HantsAstro - Season's in full swing!

The weather has thrown up a few amazing nights in the first days of 2012, together with spectacular bouts of fluffy stuff which occasionally leaked. Astronomy observing (and imaging for that matter) can be most frustrating at times.

Butser Hill we recorded dark skies averaging Mag20.5 per ArcSec which equals Butser Ancient Farm, but is still not as dark as the Mag21.46 per ArcSec measured at the IOW Star Party at the same time! It doesn't seem much - does it? But 1 Magnitude is a hundred times fainter than the last. Our SQM meters are only calibrated to Mag22.2 which is about as good as you'll get in the high plains of Arizona.

IOW Star Party - 2012

Last year it was a capacity attendance for this sweetest of Star Parties. It's as old as HantsAstro and just as successful and the camaraderie is what makes this Star Party really special. The usual suspects were there as well as new friends and members of HantsAstro. I'd hazard a guess and say that at least a quarter of the people attending the Star Party are from our group, which is understandable since our members are from all over the South.

HantsAstro - Spring and Summer

Normally things go a bit quiet in the summer for us as we wind down, but this year we are going to do something nice during the summer and get together. We will be focusing (pardon the pun) on solar imaging and observing from Butser Ancient Farm and Butser Hill. We have several telescopes with solar film and are raising funds for a Coronado PST as this year the sun is quite active with flares, prominences and some gorgeous sun spots. Anybody that has any solar equipment and is available to help out - please get in touch.

With the days getting longer and the nights shorter, general observing will not be so easy by July. We are holding some social events during the summer (including a BBQ!) so we can work out what people want to do for the next season. In August we are also planning some open air workshops which will help you get to grips with your telescope and equipment and prepare you for the next season.

These sessions will be ticketed events, please email: membership@hantsastro.org for further details. If these workshops are successful we will be rolling them out quarterly for different types and brands of telescope. We are also developing a 'hands on' imaging workshop which will be ready for the new season.


David Woods & HantsAstro CoreTeam