Members of Sunderland Astronomical Society were interviewed by Sky TV at the Cygnus Observatory earlier this month.
Society Chairman Graham Darke talked about the Cygnus Observatory and the objects we can see through the 14" Meade LX200 installed inside the dome.
To see the full interview, click the image above.
The image on the left shows the 18" Telescope Mirror which Sunderland Astronomical Society has donated to the Ethiopian Telescope Appeal. The mirror blank was bought some years ago and intended for our first observatory. However, Lottery Funding meant that we were able to buy the Meade LX200 telescope currently installed in the Cygnus Observatory and so the blank was no longer needed.
The preliminary curve was ground into the first surface by John Nichol down at Nichol Optical using a diamond saw. The rest of the work (rough grinding, fine grinding, polishing then figuring) will be completed by hand by the society chairman, Graham Darke.
Our three Jupiter Night events were a major success and, doubtless, we'll be running something similar at some point in the near future.
The first night, Thursday, drew around 160 visitors who were able to view a large number of objects through reasonably good skies. The second night, Friday, was a bit of a disappointment with heavy rain persisting throughout the evening. Nevertheless, around 130 visitors were able to see the Cygnus Observatory and enjoy talks given by members Paul Meade and David Hughes.
Saturday Night was absolutely spectacular with brilliant skies and over three hundred visitors in attendance. We have to admit that we were somewhat taken aback by the number of people who came down to the Washingtong Wildfowl Trust, which, sadly, led to some rather long queues. However, the atmosphere was friendly and pleasant, and nearly everybody went away happy.
The response from our members across all three nights was nothing short of excellent. Well done, peeps. You did us proud.
On Friday 20th January 2012, BBC Look North broadcast a short item about our Telescopes for Ethiopia project, which doubtless helped to boost the attendance on Saturday. Many thanks to BBC Look North's Hannah Bayman for all of her help and support. It really is much appreciated.
The following Saturday night, we were presented with our first donation, two pairs of binoculars, both with rather remarkable histories. Hopefully, these devices will now be recycled and go on to enjoy a second life in the horn of Africa.
We'd like to think that our Jupiter Nights at The Cygnus Observatory were a great success. Lots of people have already told us how much they enjoyed the experience but we are aware that there is room for improvement. Maybe the queues were a little long, maybe the talks were too technical or perhaps there weren't enough telescopes to look through.
We'd like to hear what you think. Please click here and drop us a line to let us know what we did well, what we did that wasn't quite 100% and what we did that didn't work at all.
All submissions are 100% confidential.
P.S. The web pages mentioned in David Hughes' talk on How to do astronomy when it's raining are in the section labelled Useful Links.
The current series of Star Gazing Live may have come to an end but there are still plenty of things to see and do around the region.
Sunderland Astronomical Society will be hosting the second of three Jupiter Nights at the Washington Wildfowl Trust tonight, starting at 7 pm. The first Jupiter Night welcomed over one hundred and sixty visitors, which is a new society record.
Weather permitting, you'll be able to have a look through our massive 14" Meade telescope and talk to our members about astronomy and where to go next if you're just a beginner. Jupiter Nights are open to all and completely free to attend.
Update!: We're now on Twitter 
Last night was absolutely terrific! Superb seeing conditions with not a cloud in the sky! A huge turn out from our members, many of whom brought some truly fantastic telescopes! But (and this is the best bit), over seven hundred visitors to Gibside Chapel near Derwentside.
Tremendous.
The event was organised by the BBC and local news programme, Look North was broadcasting weather reports from the site as well as filming a number of future reports for Star Gazing Live on the night. Society chairman Graham Darke was interviewed by weather presenter, Trae Anfield.
Of course, we still have three events on at the Cygnus Observatory at Washington Wildfowl Trust later this week so if you missed Monday night then you can still join in the fun on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night!!
Update!: We're now on Twitter
As most people now know, Stargazing Live returns to BBC Two on Monday 16th January for three nights of live astronomy TV. The BBC are organising a large regional observing event at Gibside Hall on Monday 16th January from 6.00 pm until 9.00pm and SAS is helping out. So we're calling all members with telescopes to be there for 5.00pm on the day to set up for what will hopefully be a cracking evening.
Please Note: Booking for this event is essential. To reserve your place, please follow the link to the BBC website and click on Join us at an event.
Of course, we have 3 events on at Cygnus later in the same week and Gibside will be a good opportunity to plug those too!
We are delighted to announce the addition of a new lecture and the return of an old friend to the society.
