MORETON

ASTRONOMY EVENING

FRIDAY 6 JANUARY 2006 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Members of the Liverpool Astronomical Society, (founded in 1881), will display several telescopes for viewing the Moon, Mars and Saturn, if clear. There will also be an illustrated talk on astronomy.

This event is free, and is open to all members of the public.

For more information contact:-

Wirral Ranger Service - 0151 678 5488

Liverpool Astronomical Society

Geoff Regan, Observatory Director - 0151 292 7165

Dave Owen, LAS Sidewalk Astronomers 07778 454524 *** http://angelfire.com/pokemon2/pirsig/sidewalk.html *** dowenlas@yahoo.com

EVENT REPORT - Dave Owen

I arrived, at about 19:00, with my 16 inch Dobsonian, in Jim Lawler's Volvo Estate Car. Geoff Regan brought the LAS Laptop PC and PC Projector in my Micra. Graham Roberts and Dave Thomson had been here since 18:30. However, due to it being 100% cloudy, as it had been all day, Dave had not yet set up the TROK 30 Dobsonian. My gazebo was set up in about 10 minutes, thanks to the poles already being bolted togethor. Although it stayed 100% cloudy, it was dry and fairly calm.

There was a problem in unloading the TROK 30 from the trailer as, in driving over some ruts near the entrance gate, the mirror box had jumped out of the rocker box! With the help of Jim Lawler, Chris Banks and Dave Galvin, Dave was able to fix this problem and set up the scope.

I tried to set up a laptop pc inside the gazebo, to show what the sky would be like if it was clear. However, I quickly discovered that the car battery that normally powers the laptop, via a 12/240 volt inverter, was too run down. Things worked perfectly once I connected up a spare 12 volt battery.

Graham was able to sell £34.00 worth of LAS booklets and the gazebo helped to ease the problem of people crowding inside the front door.

Geoff Regan did 3 talks, using a laptop pc and pc projector, to full house audiences of about 20 people. Total attendance was estimated to be about 80 people. Not bad for a very cloudy evening.

We eventually started to pack up at about 21:15. As the only telescopes set up were the TROK 30 and Jim Stacey's 5 inch Maksutov, this did not take as long as it usually does when more telescopes are being used.

As usual, the Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse had set up their tea/coffee bar inside.

Jim Stacey was able to take a few photos that can be seen below.

Our next Sidewalk Astronomy Event is on Fri 3 Feb 2006, at Ainsdale Discovery Centre, in Sefton.

HOW TO FIND LEASOWE LIGHTHOUSE - Maps from www.multimap.com

LEASOWE LIGHTHOUSE MAP 1

LEASOWE LIGHTHOUSE MAP 2

LEASOWE LIGHTHOUSE MAP 3