Hertfordshire Meetings

[Camkorn]

Does anyone know of any star parties / gatherings that take please in the Hertfordshire area? I have been in contact with the S herts Asto Society but sadly haven't heard anything back - think this could possibly be because it's the holiday season!

[Jarndyce]

I'm in North Herts and a member of Letchworth astronomical society. They regularly hold star parties, however, I'm ashamed to say i haven't yet attended any events....

...you know how it is...

[Deneb]

Im currently looking for a one in Enfield, I have found one, but know one bothers to answer the phone, "Camkorn" i think that's probably your nearest one. Sometimes I think "am i the only Stargazer in Enfield".

[Camkorn]

HIya! The Letchworth AS looks great but may be a bit far for me to travel I'll have to look in to it more. Deneb if there was a group in the Enfield area it would be perfect for me! I know we are close to the big smoke but there are some dark(ish) skys round this neck of the woods.

[Deneb]

Im currently looking around farm lands in Crews Hill & trying to find who the land owners are & asking them if I could use/maybe rent a small pitch on their land somewhere. There's a few dark areas just into Crooked Mile(just pass Waltham Abbey) but just have to dig around & ask their permission. Also make sure no "Boy Racers" do not go in that area. Have you tried trent park, but not sure if they have flood lighting !

Do you have any Ideas "CamKorn" ?

[DanDare]

Camkorn, I was a member of Letchworth (LDAS) about 5 years ago, but found it a bit too far, (I'm in Cuffley not far from Crews Hill/Enfield). Unless anything comes up a bit closer I was thinking about joining Loughton.

[Beezer]

Hi. I am secretary for a group called "Hertford Astronomy Group" or HAG for short. We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at the scout hut in Letty Green which is about midpoint between Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield.

Our website is Hertford Astronomy Group

Our next meeting is due on Wednesday 14 October at 8:30 when we will have Dr Marc Sarzi talking to us about Black Holes. If the weather is good, we follow the meeting with an observing session.

We have links with the Bayfordbury Observatory about 2 miles away where we can attend their open evenings and also with the Hertfordshire University at Hatfield where we can attend the institue of Physics talks throughout the year free of charge.

We are a very friendly group and welcome beginners and experienced alike. Out philosophy of there being no such thing as a silly question is firmly adhered to as we all had to start somewhere.

We have members from many of the nearby towns. Anyone who can get there is welcomed.

We hope that you will come to our group and look forward to seeing you.

Kind regards

Alan

[kniclander]

guys, i'm in suburban N London where the Lp is, of course, horrible . I'd always (rather lazily) assumed that you'd need to get a good 50 or 60 miles from London to get any significant benefit but I might well be wrong - roughly what mag are the skies around Enfield, Crews Hill, Letchworth etc eg can you see the milky way?

I'd really like to meet up if there was a site significantly darker than my back garden

Beezer -I'll have alook at your website

cheers

Dan

[nitram100]

guys, i'm in suburban N London where the Lp is, of course, horrible . I'd always (rather lazily) assumed that you'd need to get a good 50 or 60 miles from London to get any significant benefit but I might well be wrong - roughly what mag are the skies around Enfield, Crews Hill, Letchworth etc eg can you see the milky way?

I'd really like to meet up if there was a site significantly darker than my back garden

Beezer -I'll have alook at your website

cheers

Dan

I'd love to know this aswell, living in North West London where the skies are truly awful i always assumed you had to drive a fair distance before the skies became darker, if i could drive 20 miles for dark skies i would be over the moon

[Jarndyce]

The skies are not that dark in North Hertfordshire, although it's possible to see the milky way from my garden in central Hitchin, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. The county is essentially rural, so it's easy to slip out into the countryside and view a bit more.

[TheMightyKong]

Camkorn and Deneb, the Astronomy Society of Haringey (AshAstro - ASH - Home ) meets in Southgate - could be convientent depending on whether you're in south Hertfordshire or not. It'd be very close to Enfield. Looking on their homepage looks like they may have some observing activity.

Kniclander and Nitram, you may already know about them, but WOLAS (west of london astronomy society) has a darker-than-the-suburbs observing site out by High Wycombe, which they have access to about one weekend a month. You can just see the milky way there - though it's no kielder. They meet alternately in Harrow and Ruislip. Hope this helps.

[jonathancd]

Deneb,

If you have acess to a car you might want to conside coming along to the Loughton Astronomical Society. We have a few members who travel from your area and further afield (several Barnet based members). We have the advantage of meeting every Thursday so there is the advantage of at least not having to wait a month if you miss a meeting. On average we have between 20-30 members each week.

We have lots of external speakers as well as society led meetings and monthly observing meetings in from the late autumn to early spring. Follow this link to our society webpage and see if there is anything you like the look of. You would be very welcome if you came along.

Jonathan

LAS - ASTRONOMY IN ESSEX