Former Astronomer Royal, Sir Arnold Wolfendale, FRAS has agreed to give a talk to the society at our April meeting. The subject will be confirmed fairly shortly.
This means that our annual astrophotography competition has been moved back by one month to the May meeting.
The range and scope of events supported by Sunderland Astronomical Society is growing rapidly, especially with the advent of Star Gazing Live in early January. Aside from the events taking place during Star Gazing Live, the society will be hosting several other events both at the Cygnus Observatory and around the region including the return of our very popular Winlaton Mill event.
Please book mark this page and check back regularly to avoid missing out.
After the phenominal success of the Stargazing Live series of programmes on BBC Two in January 2011, we are delighted that the BBC will again be bringing a new series to our screens in January 2012. The programmes will be aired on the 16th, 17th and 18th January and, as before, Professor Brian Cox and Dara O'Briain will be the hosts.
Sunderland Astronomical Society is proud to be a partner once again and has three special free observing nights for the public, each timed to coincide with the show.
On Thursday 19th, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st January 2012, our Cygnus Observatory at the Washington Wetlands Centre will be open to the general public free of charge. Why not come down and look through a large telescope? The gas giant planet Jupiter will be the star attraction over the three nights but our telescopes will also be turned towards other celestial delights such as star clusters, nebulae and even other galaxies.
The events run from 7.00pm until 9.00pm on all three nights, are suitable for all ages although children must be accompanied by an adult. Please wrap up warm (wear at hat) and bring a torch with you. Perhaps if you were given a telescope or a pair of binoculars for Christmas then you could bring them along and we'll be only too pleased to help you set them up and show you how to get the most from them.
The star charts updates, usually released every quarter via our Yahoo/Newsletter service, can now be downloaded from the menu option on the right. Just click on Star charts to be taken to the relevant page. The documents are in PDF format and are suitable for all ages and experiences.
Details of our extremely busy autumn schedule have been posted in the Events section.
The new season will kick off with a lecture by Society Chairman Graham Darke on the planet Neptune.
Other events include a public observing event at Killhope Lead Mine, observatory visits from Age Action North East and St. Nicholas' Brownies. Then there's the annual Kielder Night Watch followed by the Kielder Star Camp plus many other events.
Check out the Events page for further details.
From humble begins, the annual Starbeque has now beccome the stuff of legend. This is our traditional celebration of the return of darker nights and, as in previous years, will take place at Millshields Camp Site, Derwent Reservoir, starting at 1800 hours. .
The event is free to attend though you will need to supply your own barbeque goodies.
Please note that there is no overnight parking at this site. Also, please avoid the village of Muggleswick, east of Edmundbyers, as we understand that they are hosting a large Harry Potter convention this coming weekend.
The Centre for Life in Newcastle are hosting an Astronomy Evening on July 8th 2011 at 6:30 pm.
The event is free to attend and is aimed at families and teachers who are interested in astronomy organisations and events.
There will be planetarium shows, lots of different activities, plenty of telescopes and, of course, an opportunity to find out what wonderful things are going on in the region to do with space and astronomy.
Representatives from many of the local astronomical societies will be present to answer your questions and encourage you to visit their facilities.
Sunderland Astronomical Society's summer events schedule has now been published.
Have a look under the Events section for more information.
Astrophotography Competition
Sunderland Astronomical Society's annual Astrophotography competition took place on Sunday 17th April 2011 and it was another good year for entries.
Voting was up to the individual members and the results were as follows:
- 1st Dave Beedham - a superb webcam image of Jupiter
- 2nd Owen Lowery - really crisp image of the Moon taken with his webcam!
- 1st Ian Wardlaw with a wonderful picture of the Orion Nebula
- 2nd Graham Darke - M57
- 1st Keith Hulse - another superb Jupiter webcam image
- 2nd Ian Wardlaw - another superb Jupiter webcam image
North East Astronomical Societies Get Together, 2nd April 2011, Pow Hill Car Park, Derwent Reservoir
On Saturday 2nd April 2011 members of Cleveland & Darlington AS, Durham AS, Kielder AS, Newcastle AS, Northumberland AS and South Shields AS joined Sunderland AS members at its regular dark site at Derwent Reservoir for an evening of spring galaxy hunting.
Around sixty people supported this event and enjoyed some excellent seeing until the clouds obscured almost everything.
North East Astronomical Societies get together for a night among the stars
On Saturday 2nd April 2011 from 7.00pm onwards members of Cleveland & Darlington AS, Durham AS, Kielder AS, Newcastle AS, Northumberland AS and South Shields AS have been invited to join Sunderland AS members at its regular dark site at Derwent Reservoir for an evening of spring galaxy hunting.
