About The Club
'Brannel Astronomy' is dedicated to encouraging the study of
Astronomy and related subjects for the benefit of its members and
the general public. meetings are held in the Staff Common Room at Brannel School, Rectory Road, St. Stephen,
St. Austell, Cornwall. The meetings start at 7:30pm
Why Join An Astronomy Club?
- To learn about amateur astronomy and observing techniques.
The best way to learn how to observe the heavens is to do it
yourself, and the club provides both the training and
opportunity.
- Our membership consists of people from all walks of
life who all enjoy the beauty and mystery of the cosmos. Our
monthly meetings and observing sessions, provide an excellent
way to socialise and meet new people.
- The club is primarily a 'hands on get out and view' group
and we try to encourage members to attend the group
observing and workshop sessions held every month.
- Beginners to Astronomy are especially welcomed, and we
regularly hold seminars to get the neophyte up and
running.
A number of members are into astrophotography. They are the
ones standing in a dark dark field discussing Polar
alignment or the latest techniques for capturing that elusive
galaxy or cluster. More than likely it's a search for the
eye-piece screw one of them has just dropped into the grass.
The club meets twice every month. The 3rd Friday meetings usually involves an in house or an invited speaker, and tends to cover the more
cerebral aspects of Astronomy, although not exclusively so, while
the 1st Friday meetings is
purely practical in nature, where all those that attend can get
hands on experience. We also encourage members to bring their own
scopes or binoculars to this meeting as we will be out observing
if conditions allow.
Our History
Our club started out as the 'Roseland Observatory, by Clive
Purchase and Brian Sheen in 1998 to prepare for the Cornish
eclipse. It was established at the Roseland Community School and
he had an array of half a dozen large telescopes, including a four
inch Coheilostat for the study of the Sun. They concentrated on
teaching primary schools the basics of astronomy and then bringing
the groups to the observatory for night viewing sessions.
Following the eclipse, Clive moved
the bulk of the equipment to Callington, forming the 'Space Centre
at Callington Community College', and Brian Sheen relocated the
'Roseland Observatory' to Court Farm, nr St Stephen.
From then until December 2004, the 'Roseland Observatory'
evolved into a 40 plus group of amateur astronomers, sharing their
enthusiasm for visual as well as astrophotography. Unfortunately
the club outgrew the facilities at Court Farm, so in January of
2005, the club moved to Brannel School just up the road, and
changed its name to 'Brannel Astronomy'.
Facilities
The move to Brannel School is a luxurious improvement from the
drafty clubhouse we occupied for 3 years at Court Farm. As well as
offering a comfortable and spacious meeting place for our
bi-monthly meetings, the school also provides us with an
excellent observing site on Club nights. The School also offers us
the chance to play our part within the local community, by helping
to establish an increased awareness of the wonders of
Astronomy with the students of the school.
We also have use of two privately owned observing sites at
Chiverton Cross nr Truro and Polgooth nr St Austell. Bearing
in mind the close proximity to both these major conurbations, both
sites provide excellent dark site viewing for both observation and
imaging.
Equipment
The membership are able to muster an vast array of
equipment. At the last count in August of 2004, there were Five
8" Cassegrains- both manual and Go-To's and one
10" LX200. An assortment of 60mm, 80mm and 100mm Takahashi
and TMB Apochromatic refractors, One 11" Dob,
Various ETX 70's , 90's and 105's, Two 8" Newtonians, and a
number of 6", 4" and 3" Newtownians. as well as a
sprinkling of 4" and 6" Achromatic refractors. This
ensures there is always something decent to look through at our
club viewing sessions.
The imaging section is also impressively kitted out.
Imaging tools range from an SBIG XM2000 CCD thru various
35mm film bodies; the Classic Phillips Toucam webcam, as well
as some heavily modified Webcams such at the Atik ATK-2HS for long
exposure CCD imaging. The new Meade Lunar PIanetary Imager (LPI)
and Deep Sky Imager (DSI) cameras also have a number of owners within
the club. The new imaging craze using DSLR 's( Digital Single lens
Reflex cameras) add a couple of Canon D10 and a 350D bodies,
which are producing stunning images already.
The imagers within the club have their own
section, where their
work is displayed.
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