Next public observing sessions
The next WOLAS observing session at Ruislip Lido will be announced in due course. The planned event from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 January has been cancelled.
Events take place between 6 pm and 8 pm and are free to attend, but car parking charges may apply. Ruislip Lido is off Bury Street, and access is via Reservoir Road, HA4 7TY. Park at the car park at the end of Reservoir Road and be prepared to walk about 200 m along the well-surfaced road to our observing site, which is accessible to wheelchairs. The road is unlit so you may need a torch.
Families and members of the general public are all welcome to turn up: we provide the instruments. In case cloud causes the event to be cancelled please check our website by 4pm each day where the GO/NOGO decision will be published.
We’ll be viewing the dramatic craters of the Moon, mighty Jupiter and the ringed planet Saturn, along with other objects in the sky such as the stunning Orion Nebula, the lovely Pleiades star cluster and the Andromeda Galaxy. We might even be able to show you the distant planets Uranus and Neptune.
We hope that the Turntable Tea Room will be open. Please note that there are no toilets available onsite.
If you would like to be notified about future public observing sessions in advance, please contact Public Outreach.
WOLAS Members’ Weekend Observing trips
Spring 2027
The Spring 2027 WOLAS Observing Trip will again be to our favourite dark sky location of Llanerchindda Farm in Mid-Wales and we have booked the whole place again. The Farm is a good dark skies location in beautiful countriside and the family that run the guest house are fabulously welcoming to us. There are approx 25 beds there and they provide wonderful breakfast and evening meals. There are plenty of things to do in the daytime, especially if you like walking. Observing takes place a short distance from the guest house on a hardstanding area and equipment can be safely locked in a large metal shed.
The 2027 event will run from Friday 9th April to Monday 12th April.
As the Farm is such a popular place, we have also booked the same venue for the 2028 Spring Observing weekend. This will be held on the weekend of Friday 24th March to Monday 27th March 2028.
To book a room you need to be a member of WOLAS. You should book directly with the Farm on 01550 750274, stating that you are a member of WOLAS. Contact the WOLAS Treasurer and Membership Secretary if you need more help with booking (see contacts).
You can see pictures from previous observing trips by going to Member’s Pages and logging in; you will then be able to browse at the WOLAS Observing Trips Gallery.
A pdf of WOLAS observing trips stretching back to 1978 can be viewed by clicking below:
Kelling Heath Star Party
Members often attend the autumn Equinox Star Party at Kelling Heath in Norfolk. Ask a committee member who might be going to the next one, although bookings for this are made directly with the Kelling camp site.