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Welcome to the Observatory!

This site is intended for anyone interested in astronomy, and particularly anyone who would like to be a member of the Bootham School Astronomy Society. This membership is available to all members of the Bootham community, and students from other York schools who have attended the ISSP course on astronomy at Bootham. If you choose to subscribe by email, you will receive an email of any new post within about twenty four hours. There will also be twitter updates before an observatory session, and you are recommended to follow me on twitter using the button on the right of this screen.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Wed Oct 23 6:35 PM, Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 49 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: ESE

Tuesday 22 October 2013

All set for tonight

The weather is not going to be terrific tonight, but it won't actually be raining apparently. I will therefore open up the observatory from 8pm - please park in the school grounds and come straight to the observatory. We'll be closing at about 9.15pm. If we can't see anything, I will I will give a short presentation on the night sky, just so you know what you are missing!

SpotTheStation

Time: Tue Oct 22 7:23 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 41 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: SE

Monday 21 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Mon Oct 21 6:35 PM, Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 58 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: ESE

Sunday 20 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Sun Oct 20 7:23 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 55 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: ESE

Saturday 19 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Sat Oct 19 8:10 PM, Visible: 2 min, Max Height: 47 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: SSW

SpotTheStation

Time: Sat Oct 19 6:35 PM, Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 53 degrees, Appears: SW, Disappears: E

Friday 18 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Fri Oct 18 7:22 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 57 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: ESE

Thursday 17 October 2013

The dark skies are back at last!

It's high time we had an open evening in the observatory. I would therefore like to invite any members of the ISSP group from March 2013, or any members of the Bootham community to join me in the observatory from 8pm on Tuesday 22nd October.

Planets are rather scarce in the evening at present, with Jupiter and Mars both well-positioned in the pre-dawn sky, and Saturn heading off to the deep south, from where it won't be returning until late in the next decade! However, before the Moon rises, we should be able to have a look for the great Andromeda nebula and learn the key constellations of the autumn sky. There are a few open clusters that would be fun to see as well, and with a low ISS pass at 20:59 to mark the end of the session, there should be plenty to do. We have several telescopes to try out, and we might try a little astrophotography with the school's Nikon D700 as well.

At 18:56 that evening, there will be a brightish iridium flare just near Aquila, so if the sky is clear, see if you can spot it by looking south, and about half-way up the sky.

I WILL BE GIVING LIVE UPDATES ON TWITTER before the session, just to let you know if it is going to happen. Please follow me using the button on this site, and then you will have very up-to-date information, including the irdium flare and an earlier pass of the ISS at about 18:30.

SpotTheStation

Time: Thu Oct 17 8:10 PM, Visible: 2 min, Max Height: 55 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: SSW

SpotTheStation

Time: Thu Oct 17 6:34 PM, Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 40 degrees, Appears: SW, Disappears: E

Wednesday 16 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Wed Oct 16 7:21 PM, Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 47 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: ESE

Tuesday 15 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Tue Oct 15 8:09 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 54 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: SSE

Sunday 13 October 2013

SpotTheStation

Time: Sun Oct 13 8:08 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 40 degrees, Appears: SW, Disappears: S