Thanks to all who attended the Lunar Eclipse at the Astronomy Centre on Monday morning making a memorable event complete.
Members started arriving during the Sunday evening to claim their`prime viewing spot`and slowly more arrived to fill in the spaces between. Visitors brought a variety of telescopes to view and record the event, from the Mk1 Eyeball to a magnificent 8" Refractor belonging to Richard mounted on Peter`s hand made Alt/ Az mount. The main Observatory dome was open with live large screen video of the full moon and a slightly warmer haven for visitors to pop into occasionally for a `brew` and chat.
High thin cloud extended across the sky but not dense enough to obscure the bright full moon. The weather forecast threatened fog but this failed to appear in the early stages of the eclipse. The cloud slowly dispersed to see a clear starry night to the delight of all our Eclipse chasers. For much of the event the skies were clear, the fog eventually rolling by briefly then blown away by a slight breeze. Most members dispersed soon after the eclipse leaving a few observers intent on seeing the earths shadow completely clear the moons disc around 0500. Congratulations to Esther our youngest visitor whose observations and commentary impressed all within earshot for the duration of the event.
We are sure thousands of images were taken throughout the night , we congratulate all who endured the low single figure temperatures and look forward to seeing you all at our next Astro event.
Please also see the gallery for a few images.