Bringing Astronomy to Cornwall.

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 To visit or stay at the Observatory see foot of page

  Last updated 22nd July most recent changes marked with a star. Updated nearly every day. 

 Sorry it has been a bit quiet for a few days have a canoeing crisis to deal with.

 Dates for your Diary See below

Noctilucent clouds are a feature of the summer season for about an hour after sun set said to result from the Sun shining on rocket dust in he upper atmosphere. Really nice if you get to see them. See www.spaceweather.com for 24th June.

Planets;- watch out for Jupiter now at its brightest for the year and that means due south at midnight. Saturn and Mars are so close together that both can be seen in the same field of view of a small telescope. The star close by is Regulus in Leo.

North Cornwall District Council  publishes Coastline, a free newspaper, for visitors and local alike, Includes a two page astronomy spread which refers to a well known local observatory! We are organizing a number of ;-

  Stargazing strolls in the north country at Boscastle Visitor Centre,  phone contact 01840 250010. The May event was a great success thanks to the hard work of Rebecca and Denise.  The next are the 30/31 July After an introductory talk the party strolls around the headland  to see the stars at first hand.   Your last opportunity is in August - 26/27th.

National Trust star gazing event  14th August down near Porthleven starting at  

   8.00pm. More details to follow shortly *

BBC 1  Sky at night - The rise of the Phoenix. Now on  the BBC web site.

THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION    Has a run of early morning passes at the start of July.  The Shuttle landed successfully after attaching the large Japanese Lab to the Space Station. The ATV Jules Verne remains docked with  the ISS.  For all the latest happenings up there check Heavens Above but don't forget to log in correctly. See also www.spaceweather.com &  www.heavens-above.com  *

New Section

International Year of Astronomy. To celebrate 400 years since Galileo first turned a telescope to the night sky astronomers the world over are planning a massive outreach programme. For my part I am planning to canoe the whole of River Niger in West Africa teaching astronomy along the way - paddle in one hand, telescope in the other. Training will include a hippo awareness day and crocodile master class. Have been paddling in the Spirit Dancer as it tries to move around the  coast of Cornwall. Currently storm bound in Fowey. It is a 42 ft long Canadian Canoe. More information will follow as the weeks roll by. 

New Sundial for St Austell;- Well known sundial supremo Brad Dillion has designed a large sundial for Cemetery Park, opposite our railway station.  It has at last passed all its planning hurdles and is now being made. It is scheduled for a October Offical Opening.  Watch this space for future developments. See  http://www.charlestownsundials.co.uk/ *

Looking at Planet Earth;- Excellent web site looking down on our planets, stacked with useful information & images - some quiet technical.  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov. More website on the links page.

The Hurlers;- New Theory.

The Theory has moved on a long way since Dec 07, the next stage is the publication of the Italian Magazine Hera. (June 08) I am writing a paper on precession and another on astronomy at the Hurlers down the ages. It is definitely still "work in progress"   

  The three stone circles known as the Hurlers near Minions, Bodmin Moor line up with the stars of Orion's Belt. This occurs at midnight on Dec 22nd, winter solstice when the constellation is due south at that time.   Did the Bronze Age builders of the circles use Orion to mark the middle of winter? 

  Thanks to Caradon Council and Cornwall Heritage Trust for their support.

Contact us by email brians@roselandobservatory.com 

    Regular Opportunities for schools