The 4th Monday of every month is a busy day for me at the moment. In the morning, I go to the Stargazing session. Now, we use a couple of books to look at what has been happening in the sky that can be seen with the naked eye. I had to confess that apart from Saturday night, when I went out just to see if the moon was visible from my proposed observing area (it was, in the Eastern sky), I had done no observing at all in the previous four weeks – my excuse being that we were on holiday mostly in areas of very high light pollution. That excuse falls apart when the transatlantic crossing is mentioned, and I resort to I just didn’t do it.
The stargazing session ran from 10:00 to 11:30. I went home to deliver the anti-bite pen to Elayne and to remove some of the weight from my bag. That done, I went on my first walk since returning to the UK. The Cockleponds were still there, and the swans were very attentive, but slightly confused about the lack of food.
The afternoon session solution was History, and the subject was “Prisons”. There were quite a few speakers, and the focus was on UK prisons frm 1700’s to today, with many mentioning the prison hulks, of which there were several in Portsmouth harbour. One of the speakers (actually, a member of the Stargazing Group) did a talk on an American Civil War prison, which was a good diversion.
Next month’s topic is Medicinal Remedies. I have a thought on that, but photos will be difficult.
Monday evenings at the moment are filled with the Hampshire Astronomy Group. Only the second week, and already I am engrossed. This week continued the history of astronomy line, which was fascinating. Next week is telescopes, which is particularly relevant at the moment.
