The society meetings restart in October the date is Tuesday 3rd (not 4th as incorrectly stated last month).
Apart from a roundup of our summer activities and a look at the current sky, Mark will be giving a short talk on Cassini and Andi hopes to have a talk ready too. Hope you will be able to join us (see WDAS diary for venue and time etc )
Our open nights at the Bruce Observatory recommence on Sunday 8th Oct starting from 19:30h. As always if you are unsure about the weather prospects on the evening contact Mark. [Read more about Society Monthly Meetings: Recommence]
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This year’s event was early in the month in an effort to minimise the effect of moonlight. Conditions on the evening were encouraging with cloud forecast to clear away to the south. This turned out to be the case, but was painfully slow so that the moon and Saturn were initially obscured... 
Those of you looking forward to the Leeds Astromeet this year will sadly have to keep looking, cos it’s not on, cancelled, postponed, deceased?..The comment on the Leeds website reads as follows... 
Having finally made contact with Paul, we have pencilled in a date for his postponed talk. Unfortunately it will be 2018 before Paul can make it as he running a WEA course until March of 2018. 
Given that this event was organised for a bank holiday weekend, it was pleasantly surprising to plan for the evening with a high degree of confidence of clear skies. Mark, Andi and Keith made the journey over to Northcliffe holiday park at Hawsker, (Andi and Keith checking out Seaview park en-route), three scopes packed including the LX 200. Once we had negotiated the bollard and gate (don’t ask) leading to the football field, the instruments were set up and we prepared for a great evening’s observation. 
Astronomy fever gripped America in August, where millions were treated to a total solar eclipse. And WDAS was also invited to join in, by a website visitor from Whitby (Ontario), wondering what events we had planned.
So, what did Mother Nature have in store for this year’s Regatta – the usual mixture of inclement dross, incorrect forecasts and a blank white disk to look at for hours on end! Well, at least any likely showers would fall on a new gazebo, purchased just a few days prior. The old one requires major (but not insurmountable) work to rectify various issues – particularly with the strut frame work – so we thought a new one would be the better option for now. 
