The Observatory
HLCO is taking a break for Christmas and will reopen in the new year.
This is to allow for ongoing repairs to the observatory structure and equipment caused by the recent storms.
If the weather permits there are observing sessions open to the public on a Friday evening.
Opening times and location details can be found on the Observatory page.
The observatory also opens on the first Sunday morning of the month from 10am until 1pm in support of Abbey Leys Farmers’ Market – again, weather permitting
Image of the month
Happy Christmas from HLCO…
… and a big THANK YOU to all our supporters.
The Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264)
Image credit: Eric McElroy
Meetings
HLCO holds meetings on the second Thursday of each month in St John’s church room (location details here). Talks in astronomy and space research are given by invited experts or members of the HLCO team themselves. A small charge is made for these events. See below for details of future meetings.
Upcoming HLCO Meetings
- February 13th 2025
Weights and Measures
Richard Bullock from Altrincham and District Astronomical Society will take us on a journey around the “top10” objects in our solar system.
A stylized illustration of our solar system (Image credit : NASA/JPL)
- March 13th 2025
Cosmic Rays
We welcome back Dr. Steve Barrett from the University of Liverpool for another of his mind-blowing and fascinating talks.
High-energy charged particles are continually raining down on the Earth. Where do they come from and how do they gain so much energy?
This talk includes a demonstration of a cloud chamber that allows cosmic rays to be seen