Stargazing and navigating the night sky are being offered in a three-hour evening special at Dumfries Museum tomorrow and next Saturday.
Museum staff and members of Dumfries Astronomy Society are taking advantage of the site high above the town to offer an out of this world experience and the chance to learn about one of the region’s greatest scientists, Robbie Waland, and the building’s connections to astronomy.
The museum is centred around the town’s former observatory and the evenings will include the chance to explore some related artefacts – with short talks given by staff through the evening.
The gatherings – which are free admission, though donations to Dumfries Astronomy Society would be appreciated – are open to all ages, from 6pm to 9pm. There is no need to book.
Hot drinks will be available to help keep out the chill and organisers are warnings that warm clothing should be worn, along with waterproofs.
During the course of the evening, Dumfries Astronomy Society will be teaching what we can see with the naked eye, binoculars and telescopes.
Dumfries Museum was originally established by the Dumfries and Maxwelltown Astronomical Society in 1836 and their original telescope can still be seen today in the observatory.
As well as using the equipment, there will be the chance to learn how to find some basic features to navigate around the night sky from our latitude and how this revolves throughout the winter months.
Among the museum’s collection are items gifted by the late Dumfries-born Robbie Waland who is famed for making advances in the study of astronomy and mapped the moon’s surface for the Apollo Space Missions. He created the telescope which was used to map the moon to make it possible for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to take their famous walk.
Born in Leafield Road, Robbie took up his hobby in a garden shed, enjoying astronomy and creating telescopes. From a homemade “Dumfries Telescope” he created in 1945, he went on to construct the revolutionary and world-famous Schmidt-Casegrain telescope in St Andrews University Observatory which, for the first time, accurately photographed and recorded stars millions of light years away.
In 1962 he moved to Tucson, USA, to become a research associate to the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona with his work closely linked to America’s space programme. Robbie designed and constructed optics for a 61-inch reflecting telescope for planetary research and it was used to compile an atlas of the moon. He went on to conduct research on an electronic telescope for use on the satellites launched by the space shuttle and in 1992 had an asteroid named after him.