Members of the Liverpool Astronomical Society, (founded in 1881), will display several telescopes for viewing the Moon, Mars, Saturn and other objects in the night sky, 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:-

Stadt Moers Visitor Centre - 0151 489 1239

Liverpool Astronomical Society

Geoff Regan, Observatory Director - 0151 292 7165

Dave Owen, LAS Sidewalk Astronomers - 07778 454524

A fairly poor weather forecast, which was mostly accurate, resulted in a decision not to take the 16 inch Dobsonian telescope to this event. I arrived, with Graham Roberts at about 19:20 to find that Jim Stacey was already there and about to set up his 5 inch Maksutov telescope. The Stadt Moers Ranger, Tony Hearn had also arrived and had opened up the building. There was also a small crowd of about 12 visitors, this later increased to 21.

The first half an hour, until about 20:00, was taken up in setting up the slide projector for a talk on the Solar System. Meanwhile, most of the visitors were outside with Graham, Jim and Tony. The weather seemed almost, but not quite hopeless. The crescent Moon could just be seen hiding behind the trees that surround this Visitors Centre. Mars was also visible through gaps in the clouds.

At about 20:00 I started the Solar System slide show talk. What an experience! Certainly the livliest audience that I had spoken to for a long time. The questions never stopped throughout the half hour talk and I had to ration the questions to about one per slide or I might still be there now!

I got as far as Saturn when the call went out that the sky was clear. After about 25 minutes I finished off the Solar System and started the second talk which was the Universe beyond our Solar System. Another torrent of questions accompanied this talk too and when I had run out of slides, at about 21:30, my voice was definately in need of a rest!

Meanwhile, LAS members Dave Robinson and John Naylor had arrived. John set up his 8 inch Dobsonian outside and this can be seen in the photos below that were taken by Jim Stacey.

So, another year of Sidewalk Astronomy ends. after Xmas we cross the water for two events in the Wirral. Watch the Web for more details.

HOW TO FIND STADT MOERS VISITOR CENTRE - Maps from www.multimap.com

STADT MOERS VISITOR CENTRE MAP 1

STADT MOERS VISITOR CENTRE MAP 2

STADT MOERS VISITOR CENTRE MAP 3