Not looking promising for tonight

I'm very sorry to say that the sky over York right now is distinctly gloomy. It is only 10:00 as I write, so I'll keep posting, but if the weather doesn't improve, I think we should reschedule.

The reserve date is going to be Fri 19th October, meeting at the observatory at 7.00pm. I'll make a final post at 17:45 this evening, to either confirm that we're going ahead tonight, or to reschedule for Friday.

Sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope I'll see you all at some point this week!!

Tuesday night session - latest news

It is now 14:24 on Monday afternoon, and as I sit typing, the sky is grey and overcast over York Minster. Hopefully, it will clear up in time for tomorrow's meeting, but please check in with this website before you set off, just in case.

Highlights for the session might include an appearance from the ISS! It will fly by at 19:07 on Tuesday evening, so make sure you arrive early if you're coming. (Next pass at 20:44).

Jupiter will rise just after 8.07 pm - so we should stick around to see that.

I aim to do a guided tour of the autumn constellations tomorrow, and we'll try to get a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy, as well as the double cluster in Perseus.

Bolide over Bootham?

Edmund Fisher, USnr, took this interesting picture two Saturdays ago at sunset. The object right at the top of the frame was moving quickly, and soon passed out of sight.

It is very likely that this was a bolide, which is an unusually bright "shooting star", but the timing and direction - it appears to be travelling just slightly west of south make it possible that Edmund saw part of the space debris that was seen the night before, as described in this article.

Finally, the skies are dark in the evenings

As the evening twilight gets earlier, we can reopen the observatory for visits.

I would like to invite all of you to join me for an autumn constellation tour from 7.00pm - 8.30pm on Tuesday 16th October. Please remember to check this website closer to the time - if the weather is poor, I may have to post a cancellation notice on the day, but hopefully the sky will be clear!

Dress warmly!

all go for GCSE Astronomy launch!

We are very excited at Bootham this week, as we are launching our first ever teaching group for edexcel's astronomy course. We're running the course over two years, at two hours per week on Wednesdays and Fridays, using the school's extra-curricular activity slot to make the necessary time available. as an additional bit of adventurous living, we have opened the class to three different year-groups in the school, so that we can try out vertical teaching with students of different ages working together. The course is being delivered by Russell Newlands, who specialises in space-science and cosmology, and Mike Shaw, who will take on planetary science and astrobiology. Other parts of the course (celestial trig, observational practice etc) are being shared out between the two. Our first group comprises around a dozen students, chosen by competition from a large field of applicants.

If you are not currently a student at Bootham  and would like to know more about our entry requirements, contact us via the main school website (click on the badge at the top of this page).