Introduction

The Observatory

If the weather permits there are observing sessions open to the public on a Friday evening.

Opening times and location details can be found here.

The observatory also opens on the first Sunday morning of the month from 10am until 1pm in support of Abbey Leys Farmers’ Market – again, weather permitting.

Image of the month

Hebridean Aurora

Hebridean Aurora

Image taken on North Uist, Hebrides on 3rd March 2024 by Becky Holmes
Camera: iPhone
The aurora was visible to the unaided eye and it was in colour

Meetings

HLCO holds meetings on the second Thursday of each month in St John’s church room (location details here). Talks in astronomy and space research are given by invited experts or members of the HLCO team themselves. A small charge is made for these events.

Next Meeting : Thursday March 14th 2024 7:15 for a 7:30 start

Upcoming HLCO Meetings

  • March 14th 2024

    John Anderson will give a talk entitled “The James Webb Space telescope – the what, where and how”. He will be looking at the early life of the James Webb Telescope from its design and launch to how it deployed autonomously to the L2 position.

    L2 is one of five Sun-Earth Lagrange points, positions in space where the gravitational pull of the Sun and Earth combine such that small objects in that region have the same orbital period (length of year) as Earth. This makes it possible for Webb to remain in constant communication with Earth.