BAA need help

[wingman]

Hopefully this is allowable here, if not apologies in advance.

The BAA need a local astronomy group to house the Hewitt Camera Plate Archive. The bulletin is copied below;

The Hewitt Camera Plate Archive comprises approximately 11,000 photographic plates taken from various locations within the UK and in Australia over a period of almost 30 years from approximately 1960 to 1990.

Each plate covers a 10 degree field of view taken with a Schmidt

camera. The plates were originally used to measure the orbits of

satellites to infer information about the Earth's gravitational field.

However, in the process much information was obtained on variable stars, typically to about magnitude 11 but occasionally to mag 13.

Following the transfer of the Royal Greenwich Observatory from

Herstmonceux, to Cambridge in the early 1990's the Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society became the custodians of the Archive on behalf of the BAA VSS.

Sadly, the local council have decreed that they can no longer house the Archive and therefore they are looking for a new home for it. If any individual or group is interested in taking the Archive they should first contact the VSS Director roger.pickard@sky.com

This would make a great project for another local astronomical society that does have the space and the enthusiasm.

Now for some of the small print!

The deadline for the removal of the Archive is the end of June 2012.

The Archive is currently housed on shelving measuring approximately 5.11m long x 2.39m high x 0.3m deep.

Some 6000 of the plates are of glass measuring approximately 20cm x 10cm x 6mm thick often with 3 or 4 plates per box and so are quite weighty. The remainder are plastic plates but of a similar area.

If anyone is a member of an astronomy society who could offer a home for this unique collection please contact Roger or myself

many thanks

John