We went to last years Isle of Wight Star Party and _loved it_. Seeing Saturn’s rings through one of the telescopes was a truly amazing experience – one that made you think about the Universe in a different way – certainly not an every day experience. We couldn’t make it this year, so are delighted that Chairman of the Vectis Astronomical Society, Dr Lucy Roger, has written up an account – Ed.
The Island’s dark skies attracted astronomers from as far as Birmingham and Cambridge to the Isle of Wight Star Party. The event, which was held at Brighstone Holiday Centre, Military Road, Brighstone between Thursday 26th March and Monday 30th March, 2009, proved very successful.
On all four nights, the clouds cleared to give wonderful clear skies and many astronomers saw distant galaxies they had never before seen from the UK.
Isle of Wight – Some of the darkest UK skies
A Dark Sky meter was used to officially record just how clear the skies are above the Military Road, and it was confirmed that the Island does indeed have some of the darkest skies in the south of England.
Brighstone Holiday Centre offers a number of advantages – it’s remote, hence the lack of light pollution; it has almost 180-degree southerly views across the Channel; and ensuite rooms and a great cooked breakfast, tempting even Island astronomers to stay on site.
Professor Ian Morison from Jodrell Bank Observatory also attended the Star Party, and gave a wonderful talk at Vectis Astronomical Society’s monthly meeting on the Friday evening.
Rocket testing site visit
There was also an excellent visit to the ex-rocket testing site at the Needles New Battery (Highdown), run by the National Trust, with a talk by a rocketman – one of the men who was involved with the secret rocket testing programme. (VB has
podcast of Rocketman, Jim Scragg from last year – Ed)
The Star Party was run by the Island’s Vectis Astronomical Society (VAS) in association with the Southern Area Group of Astronomical Societies (SAGAS).
More information about the Star Party or astronomy in general is available on www.iowstarparty.org and www.wightastronomy.org.
images: Dr Lucy Rogers
