East Midlands Stargazers

by Craig Booth
(Nottingham, UK)

The East Midlands Stargazers is a small but growing online community of amateur astronomers from all over the East Midlands.

We can be found by going to our website at http://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.org.uk/. We have members in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire so meeting other local astronomers is easy by being a member of our forum.

Many of our members are also members of astronomical societies based in the East Midlands, such as the Derby & District Astronomical Society, the Ilkeston District Astronomical Society, the Leicester Astronomical Society and the Nottingham Astronomical Society. Astronomy in the East Midlands, quick and easy!

East Midlands Stargazers has two dedicated dark sites for imaging and observing, which are available for use by our "Dark Site Members" all year round.

One of these dark sites is near Nottingham and the other is near Belper, both providing great dark skies away from the bulk of the light pollution. You can read about our observations in our reports section of the forum. These are informal, but are still a great record of the things we've observed.

East Midlands Stargazers began in July 2010 when two members, Doc and Cosmic Dave, decided to do something for the local astronomy community. Glider was the first member to meet Doc at the Plank & Leggit pub, in Long Eaton, where a great many details were discussed.

It was agreed that Glider would take on the role of treasurer, something he still does to this day. Glider was also key in securing the first of our two dark sites, at Sawley. Belper would soon follow.

Turning such an idea into a fast growing community needed a lot of time and dedication. It's thanks to their hard work, the warmth of the community and last but not least, the helping hand from the Stargazers Lounge who provided a temporary home for us, East Midlands Stargazers grew to what it is now.

In late 2011, it was decided that we needed a home of our own. After some deliberation with our active members and a lot of work, the East Midlands Stargazers forum was launched. We've quickly seen the forum become a hub of communication between members and all of our meets are arranged via the forum.

Today East Midlands Stargazers continues to provide a forum for the discussion of astronomy and a social platform on which astronomers in the East Midlands, from all walks of life, can meet to socialise and observe.