What an amazing night Astronomy in the Pub was! I've still not quite recovered a week later!
I just wanted to post a public thanks to the wonderful folks from Astronomy 4 Everyone, Hants Astro, East Sussex Astronomical Society, Viva Lewes, Brighton Science Festival and all the others who helped out with keeping 350 people entertained for 6 solid hours of Astro-fun!
Over 350 people of all ages turned up over the course of the night, and looked through our telescopes in the back yard. The talks inside the pub were well recieved, and lots of people really had a great time by all accounts. We were also extremely fortunate to have clear skies for the entire 6 hours! Over the course of the night, we saw the ISS (twice), Venus, Jupiter and the Galilean Moons, the Pleiades, the Great Orion Nebula, and Mars. Those who stayed with us till the end at midnight also saw Saturn rising.
Especially big thanks to (in no particular order!) Paul Foster, Andy Lee, David Michael Woods, Neil Richardson, Stephen Witcher, Gary Burton, Louise Winters, Darren Baskill, Simon Plant, Linda Lethem, Aaron Durrant, Mike Lethem, Simon Thorne, and the rest of the bar staff. If I have missed anyone out, I do apologise.
In addition, the Brighton Science Festival and Viva Lewes also helped us publish the event, and I understand it was also mentioned on the local radio stations (not sure which ones though!) I was too busy last night to take photos, but I do know that some folks were better prepared than myself. If you happen to have any photos, please pass them on to me - I will be putting a page up with the photos from the event soon.
The good news is that it looks like this might become a regular thing in the South of England. Watch this space!
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