 |
 |
Impressions of Hardraw, May 26 - 28, 2006 ...
For the first time, I was unable to attend our May 2006 visit to Hardraw.
Luckily our Treasurer, Malcolm, was on hand to provide me with an excellent
synopsis ...
Our visit to Hardraw was declared another success. However, until midnight
on Saturday, we had seen no sky, except for a few seconds of Jupiter through
the clouds, and our successes comprised several computer tutorials, the
first episode of The Prisoner and 'The Right Stuff'. I was just getting
a bit embarrassed telling yet another new recruit, Richard Rabone, that
the sky is really good when you can see it, when it did clear and we had
some three hours of good old Hardraw Heavens.
It was, however, very cold and blowing a moderate gale, so Richard received
rather a whistle stop tour of the sky by Jason and myself at high speed
because we were worried it would all disappear again at any moment or
we might freeze to death. Good Southern view from the gate across the
road and we saw several nice things in that direction but only through
binoculars. We must carry some scopes over there sometime when there's
a good sky.
We finally set up the LX3 which, for visual accuracy, was very quick and
simple,
- ie 'North is somewhere over there!'
There were only six of us in the end; Martin Henderson rang me on Thursday
night - he had unfortunately sprained his ankle. The weekend was great
socially as always and Richard soon settled in and contributed tales of
life in the Merchant Navy in the sixties and realising belatedly how dark
the skies must have been in mid ocean - not that he could see much, he
was down in the engine room.
Finally, great news about the light pollution. Andrew Huggett took a picture
that you might have seen by now. You can see that there is a human habitation
in the distance but that's all, so the lighting has been angled towards
the ground as we requested. Although the trees are in full leaf now, so
we may need to ask Peter Metcalfe to review the situation come the autumn.
I called in on the haulage yard as I left on Sunday and met Peter Metcalfe
who was as friendly as his letter. We had a nice chat and I expressed
our gratitude at his response to our request. He repeated that, if there
still is any problem, to contact him again. I mentioned our proposed July
StarBQ and said he was welcome to visit us if he had any interest in the
stars or if he just fancied a bite to eat. He said he probably would if
he wasn't away - driving I assume. Well done with your courteous letter;
it may not always work but definitely did in this case.
Malcolm Beesley
----
Andrew Greenwood
Although I did not attend this visit to Hardraw (I attended a performance
of Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang at the Palace Theatre in Manchester - it
was great fun!), I was told of some very encouraging news. Much to our
dismay we had noticed during an earlier trip that a whole barrage of security
lights had been erected about a mile away from us. They were so bright
they cast their light on to the trees at Harris House.
As a result I decided to write a polite letter to the haulage yard that
had installed the lighting explaining the issues of light pollution and
asked if they would consider angling the lighting toward the ground. We
received a very positive response and true to their word, the lights were
adjusted. Low and behold - what a difference it made. Just look at the
comparison images below.
It is reassuring to know that imparting a little information and educating
people to the issues of light pollution can result in such a positive
response and action.
[
^ ] |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Keep up-to-date with Society events and subscribe to the electronic version of our newsletter - 'What's Up?' ... Click
here. |
|
 |
 July and August updates ...
The bright twilight nights are slowly giving way to darker skies and the prospect of revealing a little-known nightly sight. Away from the towns and cities, the Milky Way will soon be glimpsed meandering through the constellation of Cygnus. This river of stars was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians ... Nowadays, especially when we approach the end of Summer, it's astronomers that turn their gaze skyward and praise the sight of a myriad of stars arching high above them.
The following sections have been updated: This month's night sky and observations.
|
|
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. |
|
|
 |
|
For information on our observing
field trips to Hardraw, Yorkshire ... Click
here. |
|
 |
|
|
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. |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
Home
| The
Society | Forthcoming
lectures | Journal | Observations
| This
month's night sky | Gallery
| Links
| Contact
us