Amateur stargazers of all ages have been flocking to the open nights each Wednesday at the University's Institute of Astronomy on Madingley Road, Cambridge.
Amateur stargazers of all ages have been flocking to the open nights each Wednesday at the University's Institute of Astronomy on Madingley Road, Cambridge.
The nights begin at 7.30pm with a public talk about astronomy by one of the Institute's research staff. Then, weather permitting, the Institute's four telescopes are opened up for observation of the night sky. On cloudy nights, when observation is not possible, there is a star show in the lecture theatre, followed by a tour of the Institute's historic Northumberland and Thorrowgood telescopes.
The open nights have been organised by Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright, a researcher studying the formation and evolution of spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way, with the help of the Cambridge Astronomy Association (CAA). They have been delighted by the response, with around 70 people turning up each week.
Dr Jardine-Wright said:
"We've been getting children as young as four or five, right up to people of 85. What they can see in the sky depends on the time of year. Towards the end of December we will be looking at Saturn, as it will be quite high in the sky around 8pm. You can also see 'double', or 'binary', stars, which are two stars that orbit around each other and they're quite often different colours - one might be blue and the other red, for instance - so they're quite interesting to look at."
The Institute has four telescopes at the Madingley Road site - two modern ones, as well as the historic Northumberland and Thorrowgood telescopes which have been used on the site since the times of such famous astronomers as Sir Fred Hoyle, Sir George Airy and Sir Arthur Eddington. During the open nights, each telescope will be looking at a different area of the sky and different objects.
Tonight's talk begins, as every Wednesday, at 7.30pm and will feature Robert Dunn talking about clusters of galaxies and how astronomers can use different types of telescopes to observe things that cannot be seen using visible light - for example, by looking at groups of galaxies in the X-ray light they emit or by using radiotelescopes.
Then, next Wednesday (December 22) and Thursday (December 23), Dr Jardine-Wright will be presenting the Institute's two-part Christmas lecture on the topic 'A Rough Guide to the Universe', starting with the Big Bang and moving on to star formation and galaxies in an interactive, family-oriented talk with experiments by the audience. (Thursday's lecture will continue on from Wednesday's.) The lectures will be at 7.30pm in the Raymond & Beverly Sackler Lecture Theatre at the Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road.
The open nights take a Christmas break on December 29, but will be back again on January 5.
Information about whether or not the sky will be clear enough for observation on the open night can be heard from 5pm every Wednesday by calling 01223 337548.
The Institute of Astronomy is on the north side of Madingley Road, past Churchill College and Storey's Way as you drive from Cambridge city centre. There are two public car parks on the site.
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