About the Week

27th August 9pm at Parchey Bridge car park: Special public Mars observing evening through various telescopes up to 10" diam.

1st & 23rd August 6.30pm onwards at the Observatory, Northdowns, Whealbusy, Chacewater, Nr Truro: Meeting of the society and viewing Mars through various telescopes (weather permitting)

27th August 7pm at the Observatory: Society meeting with BBQ and observing Mars through several telescopes

FEEDBACK: Unfortunately most evenings were cloudy but many people attended the meetings. On the 27th the speaker Tony James showed "awesome" 3D images of Mars. There was a half hour window after the presentation when there was a break in the cloud and views of Mars were possible.

Roseland Observatory, Court Farm, St Stephen, Cornwall will be open to the public throughout the week for viewing in the evenings (weather permitting). Members will be on hand to offer advice and updates on the various Mars projects such as Beagle 2.

25th, 26th, 27th & 28th August 9.30pm at St Aubyn's School Car Park, Blundell's Road, Tiverton: Mars viewing through the societies many telescopes (weather permitting-FREE).
29th August 8.30pm:"Starbecue". Bring along a drink and a deck chair and enjoy some good food and the wonders of the night sky! FREE and open to all. For further information contact Angela (01884 259092) or Douglas (01884 252942)

FEEDBACK: The weather was mixed but a few public turned out despite the cloud on Monday and Tuesday. Following all the media coverage about 70 people saw Mars through 9 telescopes on Wednesday and on Friday the showers cleared in time for the BBQ. This was followed by clear skies with good views of Mars including the dark markings and southern polar cap. Some members rounded off the week with private star parties on the 30th under a beautiful clear sky.

Wessex Astronomical Society will be holding public observing nights at Worth Hill Observatory, Worth Matravers.

FEEDBACK: A total of some 500 people turned up during the 29th and 30th to hear talks on Mars and the summer sky before looking at Mars and other interesting objects. A variety of telescopes were available ranging from the 20inch Newtonian in the observatory to Meade LX-200 and 8inch and 14inch Dobsonians. The famous Captain Ainslie's Jack Knife Refractor (foreground image) had recently been recommissioned-images through this telescope take some beating!

Both nights started somewhat cloudy but cleared as the night progressed becoming totally clear on the first night by about 10pm and most people were able to see Mars.