| Observatory and Open Nights |
The club’s observatory at Toothill is located in a relatively dark site just outside Southampton, see map below.
It opens to the public on the dates in the table below. You will see that weekend sessions are now arranged in pairs, with a “primary” and a “back-up”. The primary will take place, weather permitting, but the back-up will only take place if the corresponding primary sessions were both clouded out. Each session is open ended, we stay until we’ve had enough or the weather closes in.
No need to book, just turn up.
Members admitted free. Non-members: adults, recommended donation £5, children free.
Cash payments only, please. No cards
Toilets and free parking are available.
The observatory contains:
- 14″ Meade telescope
- 8″ Celestron HD Edge
- 6″ Celestron Nexstar SE
- 20 x 80 binoculars
- Computer with desktop planetarium
| Timetable of Open Nights – 2026 | |||
| Dates | Open Time | On View | Moon State |
| August 12th: Eclipse and Petseide Openings | 6:00 pm (Eclipse) 9:30 PM (Perseids) | Partial Solar Eclipse: Starting at 6:16 PM with Max (92%) at 7:14 PM NB Last contact not Visible. Followed by Opening for Perseid Meteor Shower | No Moon |
| September Primary Dates: Fri 4th, Sat 5th Back-up Dates: Fri 11th Sept, Sat 12th Sept | 9:00 pm | Star Clusters, Double Stars, M13, M57, M45 Pleiades, M31 Andromeda Galaxy | Moon 46% set 15:48 / 35% set 16:52 Back Up: No Moon / 3% |
| October Primary Dates: Fri 9th, Sat 10th Back-up Dates: Fri 16 Oct, Sat 17th | 7:30 pm | Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, M13, M57, M45 Pleiades, M31 Andromeda Galaxy, 10P/ Temple Comet, Star clusters, double stars | Moon: No Moon Back Up 32% set 21:00 / 42% set 22:05 |
| November Primary Dates: Fri 6th, Sat 7th Back-up Dates: Fri 13th Nov, Sat 14th Nov | 7:30 pm | Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, M13, M57, M45 Pleiades, M31 Andromeda Galaxy, Sirius, Star clusters, double stars | Moon: No Moon Back Up: Moon 17% set 18:52 – 26% set 20:00 |
| December Primary Dates: Fri 4th, Sat 5th Back-up Dates: Fri 11th Dec, Sat 5th Dec | 7:30 pm | Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, M45 Pleiades, M31 Andromeda Galaxy, M42 Orion Nebula, Star clusters, double stars | No Moon Back Up: No Moon |
| January Primary Dates: Fri 15th, Sat 16th Back-up Dates: Fri 29th Jan, Sat 30th Jan | 7:30 pm | Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, M45 Pleiades, M31 Andromeda Galaxy, M42 Orion Nebula, Star clusters, double stars | Moon 46% (Fri ), 57% (Sat) Back Up: Last Quarter |
