[BAA-ebulletin 00640] BAA Stargazing LIVE! event at Regents Park, London

[BAA electronic bulletins service]

The BAA, in collaboration with the Baker Street Irregular Astronomers,
will be holding a Stargazing LIVE! public observing evening in London
on Wednesday 18 January. This is to coincide with the programmes on
BBC Two that will be broadcast on 16, 17 and 18 January.

Members of the BAA and BSIA will be at The Hub in The Regent's Park
from 17:30 to 23:00. We will be there even if it is cloudy (but not if
it is raining and forecast to rain all night). The Hub is a round
building in the middle of Regent's Park (see map at
http://britastro.org/stargazinglive2012). It is a café and sports
centre, and the café will be open until about 22:00.

If there is any clear sky at all we will be observing using telescopes
and binoculars from the concrete deck of The Hub. We expect many
members of the public to join us, and we would like as many BAA
members as possible to come along, with portable optical equipment if
possible, to help show and explain celestial objects to the public. If
you cannot bring any equipment, we would still love to see you there
to help inform the public and publicise the BAA. The most prominent
object in the sky will of course be Jupiter, but conditions at the Hub
are such that it is perfectly possible to observe the brighter
deep-sky objects from there, and Messier 42 and 45 will no doubt be
popular targets if conditions allow. The lights of the café are quite
dim, there are no nearby street lights, and the outdoor lighting of
The Hub will be further dimmed by red screens.

There is no danger of getting too cold as it is possible to retreat
into the café and get hot food and drinks. There are toilets there. We
will have a BAA stand giving out information. There will also be a
raffle with a prize of a 90mm refractor starter telescope, donated
jointly by the BAA and The Widescreen Centre.

Access to The Hub is from the so-called Monkey Gate, which is the gate
on the Outer Circle immediately west of London Zoo. The path from
there to The Hub is lighted with subtle lamps in the ground. It is
approximately a 5 minute walk from the Outer Circle, so this limits
the weight of equipment that can be bought to reasonably portable
telescopes (though people have been known to bring quite large
Dobsonians). Driven telescopes do make it much easier to show the
public objects like Jupiter at decent magnification. Parking on the
Outer Circle is free after 18:30. There is a bus, no. 274, which stops
close to the Monkey Gate. This goes to both Baker Street and Camden
Town Underground stations. Baker Street Station is about 25 minutes
walk from the gate, round the Outer Circle. St John's Wood and Camden
Town Stations are both about 15 minutes walk from the gate.

Please be vigilant if carrying equipment between a car and The Hub, or
back. Although the are is not regarded as unsafe, members are
encouraged to walk in groups whenever possible.

If Wednesday 18 January is completely cloudy, the event will be
repeated on the backup date, which is Wednesday 25 January, from 17:30
to 23:00 (but not the raffle). This coincides with a BAA Ordinary
Meeting at Burlington House, but as that will end by 20:00, it may
still be possible to attend both events.

Any further enquiries to me at the address below. I hope to see some
of you there on the 18th or the 25th.

David Arditti
d at davidarditti.co.uk

Message sent: 2012 January 9