moffatastronomy.com
MARS LUNAR OCCULTATION
December 8th, 2022
Mars is just about to dive behind the moon in this image. In fact to the naked eye it looked as if it had as it was invisible due to the glare of the moon. Timing wrong!
CLUB EVENT - ALL WELCOME
October 4, 20200
Please come along to the Moffat Astronomy Club Event scheduled for next Tuesday, 11th October at 19:30 in the Proudfoot Institute. The attached flyer provides more information on what should be a very interesting talk from Dr John Davies.
OBSERVING SEASON 22/23
27 August 2022
The community observatory will be open for public bookings from October 1st 2022. More details are available on our booking page at this link.
PERSIEDS 2022
12 August, 2022
The annual spectacular that is the Persieds meteor shower peaked in the early hours of 13th August, but it was pretty much spoiled by the full moon being closeby.
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Nevertheless this Persied was imaged flying by the bright star Capella. Right click and open in new window to see full sized image.
NEW SEASON AHEAD
July 21, 2022
Summer seems short lived, but the good news is that the arrival of autumn will see the start of a new observing season.
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We hope to build on the start made last Winter on providing a community observatory service, and please check back to see further details closer to September both about our service and how you can make a booking.
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Once change will be in relation to our booking system which was automated through this web site. We will be putting a new system in place for season 22/23 and more details will be provided nearer the time.
THE OBSERVATORY IS NOW OPEN FOR VISITOR BOOKINGS
January 8, 2022
Thank you for being patient with us this last period while the remaining work to get the observatory and equipment ready was in progress. We are now able to make a limited number of visitors sessions available for booking aimed at beginners to observational astronomy.
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After an initial period it is our intention to broaden the availability to more advanced observers, so please keep an eye on our website for Advanced Observing being added. In due course our intention is also to offer astro imaging sessions, but the timing of that is a bit uncertain at the moment and may possibly be deferred to the start of the next observing season.
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The booking page can be navigated to from here.
PLANETARY ALIGNMENT
December 19, 2021
Planets will always be aligned along the line that is called the ecliptic, but it is unusual so find so many bunched up in a 30 degree arc. This coincidental alignment will persist for the next few weeks, so well worth catching the sky to the south west just after sunset.
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This photo was taken with a standard DSLR and 24 mm lens and a copy has been posted to the gallery page here.
VISITOR BOOKINGS
December 9, 2021
It had been our intention to open up our bookings diary before the turn of the year, but this will probably be afterwards now although it isn't possible to give a firm date, only that it will be as soon as possible. In the meantime we would ask that you bear with us while we fine tune our equipment and session planning in order to make the experience as good as it can be. The miserable weather we have experienced this autumn has held us back in doing that, and there has been disappointingly few clear skies to work with. Please keep an eye on our web site for further updates.
MOFFAT NEWS ARTICLE
October 22, 2021
The Moffat News published a second article about the Community Observatory.
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Click here for a full size copy.
VISIT MOFFAT WEBSITE
October 20, 2021
The Visit Moffat website published this photo of our observatory, taken by Edward Malone. See our Gallery Page.
MOFFAT COMMUNITY OBSERVATORY OPENING DAY
October 16, 2021
The official opening of the Moffat Community Observatory was today. The Moffat Astronomy Club would like to thank Professor Catherine Heymans (pictured) for being the guest of honour and for her very entertaining and informative address.
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Can you please note that although we are officially opened, we do not anticipate public access to the observatory until approximately the end of November while we make final preparations. Please see our Make a Booking Page for updates.
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Please click on this link to see some photographs of the event.
MOFFAT NEWS ARTICLE
October 14, 2021
The Moffat News printed this article about the Community Observatory.
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Click here for a full size copy.
SCOTLAND'S ASTRONOMER ROYAL TO OPEN COMMUNITY OBSERVATORY
August 28, 2021
The Moffat Astronomy Club are delighted to announce that Professor Catherine Heymans FRSE, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, has agreed to officiate at the opening of the Moffat Community Observatory. Our many thanks to Professor Heymans and please check back for more details closer to opening day.
COMMUNITY OBSERVATORY - OPENING DATE SET
August 9, 2021
The Moffat Astronomy Club is pleased to announce that a date has been set for the official opening of The Moffat Community Observatory. This will be on the 16th of October 2021. Further details will be announced closer to the time, so keep an eye on our News page.
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We will not however, be taking bookings from visitors immediately after the opening and will have a run in period to ensure that we are ready. At the moment it is anticipated that visitors will be welcome from the beginning of November. Again keep an eye on our Community Observatory pages for updates to when our booking system will be open.