Continuing the tour of stellar objects crossing the meridian line this month: Capella from the constellation Auriga - the sixth brightest star in the night sky; and Epsilon Aurigae - an unusual binary system that lies just below it. [Read more about Crossing the Line: objects of the month]
This year’s society Christmas meal at the Hare and Hounds was once again a convivial occasion. Nine members made it to the festive banqueting table, the taxi service provided by Mark and Saul ran like clockwork, shaming the normal taxi services... [Read more about Christmas Meal 2018]
In this month's edition:
In this month's edition:
We have now booked the Hare and Hounds for Dec 1st for 19:00h. The booking is for up to 15 people, give or take, so it will be first come first serve. A pre order of menu choices will be required a week before the date. [Read more about Society Christmas Meal 2018]
We will be putting in an order for 25 copies of Night Scenes 2019, however they are not expected out until late October/early November, so we may have to be a little patient. The price may also have increased, though perhaps not to the stated price on the Astrospace website, (Paul normally does us a deal) If you want to reserve a copy please let Mark know. [Read more about Night Scenes 2019]
After a mild week of clear evenings, it was on the cards that for the weekend of the half term ‘dark sky’ event at the Danby Moors Centre, an arctic plunge would complicate matters. Chilly, blustery, showery conditions are not conducive for observing outdoors. Therefore the decision was taken to host an indoor presentation for the 55 or so people who had booked to come along. Although conditions did improve marginally, it proved to be the correct choice. [Read more about Danby Dark Sky Event]
In this month's edition:
Even though our society is a fully paid-up member of the Federatation of Astronomical Societies, the annual FAS convention is an event we have never previously attended, primarily because it is more often than not held in places too far from Whitby to be reasonably reached with a ‘days’ time frame’.
For their 2018 convention however, the FAS ventured North, hosting the event at York University on Sept 22nd, so it was too good an opportunity to miss....and we very nearly did, given the relatively short notice publicising the event. Delays in emails sent out being attributed to the search for a venue at a reasonable hire cost, a factor which has seen a number of lecture meets (including Leeds Astromeet) fall by the wayside in recent years... [Read more about FAS Convention 2018 (at York University)]
A good number of society members were at the free (but ticketed) talk held in Whitby Museum on 18th September given by Charles Cockell, Professor of Astrobiology at Edinburgh University.
The Normanby room was full to capacity for Prof Cockell’s lecture on the work being carried out deep underground in Boulby mine, already well known for its work on Dark Matter and other fundamental issues in cosmology... [Read more about From Yorkshire to Mars: the search for life in the universe. (Lecture at Whitby Museum)]
Another ‘will it, wont it’ evening, for our visit to Westerdale on September 14th, which in some respects was similar to the Hook’s house event.
Setting off from Mark’s in a two-car convoy, managing to shoehorn in the LX 200, Mark’s dobsonian, a small refractor, John L, Keith, Barabara, and a couple of Marks, we arrived at the village hall with already a gathering at the car park. Westerdale legend and fellow member John Randles was on hand as usual, and it was nice to meet Nola, who had organised the event at that end... [Read more about Westerdale Event]
This year’s event proved to be another great success, even though skies didn’t entirely play ball.
Having met at Mark’s to sort out equipment and who was going with whom etc, eight members travelled over in convoy to Robin Hood Bay, arriving in good time at the campsite. A bank of cloud in the west just couldn’t make its mind up which way to trundle, but skies to the south, east and northeast remained pretty clear at the start... [Read more about Hook’s House Farm event]
In this month's edition:
Although not until October, it looks as though we shall be main hosts for the half term ‘dark sky’ star party event to be held at the Danby Moors Centre. Unless anything crops up this will be Oct 27th with a start time of 18:30h, perhaps 19:00h... [Read more about Danby Moors Centre events]
Next month Whitby Museum is hosting a landmark talk on astrobiology (hope you got the e-mail) Charles Cockell, Professor of Astrobiology at Edinburgh University, will be talking about his fascinating work on extra-terrestrial life. The event is free, but you have to book tickets online... [Read more about ‘Yorkshire to Mars’ – talk]
| Sun | Rise | Set |
|---|---|---|
| Actual | 08:13 | 16:10 |
| Civil Twilight | 07:32 | 16:52 |
| Nautical Twilight | 06:46 | 17:37 |
| Astronomical Twilight | 06:04 | 18:20 |
| Moon | Rise | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 12:26 | 02:36 |
