Moon gazing

Keen students and some college staff were able to enjoy an hour and a half of successful viewing of the night sky using the college's computer controlled 'goto' telescope. The main highlights were looking at the craters on the moon, especially along the 'terminator', the line of shadow between the bright and dark part of the moon; Jupiter and its four moons. It was possible to just about see some detail of Jupiter's bands but it's moons were just points of light. They also had a look at the Orion nebula which looks like a close group of stars and a fuzzy cloud. Finally, the group also looked at Betelgeuse a supergiant which does look a slightly redish in colour.

"Our next purchase will be 2" diagonal and 2" eyepieces and a 2" barlow, which means that in future we should be able to see brighter and larger images".

Simon Davis, Physics teacher

February