Report by Mike Meynell We had decided to go ahead with our involvement in the Summer Solstice Sun Day at the Royal Observatory Greenwich regardless of the weather conditions on the day. This was because there were still plenty of indoor activities for attendees to enjoy, not least a solar astrophotography workshop led by Rupert […]
“Welcome to the first event at our new training centre!”… a tongue-in-cheek opening line from Rupert to introduce the first Flamsteed member’s event to be held at Mycenae House in Blackheath. In truth, we have been looking around for an additional venue to hold workshops for Flamsteed members, as, though the Royal Observatory is an […]
Our Blackheath observing session started early this month in order to catch the conjunction of Mars and Venus. Despite having to cancel on Friday we benefitted from mostly clear skies on Saturday. The conjunction did not disappoint and was clearly visible as was the distinctive orange colour of Mars. Above the two planets was the […]
Our scheduled observing session on the 19th coincided with a spell of clear skies that offered good seeing and a little bit of breeze to keep the dew away. Despite the best efforts of the Shard, which was lit up like the proverbial Christmas Tree. We were able to observe a selection of deep sky […]
Weather forecasting skills are almost as important as knowledge of the night sky when trying to practise astronomy in the UK. So it proved on Friday evening with our scheduled monthly observing evening on Blackheath. Despite Met Office claims that the skies would remain cloudy all evening, a study of the satellite data showed that […]
Well, you’ve got to love astronomy in the UK… don’t you?!… don’t you?!?!?!? A very frustrating couple of hours on Blackheath on Saturday evening. Nick and I had been discussing the weather for most of the day (in the absence of anything productive to do) and decided at 3pm that we would go ahead with […]
At our last Flamsteed committee meeting in May, Nick Phillips proposed that we set up a series of “members only” solar viewing events at the Royal Observatory Greenwich to take advantage of the equipment that we have available and to promote interest in solar observing amongst the Flamsteed membership. We’ve been running public sessions at […]
Report by Andy Sawers As the dawn chorus gave way to the sound of the school run, it still wasn’t at all obvious that we were going to have a good solar viewing day. The clouds weren’t great and the forecast wasn’t much better. Still, perhaps we’d get a couple of hours of showing and […]
Report by Rupert Smith In celebration of International SUNday we held a solar observing session at our regular Blackheath location on……Saturday! This was due to the better forecast offered on this day, which, despite some cloud from time to time, proved to be the right choice. There was a good turnout of scopes, which as […]
Report by Tej Dyal As a year long member, I had signed up for this arranged Flamsteed visit to Romney four times before, but sadly, each time it was cancelled due to bad weather. However, perservence is the name of the game in this challenging but rewarding new hobby and so on this fifth attempt, […]
