Kielder Observatory Newsletter
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Summer 2017 Number 16 Kielder Observatory Newsletter Observatory to appear on BBC's 'Wild UK' NEWS SCIENCE OBSERVING THE SUN Fancy a PhD? Life through time and Highlights We take a look at our space Aug/Sept/Oct nearest star EDITORIAL Welcome to the summer edition of the KOAS newsletter. In this edition we, appropriately, take a look at our nearest star, the Sun, whilst longtime Kielder supporter (and exsecretary) Wallace Arthur tells us about his new book exploring connections between biology and astronomy. Nigel Metcalfe Editors: Nigel Metcalfe & Robert Williams [email protected] Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society Registered Charity No: 1153570. Patron: Sir Arnold Wolfendale 14th Astronomer Royal Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Its aims are to * Promote interest in the science of astronomy to the general public * Facilitate education of members of the public in the science of astronomy * Maintain an astronomical observatory in Kielder Forest to support the above aims http://www.kielderobservatory.org Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 2 | Kielder Newsletter | Summer 2017 DIRECTOR'S CUT Hello all, well the first thing to mention is Lets hope for clear skies! We are running of course that we are on the right side of 4 events for the meteor shower and all are the solstice! sold out! The summer is always a testing time for the observatory staff having to deal with the lighter skies, the reward being, Autumn is near and with it arrives the summer Milky Way and its retinue of objects to observe. It is also a testing time for the admin staff who with me head up operations at the facility. We all keep a keen eye on performance and bookings of course and look to trends that give us information on how to organise and So, this means that the skies are getting strategically plan our operations. darker, albeit very slowly, by the end of Historically we have always had a little July it is noticeable again with darkness slump during the summer that would returning to the skies above the coincide with the summer lighter observatory. nights…this year it didn’t come at all and we think its due to the popularity of our Welcoming back the dark skies is always observatory reaching epic proportions. the highlight of the team’s year as it This means that organizationally we can signals the return of what we all love to do plan to expand our operational narrative more than anything else…stargaze! The and so reach more people with the Kielder start to the season for me begins with the message to enthuse educate and inspire. Perseid meteor shower, this year it peaks on the night of the 11th August and into So as we all head into another season of the wee small hours of the 12th. With a observing and learning about our moon rising at 11pm it will hamper universe, I say thank you for supporting us observations of the fainter meteors and keep looking up. however I’m still hopeful of great observations and a good meteor count. Gary Fildes (FRAS MSc Hon.Caus.) Kielder Newsletter | Summer 2017 | 3 KOAS NEWS TRUSTEE NOTES Having met William, Anna escaped The trustees have met twice since the last London and moved to rural newsletter, once at the end of April, then Northumberland where she now works again at the end of May. In between the alongside William managing the two, another trustee, Anna Charlton, Hesleyside Estate, modernising and joined, taking the total to eight. The sharing 900 years of North Tyne History. constitution allows for twelve, so there is a She is a trustee of the Calvert Trust little way to go yet! Kielder, enjoys a number of voluntary positions and specialises in rural diversification and development. There is nothing new to report on the Forestry Commission lease. Matters are mostly agreed and the trustees are just waiting for the legal documents. At the May meeting the trustees agreed to fund the appointment of a new science Anna was born in the Brecon Beacons presenter, partly in anticipation of the National Park, and has always been increased workload the new observatory fascinated by Science and the building would bring. Countryside, a childhood full of camping under Dark Skies. She attended Imperial Ticket sales have held up well this year, College where she completed an even in to the summer period, which in undergraduate degree in Chemistry previous years had shown a slowdown. followed by a PhD in Semiconductor Physics. After a stint working in Japan's The trustees will next meet in midJuly. NTT Laboratories, she began a career in Management Consultancy and worked for * * * * over ten years at Accenture specialising in Customer Experience Design, Marketing and Business Change Management. 