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Wolves and Black Country observing group...


wulfrunian

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There is a fantastic car park on Cannock chase about 20 mins from Fordhouses Wolverhampton (where am originally from.) I go up there most clear nights. The LP from the power pant to the east is a bit frustrating. But has great southern views.

PM me if you want the location of the site. 

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There is nice site round the corner from my house in tividale,oldbury on the old quarry on the hill the side of city road ,highest point in the Midlands so I've been told ,lots of walkways easily accessible.You also get good views in the day .Being new to the area I had never heard of the place so was a bonus when I discovered it.Personally the darkest sky I have seen in the Midlands is in between kiddy and brignorth near shattersford way 

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Hi Everyone, 

Just letting you know that we have three (count 'em!) nights of astronomy planned for next week on Barr Beacon.  We're holding what the BBC are calling 'street stargazing' events (I told them 'satellite' events would be cooler, but did they listen to me? )...  

Anyway the gates on the corner of Bridle Lane and Beacon Road will open at 8.30 - the event rund 9pm-11pm each night (although you are welcome to stay on site as late as you like).  

I've hired an event bus for this one - so teas and coffees will be on sale, we'll be using stellarium on plasma screens and hopefully giving away some BBC SGL diaries (if they arrive on time!).  

As usual it is weather-permitting - but it is looking like we might get away with it!!!

Free entry, but I'm asking people to book here: so that I can get in touch if there are any last minute cancellations, etc.

Please feel free to bring telescopes, binoculars, etc.  Its very informal as usual, but should be a good turnout.  The bbc SGL show is on from 8pm-9pm so you can even watch the show first and then come out for an hour on the beacon! :-)  We'll be tweeting and facebooking as usual on #WalsallLooksUp - or follow my tweets: @@WalsallWildlife.

Hope to see you there!!

Morgan  :grin:

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TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY EVENTS CANCELLED - THURSDAY STILL GOING AHEAD!

As I am sure you've anticipated looking at the weather, I can confirm that both TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY's stargazing live events on Barr Beacon have been CANCELLED due to forecast rain.

This is unfortunate, but rain is forecast (as well as 92% humidity - not telescope friendly at all!)  Happily, CLEAR SKIES are predicted for Thursday night,.

The gates to Barr Beacon's North  car park will be opened at 8.30pm, where you will be greeted by staff and receive your FREE astronomy activity sheets and FREE Stargazing Live Calendars (one per household).

You will be able to purchase teas, coffees and hot chocolates for £1 each.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Morgan 

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Just a big thank you to Morgan and all the staff at Barr Beacon for a really nice nite under the stars not a cloud in the sky and a really nice bunch of people to come and have a look through the scope . Thanks again Morgan and pass my regards and thanks on to the staff. Paul

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Yeah I'd like to echo that.  My brother, my wife and I came down and setup our c9.25.  There were people looking through it all evening and it was really great to see people who had never looked through a decent telescope see the moon and Jupiter for the first time.

It was especially cool to see parents getting their kids out on a school night wrapped up in blankets to experience it.

Thanks very much to the arrangers.  It would have been nice to chat more with some other fellow astronomers but we were fairly inundated with new viewers - next time hopefully :)

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The Barr Beacon event was fantastic. Thank you to everyone who let me look through their scopes.

Jupiter was immense but one guy showed me the Orion Nebula which was possibly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, closely followed by the Andromeda Galaxy and numerous star clusters.

Fascinating. Thank you to the organisers and roll on the next one.

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  • 2 weeks later...

:smiley: hi guys , just read the last 50 pages of posts on this thread lol. was just wondering if you are still accepting members into your club/gang/crew ? I live in kingswinford nr Stourbridge and am a complete newbie to the hobby . cheers and beers Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Paul

Looks like we had 50 people & 17scopes for the Wolves AS stargazing live event, pretty good I think.

Also the Perton Library SGL event had 90 for Andy Lounds talk, amazing.

Who on this thread is going to SGL9?

Should we make this into a group as there is 50 pages on this thread now!!! - just a thought

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Daveyboy I work in Kingswinford but live in Sedgley.

I went along to the Barr Beacon event and the Bolingale one and everyone was most helpful and accommodating, even with a newbie like me.

Keep your eye on here and let me know if you see anything interesting worth attending.

The weather is bobbins at the moment so no hope of seeing stuff but not long now to clear skies and astronomy!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Everyone!  

Just dropping in to invite you to another two free events on Barr Beacon - this time for National Astronomy Week.   The events are this Saturday (March 1st) and NEXT Saturday (March 8th) from 8pm-10pm.  Gates on the corner of Bridle Lane and Beacon Road will open at 7.30.  Anyone bringing a telescope and willing to let others look through can have free hot drinks - just come and find me for a voucher!

We've got the event truck again for these events, so there's going to be badge-making, hot drinks available to buy, face painting and a Jupiter quiz.

If you'd like to come along, please follow this link and book (It helps me to know how many people & cars to expect!)...

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/national-astronomy-week-target-jupiter-night-1-tickets-9724150195 for night 1

or

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/national-astronomy-week-target-jupiter-night-2-tickets-9724210375 for night 2

Thanks!  Hope for clear skies!

Any questions, just give me a bell at work on 01922 65 4220.

