How it went at Eycott Hill on 26 January 2017

This was a joint event between the Trust and Border Astronomical Society. The weather was excellent, a clear moonless sky on a cold frosty night. Over 30 people attended the event which began with a short illustrated talk of ‘What’s up there tonight’ in the Sportsman Inn on the A66. The group then drove up to Eycott Hill for two hours of observing through member’s telescopes.  Very clear views were obtained of deep sky objects such as the Orion nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, our Milky Way and stars and star groups such as the Pleiades (seven sisters), Betelgeuse, Rigel  and the planets Venus and Mars. Visitors could wander from one telescope to another. BAS member Terry Haighton  not only showed the Orion nebula through his GPS controlled telescope but also demonstrated how to take a photograph with it. This was a 30 second exposure which illustrated how a much brighter and more detailed image is obtained with a camera collecting light over a longer period than looking directly through the telescope.