Everyone is welcome, from absolute beginners to more experienced astronomers - you don't need to be a member, just turn up on the night and see what we have to offer.
We have experienced and knowledgeable members on hand who would be happy to talk about any and all aspects of astronomy with you, including setting up your telescope and how to get started in astrophotography.
We have experienced and knowledgeable members on hand who would be happy to talk about any and all aspects of astronomy with you, including setting up your telescope and how to get started in astrophotography.
=================================================================Our next meeting is on Friday 2025 January 24
A welcome return of Julian Onions, who will be giving a talk ' The far side of the Moon, is it full of Aliens?'
=================================================================
Information about our other meetings in 2025 can be found on the 'meetings' page.
Hope to see you there.
Below are some images taken by our members over the past few years.
Images of the Aurorae Borealis of 2024 October 10 taken by Simon Brown from Tilton on the Hill, Leicestershire.
Simon says "All the photos were taken on October 10th in and around Tilton on the Hill and were taken on a iPhone 15 Pro camera using night mode of 3 seconds."
Simon says "All the photos were taken on October 10th in and around Tilton on the Hill and were taken on a iPhone 15 Pro camera using night mode of 3 seconds."
Comet C2023 A3 Tsuchinshan ATLAS imaged by Andy Atterbury on 2024 October 26
Andy writes; "Had several more attempts at the comet, but last Saturday evening, the 26th of October 2024 it was a clear evening. I had established where the comet should appear in the sky. I was aware it was going to be fainter now, and I managed to pick it up using my binoculars. It looked fuzzy in the binoculars and I could see a slight sweep to one side, which must have been the comet tail. Colourless visually. I setup up the Williams Optics 81mm F/5.9 APO telescope, which would be guided using the Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount. This was fitted with the Canon 60DA DSLR Camera. ISO set at 2500 and a stack of a few short exposure images. Little processing performed. This system has no GOTO system, so I star hopped to where I thought it should be. I picked up the comet in the finder scope as a fuzzy patch. I centred it. I knew I had the comet in the field. Camera was ready focused, using a near by star. The frames all seemed to have a greenish to yellowish colour, could be the atmosphere or something else.
The images show that there was then quite a considerable tail. This comet is now on its way out again to the cold depths of the outer solar system. It won’t return again for 80,000 years.
The images show that there was then quite a considerable tail. This comet is now on its way out again to the cold depths of the outer solar system. It won’t return again for 80,000 years.
Aurorae Borealis observed by Andy Atterbury on 2024 October 10.
Andy writes; "This aurora was not as long lasting as the one in May, but at its best it was much brighter. It peaked between 12 midnight and 1 AM. The colours in the sky were very bright. Could see the reds and the green colours easily. It went right across the sky horizon to horizon. It was even towards the South. One of the shots is the Eastern sky. You can see Jupiter in this one. The time of the peak was lucky in that this is when all our street lights go out."
Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) 2024 October 13
Image of Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) taken by Phil Jameson from Cyprus. Phil writes "We missed all the Northern lights but did see the comet A3 on the 13th immediately after sunset. Didn't look great through a small scope , but got some images with a compact camera."
Aurora Borealis 2024 May 10/11
Some images of the recent display of the aurora borealis taken by Tony Pacey from Melton on May 10/11
Some images of the recent display of the aurora borealis taken by Tony Pacey from Melton on May 10/11
Aurora Borealis 2024 May 10/11
Some images of the recent display of the aurora borealis taken by Andy Atterbury from Asfordby on May 10/11
More images can be found in our Gallery
This website (c) D Conner 2024. Copyright of the images on this website remains with the person who submitted them.