Morgan

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Hi Folks,

Cloud cover doesn't look brilliant for tonight, but we are going ahead anyway - hope to see you there.  I will be on site from 7pm for those who want to arrive & set up early.

Those bringing scopes will be given preferential parking by the plantation. :-)

Morgan :-)

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Thanks for last night Morgan. Shame about the cloud cover although it seemed to completely clear over when we had to leave!

Decent crowd considering it didn't look promising, just goes to show its always worth popping along just in case. Despite the clouds there was a chance to see Jupiter every now and then. Good to see some kids getting involved and a few getting a chance to see this mighty gas giant for the first time.

Will see you next week weather permitting,

Barry

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Thunderbirds are go for Barr Beacon tonight - 8pm-10pm, as usual I'll be on site at 7.15 to open up the gates - those of you bringing scopes are welcome to come early and set up.

See you later!

Morgan :-)

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  • 1 month later...

Hi All,

Stupid rain has cancelled Wednesday's MeteorWatch event on Barr Beacon. :-(  Next event is Orionids in October - I have scheduled that event for the 20th and 21st Oct - we will go ahead on whichever of those has the best forecast.  

Morgan 

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  • 5 months later...

Hello Folks!

Just popping in to let you know the plan for this year's winter MeteorWatch events on Barr Beacon...  Doing things a bit differently this year - The events will take place on whichever ONE of the TWO dates has the best weather forecast - I'll pop on here the day before and confirm.  

As usual, the event is FREE, and runs 9pm - 11pm.  I'll open the gates (on the corner of Bridle Lane and Beacon Road) from 8.30pm for you guys.  We will even have hot tea/coffee/choc for sale.  We have LOTS of people booked onto the orionids, so please come along if you can and share your knowledge - I always get such amazing feedback.  Its a very informal event - bring something to sit on and wrap up warm.  Bring telescopes, binoculars and enthusiasm!!

Likewise, if you are just starting out, it is a really friendly atmosphere and if you're lucky I might even do my 'harry potter tour of the night sky'... :-)

The dates are:

Orionids 20th or 21st October

Leonids 17th or 18th November

Geminids 13th or 14th December

Please share the booking link - you don't HAVE to book, you can just come along, but if you book you will get weather updates / cancellation info, etc...

All my events can now be booked here: http://walsalllooksup.eventbrite.co.uk and of course you can still keep up to date on facebook http://www.facebook.com/walsalllooksup 

Feel free to drop me an email at work bowersm@walsall.gov.uk if you have any questions.

See you soon!

Morgan :-)

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We are going for Barr Beacon MeteorWatch on Tuesday (hurricane Gonzalo permitting) - gates open at 8.30pm on the corner of Bridle Lane & Beacon Road.  I'll post again if anything changes - hope to see you guys on the hill!

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Hi everyone - last minute checks of the weather are showing the skies clearing up for us by 9pm, so MeteorWatch at Barr Beacon is ON tonight. 

Stargazers Lounge / Local Astronomical Society members don't need to book any tickets - you can just turn up and say that you are from Stargazers Lounge, etc :-)  How's that for VIP treatment?

Where to go:

Arrive at the Barr Beacon South/Memorial car park on the corner of Bridle Lane and Beacon Road for 9pm.  Traffic past the plantation will be prohibited in order to preserve the 'dark zone' for stargazing (So if you leave before 11pm you'll need to go out the same way you came in.) 

Getting There:

From Walsall take the Sutton Road out of town and turn right on Beacon Road.  Barr Beacon will be on your left.  After about 1 mile you will see the entrance for the memorial car park on your left.

From Birmingham / Kingstanding / Sutton, take Beacon Road (from the Queslett Asda roundabout).  As you reach the top of the hill, the entrance to the car park is on your right, on the corner of Bridle Lane.

From the M6 leave the motorway at Junction 7, then take the A34 towards Birmingham for about 1/4 mile.  At the Scott Arms traffic lights, turn left onto Queslett Road until Asda is on your right, then turn left onto Beacon Rd and follow instructions from the paragraph above.

For sat nav use postcode WS9 0QW.

What To Bring:

Something to sit on!  (Folding chairs are perfect as the ground can be cold.)

Warm clothes (it is very cold up on the hill!)

You may also wish to bring a torch (preferably with a red filter as 'normal' torches are not allowed in the dark zone), binoculars or telescope if you have them (even if you have a telescope and don't know how to use it, we have a few people who can show you how!), and if you wish, a flask of hot drink. (I have arranged for a van to sell tea/coffee/hot chocolate but if they have said that if it is windy they may not attend)

What to Expect:

This is an informal event, which means that there will be no talks or planned activities. We simply gather on Barr Beacon, chat about astronomy and watch for meteors. There are usually a few local astronomers who bring telescopes that you can look through.

Weather:

Current forecast is 7 degrees C, partly cloudy with 20% chance of rain and winds at 19mph (gusting to 35). 

ISS Passes:

There will be a bright pass of the International Space Station overhead at 7:15pm this evening, but none during the event.

Social Media:

Please feel free to tweet about tonight's event as it happens and in the run-up - use the hashtag #WalsallLooksUp - and please post comments and photos on www.facebook.com/walsalllooksup

See you tonight at 9pm!

Morgan Bowers

Senior Countryside Ranger

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