SOCIETY in focus
Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society held its third open night of the season on 25 November. We had 194 visitors, supported by 26 society members. The centrepiece of our own Sherwood Observatory is our 24-inch Newtonian reflector, built by the founder members some 40 years ago. Visitors were able to view the Moon and its landscape of craters, mountain ranges and other features. Later we turned to the Orion Nebula, and were able to view the Trapezium Cluster too. Outside we had five telescopes and three pairs of binoculars trained on other delights.
All of our open nights are supported by a series of rolling talks throughout the evening, and the subject this time was ‘Pictures of the Universe’. We also had radio astronomy equipment picking up meteor activity from the GRAVES transmitter in France, complemented by our deputy director exhibiting his collection of space rocks. Children enjoyed making craters (and a mess) in our ‘crater creator’ and, as people left, they were given a number of fact sheets, sky maps, and 2018 Moon phase posters.
I would like to thank all those members who selflessly gave up their time and came along to make the event a resounding success. Without them, such events would not happen. More info about the society and activities can be found on our website.
Michael Lowe Public Events Coordinator www.sherwood-observatory.org.uk