Not long now to the 2016 Leeds Astromeet which is on Saturday November 12th, at Leeds University. The date for your diary is Saturday November 12th, usual venue- Leeds University, Clothworkers Hall – Doors are open from 09:00h with lectures starting at 10:00h. [Read more about Leeds Astromeet 2016]
Following the toppling of the Whitby museum dictator, and the restoration of sanity (and hopefully all amenities) we shall discuss at the forthcoming October monthly meeting whether it is viable to return, but... [Read more about Paul Money Lecture Update & Night Scenes 2016]
Mark managed an unscheduled sole star party event one Friday, which turned out to be quite successful. It has to be said though that for one reason or another, our summer star party season seems to have been a struggle... [Read more about Unscheduled September 2016 Events on West Cliff]
The following evening (3rd) 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 10th 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]
This year’s foray over to Westerdale on Sept 2nd remarkably coincided with crystal clear skies once again, in fact we could not have wished for clearer ones. It was obvious on arrival at the village hall car park that a sizeable gathering was present, induced out by the fine conditions (or was it society stalwart John Randles – the Godfather of Westerdale. Whatever, we received a warm welcome as usual. Whilst John and Mark were talking a barn owl flew out across the drop next to the site, a fine start to proceedings. [Read more about Westerdale Star Party: Friday 2nd Sept 2016]
Hopefully the weather will improve for one of our observing highlights, our visit to Hook’s House Farm on the 3rd, should it be cloudy however we shall try again on Sept 10th. The Moon will only be a few days old on the 3rd, and given clear skies deep sky observing will be a delight. Mars and Saturn will also be visible over in the South-West. [Read more about Hook’s House Event(s) 2016]
We shall be making our pilgrimage over to Westerdale to host this year’s star party on the 2nd. As usual the venue will be the village hall / car park area within the village. Start time is 20:00h for the public... [Read more about Westerdale Star Party: Friday 2nd Sept 2016]
No, that didn’t work either... moving Regatta to later in the month, that is. Different dates, same weather.
Saturday- clouded out both afternoon and evening. We didn’t even bother to unload any equipment for these events, squally showers and really quite strong winds do not make for ‘quality’ observing. Having said that, three people do technically qualify as a ‘party’ and we did briefly spot a couple of stars in the Plough handle, so that’s star party in my book. Regatta Sunday would be better.
Sunday was a lot more encouraging, the Sun was actually shining, whoopee!... [Read more about Regatta and Folk Week Events]
The autumn equinox falls on September 22nd, the date autumn officially commences in the northern hemisphere. For the second time this year the polar axis of our planet is at right angles to the Sun and all locations receive equal hours of daylight and darkness... [Read more about The Autumn Equinox]
| Sun | Rise | Set |
|---|---|---|
| Actual | 08:07 | 15:39 |
| Civil Twilight | 07:24 | 16:22 |
| Nautical Twilight | 06:38 | 17:08 |
| Astronomical Twilight | 05:54 | 17:52 |
| Moon | Rise | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 12:05 | 19:30 |
