The Alston Observatory - Jeremiah Horrocks Institute - UCLAN

[Paul]

The Alston Observatory - Jeremiah Horrocks Institute - UCLAN

The Alston Observatory is the purpose-built teaching and public outreach facility of the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute. It comprises a group of both modern and historical telescopes, a new Discovery Dome planetarium system and an exhibit on Telescopes as Time Machines funded by the Royal Astronomical Society.

A research-grade facility located near Preston, the observatory is run by enthusiastic astronomers from the University of Central Lancashire, the facility is accessible to the public during special monthly open evenings from October through March.

The centerpiece is the brand new Moses Holden Telescope, a 70 cm diameter state-of-the-art robotic telescope used for both undergraduate teaching and to encourage public engagement in science. Alongside the MHT we also have a range of smaller robotic telescopes ranging in size from 20 to 30 cm in diameter. Additionally there is the historic Wilfred Hall Telescope hosted on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The Discovery Dome is an exciting system that allows a laptop computer and digital projector to display movies onto a planetarium dome, located in our main building, as well as enhanced planetarium shows. This enables both informative material to be presented for evening events, and educational material for curriculum enhancement.

The musical accompaniment is the Blue Danube Waltz composed by Johann Strauss - performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra which is used in the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece "2001 - A Space Oddyssy"

 

 

Paul.

 

[Apatchy]

Well shot and great music, love how you caught the roof closing at the end.

[Paul]

On 16/05/2024 at 17:11, Apatchy said:

Well shot and great music, love how you caught the roof closing at the end.

Yeah it was lucky timing Pete, worked out well.

 

Paul.