Whitby & District Astronomical Society

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights 
• December Meteors 
• December Comets 
• December 2021 Sky Charts
• Winter Solstice 

The WDAS society Christmas meal for society members and partners has now been booked. The venue is the Hare & Hounds at Hawsker. The date is December 11th at 19:30 hrs. There are 15 places booked, 12 have already been spoken for so don't delay in contacting Mark if you have not already done so. The menu is 3 courses and is £26.95. All menu choices must be made available to Mark by Dec 7th at very latest though preferably before.  [Read more about Update for wdas members - Society Christmas Meal 2021]

Society meetings have now recommenced and it was nice to see new and old faces at November's meeting. The venue is still Room H1 - Caedmon College - Normanby Campus ( ie Whitby College) from 19:30hrs. For the December meeting we have a guest presentation by Alan Bentley, and another by society member Phil Richards. Alan has a fantastic image of the Crescent nebula in the December issue of AN, and it will fascinating to hear tell how it was achieved  [Read more about December Society Meeting - Don't Miss! ]

Having been clouded out for the last two visits at Fylinghall School, Friday 15th of October was a very different experience with exceptionally clear skies coinciding with a return visit ... [Read more about Dark Skies Night – Fylinghall School]

Our visit to Westerdale on Friday October 1st was not in vain this year, with clear skies allowing for some fine views. It was not all plain sailing however... [Read more about Westerdale Event - 2021]

Having been awarded status of International Dark Sky Reserve, it was hoped we would benefit from being under some North Yorkshire 'dark skies' for this event at the Moors Centre. Well, technically we did, skies were indeed dark, chiefly because of the cloud, but that said ...  [Read more about Danby Moors Centre – Dark Sky Event Oct 2021]

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights 
• November Meteors 
• Comets visible
• November 2021 Sky Charts

After what seems like an eternity, monthly meetings of the WDAS will resume at the college on Tuesday October 5th. Venue and time will be the same as usual.  [Read more about Society Monthly Meetings Resume and Observatory Open Nights. ]

Making good use of Dark Sky Reserve status awarded in December 2020, the North York Moors National Parks will be a hosting a number of Dark Sky events over the half term period. The Danby Moors Centre will  hosting their event on Oct 23rd from 19:00hrs.  [Read more about Dark Sky Event: Danby Moors Centre]

Our visit to the metropolis of Westerdale is a little later this year and at somewhat short notice. The date is today - Friday 1st October, so we had better get our skates on! [Read more about Westerdale Event - 2021]

Amongst the large and sometimes less distinctive stellar patterns about to hold centre stage in the autumn night sky, two smaller, but important groups, reside in a patch of sky encircled by both autumn and early winter constellations. One is a farm animal the other a shape: Aries and Triangulum. [Read more about Livestock and Shapes]

Our return to Hook's House; delayed for a year, not due to Covid, but by bad weather, was delayed by a further week as cloudy skies on Sept 4th prevented any chance of observing. The following Saturday however, was a different kettle of fish altogether... [Read more about Hook’s House Farm Event - 2021]

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights 
• October Meteors
•  
• October 2021 Sky Charts

September can be one of the best months for observing at star party events, but this will depend on weather conditions, hopefully somewhat better than August.  

  [Read more about Star Party/Society Schedule - September ]

August is usually our busiest month for star party events and as we had quite a few scheduled expectations were high. So, were there successes or did August's notoriously unpredictable weather scupper proceedings... [Read more about August Events - A retrospective look back. ]