Night Viewing

What is a Viewing Night ?

A Viewing Night is where we hold meetings after dark for the purpose of using the telescopes to view objects in the sky.

How do I get on the Night Viewing List

See the Contact page and call Danny or George or Email us with the following info.

Your Name, Your Land Line phone number, Your Email Address. We will then contact you as soon as we have a Viewing Night available.

What time of night do we hold these meetings ?

In the winter (GMT) it gets dark about 4pm in the afternoon but in summer (BST) it doesn't get dark till around 10:30pm.

This means that in the winter we can run early evening Night Viewing Sessions that are suitable for families with children although it can be cold so wrap up warm.

In the Summer, Night Viewing can't start until about 10pm at the earliest, it is of course much warmer, but the late time is more suited to adults rather than children.

What do we look at during these meetings ?

We can look at anything we want to, with some constraints. We can't look at something ( a star, planet, etc. ) if it's below the horizon (but we could wait for it to rise). If it's already set, we are too late (we should have started earler).

The telescopes we have with us have to be suitable to view the object, very dim and distant objects need very large telescopes.

How long do the meetings last ?

Length of these meetings depends on the viewing conditions, how cold it is and the desire to stand and look at the amazing sights.

Weather can change and clouds are seldom far away from the object you want to view, so several things can cause a viewing evening to come to a stop.

Generally all things being well we will spend at least a few hours looking at several different objects.

Cloud Cover ?

Cloud cover is the main reason for an early close to a viewing night, or even its cancellation. If it is cloudy, there is nothing that can be seen, so the meeting has to be cancelled.

Because of this it is not wise to book viewing evenings in advance unless there is a particularly good spell of clear nights.

We keep a list of people who wish to attend a viewing night and will call people on the list in rotation to ask if they want to attend.