24th October

PWT outreach evening: A group of 42 Home Schooled adults and Children attended the Dome. IJL assisted by Ryan Houghton and Boon spilt the group into three. CEB gave a talk on observing and telescopes. IJL operated the PWT and Ryan and Boon conducted sky tours from the level 6 patio. The sky was totally clear though not perfect seeing, various asterims were pointed out with the laser and then the PWT was used to view M57 (Ring nebula) and M13 the Great Globular in Hercules)

10th October

RAS Open meeting Lecture: CEB gave an Open meeting lectuire at the RAS to some 80 Fellows entitled 'Kielder Observatory - A new platform for Dark Sky outreach'

20th September

Oxford University Alumni week-end: CEB lectured at Green College to Green and Templeton College Alumni in advance of the merger. The title of the talk was '140 years of Astronomy at the Radcliffe Observatory - once the most eminent in Europe'

12th September

JENAM 2008: CEB gave a talk as part of Symposium 2 - Communicating Astronomy and preparation for IYA. The talk was entitled 'Outreach with large telecopes and a new era in UK school astronomy'

5th March

School visits: 8 A level Physics pupils and 2 staff from Headington School came for an evening visit and were given a talk and tour of the Dopme. Sadly though cloud cleared a little later on there were no gaps during the visit

25th February

Astronomy for All lecture: Some 50 visitors attended the last in the series 'Giant Eyes on the Universe' given by Isobel Hook in Green College. The lecture was followed again by a tour of the Tower of the Winds by Professo Burley

18th February

Astronomy for All lecture: Some 60 visitors attended the lecture 'De-mystifying the night sky' given by Charlie Barclay in Green College. Again a tour of the old Radcliffe Observatory was included

During the afternoon from 4pm till 5.45pm Roberto Trotta and Charlie Barclay co-hosted the Bill Heine Show on Radio Oxford

11th February

Astronomy for All lecture: Some 60 visitors attended the lecture 'The Dark side of the Universe' given by Roberto Trotta in Green College as the first in the series of P.E.S.T lectures. The lecture was followed by a tour of the Tower of the Winds by Professor Jeff burley

30th January

School visit: Pupils from Mathew Arnold School attended the Dome and were lucky to have a clear evening run by IJL, RCWH and 2 post-grads

12th December

Physics Department evening: Some 60 visitors, including members of various sub-departments and their families, partners and a few children were lucky to have a clear evening for a visit to the PWT. In 6 half-hour slots IJL and CEB assisted by two first year Graduates demonstrated the telescope and also gave a brief 'laser-guided' tour of the winter sky. The winter zodiac constellations were viewed and M31 and Comet Holmes located, though it was too bright to se either clearly. Several Geminid meteors were seen. The PWT was used to view Mars, the open cluster M35, M45 the Pleiades and later in the evening M42, the great nebula in Orion and the trapezium

28th November

'School visit': 18 cub scouts from Grove pack (aged 8 to 10 yrs) accompanied by 10 adults attended talks, Q and A sessions and a tour of the PWT Dome. Sadly the evening was cloudy and partially cleared only as the group departed

21st November

School visit: 14 pupils from yrs 11,12 and 13 at Gosford Hill School and their Physics teacher attended a prentation and tour in the Astrophysics Department. Sadly the weather did not permit any observing. Split into two groups there was plenty of opportunity to ask questions and learn about observational techniques

9th September

Green College (ex-Radcliffe Observatory) Open Day: Some 400 visitors attended the grounds and lectures laid on at Green College as part of their Heritage Open Day. Professor Jeff Burley (Development Fellow) lectured on the History and Architecture of the Observatory and Charles Barclay (Director of the Blackett Observatory (Marlborough Colelge) lectured on the Astronomy carried out there. These lectures were repeated throughout the afternoon and were attended by some 200 people.

2nd July

Sutton Trust visit: 24 sixth form pupils followed by 26 science teachers (some from as far as Scotland), had 2 hour visits to the Department including a talk, tour of the PWT Dome and, given the poor weather, were lucky to be able to view the Sun with a large single spot 961 using solar goggles, solar projection box and ETX 105 with broadband filter

23rd May

Public lecture: After 90 minutes on the Bill Heine show on Radio Oxford, Dr Chris Lintott delivered an excellent lecture 'Who, What and When , progress in the Big questions in astrophysics' to a full lecture theatre as the thrid and last in the Green College PEST outreach series. The lecture was again followed by a tour of the Radcliffe Observatory Tower

16th May

Public Lecture: A large audience filled the EP Abrahams lecture theatre at Green College for the second PEST lecture entitled 'Black Holes and cosmic corkscews' given by Dr Katherine Blundell of Oxford Astrophysics

14th May

Teacher visit: Representatives from Oxford High School, Mathew Arnold School, Oratory School and also from the History of Science Museum visited the PWT and were able to discuss pupil visits and GCSE Astronomy

2nd May

Public Lecture: An audience of some 30 visitors attended the lecture 'Living in the atmosphere of the Sun' given by Charles Barclay, visitopr in Oxford Astrophysics at Green College

23rd March

6th Form lectures: Some 60 6th form pupils from as far away as Monmouth attended 4 lectures in the Martin Wood lecture theatre organised by the Museum of the History of Science

23rd February

External visit: 2 local families visited the Dome for a talk and viewing the PWT. Sadly the cloud prevented any observation, despite occasional glimpses of the Moon

19th February

School visit: Some 22 girls (aged 9 and 10) accompanied by 2 teachers visited from Oxford High School. The weather was unfortunately poor and cloudy, nevertheless they had a tour of the PWT, a talk and question and answer session.

