Coronavirus Update

Apologies all for the lack of updates and events recently, we were down to 1 staff member for most of last year.

Due to the current need for social distancing measures we have made the decision to temporarily cancel all events at The Malcolm Parry Observatory.

Once the school term is well underway we will be looking into options for bringing some events back but, for now, we will not be open.

We will update here if anything changes.

Stay Safe and Keep Looking Up

Mrs Goodacre and all staff at the Malcolm Parry Observatory.

Family Open Dome 11th July 2019

The next Family Open Dome event is this Thursday the 11th July and will be an evening of myth busting and making.

Starting at 6pm the family session includes making a Space Shuttle glider that you can take home and fly. There will also be a fact or fiction sheet to fill in, the answers to which will be revealed during the talk starting at 7pm.

Mr M. Perkins will present a talk on the facts and fiction of space answering such questions as “Did NASA really invent a pen to write in space?” and “Are sailboats the future of space travel?”.

Activities start in LR2G at 6pm and refreshments will be available from 6.30pm in time for the start of the talk in the usual location of IT14G. All are welcome, under 16’s should be accompanied by an adult please. A suggested donation of £2 is appreciated towards costs.

If weather permits there may be opportunity for some solar observing prior to the main talk at 7pm and observatory tours will take place after the talk for anybody interested in seeing our observatory in detail.

Open Dome 6th June 2019 – Detecting Meteors

The next open dome event is on Thursday the 6th June at the usual time of 7pm. This month our guest speaker is Steve Ibbotson of Astrosphere Planetarium. Steve will be talking about how to observe and detect meteors. In particular the use of radio astronomy for detecting meteors. This will be followed up by Mr M Perkins who will introduce the Long Eaton School’s latest project, a meteor detector, currently being built by a group of year 7 girls as part of the Astronomy and STEM club.

Doors open at 6.30pm when refreshments will be available. Prior to the talk there will be opportunity to do some solar observing if the weather permits. Everybody is welcome, under 16’s to be accompanied by an adult please. A suggested donation of £2 is welcomed, with all proceeds going towards the cost of refreshments and other costs.

Open Dome 9th May 7pm – Black Holes and Revelations

The next open dome event at the Malcolm Parry Observatory Long Eaton is this coming Thursday evening, 9th May 2019 at 7pm.

Mr M. Perkins will be presenting a talk about Black Holes. Concentrating on the recent breaking news of a Black Hole being imaged for the first time, the talk will also cover a brief history of the understanding of these truly massive objects.

Weather permitting there will be chance for some solar observing prior to the talk which itself will start around 7.30pm. Doors open at 6.30pm and refreshments will be available. Admission is open to anybody, a suggested donation of £2 per adult is greatly appreciated towards running costs. Under 16’s to be accompanied by an adult please.