An Astronomy Club for Charlbury? Re Skywatcher 8" telescope

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 18:45

There's a thriving and well-respected astronomy group only a few miles away -- full of people with plenty of experience and technical know-how: the Chipping Norton Amateur Astronomy Group (also open to people living in Charlbury).

Their main page is here: https://cnaag.com/ 

As Miranda pointed out, they often use the Rollright Stones as a site as they were instrumental in getting it awarded the status of a Dark Sky Discovery Site, an officially recognised place where anyone can stargaze. They also have links to another Dark Skies site in Long Compton, and they clearly also sometimes set up on Enstone Airfield or on the old Chipping Norton Airfield (now part owned by Jeremy Clarkson and a part of his farm in Chadlington). 

I doubt there are enough people in Charlbury with interests in astronomy to warrant a separate society. But if there were enough interest, then CPRE have a really useful map of the dark skies of Britain, with plenty of places near Charlbury: https://www.nightblight.cpre.org.uk/ 

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 17:16

Simon I have a friend who had a bigger and more advanced one (celestron's LX90, back when they are new; mine was a big disappointment in comparison as you found out!), he set his shed roof on runners in some way so when he wanted to use it, he just rolled back the roof and everything was all ready to go.

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 16:23

As the advertiser of the telescope  (8" Skywatcher etc) I'm sorry to say I've only just come across this thread.  I'm afraid the telescope was quickly snapped up and will be leaving Charlbury tomorrow.  

It's true about the need for temperature acclimatisation.  I kept it in a shed so it was always ready.  But the truth is by the time I'd got it out and set up I was usually too cold already to be up for a proper observing session.  

And anyway, once you've found, say, Jupiter and its moons and marvelled that it's real and not a photo, the damn thing is still only a pinprick in a vast empty space. It was easy to be underwhelmed.

I think what I needed was the help and infectious enthusiasm of people much more knowledgeable than me to make it an attractive pastime.

So although I'm out of it, I think a club would be great.  Carry on Malcolm!

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 13:20

What struck me about the one for sale is something I heard, just the other day, that a step up in size from the average amateur 5-6" reflector to an 8" range was quite a leap in light gathering and things like The Rings of Saturn become resolvable, as do some galaxies with spirals etc.

I've never seen the Rings of Saturn or anything through more than a 8x or 10x binocular (monocular in my case being one-eyed).

It seems so cheap for a big barrelled bit of kit that I was really tempted to just buy it out of my own pocket and seek some cost sharing with others if we were to find people willing to start up local Astronomy Group having some relevent skills and consistent health which with my injuries makes me reluctant to be a "leader" of anything.

But if I was to eventually get paid back a proportion of the costs (I'll put in some as a donation) I'm tempted to just buy the thing myself and see if it can become used to benefit not just the kids but also us old folks who've missed out on the sky at night. I'm serious. Anyone else up for it to help out?

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 09:21

Best situation I had for my Newtonian ( mirrors) telescope was when I had a summerhouse to store it in, so already acclimatised. Plus the surrounding artificial lights weren’t too bad.

I still have all my filters and lenses, including the x2 Barlow lens. Harriet - you are welcome to use them.

Problem for me in Charlbury is that I’d have to load the telescope into my car and drive out somewhere. 
Chipping Norton has an Astronomical Society and they use the Rollright Stones site I believe.

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 05:52

Astronomy scopes have mirrors inside to reflect or refract the light onto the eyepiece, so the cool down/warm up is an unfortunate part of having them. The larger the mirror, the better the resolving power, the more detail you can see. Mine is a tube 5" or so across, it doesn't work without its heavy collapsible stand and there is no way any of it can be transported any distance without a car.  From memory it allows you to see detail on the moon, Saturn, and I think to see Jupiter's moons as tiny blobs. It doesn't work for deep sky observations (nebulae etc), but that may have been because it needed a different filter/eye piece which I never got round to getting because of the difficulty of finding somewhere to set it up and use it once my back garden became impossible due to nearby security lights. 

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 23:30

Are there any areas locally and conveniently |(walk, bicycle) dark enough - as dark as I recall from the winter of 2005? And the need to park-up, unload, set-up a (mirror? Do glass lenses have the same problem being I assume a more monolithic material?) means a patient time committment from someone.

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 22:25

Yes, and with some telescopes you need to give them cool down/warm up time to allow the mirrors to work, and to prevent condensation on them. It means leaving the scope set up outside for about half an hour before you want to use it. I still have mine with all its filters and lenses but haven't managed to get anywhere dark enough to use it in the past decade.

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 22:22

Put it on an estate-car portable mount and drive a mile up Ditchley Road? Would that drop the light spillage enough?

I remember when first moving to Charlbury in 2005 with the babes, that coming back from the pub, I'd notice all the stars in the sky up Enstone Road. From country boy to after years; 7 years in Brighton, 12 in London, 14 in Oxford -- the stars again! I could see the Big Dipper from my back garden.

I recall a long thread on streetlights and light pollution early on in Charlbury. And how a southern French ville had - then, 2005 - mandated and ordered energy saving LED lights with directional, reflective, shades, to protect the precious Auvergne starscape. Over the years walking back from the Rosie on my night out I've seen the stars fade out to perhaps half a dozen dim points.

Back to the point - Anyone want to club together and buy a telescope to try and start a club? Unless light pollution is a game stopper? I'll contribute.

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 22:06 (last edited on Thu 7 Jul 2022, 22:06)

I sold my telescope as light pollution was a problem in my back garden.. You’ll need to consider a site away from street lights and people’s illuminated houses and gardens.

Binoculars are always a good option.

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 21:58

The thing is that infirmity and inconstancy means I can't lead this, it needs someone(s) with constancy of health to drive it on. Surely someone with young kids locally, and us old one-eyed codgers can come and peer through the viewscope every now and then?

This telescope sounds like an ideal basis for a good view of the cosmos. I can contribute a couple of binoculars and monoculars for viewing too. £200 sounds like a bargain to me. Does anyone want to take the lead in organising? I'll contribute.

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 21:23

Sounds like a good time. I've always wanted to get to know the rest of universe better. 

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 19:56