| The society's observatory is situated to the north-west of Letchworth at the Standalone Farm Centre, Wilbury Road, SG6 4JN. You can see the location in
Google Maps, and you can find out more on our observatory page.
We have a programme of observing sessions for our members through the year, and we also hold special events when we invite the public to come and use our facilities.
Our Public Star Parties are our major outreach events, offering everyone an opportunity to see some of the wonders of the night sky. As well as the main telescope in the observatory itself, we have several other instruments, and society members bring along their own equipment for visitors to use.
Visitors are also encouraged to bring their own telescopes. Whether you have scope that you use, or one that's in a box in the loft, then bring it along!
Obviously we are dependent on the weather, but an advantage of our site at Standalone is that we have the use of two of the barns. One is used for refreshments and sales; in the other, we have a display about our activities, and society chairman Jerry Stone gives presentations about astronomy, so we can entertain our visitors whatever the condition of the sky.
Here are the details for our Star Parties in 2012.
Please do not arrive before the advertised starting time.
| Date |
What's on view |
| Spring events |
|
Saturday, March 17, 7:30 pm
Public Star Party
Deep-sky objects:
Star clusters, nebulae, etc
Venus, Jupiter, Mars
and Saturn |
Watch for details coming soon of a very special event on this date.
This is a dark-sky event, without the glare of the Moon to drown out fainter objects in the sky.
Jupiter sets early in the evening, and Saturn will be on view, showing its magnificent rings, rising at 8:30. An hour later it will be 10º up in the sky.
Meanwhile there will be various deep-sky objects on view, including the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula. |
Sun sets 18:07
Venus at
19:30
Jupiter at
19:30
Mars at
19:30
Saturn rises at 20:45
|
-5º at 18:37
28º / 264º
23º / 263º
31º / 113º
|
-10º at 19:09
Sets at 22:42
Sets at 22:09
At midnight 48º / 201º
At midnight 24º / 145º |
|
Saturday, March 31, 7:30 pm
Young Observers' Star Party
The Moon
Venus, Jupiter and Mars |
This is a special Public Star Party for under-16s (and acompanying adults).
The idea is to have a stargazing event which won't be dominated by adults.
We have chosen a date when visitors will be able to see the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, and Venus and Mars.
Please note that advance registration is required.
Simply send an e-mail to events-at-ldas.org.uk (replacing "-at-" with "@"), giving the names of everyone who is coming along, with the ages of anyone under 16.
|
Sun sets 19:32
Moon at Sun -10º
Venus at Sun -10º
Jupiter at Sun -10º
Io transit 21:14 (to 23:27)
Mars at Sun -10º
|
-5º at 20:01
54º / 195º
31º / 269º
17º / 273º
42º / 132º
|
-10º at 20:35
At midnight 32º / 256º
Sets at 00:16
Sets at 22:31
At 00:00 49º / 205º
|
|
Saturday, April 21, 7:30 pm
Public Star Party
The Moon
Venus, Mars & Saturn
The Lyrids meteor shower. |
This event is to highlight the planets Venus, Mars and Saturn.
We have a bonus - the Lyrids meteor shower. All being well, you will be able to see some "shooting stars" during the evening. |
Sun sets 20:08
Venus at Sun -10º
Mars at Sun -10º
Saturn at Sun -10º |
-5º at 20:39
26º / 281º
17º / 273º
17º / 127º |
-10º at 21:17
At midnight 4º / 310º
At midnight 40º / 232º
At midnight 30º / 169º |
| Autumn events |
|
Saturday, September 22, 7:30 pm
Public Star Party
The Moon
Jupiter
|
This event is to highlight the Moon and Jupiter.
The Moon will be the main object for the early part of the evening, setting about 9:45pm. It will show almost half of its disk, being just a day before First Quarter. The craters and mountains on its surface will stand out clearly.
|
Sun sets 18:57
Moon at 19:30
Jupiter rises 21:44
|
-5º at 19:25
16º
10º at 23:03
|
-10º at 19:58
Sets at 23:00
|
|
Saturday, October 6, 7:30 pm
A telescope workshop
"My Telescope Doesn't Work"
Places must be booked in advance.
|
This is a special telescope workshop.
If you have a telescope that you don't use, or if you are thinking of buying one, then this even is for you. We will show you different types of telescopes and how to use them.
There are limited places for this event, and advance booking is required.
Write to events-at-ldas.org.uk
Replace "-at-" with "@"
|
Sun sets 18:24
Moon rises 21:56
Jupiter rises 20:50 |
-5º at 18:53
|
-10º at 19:26
At midnight 16º / 78º
At midnight 27º / 88º
|
|
Saturday, October 20, 7:30 pm
Public Star Party
The Moon
Jupiter
The Orionids meteor shower. |
This event featrures the Moon and the planet Jupiter.
As a bonus, there will be a chance of seeing some "shooing stars" from the Orionid Meteor Shower.
|
Sun sets 17:54
Moon at sunset :
Moon at 19:30 :
Jupiter rises 19:53 |
17º / 183º
14º / 206º
|
-10º at 18:56
Sets at 22:00
10º at 21:12 |
Our Public Star Party in April 2011 was attended by around 400 people!
Here are some of the various types of deep-sky objects:
- Variable stars change their brightness over a period of time. This ranges from star to star.
- Double-stars may be two stars that appear to be close together, but may be actually separated by huge distances, whereas Binary stars are pairs of stars that actually orbit each other.
- Star clusters are groups of stars, ranging from just a few up to thousands!
- A nebula is a cloud of interstellar gas. Sometimes they are the result of a supernova - an exploding star - whilst others are vast clouds of gas out in space. They have all kinds of shapes, and names!
- Our local galaxy, of which our sun is one of 300 billion stars, can be seen stretching acros a dark sky as the Milky Way. The Andromeda Galaxy is the furthest object that can be seen with the naked eye, 2.5 million light-years away.
There is no charge for these events. You can arrive at whatever time is convenient and stay as long as you wish. Bring the family for an evening out with a difference!
Don't forget to wear warm clothing!
If you would like to bring a group to these or any other LDAS event, please contact us at events-at-ldas.org.uk (Replace "-at-" with "@")
You can also arrange for a special group to visit the observatory. Contact us for details.
Here are some images from previous events. Click on the pictures for larger versions.
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