December 5, 2012

Flamsteed Volunteers at the Museum Members Xmas Party

Telescopes all set up with the Ship in a Bottle in the background

Report by Mike Meynell. Pictures by Grey Lipley and Sumitra Sribhashyam

On a freezing December evening, 9 hardy Flamsteed volunteers ran a highly successful stargazing session at the museum members Christmas party. We had been asked to set up a variety of telescopes just outside of the entrance to the Sammy Ofer Wing, so that guests could have a look at the night sky whilst also enjoying a wine tasting event and listening to a carol concert.

The sky was beautifully clear and we got some wonderful views of Jupiter as a result. It is always a joy to give people to opportunity to look at such celestial wonders, particularly the many people who had never looked at the sky through a telescope or binoculars before. The reaction that we witnessed from those people who were seeing Jupiter for the first time made the whole event worthwhile, despite the extreme cold! With the larger telescopes, we managed to get a view of M31 Andromeda Galaxy, though it was difficult to move the scopes away from Jupiter as everyone wanted to look at the planet and its Galilean moons.

We had some excellent feedback from visitors and the museum really appreciated us being there.

The success of this event augurs well for the BBC Stargazing Live event on 10 January. We are even more confident now that we can make that night a real success story!

Sincere thanks to all of the Flamsteed volunteers: Brian Blake, Deborah McGarvey, Grey Lipley, Karen Le Ball, Mal Beckford, Malcolm Porter, Roger Geeson and Sumitra Sribhashyam, who helped to make the evening so enjoyable for all attendees.