We are pleased to announce that HantsAstro will be attending the Herstmonceux Astronomy Festival 5-7th September 2008 and will be staying overnight for the duration for some observing sessions in the centre itself. We will also have a stand there.

Details will be posted shortly if you wish to come along or help out. Camping overnight starts at £10 per pitch. For more details and booking please contact: david.woods@hantsastro.org

Since Launch we have more than trebled our number of members, so the race was on to find the best dark sky sites in Hampshire that meet our criteria and we have found some! Our full observing programme will commence in September 2008.

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

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.

For 2009, we are looking to hold some small star parties in Hampshire for our members, please let me know if you are interested.