Welcome to Great Shefford Observatory!

The Great Shefford Observatory is a private astronomical observatory tucked away in West Berkshire, England, about 60 miles west of central London.

It’s run by  Peter Birtwhistle, who loves to explore the cosmos!

They’ve been up and running since May 26, 2002 (check out their first light image on their website!).

They use a 12″ diameter telescope paired with an electronic camera (CCD) to capture the wonders of the sky.

They kicked off their astrometry program on May 30, 2002, and they were thrilled to receive observatory code J95 from the Minor Planet Center in June 2002.

In June 2005, they upgraded our 12″ telescope to a larger 16″, and mmm, they couldn’t resist giving their CCD an upgrade in September 2005 as well!

This allows them to see those fainter celestial objects that make stargazing even more exciting!

At Great Shefford, their passion shines through in a couple of key areas:

• Tracking down newly discovered Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) to help improve their orbits, ensuring they can predict their paths and keep Earth safe!

• Focusing on the astrometry of comets, especially those fainter gems that don’t always grab the limelight like the brighter ones do.

Of course, they love to capture images of other fascinating objects too!

From Gamma Ray Bursters and Supernovae to some quirky man-made satellites and deep-sky wonders, there’s always something exciting to discover!