June 6, 2013

Flamsteed Volunteers at the “Visions of the Universe” Members Preview

Report by Mike Meynell. Pictures by Grey Lipley.

Once again, Flamsteed volunteers turned out in force to support the member’s preview evening of the new “Visions of the Universe” exhibition which has just opened at the National Maritime Museum. About a dozen volunteers set up a solar viewing session on a beautiful June evening, which delighted the 300-plus museum members who attended the exclusive exhibition preview. A host of different telescopes were available for attendees to view the Sun: from specialist hydrogen-alpha solar telescopes through to normal ‘night-time’ reflectors and refractors fitted with special astro solar film to view the Sun safely in ‘white-light’. We even had a “Calcium-K’ solar telescope available, which Martin kindly brought with him from Romney.

There were some lovely details to see on the solar surface, with Sunspots in ‘white-light’ being a particular highlight. Huge queues gathered around all of the scopes as everyone wanted to grab a view of the Sun prior to going into the exhibition. The Sun started to dip behind the museum building at around 7.30pm. There was just enough time to remove the solar filter from my own refractor to catch a view of Venus, before everyone headed inside to view the exhibition.

Much has already been written about the “Visions of the Universe” exhibition. From my own personal perspective, I think it is a truly inspiring exhibition, one that I will be returning to on many occasions over the summer period. I was particularly struck by the backlit images, which really showcase the outstanding images on display. The Mars ‘wall’ is a genius idea and something that I could sit in front of for hours!

It is, without doubt, one of the best displays of astronomical photographs that I have ever seen. It’s a terrible shame that it’s only on for 3 months – exhibitions of this quality really deserve a permanent base and I hope we can see this happen one day.

Sincere thanks to all of the Flamsteed volunteers: Brian Blake, Christina Chester, Andreas Christodoulou, Roger Geeson, Grey Lipley, Martin Male, Tim Newling, Nick Phillips, Malcolm Porter, Rupert Smith and David Westcott, who helped to make the evening so enjoyable for all attendees.