In June 2009, a very successful meeting of the various clubs took place in Washington and this event follows on from that. The Washington meeting was based around a series of short talks and all who attended had a great night. We thought this time around we'd arrange an observing evening at a reasonably dark site and try to get a load of different telescopes together so that we can compare ideas and tips.
Directions to the observing site have been provided to a representative of each society.
CPRE : Counting Stars
Look up into the night sky where you live, and the chances are that your view of the stars will be affected in some way by light pollution. To see how much artificial lighting blocks out the cosmos - and find the starriest skies - the British public are being asked to take part in a national experiment.
Campaign to Protect Rural England and The Campaign for Dark Skies want people to look up at Orion - one of the most recognisable constellations in the winter night sky - and count the number of stars they see.
From the CPRE web site:
How to do your star count
Sunderland A.S. awarded NASA's Certificate of Appreciation
Sunderland Astronomical Society has been awarded NASA's prestigious Certificate of Appreciation through their Space Place Outreach Project.
"... as an active NASA Space Place Astronomy Club Partners, you encourage science and technology education throughout your community. "
Well done to all those members of the society who contributed to our Outreach Public in any capacity! Your efforts are clearly appreciated!
4th January 2011 / StarGazing Live / Partial Solar Eclipse / SAS in the News
A partial solar eclipse should have been visible in the skies shortly after dawn on the morning of Tuesday 4th January 2011. Members of Sunderland Astronomical Society assembled at Cliff Park near Seaburn together with a TV Crew from BBC Look North. The BBC's Hannah Bayman hosted a live broadcast, which was transmitted on BBC One Breakfast, with recorded sections broadcast later in the day on BBC News 24 and their News at One programme.
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Sadly, as ever, the weather decided not to play along and the eclipse was obscured by cloud.
Youtube video of BBC Breakfast's live broadcast from Rocker Beach:
Youtube video of BBC Look North's nightly bulletin:
Don't forget : Saturday 8th January 2011 at 6.00pm Hamsterley Forest Public Star Party
In conjunction with the Forestry Commission, join our members for an evening of observing at County Durham's Hamsterley Forest. The gas giant planets Jupiter and Uranus will be visible along with a host of deep sky delights including star clusters and galaxies. There will be a cover charge of £5 per person for this event. The telephone number for bookings for the Forestry Commission Hamsterley evening on 8th January 2011 is 01434 220242.
Stargazing LIVE
From 3rd - 5th January 2011, Professor Brian Cox will be presenting three very special nights of live astronomy programming on BBC Two. The series coincides with a number of astronomical phenomena that audiences across the UK will be able to observe - including the alignment of Jupiter and
Tuesday 4th January 2011 at 8.00am Partial Solar eclipse
Join Sunderland AS members at Cliff Park on Sunderland's seafront to observe the partially eclipsed Sun rising above the horizon. The Society will have on hand special equipment to permit the safe observation of this event. Please note that observing the Sun should not be attempted without the CORRECT equipment. BBC Look North will be in attendance. As a bonus, the planet Venus will also be visible.
Saturday 8th January 2011 at 6.00pm Hamsterley Forest Public Star Party
In conjunction with the Forestry Commission, join our members for an evening of observing at County Durham's Hamsterley Forest. The gas giant planets Jupiter and Uranus will be visible along with a host of deep sky delights including star clusters and galaxies. There will be a cover charge of £5 per person for this event. The telephone number for bookings for the Forestry Commission Hamsterley evening on 8th January 2011 is 01434 220242.
New Web Site
As regular visits may have noticed, the SAS web site has just been through an extensive and long overdue facelift. As a result, there may be a few rough edges so smooth out. If you find something that isn't quite right, or could be improved then please let us know via the contact page.
Annual General Meeting - 21st November 2010
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday 21st November 2010 at 1900 hours at the Washington Wildfowl Trust. The society will hold a review of its finances and recent activities, and elect officers for the coming year. Please remember that we now operate a gate on the entrance to the car park and the gate will be locked at around 1915 hours. Members are advised to arrive early if possible.
Partial Solar Eclipse - 4th January 2011
As many of you will already know, there will be a partial solar eclipse on the morning of Tuesday, January 4th 2011. The society is organising a public event at Roker Sands, Sunderland, starting at around 0730 hours. Anyone may attend and we understand the cameras from BBC Look North will be present to record the event.
