Thursday 25th December 2025 and Thursday 1st January 2026.
Wishing you all a very Merry Chistmas and Happy New Year
We look forward to seeing you from Thursday 8th January 2006 when
we restart our normal weekly meetings.
Recently, VAS was fortunate to obtain a substantial grant from WightAID towards new astrophotography equipment. The equipment purchased provides both club members and visitors with an introductory and an advanced route into this fascinating area of astronomy.
The Seestar S50 is a small but feature packed telescope. All it needs to operate is power and a flat level surface to stand on. This telescope is both small and light, weighing in at just 2.5kg and measuring just 142.5 x 130 x 257mm !
When first switched on, the telescope starts by scanning the visible sky and working out where it is on the earth (this takes about 30 seconds or so). Control of where the telescope should look is made by an app on a smart phone or tablet. That’s simple enough as the app has lists of astronomical objects so it’s just a few clicks to complete the alignment. The real fun begins now as the telescope has a camera and can start taking photos and, after a few minutes, combining them into a fully complete colour photograph. The photo is shown live on the phone/tablet screen as it “develops”, and improves in detail as the exposure times lengthens.
Visit us on any clear Thursday evening and you can experience this amazing little telescope for yourself!
We’ve had the APM refractor telescope for sometime now but this has now been promoted to be the main observatory telescope with the additon of the Altair Hypacam 26M camera.
The camera has been fixed to the telescope but there have been a few problems with the colour filter wheel which needs further testing. Once this has been completed there will be photographs of both the installation and the resulting astro photographs on the this page.
Many thanks to WightAID for their generous grant. This has enabled VAS to move forward, providing members with extra new and exciting facilities and enabling visitors to take a clearer view into the dark skies on the Isle of Wight.
Did you know that you can support Vectis Astronomical Society by shopping online?
Every time you shop online via easyfundraising a donation will be made to VAS, and it won’t cost you a penny extra.
It’s really simple to get started; Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ and sign up for free.
Get shopping – your donations will be collected by easyfundraising and automatically sent to VAS. It couldn’t be easier!
There are no catches or hidden charges and we will be really grateful for your donations.
Thank you for your support.
Regulars at the observatory will have seen a fair few photos from Simon Plumley. There is no doubt that his views of planets and nebulae are among, if not the best taken by anyone on the Island. Tonight Simon showed a photo of something he openly admits he had previously hated, that thing being the moon.
Well, I’ll let you judge, but I think that this is one of his very best.
Now a little warning! It may take a while for you to see this image as it’s over 110Mb and has an original size of 6120 x 6394 pixels. Believe me it’s worth the wait….
Click here to see the picture.
If you have any of the following you’d like to see published, please contact me:
Of course, you are also welcome to submit any astronomy related links you would recommend.
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of John Wilson Smith MBE.
A founder member and tireless worker for VAS, John died on Sunday 30th December 2012
John was instrumental in the establishment of the Isle of Wight Observatory in Watery Lane Newchurch and will be remembered fondly by all members of the Society as well as the wider community of Newchurch
A celebration of John’s life will be held at the Pavilion (next to the observatory), on January 24th at 11am, followed by a family only interment at Springwood Cemetery
The BBC has just announced the death of Sir Patrick Moore
A group of his friends and staff said in a statement the broadcaster “passed away peacefully at 12.25pm this afternoon”. It added: “After a short spell in hospital last week, it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home, Farthings, where he today passed on, in the company of close friends and carers and his cat Ptolemy”.
Anyone with even a passing knowledge or interest in astronomy will surely know the important contribution Sir Patrick made during his life – His Wikipedia entry tells the story far better than I ever will.
Sir Patrick, an honorary member of the Vectis Astronomical Society for many years, will be sadly missed by astronomers everywhere.
It is with deep sadness that Vectis Astronomical Society announces the death of long-serving member and Observatory Director Roger Hayward.
Roger died at St Mary’s Hospital on 21st January. The Isle of Wight County Press obituary is available here.
The funeral service will be held at St Blasius Church, Church Road, Shanklin on February 3rd. at 2pm, followed by a private service at the crematorium.