22nd January

School visit: A large group of international students aged 15 and 16 accompanied by 4 adults from the European School, Culham visited the PWT. The group split into 3 and rotated through a talk on observing, a look by eye and binoculars at the January sky and 30 minutes each in the Dome. The crescent Moon, Saturn and M42 being the main targets.

18th December

Green College visiting night: A small group of academics gathered for a tour of the PWT and talk on the Green College-Astrophysics connections. Unfortunately the cloud allowed only viewing of one of the Oxford spires.

28th November

Open night: Physics Department staff visited in 5 groups of 10. Early visits were clouded out and the Moon was observed through thin cloud. Later the sky cleared bar thin cirrus and Moon, M45, h and chi Persei and M31 were viewed

23rd November

External visit: OUSAS visited in two groups of 8. The evening started cloudy but cleared later allowing observation of M42 (Orion nebula), h and chi Persei and M31 (Andromeda galaxy)

2nd November

External Society visit: OUSAS (Oxford University Space and Astronomy Society visited in 2 groups of 10. The night was clear and allowed observation of many targets including M13(the great Globular in Hercules), M57 (the Ring nebula in Lyra), M45 (the Pleiades), h and chi Persei (double Open Cluster), Uranus, the Moon and Comet Swan

30th October

School visit: 22 students and 2 teachers visited from St Gregory the Great School. Split into two groups for a talk and tour, sadly the evening was cloudy and allowed no observation

Early October

Telecope allignment and set up checking by IJL

25th September

School visit: 24 pupils from years 12 and 13 at Gosford School with their teacher visited the Astrophysics Department and were givena talk on observational astronomy and despite rain earlier in the afternoon managed to see M13 and the Ring nebula through the 16 inch and the Summer Triangle and Milky Way stars through binoculars on the patio

10th September

Green College (ex-Radcliffe Observatory) Open Day: Some 700 visitors attended the grounds and lectures laid on at Green College as part of their Heritage Open Day. Professor Jeff Burley (Development Fellow) lectured on the History of the Observatory and Charles Barclay (Director Blackett Observatory Marlborough) lectured on the Astronomy carried out there. These lectures were repeated throughout the afternoon and were attended by some 300+ people

5th July

Sutton Trust visit: As part of the Introduction to Oxfod Physics week funded by the Sutton Trust, 23 6th form students from a variety of State Schools visited the Astrophysics Department accompanied by 2 Physics Undergraduates. C. Barclay gave a lecture on Observational Astronomy and aided by 2 Astrophysics Graduates, groups were given an introduction to the PWT by Dr Ian Lewis.

23rd May

'Astronomy for All' public lecture: Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Visiting Professor in Astrophysics gave the last in the Green College lecture series to another full lecture theatre on 'You are made of star stuff'. The lecture was again followed by a tour of the Tower of the Winds

15th May

'Astronomy for All' public lecture: Charles Barclay, Director of the Blackett Observatory Marlborough College and Visitor in Oxford Astrophysics gave the second lecture in the series to a packed lecture theatre. The lecture was titled 'Ancient Observatories - Archaeoastronomy'. The lecture was again followed by a tour of the Tower of the Winds

2nd May

'Astronomy for All' public lecture: Professor Roger Davies, Philip Wetton Professor of Astrophysics and Chairman of Physics, gave the first in the series of public lectures at Green College entitled 'Galaxies and Black Holes'. This was attended by a diverse audience of around 100 visitors. The lecture was followed by a tour of the Radcliffe Observatory, Tower of the Winds given by Professor Jeff Burley of Green College.

17th March

Green College visit: A distinguished group of Fellows from Green College and Linacre College were given a presentation on the Green College-Marlborough-Astrophysics connection and visited the PWT Dome. Sadly the evening was totally cloudy

3rd March

School evening: 14 pupils from Cherwell School (all studying GCSE Astronomy) visited the Department accompanied by 2 teachers. The night was clear and cold, though the seeing was relatively poor. A tour of the winter sky was given and all were able to view Saturn and M42 through the PWT. Mars and h and chi Persei were also observed

17th February 2006

Open evening:The PWT was open for the first time to a group of 10 local teachers (Cherwell School, European School Culham, Headington School, Oxford High School and St Gregory the Great's), establishing links for future pupil visits. The Dome was then open to groups who had signed down for 30 minute slots from the Physics Department. Though not a perfect evening and with encroaching cloud, most of the 30 visitors were able to view at least Saturn and 3 of its moons and some were also able to view M42, the Orion nebula.

21st December 2005

Observatory official opening: Dr Jon Dellandrea the Pro Vice Chancellor opened the Dome in the presence of local press and some 20 guests including Philip Wetton, the benefactor and Roger Davies Chairman of Physics and Philip Wetton Professor of Astrophysics. A drinks party was then held in the 5th Floor Common room for staff, graduates and families from the Astrophysics Department.