December 2025 – News
10th December
Friends Observing: A clear forecast brought 17 Friends to the Dome for the Winter Sky observing evening. Unfortunately, majority cloud cover left the group wondering whether to activate the ‘Cloudy Alternative’. Thinner patches of cloud persuaded GKWJ to slew the 10-inch to Saturn, first at 92x, then at 140x, with 2 moons (Titan and Tethys) coming and going in the variable seeing. Clearing skies in the west brought the Summer Triangle into play, so the globular cluster, M15 was the next target. A brief view of a low down and faint Dumbbell Nebula (M27) was next, before a completely clear, though hazy, sky enabled a meridian flip to M42, the Orion Nebula. Outside, live stacking with a Dwarf-3 smart scope and a 114mm Newtonian gave detailed views of M42 and the Soul Nebula (IC 1848). The session ended with a lovely view of Jupiter and 3 Galilean moons (Io, Ganymede and Callisto) and the GRS, first at 92x, then at a useful 140x. Eventually the ‘window of opportunity’ closed as cloud thickened, bringing a lovely session to an end.
8th December
Outreach Visit: The first group from Hardenhuish School joined GKWJ at the Dome on a cloudy, wet evening. The 10 Yr 13 Physics pupils and their teacher enjoyed a look around the Observatory, followed by a ‘cosmic journey’ slideshow.
4th December
Outreach Visit: A perfectly clear, but very moonlit night, led to a run of activity at the Observatory, starting with a group of 11 Urchfont Beavers accompanied by 10 adult leaders. GKWJ gave them a Sky Tour of the few bright stars visible in the glare of the Full ‘Super’ Moon, before moving to the 10-inch to view Saturn and the Full Moon.
Shell Visit: All 14 girls in the Elmhurst Shell and a tutor were the next group to visit the Observatory. They started with a view of the Full Moon through the 10-inch, then moved outside to find The Plough and identify Polaris. The group then moved back to the 10-inch to view Saturn and three moons.
GCSE Observing: 2 pupils from the Remove Astronomy set were the final group to come to the Observatory. They put the theory of telescopes currently being studied in the classroom into practice using 10×50 binoculars, the 4-inch refractor, the 5-inch Newtonian, the 8-inch Cassegrain and the 10-inch refractor to experiment with magnification and field of view with a number of targets including: the Full Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Orion Nebula, M42.
2nd December
Shell Visit: The 14 girls from the Dancy Shell and a tutor visited the Dome with GKWJ. It was partly cloudy, but with big enough gaps to allow the session to start at the 10-inch for a view of the 91% Waxing Gibbous Moon at a magnification of 92x. This was increased to 224x, showing excellent detail in craters along the Terminator. Passing cloud interrupted observing briefly, before it could resume with a meridian flip to Saturn, where the planet and 3 moons were visible: Tethys, Rhea and Titan.