January 2026 – News
29th January
Outreach Visit: 22 members and partners from various Wiltshire WI groups visited the Dome on a cloudy evening. GKWJ showed the group around the Observatory, giving a complete history of the Cooke telescope and the observatory. They then looked at a selection of images, watched the Meteor Detector Live Stream (which featured more satellites than meteors!) and enjoyed the Wetton Meteorite collection.
28th January
Outreach Visit: 18 members of the Ramsbury Beavers accompanied by 5 adults joined GKWJ at the Dome. It was cloudy, but with some gaps through which the bright Waxing Gibbous Moon and Jupiter could be spotted outside. A clearing sky allowed the group to observe the Moon in the 10-inch, followed by Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons. The sky clouded over as the group were leaving.
27th January
Shell Visit: 10 girls from the New Court Shell were accompanied to the Dome by a current Remove astronomy pupil. It was a wet, cloudy and windy evening, so no observing was possible. They discussed Astronomy GCSE and looked at a variety of images.
22nd January
Outreach Visit: 11 Cubs and 5 adults from the Ramsbury Cubs visited the Dome with GKWJ. It was partly cloudy to begin with and the Waxing Crescent Moon was spotted through gaps in the cloud, Jupiter and Orion were also seen by naked eye. The group went to the 10-inch to try and open up to observe Jupiter, but rushed outside to catch an overhead ISS pass, which was seen through thickening cloud. The sky then completely clouded over, so the group enjoyed a selection of images and a plethora of questions.
Shell Visit: The 10 boys from the Preshute Shell were delivered to the Dome by their HM and his dog. It was completely cloudy, so no visual astronomy was possible, but the radio meteor detector live stream was observed, with multiple events seen. The boys asked many questions and enjoyed images of the recent aurora as photographed by GKWJ from his garden.
20th January
Outreach Visit: The fourth and final group from Cothill Prep School, consisting of 16 pupils and 2 teachers, visited the Dome with GKWJ. It was a very wet and windy evening. They spotted multiple meteors on the live feed and looked at a selection of images.
Shell Visit: The 14 girls from the Morris House Shell were accompanied to the Dome by their HM and her daughter. It was horribly wet and windy. GKWJ showed the girls the facility, they watched the meteor live stream and considered a whole range of cosmic questions.
19th January
Outreach Visit: 14 pupils and 1 teacher were the third group from Cothill Prep School to visit the Dome with GKWJ. Unfortunately, it was completely cloudy, but the group enjoyed the main telescope, a series of images, and a barrage of questions.
15th January
Outreach Visit: 9 Cubs, 1 leader and 3 parents from the Ramsbury Cubs joined GKWJ at the Dome. It was cloudy. They explored the virtual night sky in Stellarium, saw the telescope, and travelled through the Solar System in images.
Shell Visit: 13 girls from the Mill Mead Shell and their HM visited the Dome on a cloudy evening. They were introduced to the Observatory and enjoyed a series of images along with much discussion.
13th January
Outreach Visit: The second Cothill group, comprising 13 pupils and 2 teachers, came to the Dome on a cloudy evening. GKWJ started the visit with a look around the virtual night sky in Stellarium, then took the group through to the Dome. A gap in the cloud allowed a view of Jupiter and its 4 moons in the 10-inch, but the cloud soon closed up again, so the group enjoyed a slide show of images and explored the Wetton meteorite collection.
Shell Visit: The 10 boys of the Littlefield Shell and a tutor joined GKWJ up at the Dome. Another gap in the cloud allowed them to view Jupiter and its moons through the 10-inch. The cloud gathered again, so the group moved to the warm room where the meteorites were examined and a whole range of questions were considered.
12th January
Outreach Visit: The first group for this year from Cothill Prep School, consisting of 14 pupils and 1 teacher, visited the Dome with GKWJ. It was a cloudy evening, but as the group arrived, gaps started to appear in the cloud so the 10-inch was immediately slewed to bright Jupiter. We then went outside for a Sky Tour and viewed the Pleiades (M45) in binoculars. Back to the 10-inch to try for the Crab Nebula (M1), but this was very faint, then on to the Orion Nebula (M42), and finally to the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and one of its satellite galaxies, M32. As the group departed, the clouds rapidly returned to hide the celestial sphere – what a lucky group!
8th January
Shell Visit: The 10 girls of the Ivy House Shell and a tutor visited the Dome on a cold, cloudy, wet and windy night! GKWJ showed them the Cooke 10-inch and a selection of images taken at the Observatory.
7th January
Outreach Visit: The second group from Hardenhuish School, Chippenham, consisting of 8 Yr 12 Physics pupils and their teacher, visited the Dome with GKWJ. It was a cloudy night, but thinner patches allowed a glimpse of a bright dot in the east, identified as Jupiter as the group disembarked from their minibus. The virtual night sky was explored with Stellarium, before moving to the Dome to show the 10-inch. Sufficient gaps in the cloud had developed to allow deployment of the 10-inch and a great view of Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons. We then moved outside to look around the sky and viewed a hazy Pleiades in binoculars. Cloud thickened again, so we retreated to the warm room, watched the radio meteor detector live stream, looked at various meteorites and enjoyed a slide show of deep sky objects taken at the River Park Observatory.
3rd January
Friends Observing: A group of 8 hardy Friends joined GKWJ at the Dome for the annual Quadrantids meteor shower under a very clear, but moonlit sky. The temperature gauge read -5°C, so thermals were essential! The group observed the sky for an hour, but only recorded two Quadrantid meteors; the Full Moon won the evening. Meanwhile, in the (much needed) warm room, the radio meteor detector live feed showed a plethora of meteors, with around 80 to 90 events per hour. In the Dome, Jupiter was in the 10-inch, first at low magnification, with the GRS clearly visible and all four Galilean moons stretching out to one side. The session continued for a further hour after the disappointing meteor watch, with a handful of Friends enjoying some of the clearest views of Jupiter, with magnification increasing to 140x and 220x; features visible in the bands were exquisite.