4 | Kielder Newsletter | Summer 2017 OBSERVATORY NEWS Guests are shown the wonders of the night sky. Planning for the new building is well week for the BBC's new 'Wild UK' series, underway, and hopefully a start will be and we expect the episode to be made on the construction in the next broadcast on BBC1 on that date. We also month or so. had a German film crew here at the end of April, and Gary gave an interview to BBC The new science presenter post Radio Scotland. mentioned in the Trustee Notes has been filled and Adam Shore will join us from In May, Gary went down to the Eden August 14th more on this in the next Project in Cornwall to give a presentation newsletter. and to discuss possible future collaborations. He will be returning there Make a note in you diary for July 25th twice in August. He and trustee Tom filming took place at the observatory last Grieveson have also had a meeting with Kielder Newsletter | Summer 2017 | 5 OBSERVATORY NEWS the Educational Steering Group from Tees & Thursdays throughout the Summer Valley, in order to further our plans for school holidays. So book your place now! STEM activities involving local schools. We also have a Dilston Stargazing event on the evening of August 4th. We have also had a visit from Tony Gates, CEO of Northumberland National Park Authority and his colleagues from Exmoor, and a representative from the Hungarian Astronomical Society! At the end of May, the Observatory had a presence at the Northumberland County Show at Bywell Hall near Stocksfield, along with our partners from Kielder Who needs a telescope? Our guests Water & Forest Park, and last month we gaze at the Milky Way through the had representatives at the official opening dome opening. and launch of latest phase of development at Kielder Waterside. On a more academic note, we are now collaborating with the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries at Sunderland University to offer a National Productivity Investment Fund PhD entitled "Visualising astrophotography: science and creativity – Kielder Observatory". Hopefully this exciting new venture will be a productive exercise for both parties, with one aim of the research being to provide KOAS "with new visual representations that help tell the story of the facility and the imaginary Space Kids! power of ‘dark skies.’ " The ever popular Space Kids will be running from 4pm to 6pm most Tuesdays 6 | Kielder Newsletter | Summer 2017 OBSERVATORY NEWS This wooden model of the observatory was presented to the team at the observatory by our wonderful guest, Alan Crisp. Alan has attended the observatory multiple times and in between his last visits he has been hard at work building a model of the observatory. We love it! Thank you very much Alan for your generous gift. "All the team were very welcoming, friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable about their chosen field. It fulfilled all expectations, and we were exceptionally lucky with the weather and viewing the ISS that just happened to shoot past, what a bonus! My son's class & teacher enjoyed viewing the pictures your members of staff & he took, he was really chuffed. Thanks all for a wonderful experience." John Sam & Nathan Rugby Kielder Newsletter | Summer 2017 | 7 OBSERVATORY NEWS Last but not least, we have also been sent this lovely drawing by Daisy! "Absolutely loved it. The staff were very passionate and giving us lots of information about what we were looking for. They all had different specialities which was great. We were lucky with the weather and got to see Jupiter/Saturn/Star Clusters etc. They were even able to point out the ISS as it flew by! Just amazing for anyone who loves space and is fascinated by the nights sky. Thanks very much Kielder staff." Chloe 8 | Kielder Newsletter | Summer 2017 SCIENCE SLOT Evolutionary biologist Wallace Arthur mixes astronomy with biology as he tells us about his new book, which explores the possibility of life evolving on exoplanets I started volunteering at the observatory in 2012 and became a Visiting Scientist there in 2016. Now I have a ‘popular science’ book about to be published, entitled Life through Time and Space, and I thought I should explain to all my fellow volunteers, as well as to staff and KOAS supporters, what this strange mixture of a book is all about. So, here goes… I’m an evolutionary biologist; I’ve been publishing scientific papers in this area for donkey’s years. I’m fascinated by how lifeforms have evolved on our planet over The main photo on the front cover of most of its history – about 90% of its the book shows part of the Milky Way history, to be as precise as we can be as seen from the southern hemisphere about such things.