Victorian Star Party

[Mark at Beaufort]

Yesterday 20th August was the 150th anniversary of the book by Rev Thomas William Webb - 'Celestrial Objects for Common Telescopes'. Webb was a rural clergyman and produced this book from his vicarage at Hardwicke (Herefordshire). Webb was the Patrick Moore of the victorian age and this book was the bible for many amateur astronomers for over a century.

To celebrate this event the organisation Webb Share organised a victorian star party at Hardwicke Church - Welcome to the Spacewatch Website. 4 telescopes were provided for the public to view and over 45 people took the opportunity despite the rural remoteness of Hardwick.

Jupiter, M13, M31, Double cluster in Perseus, Albireo etc etc and a laser demo of constellations were well received by the public.

I have been to some dark sites but nothing to compare with the skies of Hardwicke - the Milky was like a bright cloud across the sky and the views through the scopes were incredible.

For those interested in Webb's life and work a book has been produced called 'The Stargazer of Hardwicke' by Janet and Mark Robinson. Both were at the star party last night and also enjoyed the views of the night sky.

Mark

[brianb]

Webb was the Patrick Moore of the victorian age and this book was the bible for many amateur astronomers for over a century.

And is still very much worth reading today, it gives a very fair idea as to what can be seen visually with the sort of scope that beginners have easy access to.

Of course the "theory" is well out of date, but most of that has happened with space probes in the last 40 years or so.