Welcome to CaDAS
Cleveland and Darlington Astronomical Society ( CaDAS ) came into being in January 1990, following the merger of two neighbouring societies, Cleveland A.S. and Darlington A.S., which had existed since 1979 and 1980 respectively. It currently has about 40 members.
We meet once per month from September to June, usually on the second Friday. Meetings are held at Grindon Parish Hall in Thorpe Thewles village, just outside Stockton, off the A177 Durham Road. Most meetings feature a talk by a guest speaker, sometimes a professional astronomer and sometimes a fellow amateur. These talks are always on a fairly non-technical level; no prior knowledge of astronomy is necessary to join the Society, and new members, novices included, are always more than welcome.
Though many of our members are casual or “armchair” astronomers, we also have several dedicated and expert observers among our ranks, two of whom have held important posts in the British Astronomical Association, as observing section directors.
Many of our members own telescopes, and several have built impressive private observatories. Chris Walker, Malcolm Johnson and Dave Graham have a 16-inch reflector at a dark sky site in the Yorkshire Dales, while John Borrett has a magnificent multi-instrument observatory at his home in Nunthorpe. Dave Blenkinsop has several home-made telescopes, which he uses to introduce members of the public to the sky. Our founder, Dr. John McCue, has received perhaps the ultimate recognition for his work; his personal observatory has been given an official observatory code by the International Astronomical Union.
Some years ago, we worked with Cleveland County Council to build the Castle Eden Public Observatory, in the Castle Eden Walkway Country Park near Thorpe Thewles. The observatory was officially opened by the Astronomer Royal in February 1994; it now houses a 19-inch reflector. Public observing evenings are held every Friday ( weather permitting! ), with CaDAS members operating the observatory on behalf of the Council; our members are allowed access at any time for their own use.
Our latest project, also in conjunction with the Council, has been the construction of the magnificent Castle Eden Planetarium, also in the Country Park. This was officially opened in November 2001, and is now fully operational. Its facilities include a video link to transmit live images from the telescope to the planetarium.
We are always ready to welcome new members of all ages and levels of experience, from complete novice to expert! Our annual subscription is a mere £9 ( £6 for those in full-time education ). So please come along and see us! See the meetings page for details of our meetings during the current season.
Summer Newsletter (pdf file size: 41kB) CaDAS Information Pack (pdf file size: 227kB)
CaDAS Constitution (pdf file size: 50.9KB)