You may know that Friends of the Lake District (FLD) have been running a small project called 'See the Stars' getting people interested in the night sky and raising awareness of light pollution. This has been funded by the Lake District Sustainable Development Fund and the final bit of this is to train some volunteers in basic astronomy. Interested? Read on!
Stuart Atkinson, a local astronomer is going to run an event. It is on Monday 27 Feb at the FLD offices and will start around 4pm. It will be 2 talks, with a break in the middle. These will cover the basics of astronomy and stargazing. We hope that we will finish the evening with a practical session, as that evening Venus is bright and low, above and to Venus' left, is Jupiter, and above and to Jupiter's left, a beautiful crescent Moon! Clear skies permitting of course!
Judith Moore is leading a Friends of the Lake District initiative, working to build a network of interested people who will be willing to help out at other dark sky/star gazing events - don't worry, you won't be expected to be an expert, just to be willing to share what you learn and be enthusiastic about dark skies. You will also need to be prepared to carry on learning a bit more about what can be seen each month in the night sky, by getting a magazine such as the Sky at Night or Astronomy Now. It may be possible that these could be available at designated 'Dark Skies Venues' to share and save on costs.
The event is free, but has limited places. You don't need any prior knowledge, just interest and willingness to learn. Please let judith-moore@fld.org.uk know if you are interested no later than 16 Feb. please.
