Oldham Optical: Scarborough & District Astronomical Society

How many of you really knew what SDAS was before you pushed the button to come to this page???

SDAS stands for Scarborough and District Astronomy Society.

As well as being Oldham Optical's local Society, it is a very active society.

There are regular meetings and talks that are usually held in Ayton Village Hall. (Ayton is a small village a few miles West of Scarborough)

The society is very active in arranging "Star Parties".

These are not only for members of the society, - the parties are open to any other members of the public who may wish to attend. They may be at the observatory site at Low Dalby, but they also use a variety of other sites in the North Yorkshire countryside around Scarborough.

In the autumn of 2001, the society working in conjunction with the Forestry Commission established and opened an observatory in the middle of the North York Moors at Low Dalby, near Thornton Le Dale. The observatory is sited at the Forestry Commission Visitor Centre, which is open up to October and there are Tea, Coffee and light refreshments available. (Daytime)

At present, the Low Dalby Observatory houses two large fixed telescopes, - a 12" Newtonian and a 18" Folded Newtonian that are housed in separate domes. It is expected the observatory will move and be re-built during 2006-7, when the new forest visitor centre opens.

These telescopes are usually open to the public on the first Friday of each month.  See SDAS website for details. SDAS Website

The latest acquisition by the society is a Meade 12" Schmidt Cassegrain. This was purchased thanks to a donation from the National Lottery. This is more mobile than the fixed telescopes and will be used at open days and Star parties at other sites.

To commemorate the tie up between the Forestry Commission and the SDAS, the Post Office produced a range of stamps that were on sale about November 2003.

The Society arranges or takes part in special events at Intervals. The eclipse on the morning of the 31st May 2003 was celebrated at Scarborough Spa.

And January 2006 saw the official opening of the Scarborough Star Disk.

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