Superb composite picture produced by Nik Szymanek showing the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope dome against a CCD image of the sky

Jeffrey is a retired School Teacher who is well-known in the Cambridge area as an enthusiastic and entertaining astronomy lecturer. He has run beginners' courses for several years and has introduced many people to the subject.

We have been running Green Witch One-day Courses for several years and they are always highly rated by the people attending them. We publish the dates of the courses in the list below, as soon as they are confirmed. If there are no dates shown it is worth contacting us to see what is being planned.

The day is split up into four talks with refreshments and a light lunch in between, with adequate time for discussion and questions. The venue is near to the Green Witch showroom at Dry Drayton.

The aim is to make the day friendly and enjoyable but informative. The course for Absolute Beginners is especially popular and is aimed at anyone getting started in astronomy. The 'Next Steps' course takes you on from the Absolute Beginners course but is suitable for anyone with a basic knowledge who wants to extend it or have some of the gaps filled in.

Astronomy for Absolute Beginners

• Saturday, 14th January 2006

Astronomy for Beginners - Next Steps

• Saturday, 18th February 2006

Essential Information

• Meet at: Green Witch Showroom, Unit 6 Dry Drayton Industries
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Lunch and Refreshments included
• Cost £35
• Call 01954 211288 to reserve a place

Course Outline (Absolute Beginners)

• Session 1
  A trip around the Universe. Starting from the Earth, looking at the various things in the Universe - planets, stars, nebulae and galaxies.
• Session 2
  Telescopes - different types of telescopes and mounting. Setting up and using a telescope. Observing tips.
• Session 3
  Things you need to know. How to find your way about. Using a star atlas. Star and constellation names. The magnitude system. Right Ascension and Declination. Messier list.
• Session 4
  What you can expect to see with a telescope. Observing the Moon and planets. Observing deep space. Recording your observations.

Course Outline (Astronomy for Beginners - Next Steps)

• Session 1
  The Solar System. A history of discovery and a look at our present knowledge of the Sun's family and the Earth as a member.
• Session 2
  Measuring Distance. Various methods astronomers have of finding how far away things are in the Universe.
• Session 3
  The Stars. How they are born, live their lives and die. A study of similarities and differences between them.
• Session 4
  Cosmology. A look at the entire Universe to see how it may have started and possibly end. And, of course, how it is doing at present.