This week the challenge of finding a good dark sky site is tackled. Unsurprisingly the answer is to meet up with your local astronomy group which in my case was CLASS. Whilst your group and members will have different names I imagine the cast of characters will no doubt be similar.

Oh and Paul’s dog is actually called Tilly, the reason for pointing this out now will become obvious around the third paragraph but will only really make sense if you are familiar with certain works from Enid Blyton.

There is something to be said for solo observing. Some nights you may just want to enjoy the peace and solitude you experience from staring at the glorious cosmos in the safety of your own garden. Just you, alone with your thoughts staring at the void and wondering if tonight will be the night, you’ll finally find Andromeda. I wouldn't argue against that at all. But, unless you are very lucky your garden will offer only limited views of the night sky and suffer from some degree of light pollution especially when next door let the cat out and it triggers their million watt security light.

So unless you've become an astrophotography junkie and are therefore spending all of your evenings in your shed/observatory there will come a time when you’ll think about going out, beyond your garden gate.

In theory it’s simple; you don’t live too far from the countryside so you imagine there must be loads of places you could drive out to where you can enjoy clear views and dark skies. But no, it isn't that simple. First of all anywhere that has a proper car park will fall into one of two categories. It will either have a gate with a padlock denying you access or the car park in question will be full of cars which, if you are lucky will only contain boy racers. So car parks are out. Next you’ll think a lay-by will do the trick but it’s the nature of a lay-by to be right next to the road and every now and then a young lad in a Corsa with all of his headlights on full beam will ruin your night vision.

It all seems a bit doom and gloom but do not despair, what you need to do is take yourself along to a CLASS observing night.

We are usually at one of two places. If it hasn't rained for a while we will likely be at the ‘tank site’. A secret location known only to the members of the society and a few farmers which is accessed from behind a World War Two tank parked at the side of a roundabout. It sounds like some sort of Famous Five secret den. This is quite appropriate really as there’s usually only five of us turn up and Paul sometimes brings his dog, who’s almost called Timmy.

If we’re not at the tank site then we’ll most likely be at the slightly less secret, Brindle community hall. A location known only to members of the society, anyone who attended our stargazing live event and the entire population of Brindle and surrounding areas.

Regardless of the location the usual suspects will no doubt be there. Paul, Rob and I after having looked at the same four objects that between us we can remember how to find (one of which is the moon) will be attempting to locate something new using a combination of smart phones, laser pointers and blind luck. In his seemingly ongoing quest to own more telescopes than Jodrell Bank Nigel will have brought along his latest Astronomy Buy and Sell purchase. Steve, if he hasn't broken himself in some way will be there with his truly awesome 12” GOTO Dobsonian, that looks and sounds like some sort of rocket launcher. If you’re not impressed with the physical object itself, the views through it will certainly blow your socks off. Assuming he’s in the country, Nick will have brought along his increasingly technical setup which I fully expect to evolve into a sort of Hal 9000/Terminator autonomous viewing machine that will one day break its programming and kill us all. Neville may be there to point us in the right direction. He doesn't use GOTO, as far as I can tell he uses the force to align a telescope. Stu will be working but, if we’re at the tank site he puts in an appearance later when he drives past in his train. Mary of course won’t be there as she’ll have used her usual excuse of living hundreds of miles away in rural Oxfordshire for not turning up. No commitment some people.

You can be sure that you’ll see many things. Some strange, some exciting, some will be things you've never seen before and some will even be astronomy related.

But before you can experience any of that you have to first overcome a couple of obstacles.

The bigger of the two is of course the great British weather. As will often happen, the mystic met office having communed with their super computers will have prophesised an evening of clear skies and calm winds. However when you stick your head out of the front door you will take in a scene reminiscent of the beginning of The Wizard of Oz and quickly conclude there’s no place like home, shut the door and go back to watching Storage Hunters on Dave.

The second obstacle to going out and meeting a bunch of strangers you met on the internet is that you are seriously considering going out and meeting a bunch of strangers you met on the internet.

In a remote location.

In the dark.

Alone.

It sounds a bit dodgy when you think about it but is met with incredulous looks from family and friends when you say those same words out loud. To be fair to your loved ones it does rather sound like the opening scene of a TV series called ‘Midwinter Murders’ or ‘Prime Suspect’. The best way to avoid this problem though is to get to know a few people by coming along to our monthly meetings in the very well lit, public venue of the Priory Club which also happens to be on holy ground. Although whether you only benefit from that supernatural protection if you’re a member of a specific religion I’m not sure.

Regardless of whether you dip your toe in the monthly meeting at the Priory club or jump in the deep end and turn up to one of our observing nights you will find it is worth the effort. Astronomy is fairly flexible in that it can be both a solo and communal hobby and you don’t have to choose one or the other. Sometimes a quiet solo session in your garden is all that you want and other times it’s great to put your stuff in the car and meet up with some fellow enthusiasts particularly if you’re stuck in an observing rut or if there is something special to look for like the recent supernova. The only unfortunate thing is that we’re at the mercy of the great British weather which means the chances of getting a good run of crystal clear skies in the winter months are approximately the same as our favourite weather forecasters correctly predicting a barbecue summer.