

New dates will be added to this website. To find out more go to our website and then click on the link to 'Ad Hoc Viewing Sessions' from the Home Page.

Updated 26 November 2011 by Robin Wilkey

Telescope Evening held 16 October 2010

The club held a Telescope Evening in October which was attended by many people in the large hall at Lawn Community Centre. This the second of this type of event that we have held and we would like to thank all those who brought and demonstrated their telescopes. Photos taken at the event can be seen HERE

Posted 6 November 2010



Stargazing at Barbury Castle - next meetings:

There are no immediate plans for this location

STARGAZING EVENT

Barbury Castle Car Park, Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN4 0QH

Below is a plan of the viewing area at Barbury Castle, the actual spot is where the word 'Car Park' appears. You can also click on the plan to see an aeriel photo (courtesy of Google Maps)

It didn't help with the gates at Barbury Castle being locked, of course, however, the sky did clear after 8pm and some people got a little stargazing in later, so, we shall be reviewing our attempts to use Barbury Castle and will let you know the outcome. Here is a picture taken by Guy Rossler of the night sky at Barbury:

Updated 5/12/2011 by Robin Wilkey

Practical Stargazing

A number of people have shown an interest in practical stargazing and especially the Ad-hoc viewing sessions that are being organised approximately every fortnight. We have managed to get out a couple of nights so far, and a couple have been cancelled because of poor weather or because of cloudy skies. This is the bane of the amatuer astronomers life of course, but we are keen to get out and will continue to organise dates. Details about this are found HERE

If you think you might be interested email the organiser Robin Wilkey

With this you will then be emailed regarding the event, whether it is going ahead or whether it will be cancelled because of cloud etc. We are small keen group and I would ask you to note that you DO NOT have to own a telescope to take part, just turn up and have a great evening looking through other people's scopes. We are out there to share an interest and the hobby. There's nothing better than practical astronomy in the great cold British winter! And hot drinks are often available, you can also bring your own.

Enjoy astronomy at it's best!

Updated 9 July 2010 by Robin Wilkey

Club telescope available for loan

A club telescope is now available for loan. This was very kindly donated to the club by First Light Optics, the details of the scope are as follows:

Celestron 127mm (5") f10 Schmidt Cassegrain
Celestron CG-4 Omni German EQ Mount
One 25mm 1.25 eyepiece
1.25" star diagonal
Dew shield
View finder scope and mount 6 x 30

The telescope is Hand Driven ( no motor drives ) and is currently in its 3 original boxes

It only has one eyepiece at the moment, so if any member has a spare eyepiece or two of higher magnification than the 25mm, or has a spare 'Barlow', your kind donation would be appreciated!

For more details on the above please CLICK HERE and then look under 'Membership Services.

You will also find an Informal Loan Agreement there.

Posted 10 January 2010 by Robin Wilkey

Due to the Brian Cox effect, the club is looking for club members to help with Outreach sessions for young people's groups around the town, if you have an hour or two to spare in an evening we would like to hear from you. Requirements:

1) You will need to own a telescope, as sessions will involve practical stargazing.

2) A reasonable knowledge of the night sky in order to explain what's up there! A session will usually be carried out with another member of Swindon Stargazers.

3) One or two free evenings and a flexible approach to practicle astronomy.

If you think you can help please contact any member of the committee - see Contact Page

Posted 29 January, 2012 by Robin Wilkey

We hope the attendance this year will be even higher than last year. We have speakers, workshops and a digital planetarium to draw in the public of all ages and engage them in astronomy all day before we break out the telescopes for an evening observing session (weather permitting).

Full details of the show can be found at www.astronomyshow.co.uk

Submitted 25 January 2012 by Dr Johanna F Jarvis (organiser) Mobile: 07739 716383

On 17th March this year the Newbury Astronomical Society is hosting a British Astronomical Association Back to Basics meeting at St Cassian’s Centre in Kintbury near Newbury. These regular meetings which are held around the country provide introductory talks and practical workshops about various areas of amateur astronomy and are particularly aimed at those new to the subject or wishing to renew their interest and involvement. This is an all-day event and the small registration fee includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day.

There will also be an informal telescope clinic during the breaks at which members of the Newbury AS will provide help for anyone with a telescope who is unsure how to set it up or wants advice on buying a telescope.

We would like as many members of local astronomical societies as possible to have the opportunity to attend this event. I would therefore be grateful if you could pass on the attached information about the event to as many of your members as you think might be interested. There is also information about the event on the BAA website at http://britastro.org/newburyb2b.

People can book either by sending a completed booking form to the BAA office or by contacting me. Please note that attendees will need to register ahead of the meeting so we know numbers for catering.

These are very popular and well attended meetings so please book early to ensure a place.

Submitted 26 January 2012 by Michael Partridge