We are very proud to announce that from September HantsAstro will be observing from Butser Ancient Farm, near Chalton, Hampshire and the INTECH Science Centre & Planetarium, near Winchester.

Our full observing programme will commence in September 2008.

Permissions have been granted and details are currently being finalised before roll-out.
All our observing sessions are covered by our insurance, and are only open exclusively to fully registered members who will be issued with HantsAstro passes.

To register your interest simply Join In and type BUTSER in the e-mail header and your name. Send.

HantsAstro is doing something that a lot of astronomers in the UK thought couldn't work: locating dark sky sites in the South of England, that are good enough and consistent enough for deep sky observation and astrophotography. Plus that are also somewhat sheilded from the lovely British 6 month winter. Oh, and that are relatively safe and accessible without a Land Rover... and safe (did I say that already!)

Let us tell you. They do exist, as we now know how to find them.

One thing I discovered on our travels is that there is no such thing as land of the free. It seems every square inch of the UK is owned, managed or controlled by someone. Not exactly land of the free. But I was amazed to find what I had long suspected, pockets of really dark sky are out there. Getting access to them is a bit trickier. Better still, is the warm reception one gets when you tell anyone about astronomy. The support has been amazing. Hampshire is a great place to be.

Using a Unihedron Sky Quality Meter, I was getting readings of dark sky sites of Mag20+/Arc second (sorry, geek-speak!) from several locations. Though a lot depends on weather, and recently, the South has had some really extraordinary clear nights. This season is coming to an end, but there is still the summer! Even though the days are longer and the nights are shorter, there is still much to see. HantsAstro will keep you posted via our eZine 'Look Up!' for what we are doing this summer.

Tests are being carried out during the summer at several sites in Hampshire to accomodate the observing party numbers we are generating, given the types of astronomy the group wants to do such as astrophotography, planetary and deep-sky.


David Woods