Richard and Dennis compete to be heard
Despite storm Dennis doing his best to put everyone off, our wonderful guests braved the forecast last Saturday and made the journey, from as far afield as Sevenoaks, Manchester and Chesterfield, to our first Astro Evening Sleepover event, part of the North York Moors Dark Skies Festival.
As everyone arrived it was a little gusty but mostly dry, so after hot chocolate and flapjacks everyone was able to unload into their heated pods and settle in.
Our barn was set up ready for supper and the space heater blasted the chills away. While we tucked into chilli con carne followed by apple strudel and custard, the storm started to wind itself up outside. I had been avidly following the weather forecast hour by hour and was convinced we may have a glimpse of the stars by 9.30 but no one else seemed too hopeful.
Astronomer, Richard then began his presentation with a warning that increasing light pollution is gradually reducing the areas where we can see the stars on a clear night. Some children have never seen the wonders of our night skies and the constellations many of us are so familiar with. Richard explained how the North York Moors National Park is in the process of applying for dark sky status and how we can all do our bit to reduce light pollution (see picture above) . He went on to show some amazing photos that he and others have taken of the NYM dark skies and explain how they had captured the shots. By now Dennis was rattling the doors and roof and throwing a months worth of rain horizontally at the outside of the barn - Richard did well to have us hear over the din. But it added a unique and dramatic edge to proceedings.
After a break for hot drinks (and a chance for Gavin and I to try and get our power back on - just in our house thankfully) Richard continued with his Planetarium presentation, with Dennis much calmer by now - a fascinating look at the star maps of differing nation's constellations and the names they've been given. He fully engaged us all with a closer look at some of the stars we can see with the naked eye as well as a galaxy spotting session. Richard answered many questions and we learned a great deal about our own galaxy (Milky Way) and the wider universe.
As guests headed off to their pods the sky cleared at - you guessed it, 9.30 and Richard was able to take the few of us remaining outside, directing us where to look through binoculars and guiding with his laser pointer through what was visible, before the cloud returned. A great end to a fabulous evening.
Meanwhile we look forward to hearing the, hopefully positive, news next month that the the North York Moors National Park has achieved Dark Sky status.
Read more about Richard's work here
https://darkskiesuk.org/about/