Some astronomers like to stay for several nights to increase the chances of clear skies.
One of the 'World's Top 10 Star Parties'
Sky at Night Magazine May 2007
Newspaper article on the Spring 2007 event
The spring event is design to be a simple date and place around which astronomers can gather. It is not a large and complicated event like the autumn camp. There should be some trade stands but otherwise the focus is on observing and meeting like minded folks.
Share telescopes
Talk astronomy
Dark sky with good horizons
Meet friends
Good modern site with power hook up (bring your own cable & book correct pitch)
Clean bathrooms
Camp ground has shop, pub (with food incl. breakfast) and indoor swimming pool (extra cost)
Some people bring their families or partners and they stay in local accommodation off site
New moon is on the 25th Apr some star gazers stay for the week preceding or the week after the main weekend
Star Party Etiquette UPDATED
Kelling Heath Camp Site Home Page
Past Star Party Photos 2003 2005 Red Field Yellow Field
Date |
Sunset |
Twilight |
Darkness |
Twilight |
Sunrise |
Sat 18 Apr 09 |
20:03 |
20:38 |
22:15 - 03:47 |
05:23 |
05:59 |
Sun 19 Apr 09 |
20:04 |
20:40 |
22:18 - 03:44 |
05:21 |
05:57 |
Mon 20 Apr 09 |
20:06 |
20:42 |
22:21 - 03:41 |
05:18 |
05:54 |
Tues 21 Apr 09 |
20:07 |
20:44 |
22:23 - 03:38 |
05:16 |
05:52 |
Wed 22 Apr 09 |
20:09 |
20:46 |
22:26 - 03:34 |
05:14 |
05:50 |
Thurs 23 Apr 09 |
20:11 |
20:48 |
22:29 - 03:31 |
05:12 |
05:48 |
Fri 24 Apr 09 |
20:12 |
20:50 |
22:32 - 03:28 |
05:09 |
05:46 |
Sat 25 Apr 09 |
20:14 |
20:51 |
22:35 - 03:25 |
05:07 |
05:44 |
Sun 26 Apr 09 |
20:16 |
20:53 |
22:38 - 03:21 |
05:05 |
05:42 |
Mon 27 Apr 09 |
20:17 |
20:55 |
22:41 - 03:18 |
05:03 |
05:40 |
Tues 28 Apr 09 |
20:19 |
20:57 |
22:45 - 03:14 |
05:01 |
05:38 |
Wed 29 Apr 09 |
20:21 |
20:59 |
22:48 - 03:11 |
04:58 |
05:37 |
Thurs 30 Apr 09 |
20:22 |
21:01 |
22:51 - 03:07 |
04:56 |
05:35 |
NGC253 - Sculptor Galaxy at -20 degrees declination by Eddie Guscott taken at Kelling
Adrian Catterall Kelling Heath Deep Sky Images
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Green Laser Pointers are either a fun and useful observing aid or a form of light pollution depending on your point of view. When observing as an individual or in a small group they are great. When there are over 100 astronomers in one field doing their own thing you have to think about the person next door to you with a CCD setup. Someone has to decide if green laser pointers and a large star party make for a good time for all. This star party has had a page on the use of green laser pointers. |
Cloud Cover Data for each month across the UK
I obtained the data from the Met Office. The raw dat was processed by Dr Ari Ercole and I thank him for his time and thought. I have had great difficulty finding which parts of the UK are most likely to be cloudy at a given time. The Met Office provides very little free data of this type. They could not tell me what the units are so that the scale may not be linear but it could be.
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Jan |
Feb |
March |
April |
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| May | June | July | Aug |
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| Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Power Hook Up you need a 3 pin plug see below safely wired to 13 amp standard sockets
| Weather | ||
| Met Office | Dundee Satellite RS worth registering | Meteoblue |
| Astronomy News Buy / Sell / Links | ||
| egroups | UK Astro Ads: Astronomy-UK | Astromart |
| Sky at Night Magazine | UK Astronomy Buy & Sell | Amateur Astronomy Magazine |
| Optical Quality of SCT vs RC |
Note about egroups. Avoiding the adverts. The easiest way to read them is to sign up for plain text emails and then use Outlook (or other emailer) Tools > Rules to file the email based on the subject line into a separate folder. Then use the view settings to group by conversation. You than have an old style newsgroup
The Autumn
Equinox Sky Camp
The Herstmonceux Science
Centre Astronomy FestivalKeilder Forest Star Camp
Peak Star Party Peak District UK
Whirlpool Star Party Birr Ireland
The Chiefland Astronomy Village USA
Texas Star Party USA
Oregon Star Party Home Page
USA
Astronomical Society of New South Wales. star party Australia
Magellan observatory a great place to stay Australia
Mauna Kea Hawaii observing site for the public USA
Tenerife: A High-Altitude Amateur Observatory At the Parador Hotel in the Canadas de Tenerife Dark Skies