The Twilight Zone

The sky’s the limit for a new observatory near Ripon, as Richard Darn discovers

- Martin Whipp

WE WERE promised starry skies; we got rain. But that didn’t deter our merry band of amateur astronomers from following the red lantern-marked way to the new Lime Tree Observatory on a remote farm at Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, where, perhaps not surprisingly, things started to look up.

As we huddled together in the cosy ‘warm room’, ace astronomer Martin Whipp showed us wonderful pictures and time-lapse videos of the night sky above Nidderdale in lieu of the real thing, eliciting plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ (a sure sign that people were hooked).

Martin is a natural communicator, mixing seemingly impossible facts with a light-hearted, easy-going style that makes novices feel undaunted by the immensity of life, the universe and everything.

On the night of our visit, he was playing to a packed house – a regular occurrence since the observatory opened its doors to the public in an exciting joint enterprise between York Astronomical Society and philanthropic farmers Peter and Irene Foster, with the support of Nidderdale AONB.

‘Most of us live in light polluted areas, so when people come here they are gobsmacked,’ said Martin. ‘Instead of a handful of stars, you see thousands, plus the fabulous Milky Way. All you need to enjoy the view is your eyes but, to get really close up on faint objects, a good telescope is necessary.’