June 2025 – News
30th June
Solar Observing: Two groups came to the Observatory to look at the Sun, safely! The first group consisted of 10 Friends and 1 member of the public, while the second group consisted of 12 members of the public. The Sun was seen first through eclipse specs and with diffraction specs, then in white light through the Celestron 8-inch, at 80x and 130x magnification, showing ten active regions. Then through the Lunt 50mm in hydrogen alpha with some impressive prominences clearly visible. The group then moved to the 10-inch and saw the Sun in hydrogen alpha at 90x and 140x magnification, showing great detail, especially in the prominences. One prominence was seen to develop and lift further from the surface during the two sessions. The second session ended with a view of the Waxing Crescent Moon in daylight, a low contrast but beautiful view of craters and seas on the Moon’s eastern side.
23rd June
Radcliffe Society: 10 members of the Radcliffe Society met with GKWJ and JAG at the Dome for the Summer Term meeting. As has become tradition, rockets were launched on the sports pitches. It was a sunny evening, but with quite a breeze and occasional stronger gusts, further to this there was a cricket match in progress on Level Broadleaze, right in the landing zone! Not to be deterred, the group set up the launch base at a safe distance, half way up Sloping Broadleaze, with two altitude measuring outposts at the far northern and southern corners of the pitch. ‘A’ motors were used first with the three launch vehicles: the small Wizard reached 150 metres, medium LOC-1 110m, and large Castor which only made it to 80m. Settling wind conditions, the end of the cricket match, and limited time led the next launches to use ‘C’ motors. Castor was out of action as the first motor could not be extracted! LOC-1 was first on the launch pad, but suffered an RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly) as it spiralled out of control at an altitude of about 40m before crashing back to Earth! Wizard was much more successful, reaching an altitude of 240m. However, this was to be its final flight, as it remains unrecovered somewhere in the distant shrubbery at the edge of Sloping Broadleaze, or perhaps further beyond!
20th June
GCSE Observing: A sunny afternoon allowed GKWJ to hold his Remove class at the Observatory for some solar observing. 3 pupils enjoyed views of the solar surface in white light with the Celestron 8-inch and in hydrogen alpha with the Lunt 2-inch and the Cooke 10-inch. Two large sunspot regions were seen, along with a huge fila-prom, and multiple prominences. The group observed one particularly tall prominence over the course of the lesson, seeing it change in shape.
10th June
Publication Visit: GKWJ and JAG met with the Head of Communications and the designer of the forthcoming publication about the Marlborough College Blackett Observatory, due out later this year, at the Observatory. The Cooke 10-inch was discussed along with the history of the Observatory. Breaks in the cloud allowed the gathering to observe the Sun in white light through the 10-inch, with a rash of active regions visible across the Sun’s disk.
7th June
Open Day: The weather was cloudy with sporadic showers for the June open day, so GKWJ and JAG took to the marquee in Court with a ‘cloudy alternative’. The Wetton Meteorite collection, consisting of a Campo del Cielo example and slice, and a chondrite and slice, along with a selection of photographs provided much entertainment for the visiting children and their parents. For the really curious, JAG unveiled his slice of lunar breccia as a special treat. A steady stream of visitors enjoyed the meteorite display throughout the event.