Trading Milking for the Milky Way

[zavvy]

<b>Trading Milking for the Milky Way<br /></b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />A farmer from Cornwall has found an unusual use for his redundant land by creating his own observatory. <br /><br />Ken Bennett has ploughed thousands of pounds into building four telescope domes in a field where he once kept animals at Upton Cross, near Liskeard. <br /><br />Mr Bennett, 59, hopes the facility on his former farm will attract every kind of astronomer, via his website, when it is complete. <br /><br />He was a nuclear engineering supervisor until he took up farming in 1987. <br /><br />Mr Bennett believes his observatory in the heart of the Cornish countryside will be an "inspiration" to youngsters and astronomers of all ages. <br /><br />The four distinctive shuttered white domes perched at the top of a gently sloping hillside are as yet empty of equipment, apart from Mr Bennett's own relatively small telescope. <br /><br />But Royal Astronomical Society experts are helping to recommend a combination of four large telescopes, and the observatory should be open for use by autumn 2005. <br /><br />Mike Willmott, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a science teacher at Treviglas Community College in Newquay, is advising Mr Bennett. <br /><br />He praised Mr Bennett's vision in creating a "unique" facility to bridge the gap between amateurs with their own small telescopes and huge research observatories. <br /><br /><br />"It won't be a question of having to be an academic to use it," he said. <br /><br />"Whether you are interested from a hobby point of view or an academic point of view, he's got a facility that people will have easy access to." <br /><br />He acquired outline planning permission for the observatory to be called Steren Kernow - Cornish for "Cornwall Star" - in 2000. <br /><br />Because he was not eligible for European Union funding Mr Bennett has so far had to pay for the project himself, but

 

[kai_25]

It can be, but dangerous. We all know England has a high humidity, and so this type of weather may affect his results and go wrong!!!!

 

[nacnud]

Thats great, the light pollution in the UK is just horrific, Cornwall is one of the few places left that doesn't suffer too badly.<br /><br />I normally spend Eater week down it Cornwall and walking back from the pub on a clear nigh takes much longer than it should, because of stopping to look at the stars although there maybe other reasons why the walk takes a while <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />. The only problem is that the weather is very changeable so the seeing conditions can't be relied upon.<br />

 

[jcdenton]

<font color="yellow">the light pollution in the UK is just horrific</font><br /><br />Damn straight, Japan looks pretty bad too. We don't have it too good here in Ontario, Canada either. We also have the misfortune of having too many cloudy nights and for 2 months it's too cold to go out with a scope. I really envy Australia (look at their dark skies!).<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>