Whitby & District Astronomical Society

Whitby Youth Hostel - East Whitby - rear of Abbey vistor centre. Book now: email whitbyyha.org.uk or call 01947 602 878 to reserve a space.

  [Read more about Whitby Youth Hostel ]

Monthly meetings of WDAS will resume at Caedmon College - Normanby Campus on Tuesday October 3rd from 19:30hrs.   [Read more about Society Monthly Meetings and Observatory Open Nights Resume . ]

We have a number of Star Party events scheduled for October, whether the conditions are suitable for observing, or not. 

  [Read more about WDAS October Star Party Schedule ]

September star party events were a mixed affair following the Hook's House event.  [Read more about Star Party Event Reports - Sept 9th, 16th & 23rd]

After being clouded out on both primary and reserve dates last year, we hoped for better conditions for the Hook's House event this year.  Did skies deliver...? [Read more about Hook’s House Event - 2023]

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights. 
• October Meteors and Aurora sighting.
• Partial Lunar Eclipse.
• October Night Sky.
• October 2023 Sky Charts.

  [Read more about Sky Notes - October 2023]

India have successfully landed the Chandrayaan-3 mission near the south pole of the Moon, making history in doing so. .     [Read more about India Lands Near Lunar South Pole ]

Weather permitting September can be every bit as busy as August on the star party front.  Here are the scheduled events for September, plus the date of the first monthly meeting at Caedmon College and the start of open nights at the Bruce Observatory.  [Read more about Hook's House Farm - Event. September Schedule & Monthly Meeting Dates. ]

Breaking News - We have just received the fantastic news that ambitious plans for an observatory in the grounds of Danby Lodge have been passed by the NYM planning authorities. 

  [Read more about Danby Lodge Centre Observatory Project.. Breaking News!]

Phil Richards tells the story of how he acquired an old 5-inch refractor seemingly forgotten from Fylinghall School and his efforts to restore it.   [Read more about Restoration of the Watson Telescope - By Phil Richards ]

Conditions in August seem to have become more of a lottery in recent years, so aside from Whitby Regatta, how would the remainder of our scheduled events fair? [Read more about Star Party Event Reports - Aug 5th, 19th, & 26th]

Remember Whitby Regatta last year?  The near heatwave, the sea fret hugging the coast, hearing, but not seeing the Red Arrows.  Solar party events, where we seemed to wait, and wait for the Sun to appear, and evening star parties which promised much, but cloud saw that little was delivered. Remember?  Well 2023 was in a curious way way very similar, but not as hot! [Read more about August Events - Regatta - A retrospective view. ]

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights. 
• September Meteors.
• Autumnal Equinox.
• September Night Sky.
• September 2023 Sky Charts.

  [Read more about Sky Notes - September 2023]

August, as always, is shaping up to be a busy month for Star Party events...at least on paper.  The Regatta, darker skies, school holidays, Perseids and planetary offerings, ensure a decent recipe for it to be so - weather permitting of course! [Read more about Star Party Schedule - August ]

Ambitious plans have been draughted for an observatory at the Danby Lodge Visitors Centre designed to capitalise on the Dark Sky Reserve status awarded to the North Yorkshire Moors National Parks in 2020...

  [Read more about Danby Centre Observatory Project...]