News - 11th March
House visit: The last Shell visit of the term took place in a lucky short clear spell as the temperature fell. 10 pupils from LI cme up to the Dome and assisted by JAG we had naked-eye tours of the Spring Sky, Arcturus and Saturn rising in the East. the Pleiades were viewed in Binos and Mizar A and B in the ETX. The 10 inch tracked Mars and though the disc was rather even in colour, the ice cap showed up as a brighter dot
Next House visit: Thursday April 22nd(PR)
4th March
External visit: 21 cubs aged 8 to 10yrs from Marlborough 2nd Scouts and 5 adults came up to the Dome on the clearest evening since the New Year. After a tour of the sky by eye, identifying Mars, Sirius, Polaris, Aldeberan, Pleiades etc, we looked at Pleiades in the Binos and the Orion nebula, showing super nebula shapes in the ETX. The 10inch looked at Mars at x172 and though very bright, some surface detail could be seen and the ice cap was seen by many
GCSE observing: The last coursework drawings were done of Pleiades in binos and Mizar A and B in ETX and Mars in 10inch. Once these were complete we were joined by 2 of the security staff and the 10inch turned to the asteroid Vesta; at magnitude nearly +6, not visible by eye, but easily located in the centre of the sickle of Leo. In the 40mm eyepiece is was clearly not twinkling and showed a hint of yellow/orange. Saturn was also viewed with its rings now slightly tilted for the first time this year with Titan to the West. Artcturus, the Spring marker, was also seen rising in the East for the first time
25th February
House visit: 11 pupils from SU Shell walked up to the Dome. It was cloudy, wet and thoroughly unpleasant
Next House visit: Thursday 11th March (LI)
22nd February
External visit: 18 cubs (yrs 3 to 5) from 1st Ramsbury pack visited the dome with 6 adults. Sadly the sky was cloudy
4th February
House visit: 11 Shell pupils from C1 came up to the Dome. Sadly it was cloudy
Next House visit: Thursday 25th February (SU)
1st February
French Exchange visit: 15 students from Lysee Jaques Monod and 3 teachers visited the Dome in the afternoon. The Sun was visible in solar goggles and behind cloud in the 10 inch. In the clear gaps the new Cycle 24 sunspot group 1043 was seen
Public lecture: CEB gave the lecture 'Impact Earth - The threat of asteroid collisions' at Green Templeton College in Oxford to a full house of visitors and academics as part of the annual lecture series 'Astronomy for All'
21st January
House visit: For the first time this year minibus access was possible and allowed 10 pupils (depleted by illness) from MM Shell to attend the Dome. The sky was clouded over, but the Dome was free from ice
Next House visit: Thursday 4th February (C1)
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