Saturn, Students and a Very Busy Sunday: Blackheath Observing - 4 October 2026
For the first couple of hours of Sunday evening, I barely moved away from my telescope. There was a queue, Saturn was in the eyepiece, and everyone wanted a look.
By the end of the session, well over 200 people had joined us on Blackheath. A good number were students from the UCL Space Society, with many of the other visitors having found us through Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. We knew there was plenty of interest before the evening began, but that was still a remarkable turnout for a Sunday weather back-up.
Fortunately, Saturn was more than capable of keeping everyone entertained.
We had moved the session from Saturday because Sunday offered the better forecast. There was still some high cloud to contend with, but light winds and workable gaps gave us enough reason to go ahead.
Alec was first on site, with Frederik and me arriving at about the same time, followed by Clive and the other volunteers. By 7pm, many of us were already set up at our usual spot north of Talbot Place. That proved useful, because visitors were arriving well before the official 7.30pm start.
Among them were the UCL students, who had chosen our observing session for their first social event of the new student year. There were rather a lot of them, and they had plenty of questions.
I caught my first glimpse of Saturn just after 7.30pm, as it appeared above Shooters Hill. Initially, the view was wobbly and distinctly pink, with the Earth’s atmosphere doing its best to interfere. As the planet climbed higher, however, the rings became pin-sharp. Titan was the first moon I picked out, followed by several others as the view improved.
Then the queue began in earnest.
Dozens of people waited their turn, and everyone who looked through the eyepiece saw the ringed planet. The reactions were wonderfully consistent: “wow”, “amazing”, “oh my God”, and plenty of variations on the same theme. I had quite a lot of time to listen to them, since I was going nowhere for a while.
One visitor at Alec’s telescope was spending rather longer on the view. A degree student from the University of the Arts London kept returning to Saturn and its moons, sketching the detail she could see. Her final-year thesis is on “Illustration in Astronomy”, so this was also an opportunity to gather material for her work.
Alec eventually set up his observing seat to give her a more comfortable, steady position at the eyepiece. Much of the sketching was done in the dark, with Hayden offering red-light illumination at one point so she could see what she was drawing.
It would be lovely to see the finished sketch. An evening on Blackheath contributing to a final-year thesis was a rather pleasing outcome.
Elsewhere, the smart telescopes were attracting queues of their own.
Paul Merriman had set his Dwarf to work on Andromeda through the wispy cloud, then started aligning his ETX. He never completed the second part. A stream of visitors wanted to know about the smart scope, and that kept him occupied for the next couple of hours.
The students were fascinated by the technology, while one “lapsed” traditional telescope owner was sufficiently encouraged to put a smart scope on his Christmas list. Conversations ranged from what galaxies and nebulae actually are to what Messier might have seen through his own equipment.
Paul’s eventual opportunity to circulate came when the Dwarf’s storage filled up. After packing away, he managed to visit Frederik, Alec and me for views of Saturn, its moons and Albireo, along with some useful equipment discussions. By the following morning, he was already considering how to shorten his set-up time.
Sara was equally busy. The students often arrived at her telescope in groups of eight or ten, bringing enough questions to keep any volunteer occupied. Another visitor wanted to know about smart scopes because her granddaughter was interested in one. Sara felt she had been subjected to something approaching the Spanish Inquisition, although the conversation ended with a useful discovery: the visitor was coming to Tuesday’s smart-telescope masterclass to learn about the S30.
Sara explained that she would probably hear much the same information again, since Sara would be giving that part of the talk.
Visitors at the telescopes and the UCL Space Society group. Pictures by Mike Meynell and Frederik Botha.
There were some practical lessons in managing such a large gathering after dark. Phone torches, bright screens and accidental camera flashes made appearances, usually because people simply hadn’t realised their effect on night vision.
Paul found that visitors were happy to switch off the lights once he explained. Frederik also discovered that asking one person could be quite effective: they would pass the message on to the rest of their group. With so many people arriving, however, Sara found it difficult to keep repeating the explanation while also answering questions and showing targets.
Frederik came away with ideas about positioning his two telescopes so visitors could reach the eyepieces more easily. Between transporting equipment, setting up in fading light and keeping access clear around tripods, there is quite a bit to think about before anyone gets their first view.
Likhitha had intended to volunteer with her telescope for the first time, but transporting it proved tricky. She came along as a visitor instead and learnt a great deal within an hour. Her account of how heartwarming it was to find so many people sharing the same interest was particularly encouraging.
She also enjoyed the visiting fox. Apparently, our events now have a regular wildlife element.
My Seestar had been working away while I was occupied with Saturn. I began with M81 and M82, since the northern sky was clearest for a while, before making a quick return to NGC 7331. The supernova we had observed at the previous session was still very bright and easy to distinguish against the glow of the galaxy.
Next came the Andromeda Galaxy, followed by NGC 891. This edge-on spiral was a particularly satisfying target, its narrow disc and dark dust lane showing well in the image.
Other smart scopes were recording targets including M27, the Dumbbell Nebula, NGC 281, the Pacman Nebula, and the globular cluster M13. The persistent high haze made faint deep-sky objects difficult through an eyepiece, but the cameras still gave us plenty to show and discuss.
M81 and M82, Andromeda, NGC 891 and other smart-scope targets. Pictures by Mike Meynell and Sara Clark.
When I finally managed to leave my telescope, it was good to catch up with the volunteers and talk to some of the visitors. Many had seen our promotion during the previous week, so it was encouraging to find that the effort on social media had brought people along.
Instagram and TikTok appear to have earned their place in the observing programme. I may have to keep making those videos.
Back at the eyepiece, Albireo and the Double-Double, Epsilon Lyrae, soon had people queuing again. Double stars gave us worthwhile targets through the haze, while Alec also managed a good view of Neptune through his 180mm telescope.
By around 10.30pm, much of the crowd had drifted away. Clearer skies would certainly have helped, but the attendance, conversations and sustained enthusiasm at the telescopes had made this a very successful evening. Saturn had done particularly well for us.
Thank you to all the volunteers for a brilliant effort, and to everyone who joined us. There was plenty for visitors to enjoy, even if some of us took a while to find a break in the queue.
Our next Blackheath session is planned for Saturday 17 October, with Sunday 18 October as the weather back-up. Keep an eye on the event page for confirmation.
I look forward to seeing you there. I might even get away from my telescope occasionally.
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