December 2020 News

15th December

Great Conjunction: JAG and GKWJ went to the Dome to try and see Jupiter and Saturn as they approached their Great Conjunction. A gap in the clouds allowed the planetary pair to be viewed through binoculars and just in the 10-inch. Their separation of 45 arcminutes put the two planets on the very edge of the eyepiece

13th December

Friends Observing: Cloudy conditions and Covid restrictions did not deter over thirty Friends and members of the U3A from gathering to observe the annual Geminids Meteor Shower. We met online via Zoom; CEB introduced the Geminids, GKWJ spoke about the new radio meteor detector and then we observed the waterfall from the radio system. We saw many ‘pings’ accompanied by the characteristic ‘weeeooo’ sound emerging from the ‘ssssshhhh’ of the static background noise. In the two hours of observing from 8pm to 10pm, we witnessed the system detect over 200 events

10th December

House Visit: 11 Shell pupils from EL came up to the Dome. It was cloudy and raining

Next House visit: Thursday 7th January (MM)

7th December

Radcliffe Society: A select band of members met online. GKWJ gave a round up of What’s Up over the coming months. A pupil read out their essay entitled ‘Do Humankind’s Best Days Lie Ahead?’ where the prospect of space travel and extra terrestrial colonisation was explored. Finally, a pupil introduced a video ‘Does Planet 9 Exist?’, which provoked interesting discussion. Next meeting: 18th January 2021

3rd December

House visit: 14 Shell pupils from DA came up to the Dome with a Tutor. It was cloudy

Next House visit: Thursday 10th December (EL)

1st December

House visit: 10 Shell pupils from IH came up to the Dome with a Tutor. It was cold and cloudy

Next House visit: Thursday 3rd December (DA)