January 2021 News
28th January
House visit: 8 pupils from PR Shell joined via Zoom. Unfortunately the wifi was not stable and the evening had to be abandoned. The visit is rescheduled for Tuesday 2nd March
Next House visit: Thursday 4th February (SU)
21st January
House visit: 10 pupils from NC Shell joined CEB via Zoom along with their HM and family and the new Deputy Head (Co-Curriculum) and family. The event was recorded for those not attending, due to time zones. The evening was cloudy.
Next House visit: Thursday 28th January (PR)
18th January
Radcliffe Society: Members met online to hear GKWJ present an Observing Challenge for the coming weeks, with objects to be viewed by naked eye, binoculars and a small telescope. This was followed by an introduction to the Blackett Observatory Radio Meteor Detection System. Next Meeting: 8th February
16th January
Friends Observing: A group of a dozen Friends met on Zoom for the annual ‘Bring Your Own Telescope / Binoculars’ observing session. Cloudy conditions prevailed, so a Q&A session was enjoyed. A whole range of questions were raised, ranging from ‘how do I actually find objects with a pair of binoculars?’, through to ‘what is the best approach to start astrophotography with my 9.25 inch Celestron telescope?’. It was a stimulating session, with great participation from all attending
14th January
House visit: 7 Shell pupils from MO joined CEB on Zoom. Several were based overseas and thus the event was recorded. The night was mild and cloudy
Next House visit: Thursday 21st January (NC)
7th January
House visit: The first House visit of the term occured remotely via Zoom, a new venture. The majority of Shell pupils from MM were able to attend and the visit was recorded for those in different time zones. The night was cold and foggy, but only CEB was exposed to this. The pupils could sit in the warm in their homes for the observatory tour
Next House visit (Zoom): Thursday 14th January (MO)
2nd January 2021
Friends Observing: A group of around a dozen Friends joined CEB, GKWJ and JAG online via Zoom to observe the Quadrantids meteor shower. It was cloudy, so observation was only possible with the Radio Meteor Detection System. CEB gave an introduction to the Quadrantid shower and GKWJ gave an update on the radio system. We then watched for meteors, but it was relatively quiet with only a small number of short ‘pings’ seen. The peak of the Quadrantid shower evidently hadn’t started yet. The radio detector live stream continued online through the night and activity has increased significantly, with a constant stream of events visible by the morning