North Canterbury News: November 12, 2020

Anew eye to the sky for Oxford
By DAVID HILL
Oxford’s viewofthe heavens is
set to get largernext year.
The OxfordArea School
Observatory’s new Meade
12­inch telescopehas finally
arrived and is in the process of
beinginstalled,volunteerChris
Hawessays.
‘‘We are getting there in small
steps. The first hurdlewas the
new telescope is designed to be
used on legs so we had to source
an adapter platefrom Meade
whichtook six weekstoarrive.
‘‘Then the bolts for the new
mounting platewere not
included and we had to source
these.’’
The telescopeisnow mounted
and volunteershope to give it a
few testruns overthe summer.
But with the days getting
longer, the public will have to
wait until daylight savingends
in April next yearbefore it is
open for public viewing.
The observatory’s old10­inch
telescope is to be mounted
outside, which means larger
groups will be able to be hosted
at open nights and events.
Open nightshave proventobe
so popularthat the observatory
had to restrictnumbers to 15 at
atimeover winter.
Unlike theold telescope, the
new one is computerised,
making it easiertotrain
telescope operators,so
volunteers hope to be able to
open on every clear night over
winter.
‘‘With the old telescope,we
had only one personwho could
Stargazing ... Oxford Observatory volunteer James Moffat, right, helps afamily view the cosmos through
the 10­inch telescope, which will be mounted outside following the arrival of abigger telescope. PHOTO: FILE
operate it, so that meant we
were pretty restricted in what
we could do,’’volunteer Erik
Vermaat says.
Mr Vermaat has been teaching
his new ‘‘GoingDeep’’course
this term, which explores
cosmologyand the depths of the
‘‘known universe’’.
It means he will be able to run
asequence of four courses
duringterm time nextyear:
‘‘Exploringthe Solar System’’,
‘‘Leaving the Solar System’’,
which looks out to 500 light years
fromEarth, ‘‘Exploring the
Milky Way’’ and ‘‘Going Deep’’.
‘‘Exploringthe Solar System’’
will be offeredinterm one and,
by then, the fate of three
missionstoMars, including
Nasa’s PerseveranceRover, will
be known.
‘‘Mars will definitely be in
focus and there is so much
happeninginSolar System
research, withthe discovery of
new comets and asteroids,so
therewill be alot to discuss,’’ Mr
Vermaatsays.
Therewill also be apractical
astronomy course, ‘‘The
RhythmicSky’’, on offer next
year,which makesuse of the
telescope to help learners
understand‘‘how celestial
objects move in our sky’’.
For more information, visit
the Oxford Observatorypage on
Facebookorgoto
oxford.ngawhetu.nz/
index.php.
NEWS
The North Canterbury News, November 12, 2020
19
Southbrook
work out
for tender
By DAVID HILL
Work to upgrade Southbrook’s
Flaxton Road is expected to begin
earlynextyear.
Senior engineering adviser Don
Youngtold Waimakariri
councillors at lastweek’s council
meeting that theproposed
1.8­metre­widefootpath on the
eastern side of Flaxton Road has
gone out for tender.
The proposed Flaxton/Fernside
roadsroundaboutproject is due to
go out for tender this week.
‘‘We hopetohave tenderslined
up before Christmas so workon
both projects can begin early next
year.’’
Mr Young says motorists should
expect disruption while the workis
completed. ‘‘There will be quite a
bit of disruptioninthe areafor five
to six months. Staff did give careful
considerationtohow the two
projects wouldwork togetherand it
was decided it was bettertoget it
all done at once.
‘‘We willensurethattwo­way
traffic willbemaintained at all
timeswherever possible.’’
The revised plans for the
footpath on the easternside of
Flaxton Road meansitisnolonger
feasible for the pathwaytobea
shared one with cyclists because of
safety concerns.
The Rangiora­Ashley Community
Boardhas asked stafftoexplore
alternative options for acycleway.
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