Spaceguard Centre - well worth a visit.

[michaelmorris]

Last night our local society (Worcester AS) paid a visit to the Spaceguard Centre in Knighton (Powys). It's well worth a visit.

Jay and Anne Tate run a fascinating centre dedicated to the tracking Near Earth Objects (NEOs). The centre is not open to casual visitors, just guided tours for organised groups. At £6 a head it's a great evening.

[adamsp123]

It is a very good place to visit and Jay is a good and light hearted speaker.

[PortableAstronomer]

I went there one afternoon back in the Spring. They were hoping to have a wide field Smidt camera to be transferred there ; I hope that is going to plan.

Jay made a comment that the cost of having several of these Spaceguard centres around the world, would be less than the cost of just the Press Room at London 2012 Olympics.

Just shows how strange the priorities are in the mentality of the masses out there!

[iamjulian]

Are they not just groups and pre-booked visits in the evening/night? I thought that you could just turn up during the day? Nice and dark in Knighton, they are in a good spot.

[Beulah]

Jay is awesome - I love his dry wit and non "PC" attitude. The observatory was fabulous, loved the rising floor!

We did a tour last year during the day and it was great. I enjoyed looking at the samples of meteorite, and the view from the centre is amazing. You have to telephone before arriving, so they can get an idea of numbers.

Went to the astro group there for a while.

Apparently you can just go and observe from the car park area, as long as you contact them first, but I was told that it gets quite misty up there at times. I keep meaning to drag my scopes up there one day...