Public Starnights

'Star Nights'

These are public events held in conjunction with the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, the Forestry Commission and now with Normanby Hall as well. The LWT events take place at 4 venues across Lincolnshire, at Gibraltar Point Visitor Centre just south of Skegness on the Lincolnshire Coast, at the Education Centre, Whisby Nature Park, Lincoln, at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust HQ at Banovallum House in Horncastle and at Far Ings Visitor Centre near Barton upon Humber. The Forestry Commission event takes place at Chambers Farm Wood near Bardney - See this link to Chambers Farm Wood Visitor Centre. Normanby Hall is naturally at Normanby Hall, North Lincolnshire and here is a link to their site.

. All the evenings will have a basic theme but if the sky is clear then observing with my telescope will take place instead of (and occasionally as well as) the evenings talk. There will be a small charge for admission for the public. If you have Google earth installed then this file: starnight Venues.kmz will show each of the above venues. Click on the link or Save the file to your hard drive then double click to launch Google Earth and show you the venues (always run a virus check after saving the file - you never know!).

Very Important!

Always come prepared for observing so make sure you are well wrapped up and have good footwear especially during the winter sessions! By it's very nature Astronomy and practical night sky observing are conducted in the dark so neither the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust/Forestry Commission/Normanby Hall/ North Lincolnshire County Council nor I (Paul Money) accept responsibility for misbehaviour of participants or anyone who doesn't take care in the dark. Please bring small torches but NOT mega bright ones! Binoculars would be useful if you wish to bring them along. Children should be accompanied by adults at all times. Note that for many events the cutoff time is 10pm but where possible and if conditions allow we may have the option to continue longer if we do have clear skies.

2010 dates
Tuesday January 19th at 7:30pm	LWT HQ Banovallum House, Horncastle	"The Winter Milky Way"	Take a tour through the splendours of the Winter sky and check out what planets are visible for the season. If clear then the winter sky will be explored with a telescope and the main constellations will be pointed out.
Saturday January 23rd at 7:30pm	LWT Far Ings Visitors Centre, Barton upon Humber	"The Moon and Mars"	Two different worlds are on view tonight so we’ll take a look at them if the skies are clear and the talk will explore the details of both worlds.
Friday February 19th at 7:30pm	FC Event: Chambers Farm Wood, Bardney	“The Winter and Spring night sky”	Ramble through the delights of the seasons night sky with a telescope, binoculars or if cloudy with a computer!
Sunday February 21st at 7:30pm	LWT Gibraltar Point Visitors Centre, Skegness	"The ever changing aspect of the Night Sky"	We explore why we see different aspects of the night sky during a night and why it also changes during the course of the year. Can Summer constellation really be seen in early winter? If clear then we shall view the constellations, stars and planets with both naked eye and telescopes.
Friday March 19th at 7:30pm	LWT Whisby Nature Park, Lincoln	Highlights of the Spring Sky	Ramble through the delights of the Spring night sky with a telescope, binoculars or if cloudy with a computer!
Tuesday April 13th at 7:30pm	LWT Far Ings Visitors Centre, Barton upon Humber	"Mercury and Venus – the Innermost Planets"	Catch the two innermost planets tonight as we take a look at two very different worlds.
Saturday 17th April at 7:30pm	LCC Normanby Hall	“Springtime Starry Starry Night”	Ramble through the delights of the seasons night sky with a telescope, binoculars or if cloudy with a computer!
Friday April 23rd at 7:30pm	LWT Gibraltar Point Visitors Centre, Skegness	"Our Twin, Venus!"	Venus is the morning and evening star so we explore this hot and dangerous world that used to be called the ‘twin’ of the Earth.
Friday May 7th at 7:30pm	LWT Far Ings Visitors Centre, Barton upon Humber	"The Ringed Planet Saturn"	It has to be the most beautiful planet when seen through a telescope so come and explore the Ringed planet Saturn with us both in a telescope and in the talk. NOTE that this event is definitely going ahead but has been accidentally missed off the LWT and Far Ings web sites on their events pages!
June/July - No events currently planned
Friday August 13th at 8pm	LWT Far Ings Visitors Centre, Barton upon Humber	"The Perseid Meteor Shower"	Look out for meteors tonight and the talk explores Meteor showers and their links with Comets.
Friday August 20th at 8pm	FC Event: Chambers Farm Wood, Bardney	“The Summer sky tonight”	Take a tour round the wonders of the night sky for the season with binoculars, telescope or if cloudy, a computer!
September			Awaiting confirmation of dates and venues
Friday October 22nd at 7:30pm	LWT Gibraltar Point Visitors Centre, Skegness	"Of Giant planets and the Autumn Sky"	We're off to explore the other outer giants of our solar system, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus who all lie in the Autumn sky.
Saturday 23rd October at 7:30pm	LCC Normanby Hall	“Autumntime Starry Starry Night”	Take a tour round the wonders of the night sky for the season with binoculars, telescope or if cloudy, a computer!
Friday November 12th at 7:30pm	LWT HQ Banovallum House, Horncastle	"The Winter sky beckons"	Take a ramble through the delights of the Autumn and Winter night sky.
Friday 17th December at 7:30pm	LWT Far Ings Visitors Centre, Barton upon Humber	"Taking a Ramble through the Winter Stars"	Discover what constellations, stars, planets and deep sky wonders there are to be seen as we take a ramble through the winter sky tonight with a telescope if clear and if cloudy with a computer.