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Impressions of Hardraw, August 10 - 12, 2007 ...
After fish and chips we hopefully looked out, to see the sky obscured
by clouds. But one by one the stars peaked through the murk ...
Then just after midnight the Milky-Way glowed weakly through the haze.
I thought that was it but at 3am the sky cleared from the Western
horizon to the zenith.
‘Turn that light out’ I shouted and Malcolm stuck his head
out of the window. ‘Do you want to see the Milky-Way?’
I said, and out he came (just as well because he had locked me out).
Chris came out as well and there were many ‘ooos’ and ‘aahs’
and other exclamations of amazement.
The sky sparkled and glowed Through Cygnus and Cassiopeia. The dark
dust lane through Cygnus was clear but the swan almost disappeared amongst
the blanket of stars. The Great Andromeda galaxy could be seen with the
naked eye and looked amazing through binoculars, you could see the spiral.
Then Mars appeared just above the Pleiades.
After only 40 minutes the clouds rolled in and the Milky-Way disappeared
as quickly as it had appeared. The reason we go to Hardraw is for
the dark sky, unpolluted by sky glow from towns and cities. Everyone
must see the Milky-Way in its full glory but sadly so few can in these
light polluted days.
Christopher Hill
Click on an image to see a larger version.
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Keep up-to-date with Society events and subscribe to the electronic version of our newsletter - 'What's Up?' ... Click
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 The night sky awaits you ...
If you have not visited our Society before, why not come along?
If you've ever looked up at the starry night sky and been enthralled by what you've seen, we'll be more than happy to show you more and help you understand its beauty ...
Clear skies to all!
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Would you like to join our newly formed visual observing group? We will now be holding regular observing sessions at some of our dark-sky sites across Macclesfield. If you would llike to be added to our contact list, don't delay ... Click
here. |
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For information on our observing
field trips to Hardraw, Yorkshire ... Click
here. |
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Our Workshops continue to be a
great success. As a result we are looking for more of you
to participate and give your own short presentations to Society
members. Let us know if you'd like to get involved ... Click
here. |
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