Richard Cattle shares this latest guest editorial, in his own words. Guest opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. Ed
One of the Isle of Wight’s special features are our gloriously dark skies. Armed with slightly more sophisticated equipment than I had as a child, some of our local hobby astronomers are able to achieve amazing results from affordable equipment that has today become much more accessible.
People like Kevin Power, whose breathtaking images have recently featured on Isle of Wight Science & Scepticism (more about IOWSAS here).
All shot from his back garden
Kevin has taken these beautiful shots of Andromeda, our nearest galaxy neighbour, at just a mere 2.5 million light years away, the Moon, and the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, which is an open star cluster drifting through space close to Earth around 440 light years away.
Unbelievably these shots were all achieved from his back garden.
Click on images to see larger versions
I asked Kevin what got him into the subject.
“Well I’ve always been fascinated by space and the mystery of it all, but only just rekindled my desire to actually see what is out there and learn more, lockdown has made everyone take up stay at home hobbies.”
Isle of Wight Science and Scepticism
As a child the Isle of Wight was a wondrous place to grow up. I became fascinated by the fossils I would find along the south western beaches of the Island, and for a brief time had a modest reflector telescope that I used to peer at the moon from my parents garden in Newport.
There were (and still are) so many amazing things to discover. We even had a derelict rocket testing site to explore!
Growing up I have kept the interests in science that began during my childhood, which is why during the first lockdown I decided to set up a Facebook page for like minded people to share their interests.
It is called Isle of Wight Science and Scepticism (#IOWSAS) and is always keen to welcome new members. If your interested in science and want to find out more, then check out #iowsas
