Whitby & District Astronomical Society

The following evening (3^rd) was scheduled to be the Hook’s house camp site star party, however conditions were decidedly incompatible to any form of event, so it was postponed for a week.  The 10^th our contingency date, turned out to be far more conducive for a star party.  Skies were almost as clear as Westerdale, the big difference being the moon, a full half, so natural light pollution was more evident.  Five members had made it across, and with 5 scopes set up, there was enough instrument ‘eye candy’ to attract the campers from a pretty full campsite. [Read more about Hook’s House Events 2016]

• Mark's talk for the Whitby Lit & Phil on "The Autumn night sky"
• Star Party to raise funds for the ‘Brighter Futures’ charity, helping African children get an education
• Possibly a couple more star party events during October.
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I always view early autumn with a certain amount of nostalgia as it was around this time I first became interested in identifying the stellar patterns visible in the night sky.  As it turns out early October is almost ideal to do so;- summer constellations remain well placed as soon as darkness falls, those associated with autumn take centre stage later in the evening and waiting in the wings is the brilliant stellar canopy of winter, a vista to savour.  Of course I knew nothing of this as a young boy, but having just acquired a pair of second hand binoculars, a couple of astronomical books, and inspired by the many wonderful tales and legends associated with the constellations, early October seemed particularly suitable... [Read more about Bear Tails and Tiaras]