An Introduction to Stargazing

Name: An Introduction to Stargazing
Start: 2023-10-21T17:30:00+00:00
End: 2023-10-21T19:00:00+00:00
Location: Wicken Fen - National Trust

Saturday 21st October 2023 from 18:30pm to 20:00pm

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Wicken Fen - National Trust
Lode Lane, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5XP

This event has been organised for our local communities at Swaffham Prior, Swaffham Bulbeck and Bottisham. Please do not try to book this event unless you are a family living in these villages.

Members of the Cambridge Astronomical Association (CAA) will unlock some of the secrets of the night sky. They will talk you through what can be seen with the naked eye or a pair of binoculars and demonstrate the different types of telescopes that you can use.

Following that, a planetarium-style presentation will take place in the Learning Centre, or if the skies are clear, the CAA will lead the group onto Sedge Fen to discover the night skies through their telescopes (we may even get a glimpse of the Orionid meteor shower).

This activity is part of our community engagement project, Footprints, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Please note that this has already taken place on 21/10/2023

Event organiser

National Trust is organising this event

Please contact National Trust directly for more details regarding this event or, if appropriate, contact the event venue.

Email: [email protected]
Website: National Trust
Twitter: @nationaltrust
Facebook: National Trust

Event booking

Those living in Swaffham Prior, Swaffham Bulbeck and Bottisham may book tickets for this event via the National Trust website.

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Event darkness

The Moon has a big impact on the visibility of celestial bodies in the night sky. Try to plan your stargazing when there is no bright Moon at night as this is when the skies will be at their darkest.

The below chart shows if and when the skies will be at their darkest during this event. Moonlight is shown in light yellow and the Sun's twilight in light blue. Midnight on the date shown is shown as a white line with sunset to the left and sunrise the next morning to the right. A black background with stars shows the best times for stargazing.

Sat 21st Oct

First Quarter

37 % illuminated

Dark from 21:09 to 05:21

Dark for 8h 12m

Local light pollution

Wicken Fen - National Trust is estimated to have light pollution levels similar to asemi-rural semi-rural location based on the latest data from the VIIRS satellite.