Rockrae78

Will do Steve!

The weather isn't looking promising for the next couple of Saturdays, but you never know!

I've been a member of the centre since December 2012, and even though it is only 5 minutes drive away, I've never taken advantage of the wonderful people who work and volunteer there, and the amazing equipment they have.

Well, last night I did. The vista up there is amazing. I live in Todmorden, and I love the beauty of where I live, but the view from the Observatory is incredible. Beautiful rolling green hills, set against a backdrop of stunning moorland leaves you feeling truly invigorated.

I got up there early to start off with some solar viewing, I have to say I was shocked by the view of the sun in Ha. I've never seen the sun this way before and the flares and prominences that were visible were truly beautiful.

They also had a 6" dob set up with a normal white light filter and I got to take a look and see a very obvious sun spot.

Next up was the Camera Obscura. Now this was something I'd never even heard of - if you haven't either, google it. They are truly a wonder, and this one has been built by the Observatory's very own Peter Drew. It truly is a sight to see. It's been built in the main dome and has a 360^o view of the entire observatory site. I still can't get over the mechanism of the Obscura itself, but more than that, the fact that its a live image means that things moving almost looks 3D. Amazing!

Whilst I did take my SLT 130, you really don't need any equipment. Visitors and members are very well taken care of. There are 2 16" SCTs, a 17" Dob and plenty of other equipment for you to observe though. There are also members there that were more than happy to let me have a look through their scopes. Besides myself, there were 3 others who had their own telescopes set up and we were all helping each other out to find Venus and Saturn in the still quite light sky.

Seeing the 'Belt of Venus', as I've heard it called, was gorgeous. I've never really noticed the shadow of the Earth before at either sunrise or sunset - although I know what it is supposed to look like. You can't not see it in a location such as this.

As the skies got darker, it became apparent why this is such a good site for an observatory. You get a full 360 degree sky. This was evidenced by the passing of the ISS. We were viewing it for a good 7 minutes going by, West to East. Superb.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable night, capped by viewing Saturn in the 17" dob, and the Ring Nebula in the 16" SCT. Needless to say, it won't be anywhere near as long before I'm back up there. It was like being at a Star Party - Jaffa cakes were on hand too!

A mahoosive thanks to all those people up there who made me feel so welcome: Peter, Andy, Dave, Eddie, Dennis and Bob1 and Bob2 (apologies if I've forgotten anyone). If anyone on here is anywhere near this observatory and you haven't been yet, then go! I can't stress enough how wonderful the people are there.

Thanks again!

An inspiration to us all: RIP Sir Patrick.

xxx