Norman Lockyer visit 2016

Devon Branch in the dark!
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It’s not easy to meet Branch members in the dark! Our visit to the
Norman Lockyer Observatory tempted Mike and Linda Slade, Roy
and Margaret Faulkner, Jeff and Jo Hayes to join Sue and myself
with a number of other visitors on the evening of St George’s Day
to gaze at the stars in South Devon. One of our members, Dave
Hutchinson, works as a volunteer at the observatory and is taking
a degree in astronomy, trying no doubt to acquire the deep ‘geeklike’ knowledge that our fascinating lecturers were able to impart.
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We were treated to a wonderful show in the theatre about the
Lyrids Meteor Shower, gazed in awe at the ceiling of the
planetarium (original equipment from the London Planetarium) and
identified various constellations and planets and watched the sky
revolve from dusk to dawn - in quick time of course! It was then
time to visit the technical building where their radio astronomy
appears on numerous screens around the room and feeds into the
national picture. We saw fascinating solar flares reaching for the
earth and causing beautiful northern lights (aurora borealis) as it
burns the atmosphere. They track various satellites and even see
planes taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport - don’t tell the
French!
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The last part of the visit was to three of the five telescopes, the
Kensington, Victoria and the Mond which houses the historically
famous 6¼-inch Lockyer refractor telescope which the astronomer
Norman Lockyer used to discover helium. We were looking at
Jupiter and could clearly see three moons and the colourful stripes
across it.
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The observatory is a mile inland from the sea, looks to the South
over Sidmouth and is blessed with a clean dark sky. Well worth a
visit if you dress warmly and are happy not to be able to see who is
standing next to you - not the easiest way to meet fellow IPA
members but certainly worth a try!
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Graham Bulford,
Branch Secretary
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The Mond Dome at Norman Lockyer Observatory, Sidmouth
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Margaret and Roy Faulkner with Dave Hutchinson (next page)
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